At this year's PMA Fresh Summit, Pratt Industries Vice President of Sales and Marketing Thomas Priest awarded Delbert Bland, Owner of Bland Farms, its 2014 Environmental Impact Award. As Thomas explained, this award was given because of Bland Farms' major acomplishments towards its sustainability goals, including saving:
- 5,200,000 kilowatt hours of power
- 4,290 cubic yards of landfill waste
- 9,100,000 gallons of water
- 1,300 tons of CO2
For more information on this award and Bland Farms' industry leading sustainability operations, such as its usage of 100% recyclable boxes, be sure to watch the video at the top of this page.
Congratulations on this award, Bland Farms!
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Just four months after taking over as Target’s CEO, Brian Cornell is making leadership changes to accelerate the business, fuel its digital transformation and enhance the guest experience.
“Today’s organizational announcements reflect our continued focus on the guest and our goal of delivering an extraordinary experience to ensure that Target not only meets but exceeds our guests’ expectations. With these changes, we are even better positioned to continue to drive the momentum in our business in 2015 and beyond,” Cornell said.
Let’s break down the changes that have been announced:
Strategy and Innovation
Casey Carl, President, Omnichannel and Senior Vice President, Strategy, is taking on the role of Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer. According to a press release, Carl will be joining Target’s leadership team and reporting to Cornell.
Aside from this promotion, Target is creating a center of excellence under Carl’s leadership in hopes of accelerating and strengthening its data, analytics and business intelligence capabilities. This will be led by Paritosh Desai in the new role of Senior Vice President, Enterprise Data, Analytics and Business Intelligence.
Guest Experience
Jeff Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, is taking on added responsibility by leading the retailer’s work in architecting guest experience across all channels and touch points, according to a press release. Jones will also create and lead a new guest center of excellence to enable the organization to develop a heightened sense of advocacy and empathy for the guest.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Laysha Ward, President, Community Relations, is being promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer to more closely align Target’s corporate social responsibility efforts. Ward's organization will now include the Community Relations, Global Affairs and Sustainability teams along with Target Foundation.
Target.com and Mobile
To continue growth in these areas, Jason Goldberger has been named President, Target.com and Mobile. According to a press release, he joined Target two years ago from Gilt, where he launched a new Gilt Home site and grew business over 40%. In this same arena, Dawn Block has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Target.com and Mobile Merchandising.
Investor Relations
John Hulbert had been named Vice President, Investor Relations. In this role, he will continue to build engagement among investors and the financial community.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest on Target and the retail industry as a whole.
RUSSIA - Fresh produce suppliers in Russia are feeling the pressure as the ruble hits record lows.
Reuters reports that since this week, the ruble has fallen almost 20 percent against the dollar and grocery prices are continuing to hike in response to the economic crisis. The lowest oil prices in five years and Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s involvement in Ukraine have crippled the value of the ruble.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Vladimir Yevteev, a grower who supplies cabbage, potatoes, and carrots to supermarkets all over Russia, says he may be facing bankruptcy next year.
“It’ll be serious,” he said. “A serious season.”
Yevteev said that he’s struggling to buy supplies and equipment, and on top of that, a drought has left his warehouse “virtually empty,” according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this week, the Russian central bank raised the interest rates to a steep 17%. Though Russia still has reserves of around $416 billion, analysts say the currency is in dangerous territory, according to Reuters.
“The central bank will have a very hard time stabilizing the ruble so long as the sharp sell-off in oil prices continues,” said Vladimir Miklashevsky, an economist at Danske Bank.
During a three hour news conference on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin was confident that the economy would rebound, blaming the crisis on external factors such as accusing the West of building a “virtual” Berlin Wall to contain Russia.
“Didn’t they tell us after the collapse of the Berlin Wall that NATO would not expand eastwards?” he said. “But it happened immediately. Two waves of expansion. Is that not a wall? It’s a virtual wall.”
Putin was hopeful the recovery would take at least two years, but he noted that it greatly depends on how long the West plans to maintain sanctions on Russia.
As long as Putin’s plan to put Russia back on track is still in question, the industry will have to wait and see the overall impact the plunging ruble will have on fresh produce.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track the Russia’s economic crisis.
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA – The Allen Lund Company has been named one of Food Logistics' FL100+ Software and Technology Providers, according to a press release.
"We are pleased to be recognized again for Food Logistics' FL100+ Software and Technology Providers,” shared Kenny Lund, Vice President of Support Operations at the Allen Lund Company. “Our product continues to mature, and we have over $1.2 billion in freight spend, specific to food logistics, being processed by our Transportation Management Software (TMS)."
As the sole publication dedicated exclusively to the global food and beverage supply chain, Food Logistics selected the FL100+ list based on the degree to which a company was:
- A major contributor to the food logistics industry.
- Had a large impact on the global food supply chain.
"The FL100+ allows us to accommodate and showcase the growing number of companies active in this space," explained Lara L. Sowinski, Editor-in-Chief at Food Logistics. "Equally important, our readers benefit from the goal of the FL100+, which is to ultimately serve as a resource guide for our audience."
Congratulations on this impressive acomplishment, Allen Lund!
WASHINGTON D.C. - In what the White House is calling one of the “most significant changes in our policy in more than fifty years,” President Obama declared that his Administration would be easing diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba. For the first time since January 1961, Havana will house an American embassy and American officials will begin the process of calming tensions between the two nations.
As the President explained, “...we are taking steps to increase travel, commerce, and the flow of information to and from Cuba.”
“I believe that American businesses should not be put at a disadvantage, and that increased commerce is good for Americans and for Cubans,” the President continued. “So we will facilitate authorized transactions between the United States and Cuba. U.S. financial institutions will be allowed to open accounts at Cuban financial institutions. And it will be easier for U.S. exporters to sell goods in Cuba.”
In light of this generation shift in foreign policy, members of our industry are asking what effect this news could have on America's agricultural community. Many are responding with cautious optimism, but questions remain.
"It is difficult at this point to put a number on how large an effect this could have on our industry, but this is certainly encouraging news," Barry Bedwell, President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, explained. "With any issue of this magnitude there are of course a lot of political issues to sort through, but I do feel that this is a sign we are generally moving in the right direction."
There is much about the internal infrastructure and capabilities of the Cuban economy which is still largely unknown, making it difficult to assess to what extent Cuba is capable of responding to the American market at this point in time. The potential is there, however.
"With a very similar climate to Florida, there is potential for Cuba to become an important player in a number of categories, such as tropical fruit, citrus as well as certain vegetables," shared Robert Guenther, Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the United Fresh Produce Association. "Anytime you add just over 11 million people to a market there are going to be exciting possibilities. This early in the process, however, it is still too soon to say to what extent this potential might be realized. An act of Congress will be required to open Cuba's ports to trade and only time will tell what that response will be."
"While we do see great potential in Cuba, at this point there are still a multitude of questions that will need to be answered before we'll begin to know anything more concrete than that," agreed Charlie Eagle, V.P. of Business Development at Southern Specialties. "In addition to the political issues that still need to be settled, Cuba's capacity to maintain cold chain and quality assurance standards, to harvest and ship product on schedule, and to house the logistic infrastructure necessary to ship these goods to market are all things that are still largely unknown after decades of limited communication. That said, many members of the fresh produce industry, along with myself, will be paying close attention to see how this situation develops."
What happens next will be largely dependent on Congress. As Guenther explained, a complete removal of a trade embargo will require an act from Capitol Hill. Republican opposition is already forming to this idea, however, with GOP Senator Marco Rubio declaring he intends to block any nominee for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Cuba.
"I reserve the right to do everything within the rules of the Senate to prevent that sort of individual from ever even coming up for a vote," USA Today reported him as saying. The son of Cuban immigrants, possible 2016 presidential candidate, and incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, his words could carry considerable weight in the halls of Congress during these deliberations.
The Senator is not the only one to raise concerns either. Fellow GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, the incoming Chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee which is delegated with appropriating funding for the State Department, agreed, arguing that "Normalizing relations with Cuba is a bad idea at a bad time."
Regardless of what happens next, what we are witnessing is a new chapter in Cuban-American relations. After today's news, it is certainly primed to be an exciting one.
SOLEDAD, CA – Braga Fresh Family Farms has added organic cauliflower to its sustainable, premium-quality, certified USDA organic line of produce – Josie’s Organics.
Josie’s Organics cauliflower is available immediately, both wrapped and naked. The wrapped product features the award-winning Josie’s Organics packaging with its friendly logo and signature blue polka dots.
“One of the benefits of being a vertically-integrated grower-shipper is we can respond very quickly to retailer needs and consumer trends,” said Peter Cling, Vice President of Sales at Braga Fresh.
“Plus, we’ve been growing organically for nearly twenty years, we control a lot of organic farmland in California and Arizona – and we are acquiring and converting more land all the time – so we’re well positioned to consistently deliver on our commitment to providing premium service as well as premium quality produce,” Cling added.
According to a press release, retailer demand for Josie’s Organics products has continued to rise since Braga Fresh launched the brand approximately two years ago. In that time, Braga has more than doubled its acreage committed to Josie’s Organics product line to meet retail customer demand this winter season.
Aside from cauliflower, the Josie’s Organics line features broccoli, sweet baby broccoli, celery, chard and more with new products in trial.
UNITED STATES - It’s been a whirlwind of a year.
As 2014 winds down, we’ll examine some of the year’s biggest topics in this 3-part series, starting with the abundant amount of mergers and acquisitions that have made headlines.
With 2015 just weeks away, let’s kick off the countdown with another look at some of the deals that have made history in 2014…
Safeway and Albertsons Enter $9 Billion Merger Deal
In March, Safeway and Albertsons announced what could possibly be one of the biggest supermarket deals ever seen. The combined company will span over 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities, and 20 manufacturing plants with over 250,000 employees.
Though the merger is yet to close, it’s clear that both Safeway and Albertsons’ division of produce buyers will make a huge impact in the industry.
Earlier this month, both retailers named over 70 executives to begin building their Corporate and Regional teams, including Jerry Callahan, Jerry Noland, Geoff White, Greg Matteri, and Kelly Griffith.
The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Chiquita, Fyffes, and Cutrale/Safra
Another influential merger agreement was announced in March and was subsequently rejected in a surprise move late this year. Chiquita and Fyffes’ billion dollar banana deal was expected to create the world’s largest banana supplier, but once Cutrale and Safra entered the ring, a series of ongoing shareholder discussions and competing bids threw a wrench in the agreement. It was only until October that Chiquita officially rejected Fyffes’ offer and agreed to Cutrale-Safra’s $682 million offer for the company. Chiquita’s overall agreement is valued at roughly $1.3 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2014 or early 2015.
Arthur T. Demoulas Wins Back Control of Market Basket
A number of lawsuits, protests, and years of back-and-forth family strife have finally come to an end this year as Arthur T. Demoulas, the acclaimed CEO of Market Basket, finalized his intention to buy control of the company from his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas.
The controversy reached a boiling point in June as Arthur T. and several other top executives were ousted by Market Basket’s Board of Directors. During the previous summer, the Board had already considered firing Arthur T., claiming he was spending money recklessly and refusing to accept the authority of the Board. Market Basket employees, enraged by this news, demanded that the Board re-instate Arthur T. with “full authority, non-negotiable.”
After weeks of protests, Arthur T. finalized a $1.6 billion deal to acquire his cousin’s 50.5% stake in the company and re-assume his former position as President and CEO.
Since this sale was initially announced, Market Basket has opened three new stores and created 1,300 new jobs.
Castellini Company Acquires General Produce
In June, the Castellini Company announced its intention to acquire General Produce, Inc., a move intended to expand the company’s reach in perishable distribution into the Southeastern part of the U.S.
Located in greater Atlanta, General Produce is one of the largest produce distribution businesses in the South with a footprint throughout the Southeast. Cincinnati-based Castellini Group of Companies, on the other hand, is one of the largest distributors of fresh produce in the United States.
C&S Wholesale Grocers Acquires Associated Wholesalers Inc.
In September, we reported that C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. was in talks with Associated Wholesalers Inc. (AWI) to acquire the majority of its assets at a court supervised auction after AWI filed for bankruptcy. By the end of October, C&S had won the auction with a bid that totaled $288 million after a rival bidder drove the price up almost 70% from its initial bid of $170 million. Just a few days later, a United States judge ruled in favor of AWI and paved the way for its acquisition by C&S Wholesale Grocers.
Grocery Outlet Announces Sale to Hellman & Friedman
As we first reported in June, unnamed sources began speculating that Grocery Outlet was exploring a sale that was expected to value the company at more than $1 billion. By August, the retailer had attracted several private-equity suitors but was tight lipped on the situation. Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman LLC and Roark Capital group were all reportedly showing interest. One month later, we reported that Hellman & Friedman LLC was closing in on the over $1.1 billion deal, again, according to unnamed sources. Just two days later, Grocery Outlet announced its sale to Hellman & Friedman.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our series as we track some of the year’s biggest changes in personnel for the produce industry.
WATSONVILLE, CA – California Giant Berry Farms participated in its local NBC Affiliate KSBW holiday event called ‘Share Your Holiday’ for the fifth year in a row.
Every year, the station has a telethon type event throughout California’s central coast over an 8-hour span that encourages the community to donate food, clothing, toys and money to support the local chapters of the Salvation Army.
During this year’s event, California Giant employees greeted hundreds of locals in the community alongside TV Anchor Brittany Nielsen as they dropped off over 900 toys, hundreds of pounds of canned food, blankets, clothing and cash donations, according to a press release.
“The staff was proud to participate again and be part of such a positive program to support our local community. It was inspirational to see so many people come out to our cooler in Watsonville to donate and share in the spirit of giving,” says Bill Moncovich, President and CEO, California Giant Berry Farms.
Aside from sponsoring the drop location, California Giant also donated 100 toys for kids in need and 500 frozen turkeys to make sure each family had Christmas dinner.
In total, the event, which was held at five different locations, raised over $160,000, which is a 30% increase over last year’s record number. It also raised 10,704 pounds of non-perishable food, 1,753 pounds of clothes and 9,928 toys.
It’s always nice to see companies helping out a good cause, especially around the holidays. Great job, California Giant!
MONA, UT - Planting season is in full swing at Houweling’s Tomatoes' newly built greenhouse in the state of Utah. As Houweling’s first greenhouse operation in the state, the site excellently complements the grower's greenhouse facilities in Camarillo, CA and Delta, BC.
Chief Marketing Officer David Bell shared with ANUK his expectations for the 28 acre facility, one which he believes will allow Houweling’s to continue to grow its national footprint, portfolio and specialty and proprietary varieties.
“What we are most excited about is our ability to take what is already a successful pairing of programs in California Grown and BC Grown and bring this growth model into the Utah market,” he told ANUK, while elaborating on how Houweling’s extensive brand platform and evolving portfolio offer exciting possibilities for its retail partners.
The patented Ultra Clima semi-closed greenhouse design used at this facility gives Houweling’s the ability to optimize conditions effectively and efficiently, even during times of extreme variations in climate. Furthermore, the site's close proximity to a natural gas powerplant, Rocky Mountain Power, will allow Houweling’s to capitalize on the supply of traditionally wasted heat and CO2 available in the area. This gives Houweling’s the distinct advantage of enjoying power-saving, sustainable year-round growing.
The Utah location also offers Houweling’s exciting possibilities with respect to its continual push towards more sustainable farming practices. There already exists a robust growing economy in Utah concentrated around Salt Lake for the company to take advantage of. Together with strong demand for locally and regionally grown produce, the consumer culture Houweling’s will enjoy in the Beehive State meshes well with its focus on consumer education and sustainable growing.
With a concerted “Utah Grown” marketing effort, Houweling’s will be promoting the wide line of tomato varieties throughout the year, including:
- Specialty beef tomatoes
- Tomatoes on the Vine
- Proprietary Sweetoms grape tomato
- Cocktail tomatoes
- Roma tomatoes
With Houweling’s inaugural harvest expected to begin in early to mid February, business is busy in the company's Utah operations. There certainly seems to be plenty to be excited about, however. Congratulations on this latest expansion, Houweling’s!
NEWPORT, KY – Castellini Group of Companies is developing a 180,000 square-foot fresh-cut fruits and vegetables processing and product distribution center in Conley, Georgia. The company will invest $52 million into the project, which will create 300 jobs over the next few years.
“Our expansion in the Southeast will allow us to better serve current customers and continue our growth strategy by opening up new markets,” Castellini Group of Companies President/CEO Bill Schuler told AreaDevelopment.
The new facility will process and distribute product to wholesale, retail and food service customers on the East Coast. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that this new distribution center will allow Castellini to reach 80% of the U.S. market in a single day’s truck drive.
“By working together with the state of Georgia and Clayton County, we’re able to further grow our business while bringing much needed jobs and economic growth to the region. We appreciate all the assistance they’ve provided to help make this initiative a reality,” Schuler added.
Site preparation for the 180,000 square-foot facility has already begun. It is currently scheduled to open in September 2015.