- Read more about Lantao
- Log in to post comments
Buyers of premium fruit from around the world
TULARE, CA - Sundale Vineyards has completed a solar project to power its cold storage facility with assistance from the renewable energy investment tax credit (ITC). Work began on a 1.13-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic system at the vineyard in December of 2013.
This solar facility was built by Cenergy Power and is estimated to save Sundale $5.7 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years, the carbon equivalent of preserving 24,000 acres of forest and removing 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits.
“We’ve looked at solar for a very long time, but about five or six years ago, it didn’t make sense financially. The prices have definitely come down,” said Todd Kinosian, Sundale Vineyards Owner. Sundale will receive the federal ITC for investing in the facility, which was another incentive for moving forward with the project.
Bill Pham, Cenergy Power’s CEO, said, “The investment tax credit played a significant role in this project because Sundale could effectively use 100 percent of the 30 percent ITC. This fact, combined with Sundale’s strong financial performance, made the financing used for this project very cost-effective.”
Pham expects the solar system to produce 1.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy a year, which will offset 91% of Sundale’s electricity bill and deliver a simple payback of just four years, according to Novogradac.
“This solar project is a testament to our commitment to the environment and social responsibility,” said Kinosian. “Sundale firmly believes that environmentally-conscious agriculture practices are vital to the sustainable growth of the industry.”
Pham added that the solar project should benefits Sundale in three main ways: reduced energy costs, advancement of the company’s environmental sustainability goals and improvement of its tax efficiency through the ITC.
MCLEAN, VA – Gladstone Land Corporation has acquired a 145-acre farm in Watsonville, California for $5.9 million.
"We are pleased to add another first-rate farm in California to our portfolio and partner with the existing farmers on a long-term basis. Our objective is to be a strategic real estate partner for farmers so they can secure their land for the long haul," said Bill Frisbie, Director at the Company. "We now own 24 farms across the U.S. that produce a variety of high-value fruits and vegetables."
The property has been farmed for row crop fruits and vegetables for decades and comes with water on site, according to a press release.
"We are excited when an opportunity arises to add prime strawberry land to our existing farmland in the Watsonville region, and we will always maximize our efforts in attempting to complete such deals. We have great relationships with growers here, and we will always do what we can to provide our services to them in order to support a healthy industry," said Bill Reiman, Managing Director at the Company.
Gladstone Land invests in farmland located in major agricultural markets in the United States that it leases to corporate and independent farmers. The Company currently owns 6,345 acres on 24 farms in 5 different states across the U.S., according to its website.
Through this acquisition, Gladstone has assumed a lease on the property with 28 months remaining with a large farming operation as the tenant.
NEW YORK, NY - Apax Partners is selling its majority ownership stake in Advantage Sales & Marketing (ASM) to private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) and CVC Capital Partners for more than $4 billion, according to sources close to Reuters. Since purchasing controlling stake in 2010, Apax has helped ASM achieve substantial growth organically and through strategic acquisitions.
“Apax Partners have added tremendous value to ASM over the past three-and-a-half years,” said ASM CEO Tanya Domier. “This partnership has been a textbook example of how a private equity firm and a management team can create value together through collaborating on strategy, growth, and vision, and being willing to work hard to take a good company to great! We set out with a clear vision, worked hard together, and focused on accelerating growth, and that is exactly what we accomplished.”
The sale comes at a time when private equity firms are increasingly targeting companies that are expected to benefit from a recovery in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, according to Reuters.
ASM provides outsourced sales, marketing, and merchandising services to manufacturers, suppliers, and producers of consumer packaged goods in the U.S. The company serves groceries, drugstores, convenience stores, consumer electronics outlets, and sporting goods shops, according to Reuters. The company expects to achieve $1.6 billion in revenue in 2014.
“ASM is an exceptional company with an incredible track record, strong brand equity, and tremendous opportunities for growth,” said Jonathan Sokoloff, Managing Partner at LGP. “We are excited to partner with Tanya and the rest of ASM’s talented management team and look forward to supporting the next phase of the company’s growth.”
Christopher Stadler, Managing Partner at CVC, stated, “ASM has earned an exceptionally loyal and growing base of clients by continually finding new ways to help them win in the marketplace. We are delighted to have the rare opportunity to back a team that has accomplished so much, yet has many pathways to sustain significant future growth.”
Both LGC and CVC have worked together before to jointly acquire BJ’s Wholesale Club in 2011 for $2.8 billion.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.
LEAMINGTON, ON - R.E.A.C.H. International kicked off its 8th annual Greenhouse Competitions on June 13-14, crowning some of the industry’s Hottest Tomatoes, Coolest Cucumbers, and Perfect Peppers. Greenhouse industry growers, marketers, and suppliers from as far away as British Columbia entered 144 entries into the competitions, a new record. The unique competitions were presented in part this year by Red Sun Farms.
Westmoreland/TopLine Farms took home two top honors at the competition for its Mini Seedless Cucumbers – People’s Choice and Kid’s Choice for Coolest Cucumber.
“This is a great achievement and a testament to our growers,” said Jimmy Coppola, Account Manager/Marketing at Westmoreland Sales. “Being the largest mini seedless cucumber growers in North America, it is nice to be recognized in such a manner to win two awards for our mini seedless cucumbers. What is even better is that the two awards are People’s Choice and Kid’s Choice… The people (and kids for that matter) have spoken… TopLine Farms Mini Seedless Cucumbers are TOPS!”
Mucci Farms captured four of the top awards for its Rustico™ sweet long peppers (Best Specialty Long Pepper), Terreno™ naturally brown tomatoes (Best Beefsteak Tomato), Vero™ premium on the vine tomatoes (Best Cluster Tomato), and Sapori™ sweet cocktail tomatoes (Best Cocktail Tomato).
“Mucci Farms is proud to be recognized amongst many local growers,” said Emily Murracas, Marketing Coordinator at Mucci International Marketing. Our recent launch of the NEW MIDI Sized Cluster has proven to be most well received by our retailers and consumers alike. It comes as no surprise that we received top honors naming our Vero™ premium on the vine tomatoes Best Cluster Tomato. Our Sapori™ sweet cocktail tomatoes continue to be a favorite among tomato lovers, holding true to their name (‘flavor’ in Italian), capturing Best Cocktail Tomato.”
Orangeline Farms won two first place awards in the “Perfect Pepper” competition for its Zing! Orange (Best Specialty Mini Pepper) and Zing! Chili (Best Specialty Hot Pepper).
“These awards underscore our position as a premium grower,” said Jordan Kniaziew, President of Orangeline Farms Sales. “We like that both awards are in the ‘specialty’ category – they represent everything that we do and what we’re all about as a grower of exciting consumer friendly foods.”
Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET® won six awards for its Red Bell Pepper (People’s Choice), Chocolate Pepper (Best Specialty Bell Pepper), English Cucumber (Best English Seedless), “Zima” (Best Overall Tomato and Best Specialty Tomato), and “Romano” (Best Roma Tomato). For more on this story, click here!
Nature Fresh Farms received two awards for its Orange Bell Pepper, Best Overall Pepper and Best Orange Bell Pepper. For more on this story, click here!
Below is a list of all of the 2014 winners…
Perfect Pepper Competition:
Best Overall Pepper - Nature Fresh Farms – Orange Bell Pepper – Entry #13
People’s Choice - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - Red Bell Pepper – Entry # 46
Kids’ Choice - Pure Hothouse Foods – Orange Bell Pepper – Entry #106
Best Red Bell Pepper - Amco Produce – Entry # 2
Best Yellow Bell Pepper - Red Sun Farms – Entry # 4
Best Orange Bell Pepper - Nature Fresh Farms – Entry #13
Best Specialty Bell Pepper - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Chocolate Pepper” – Entry # 31
Best Specialty Mini Pepper - Orangeline Farms – “Zing! Orange” – Entry #102
Best Specialty Long Pepper - Mucci International / Mucci Pac –Entry # 12
Best Specialty Hot Pepper - Orangeline Farms – “Zing! Chili” – Entry # 71
Coolest Cucumber Competition:
Best Overall Cucumber - Pure Hothouse Foods – Mini Cucumber –Entry # 17
People’s Choice - Westmoreland/Topline Produce – Mini Cucumber – Entry # 75
Kids’ Choice - Westmoreland/Topline Produce – Mini Cucumber – Entry # 75
Best English Seedless - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® – Entry # 7
Best Mini Seedless - Pure Hothouse Foods –Entry # 17
Hottest Tomato Competition:
Best Overall Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Zima” Specialty – Entry # 100
People’s Choice - Lakeside Produce – “Solle” Bite Size Orange – Entry # 24
Kids’ Choice - Double Diamond Acres – “Pink Mambo” Bite Size – Entry #59
Best Beefsteak Tomato - Mucci International / Mucci Pac – “Terreno” - Entry # 27
Best Roma Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® – “Romano” - Entry # 101
Best Cluster Tomato - Mucci International / Mucci Pac –Entry # 94
Best Cocktail Tomato - Mucci International / Mucci Pac - Entry # 107
Best Bite-Size Tomato - Del Fresco Produce - “Orange Bite Size”– Entry # 129
Best Specialty Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Zima” – Entry # 100
Congratulations to all the winners!
LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Frieda’s Specialty Produce did something extra to support the 2nd annual Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival in its hometown of Los Alamitos, CA. Aside from the company’s usual booth space featuring its specialty fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s also sponsored a new edible obstacle on the Sugartown Challenge 5K-ish Fun Run.
“We took our ‘Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You’ message to a different level and made our obstacle an edible one,” said Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s. “You have to eat a piece of scary fruit before you continue on your race! And our scary fruit of choice for the challenge was Starfruit.”
The station was managed by Jackie Caplan Wiggins, Vice President and COO of Frieda’s, who made sure the runners took at least one bite.
Frieda’s booth also featured “The Greatest Exotic Fruit & Vegetable Petting Zoo on Earth,” where everyone could learn about and get their hands on specialty items like Rambutan, Color Cauliflower, Purple Snow Peas and many more, according to a press release.
“There were about 300 participants in the challenge, and most came back to our booth after they completed the challenge to ask us about the fruit they just ate,” said Wiggins. “About half of the participants were children and teens, and they were very interested to check out our fruit and vegetable ‘petting zoo’ and see what other ‘weird’ things we had available.”
The Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival is a celebration of Los Alamitos’ founding and ties to sugar beet farming and production.
WENATCHEE, WA and SHANGHAI, CHINA – Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, WA have joined Lantao of Shanghai, China to be the first to market 2014 crop year Bing Cherries from Washington State into mainland China.
Mike Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Stemilt, is confident that this year’s Washington State Cherry crop can meet the demand. “Growing conditions have lined up perfectly for us,” said Taylor. “Because the conditions are so favorable, we are shipping heavier in June than normally, and we will fill the demand that we were unable to fill from California. The quality and size from Washington will meet the premium fruit requirements that the Chinese market demands.”
“Although Stemilt had the best California cherries in the Chinese market, the overall quality and volume from California this year has been inconsistent,” said John Wang, CEO of Lantao. “The poorer quality cherries brought the whole market down and now the market is really ready to step in and buy some better quality fruit. Being first to market will allow us fill that demand quickly.”
Dave Martin, Export Sales Director and Bill Young, Export Account Manager for Stemilt Growers sees China as its most important cherry export market, according to a press release. “We appreciate working with Lantao because they seem to grasp our ‘philosophy’ when it comes to openness, trust, honesty, commitment and the belief in the quality of our fruit,” said Martin.
Lantao is one of the largest importers of imported fruit into China with distribution centers in 7 Chinese cities.
BERKELEY, CA - Could discount retailer Grocery Outlet be the next company betting on an acquisition deal? Sources close to Reuters suggest that Grocery Outlet is exploring a sale that is expected to value the company at more than $1 billion.
People familiar with the matter indicate that Berkshire Partners LLC, Grocery Outlet’s private-equity owner, has hired Barclays and Goldman Sachs to run a sales process for the supermarket chain, according to Reuters. Spokespersons for Grocery Outlet and Goldman Sachs did not respond to requests for comment. Both Barclays and Berkshire Partners have declined to comment as well. No other information regarding the potential sale is available at this time.
Reuters also reports that Grocery Outlet has about $100 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, and could sell for more than 10 times that figure.
Grocery Outlet offers a full line of grocery items, including fresh produce, frozen, deli and refrigerated, fresh meat, general merchandise, health and beauty, and beer and wine. There are currently more than 200 independently operated Grocery Outlet stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we keep an eye out for any potential buyers.
WATSONVILLE, CA - It’s great to have a job you’re truly proud of. That’s why California Giant Berry Farms is taking you on a journey to its fields in Watsonville, California to get an inside look into the company’s operation.
The company tends to its blueberries each and every morning. The berries are hand harvested, and then carefully sorted for packaging and shipping to a store near you for your family to enjoy all year-round.
Check out the quick video above from the company to see what makes California Giant berries so special!
ANTIGO, WI - Back in 1995, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and NASA partnered to help tubers become the first vegetable grown in space.
Creating these “Quantum Tubers” involved “combining an agricultural technique from China with controlled environment technologies originally developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for plant growth in space,” NASA says. American Ag-Tec International, Ltd., from Delavan, WI, then produced the tubers, according to a press release.
Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia tested the seed potato production in its Astroculture plant growth facility. “American Ag-Tec International’s development of Quantum Tubers resulted from a NASA-sponsored Commercial Space Center located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,” says NASA.
While speaking about this milestone, Duane Maatz, Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association Executive Director, said that it “really puts Wisconsin on the map and shows the technological advances that have and continue to come out of our state.”
Space centers like this have allowed other companies to create products from space-based research.