CALIFORNIA - Big things are in store for the Produce and Floral departments of California-based retail chain Vallarta Supermarkets. With an experienced produce vet taking the helm as the grocer’s new Vice President of Produce and Floral Operations, Vallarta is looking to revitalize its fresh operations with exciting remodels and an adapted modern merchandising approach. As he settles into his new role, Robert Veilleux took some time to share his fresh-focused growth plans.

“Right now, it’s all about stonefruit. Peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, and table grapes are all starting to come in full force right now,” Robert shares with me. “At Vallarta Supermarkets, these categories are primed for growth as we increase the focus on our overall summer fruit offering. We are putting a strong effort toward letting our consumers know that Vallarta provides premium-quality stonefruit and summer fruit. Our focus begins with flavor and texture profiles that will WOW the customer.”

To drive this category growth, Vallarta Supermarkets is setting its focus on adding varieties, offering superior quality at a value, and merchandising the categories in high-traffic locations within the produce department.

The Hispanic/Latin retail chain is also setting its focus on several other categories that are currently seeing strong momentum, including mushrooms, tropicals, and the full berry patch. As Robert shares, Vallarta is tackling growth in these categories through expanded partnerships with key supply-side players like Monterey Mushrooms, Driscoll’s, and Melissa’s Produce, just to name a few.

With an understanding of Vallarta and its valued customers, Robert shares what he is most excited about for this latest venture.

“I'm most excited about the growth,” he explains. “We just opened our 55^th store in Watsonville, California, and our growth plan is very aggressive. In my opinion, we are one of the fastest-growing brands in retail that I’ve seen in over 35 years in this business. Over the next 12 months, we plan to expose Vallarta to the industry nationally as we continue to gain market share.”

Be on the lookout for this evolving retail player at upcoming trade shows like the Organic Produce Summit, IFPA, SEPC, and Viva Fresh.

“We are placing Vallarta on the map of innovation, modern merchandising, and first-to-market leaders,” Robert assures.

Cheers to Robert on his newest title, and to Vallarta Supermarkets for its ongoing expansion, innovation, and store development!

For more retail news, you know where to click.

LOS ANGELES, CA - A partnership arrangement between Generous Brands and SAMBAZON was recently announced that combines the strengths of both brands. Generous Brands, formerly known as Bolthouse Farms, will manufacture, distribute, and sell SAMBAZON Juice and Smoothie Beverages.

“The SAMBAZON brand is the first of several disruptive brands to become part of a new platform inside Generous Brands called Integrated Partnerships,” said Phil Kooy, Chief Revenue Officer of Generous Brands. “Our Integrated Partnerships platform will leverage Generous Brands’ world-class manufacture-to-market refrigerated capability to accelerate the growth of fresh & functional consumer brands—making our combined superpower delivering the best product to absolutely everyone.”

Generous Brands has been successfully co-manufacturing several SAMBAZON portfolio products for the last 15 months and this agreement elevates that relationship, a press release stated. This new strategic partnership will increase consumer access to functional superfruit juices and smoothies and will enable the scale for retailers to expand distribution across North America.

Beginning yesterday, Generous Brands began producing and selling the following products out of its 500,000 square foot production facility in Bakersfield, California: Original Açaí, Dragon Fruit, and Energy Açaí. The manufacturing and distribution of other SAMBAZON frozen and shelf-stable product lines will remain with the parent company.

“We are delighted to join Bolthouse Farms and Evolution Fresh as part of the growing Generous Brands portfolio,” said Ryan Black, SAMBAZON Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. “This partnership will bring Açai and other organic, superfood juices and smoothies to customers via thousands of supermarkets throughout North America.”

Generous Brands is currently distributed in 56,000 stores across the United States and Canada with over 150 sales, merchandising, and DSD professionals supporting the North American network.

“Our Integrated Partnerships platform is designed to create speed and high-quality scale for fast-growing brands to achieve significant consumer availability,” said Kooy. “We are looking to add the right brands to our line-up to accelerate the consumer demand for fresh and functional food and beverage products to drive superior growth for our customers. It’s an exciting time in the space with significant opportunity ahead for disruptive consumer brands to step up in a formidable way.”

As we learn more about this collaboration, keep reading the latest from ANUK.

CHILE - A major agricultural update occurred between the countries of Chile and the United States. After 24 years of work and negotiation between the two, the launch of the Systems Approach for Chilean table grapes has been confirmed.

“Chile is a grape-growing country,” commented Iván Marambio, President, Frutas de Chile. “Our traditional fruit is grapes, and the Systems Approach will help to improve our competitiveness. The consumers in our largest market, the United States, will be able to enjoy a higher quality grape. With the Systems Approach, Chile has the possibility of exporting 60 percent of our grapes without fumigation. This is extraordinary, and it will allow us to be more competitive in the global market.”

As a release went on to note, the Systems Approach replaces methyl bromide fumigation with a series of mitigation measures at the origin.

This improves the quality and condition of the fruit in the destination market and allowing it to become more competitive in the face of growing competition from other southern hemisphere countries that ship grapes to the U.S. market.

For more information on the move, click here.

ANUK will continue to keep you abreast of international news.

PORTLAND, OR - Okanagan Specialty Fruits® (OSF) recently announced that its Endless Orchard™ cider brand was honored with two prestigious awards. The brand, which uses Arctic® apple varieties in its drinks, was named Best New Cidery of the Year at the Northwest Cider Cup Awards and received a Gold Medal for its Boundless Blueberry Basil flavor.

"Arctic apples offer a unique non-browning trait, and the result is a cider that is in a class of its own and provides a truly one-of-a-kind drinking experience," explained Don Westcott, President of OSF. "Endless Orchard leverages that advantage and reflects our continued sustainability commitment and our goal to increase apple utilization.”

The brand offers six different flavors using Arctic Goldens, Arctic Grannys, and Arctic Fujis varieties.

According to a press release, Endless Orchard Cider's commitment to excellence and innovation continues to enhance its unique position in the cider industry.

"These two awards are a testament to our team's passion for crafting high-quality ciders that showcase the unique flavors and attributes of Arctic apple varieties," said Vicki Daigneault, General Manager of Endless Orchard Cider. "We are absolutely thrilled to be recognized with these accolades. I am so proud to see how far our team has come in such a short period of time, especially considering we only officially launched our tasting room last month."

Keep reading ANUK as we continue to cover the latest news from across the industry.

FOWLER, CA - As we close the door on the domestic citrus season, we open a new one to welcome summer citrus to the produce department. Bee Sweet Citrus is one company that is preparing its portfolio for retail success.

“Offshore Mandarins have arrived at Bee Sweet Citrus, signaling the start of our summer import program,” stated Sales Representative Joe Berberian. “Throughout the summer season, customers can rely on us for offshore oranges, lemons, and Mandarins, as well as several domestic varieties to meet shoppers’ needs.”

In addition to imported Mandarins, lemons, and oranges, Bee Sweet currently has domestic Star Ruby Grapefruit available. As shoppers continue to implement fresh produce into their diets, year-round citrus availability remains imperative to meet consumer demand, a press release stated.

“Once imported produce arrives at our facility, it undergoes a thorough quality inspection before it’s shipped off to shoppers,” continued Berberian. “Customers also have the option to repack any offshore product to meet specific pack styles.”

Bee Sweet is a key supplier for retailers’ seasonal produce needs in the citrus category. For more from the company, keep reading ANUK.

SOLEDAD, CA - Braga Fresh will certainly have quite the crowd around its booth come 2024 Organic Produce Summit. With the introduction of two new chopped salad kits, the company will have showgoers atwitter.

“Our goal for OPS 2024 is to showcase our organic farming with field tours and our product innovation with two new organic chopped salad kits,” said Kori Tuggle, Vice President of Marketing and Product Development. “These two new flavors offer organic shoppers unique flavors for those seeking clean ingredients in a chopped salad kit.”

The new flavors in question are Organic Jalapeño Ranch and Organic Basil Crunch.

According to a press release, the Organic Jalapeño Ranch chopped salad kit includes green cabbage, Romaine, carrots, cilantro, and green onions paired with tortilla strips, pepitas, and Jalapeño Ranch dressing.

The Organic Basil Crunch chopped salad kit mixes kale, red cabbage, carrots, radicchio, a basil and garlic vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese, and crispy quinoa.

Additionally, Braga Fresh is set to host an OPS retail field tour at the Braga Home ranch. The tour will travel through the Salinas Valley to the home of Josie’s Organics in Soledad, where attendees will learn about the company’s regenerative agriculture trials and bees and pollinator habitats.

Be sure to stop by booth #607 when at the show!