Welcome to What's In Store. It's always apple season and New York Apple Sales, Inc. has a crop worth getting excited about.
Quality on New York State apples such as Gala, Pink Lady, McIntosh, Empire, and Fuji is outstanding and size is up across the board. In addition, New York Apple Sales is working together with its new partners, Scotian gold, on a fresh Honeycrisp apple strategy. Between harvests out of New York, Nova Scotia and New Zealand, New York Apple Sales is poised to deliver prime Honeycrisp apples year round. With wonderful flavor, color, crunch, and visual appeal, New York Apple Sales, Inc. is looking forward to marketing these varieties throughout the end of the year and into June of 2015.
New York Apple Sales, Inc. is also excited about continuing to market the premium KORU® Plumac apples imported from New Zealand. With an exotically sweet taste and wonderful crunch, this apple is sure to delight. Building upon the success KORU® Plumac apples achieved last season, New York Apple sales, Inc. is predicting another strong performance from this variety for this season.
New York Apple Sales, Inc. will be working with various retailers throughout the season to market this crop. With such a bounty of local produce at their fingertips, New York Apple Sales is encouraging consumers to look no further than the Empire State for all their produce needs. Thank you for watching What's In Store.
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Crowley Maritime Corporation is upping U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico trade.
The company’s liner services group announced that it will add a 400 FEU capacity, flat deck barge to its South Atlantic Puerto Rico service in the first quarter. According to a press release, this will increase the rotation between Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan to four sailings a week.
The company is also replacing its existing 580-foot, triple-deck barges with a recently modified 730-foot, triple-deck barges in the North Atlantic – Puerto Rico trade between Pennsauken, N.J. and San Juan. This will increase capacity by over 40% in that lane.
“With the changes in the marketplace, we expect strong demand for space on our vessels, and we are stepping up to provide improved capacity, equipment and sailing frequency to benefit our customers,” said John Hourihan, Senior VP and General Manager, Puerto Rico.
He added, “This service enhancement is another indication of our commitment to the people and businesses of Puerto Rico, whom we have been pleased to serve for over 60 years.”
Crowley will be adding more than 6,000 pieces of cargo carrying equipment to support this increased capacity in both services. This additional equipment will include a combination of dry and reefer containers and chassis.
Once the flat deck barge is outfitted for container carriage, Crowley will place it into service on a two-week rotation. By combining the new barge with its six, triple-deck, roll-on/roll-off barges that range in size form 580 feet long to 730 feet and accelerating the schedule, Crowley will be able to offer four weekly southbound and northbound sailings a week between Jacksonville and San Juan.
BRONX, NY – Teamsters Local 202 announced that a tentative contract agreement has been reached with Hunts Point Market, averting a possible strike.
“Our members stood strong and the market knew we were serious,” said Daniel Kane Jr., President of Teamsters Local 202. “We said we deserved a fair wage, we fought for it and we got it.”
According to the New York Times, the three-year agreement would give workers a raise of $20 a week the first year, $22 the second year and $24 the third year. This would be a compromise between the union’s earlier push for a raise of $25 a week each year and the merchants’ counter of $16 in the first year and $22 thereafter.
“We’re not too far from our demands, so we feel confident that it will be ratified by the rank and file,” said Kane. He added that it would be “the largest wages and benefits package we’ve received in the last 20 years.”
According to a press release, this contract deal comes on the heels of a strike vote that members took earlier this week. 95% of the members approved the strike after merchants gave what was deemed a “final offer” with raises far short of those proposed by the union. After the strike vote, merchants raised their wage offer.
The union’s 1,300 members at the market will have final say. They will vote on the tentative deal this Wednesday.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest on this developing story.
FLORIDA - Could Kroger be planning a “Florida invasion?” Industry insiders have been wondering just that ever since CFO Michael Schlotman's admission that Kroger would soon be entering a “new market.”
“We’re going into a new market,” Schlotman explained in October. “We have a really good feel of exactly where that’s going to be. But we want to make sure the time’s right for the organization, because we have 2,650 stores that we don’t want to get distracted from every day just to say we’ve gone into a new market organically.”
Currently, Kroger only operates a single store in the Florida region - a Harris Teeter Supermarket in Fernandina Beach. Gimme Credit Director of Research Carol Levenson, however, believes that "all signs point to management's willingness to make a major acquisition." Others have wondered if talks are in the works with Bi-Lo Holdings to acquire some of the locations the retailer operates in the Sunshine State.
It was these types of comments that led ABC's Cincinnati affiliate, WCPO-9, to declare that Kroger could be “plotting a Florida invasion.”
According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, Kroger is also looking to expand its operations in Chicago, the Northeast, the upper Midwest and Oklahoma. With Florida emerging as the 3rd most populous state in the United States, its market cannot afford to be ignored by any retailer with growth aspirations.
Whether Kroger will be able to successfully carve out a space for itself in a state mostly dominated by Publix and Wal-Mart is of course another question. Regardless of what happens, this is sure to be a key topic of discussion for retail executives for months to come.
To make sure you stay in the know, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to bring you the latest market news and updates.
ROSEMONT, IL - Even as Reinhart Foodservice’s Good Roots Produce brand closes in on a major milestone for 2015, big plans are still in store for the program.
Since its unveiling in late summer 2014, Good Roots has seen a sensational amount of praise and encouragement from customers and suppliers. Rob Ondrus, Produce Category Director for Reinhart, tells me that there’s still plenty of room to grow upon that early success.
“When we launched the line, we had a timeline for growth and expansion laid out. We knew that we could hit 500,000 cases easily,” he says. “We are now accelerating the program expansion plans and are working on wave 3 which will include more regional items and value added products.”
Reinhart initially started the Good Roots program with a limited assortment of about 35 core repack items across 8 supplier partners. Based on the response from the company’s divisions and interest from its supplier partners, Reinhart has added a few flanker products and expanded the lineup to include approximately 50 items. The goal, Ondrus tells me, is to hit 1,000,000 cases in 2015.
“This was probably one of the best overall product launches for us in terms of divisions supporting the program and our suppliers locally,” Ondrus continued. “We are really excited that we have grown the category sales overall and not just traded cases between suppliers.”
The Good Roots and Markon brands are continuing to work in tandem to grow the total produce category. Overall, expanding the supplier base, adding items, and developing the Good Roots brand will be the focus for 2015.
“The goal is to carefully grow the Good Roots product range, address operator needs for new ideas, source closer to our distribution facilities, and fill in some of the voids we have with the Markon brand,” says Ondrus.
Building upon the success Good Roots has seen so far is a remarkable ambition, and we look forward to seeing the impact the program will have on the total produce category.
For more updates on Reinhart’s Good Roots Produce brand, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
FRESNO, CA - The California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) is welcoming Cal Poly grad Ian F. LeMay as its new Director of Member Relations and Communications. In his new position, he will be responsible for membership recruitment and retainment, along with a multitude of legislative concerns for Association members at both the state and federal levels.
"I have had the pleasure of working with Ian for a number of years in his role with the Congressman, and I have always found him to be an articulate and vocal advocate for California agriculture,” shared CFFA President Barry Bedwell. “We believe he is a natural fit along with our current staff to continue to enthusiastically represent our members."
"We are very pleased that Ian has agreed to become part of the team at CFFA,” agreed Family Tree Farms' David Jackson, Chairman of the CFFA. “His background and education, as well as working agricultural issues for Congressman Costa, should translate into real value for our membership."
Before signing up with the CFFA, LeMay served as District Director for Congressman Jim Costa, working on a variety of constituent and agricultural issues, including water supply and availability.
He received his education at Cal Poly where he studied agricultural business with a concentration in marketing. He lives in Fresno, California with his wife, Molly, and their newborn baby.
CHARLOTTE, NC – 3D printing is here, but what could it mean for the industry?
Mike Nagle, Business Development Manager for Advanced Technology Systems will be a speaker at PMA’s upcoming technology event, Tech Talks, in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 4, 2015. He recently shared some of his insights with PMA’s Ashley Boucher about this emerging technology and its applications for the fresh produce industry.
“The 3D concept is there, and I actually think there is some opportunity for the produce world to learn from 3D printing, and I also think there’s an opportunity for 3D printing to learn form the produce industry,” he said.
Mike worked with a number of farm and food related companies, both from the farm and equipment side. He also worked for companies that are manufacturing seed-making equipment and automation companies making food, giving him a unique perspective on the industry.
He said that the industry is already using 3D printing for packaging in the prototyping and production phases of making the packaging itself. Speaking about the benefits 3D printing can give to companies, Mike says, “If there are design changes, if they want it to be greener with their design process and use the least amount of material as possible, 3D printing allows them to make a cheap tool and then be able to make a custom part based on the demand of the customer.”
Looking forward, Mike thinks that 3D printing will help lead to greater transparency, where there has previously been a bit of mystery surrounding the manufacturing processes. It will also allow for companies to receive immediate feedback from consumers and to make modifications and changes based on that information.
In his presentation at Tech Talks, Mike says that he wants to show attendees how companies are using the technology today and how it is helping them, because that is the key.
The PMA Tech Talks sets the stage for innovative thinking and groundbreaking ideas. It’s been designed to develop conversation and connections through powerful videos and presentations. For more information on the event, click here.
WASHINGTON D.C. - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a Modified Final Order pertaining to Bi-Lo Holding's $265 million acquisition of 154 Delhaize America locations. Under the new agreement, Bi-Lo is no longer required to divest three of the stores which it had originally been ordered to by the FTC.
After reviewing charges that the acquisition would damage competition in markets in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, the FTC had previously ordered Bi-Lo to sell 12 of the to-be acquired locations to a predetermined set of buyers. One of these buyers, Rowe's IGA, later decided against purchasing the four Sweetbay stores it was allocated in the FTC's original order. Because Bi-Lo was unable to find a new buyer for three of the four locations, the FTC was required to issue a Modified Order.
According to the Imperial Valley News, the Modified Order says:
- Bi-Lo is freed of its obligation to divest the four locations to Rowe's IGA
- Bi-Lo is required to divest its store in Wauchula to Sunripe Market within 30 days of the finalization of the Modified Order.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to monitor Bi-Lo's merger negotiations with the FTC.
SANDPOINT, ID - Litehouse Foods is expanding its Instantly Fresh™ herbs line with a new flavor: Mint.
Instantly Fresh™ herbs make a great complement to sweet and savory meals. Stacey Miller, Senior Brand Manager at Litehouse Foods, tells AndNowUKnow, “They make an excellent alternative to fresh herbs by offering convenience without sacrificing taste, while also providing shoppers a way to spice up dishes without adding extra salt or calories.”
Instantly Fresh™ is:
- Non-GMO
- Salt-free
- Preservative-free
- Additive-free
- Only made of one ingredient: the mint itself
Litehouse recommends retailers merchandise Instantly Fresh™ products in the refrigerated section of the produce department in order to offer shoppers a direct choice between them and fresh herbs. Another key place to merchandise is on the top shelf of displays/racks next to fresh vegetables. Litehouse herbs are freeze-fried, preserving the flavor of the product.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Four PACA violators in New York, Florida, Illinois and California have been restricted from operating in the produce industry, according to a USDA press release.
Joseph Aiello & Sons Inc., a Albany, New York-based company, failed to pay a $7,747 award in favor of a Minnesota seller. Joseph J. Aiello Jr. was listed as the Officer, Director, and major stockholder of the business.
Vegfruitworld Corp., a Opa Locka, Florida-based company, failed to pay a $5,184 award in favor of a Georgia seller. Hugo T. Coral, Jose J. Quezada and Levy P. Zapata were listed as Officers, Directors, and/or major stockholders of the business.
Nico Mexi Foods Inc., a Chicago, Illinois-based company, failed to pay a $7,547 award in favor of an Illinois seller. Nicolas Ibarra was listed as the Officer, Director, and major stockholder of the business.
Campesinos International Trading Inc., a Ventura, California-based company, failed to pay a $16,040 award in favor of a California seller. Arturo Hernandez, La Esperanza Farms Inc. and Carlos Tapia were listed as the Officers, Directors, and/or major stockholders of the business.
In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 4,600 claims under the PACA involving more than $87 million. Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, Managers, Officers, Directors, or major stockholders may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without the approval of the USDA. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA.