IMMOKALEE, FL – Lipman Produce has received the Pillar of the Community Award at the 2014 Excellence in Industry Awards.
The Partnership for Collier’s Future Economy™ and The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce presented the award, which recognizes corporate and individual distinction in making Collier County the best place to live and do business, according to a press release.
“Service is part of our culture, and Lipman is honored to be recognized for our work and commitment to Collier County,” said Jaime Weisinger, Community Relations Director at Lipman. “It’s very rewarding to make a positive difference in the lives of our neighbors and employees.”
Lipman has supported numerous events that give back to Collier County through education since the company’s founding. Every year, the company sponsors a Golf Classic that benefits the Redlands Christian Migrant Association’s three charter schools and 70 child-care centers, according to a press release.
The company also organizes an annual backpack and school supply drive that benefits local children and has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to area high school and college students.
Congratulations on the award, Lipman!
ORLANDO, FL - The controversy surrounding Darden Restaurant's Board of Directors continues with a lawsuit by the Teamsters Local 443 Health Services & Insurance Plan of Connecticut. According to Business Insider, the lawsuit claims that the Board misled shareholders during the sale of Red Lobster, painting a far more dire picture of the chain than was supported by the facts.
"The Board had very different, self-interested incentives when it downplayed Red Lobster's performance to Darden's shareholders," the lawsuit read, according to CNBC. "The Board knew at all relevant times that it was selling Red Lobster at an artificially low price to protect the Board members' directorships."
As proof of these claims, the Teamsters cite a confidential debt offering document obtained by CNBC which stated, “The management team believes that each of these issues are temporary in nature, correctable, and that they have plans in place to return the business to historic levels of profitability."
"The Board sought to justify the rushed sale of Red Lobster by telling stockholders that the restaurant chain's recent poor performance was due to intractable structural problems that would inevitably result in worsening performance in the coming quarters and years," the suit argues. "The Board knew that Red Lobster's debt offering documents, functioning as a loan application, would be subject to rigorous scrutiny and due diligence by potential lenders."
This matter is complicated by the ongoing feud between Darden's Board of Directors and one of the company's major stakeholders, Starboard Value LP. Arguing that the current Board is ill equipped to run Darden, Starboard has criticized everything from the Board's Red Lobster sale to Olive Garden's policy against putting salt in its pasta water.
Starboard, which owns an 8.8% stake in Darden Restaurants, according to the Wall Street Journal, has proposed its own set of nominees for Darden's Board. In recent news, the Proxy-advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co has joined Starboard in calling on shareholders to vote in these new directors, who include industry veterans and executives from Burger King, Romano's Macaroni Grill, and even Brad Blum, Olive Garden's former President.
Darden has so far resisted these proposed changes, stating, "We believe these decisions are best made by an independent board that is comprised of directors who represent the interests of all Darden shareholders, not just Starboard's interests.”
With so much controversy swirling around Darden, what will happen in the future remains an open question. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates on Darden Restaurants.
EDISON, CA - Giumarra Vineyards is in the midst of another busy season with overall volume up over last year. While there is talk that the total table grape industry will not hit the 115 million box number which analysts originally estimated, Giumarra Vineyards is expected to finish with more boxes than last year. The grower attributes this success mostly due to new plantings and higher-yielding varieties.
“Each year our product mix is changing with more varieties filling shorter windows,” Randy Giumarra, Vice President of Sales, shared with me. “The goal is to provide consumers with beautiful grapes that were recently harvested so they are fresh and really flavorful, and that will last when they take them home. We want them to have a great experience every time so that grapes remain a staple on their shopping list.”
Replacing a significant amount of Thompsons with the new Sweeties variety has been a big win for Giumarra Vineyards. One reason Sweeties have been such a big hit with retailers and their customers is because the grape has a wonderful sugar-to-acid balance, giving consumers the sweetness they crave but with exceptional flavor and crispiness, too.
“It seems so simple, but that combination isn’t easy to achieve in a table grape,” Randy continued.
Growers from around the world have realized this is a special variety and Sweeties have now been planted globally, with the first Peruvian and Chilean production set to arrive to Giumarra this November through January.
Last month, Giumarra hosted over 300 growers from around the world to come see the Sweeties and other varieties in the ARRA breeding program.
“In addition to the Sweeties, the overwhelming response has been for the ARRA 29, a beautiful early red variety that comes at the same time as Flames,” he said.
The ARRA 28, a late red, the ARRA 32, a mid-late black, and some of the high-flavor varieties also received high marks. These new varieties are changing the complexion of what is being offered from Giumarra Vineyards in California and from the Giumarra International import program.
“We are well on our way to supplying our retail partners with a continuous program of these varieties from California, Peru, Chile and Mexico,” Randy said. “It’s an exciting time to be in our business.”
Giumarra Vineyards will have these varieties on display at Booth #683 for visitors to see and taste.
CANADA - Loblaw is launching a pilot grocery drive-through service that will allow customers to order online and then pick up their orders without leaving their cars. The retailer's Richmond Hill location will be the first to offer the new service.
“The service is not yet available to the public, but we’re excited by the prospect of offering busy customers another option to complete their shopping, saving considerable time in the process,” said Loblaw spokesperson Kevin Groh.
This new click & collect system is different from the AmazonFresh model of grocery delivery. Loblaw customers would still make their purchases online, but then they would need to go to a brick-and-mortar location to pick up their orders. The new drive-through service will add an extra level of convenience to the service for shoppers while saving money for the retailer by eliminating the delivery costs.
The Toronto Star reports that Loblaw is advertising to fill contract positions that include personal shoppers and also for someone to manage a team of personal shoppers. The job description on the company’s website says that personal shoppers will be expected to shop in-store for customers with the “care and attention as though you were shopping for your own groceries, ensuring product is chosen quickly and accurately. You will further enhance the customer experience by providing carry-out service for our Click & Collect customers.”
Assuming the trials go well, the online shopping program could be rolled out to more than 1,200 Loblaw stores.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest in grocery innovations like this one.
SONORA, MEXICO - Giumarra Borquez has announced that its Fair Trade Certified growing partner, Campos Borquez, has completed the construction of its new dental and optometry centers in Obregón, Sonora, Mexico.
“We view the care of our coworkers, their families, and our neighboring communities with utmost importance,” says Pablo Borquez Almada, President of Campos Borquez. “Our community involvement is as vital to us as providing high quality products to our customers.”
For more on Giumarra Borquez and Pablo Borquez's community work, check out this video here:
According to a press release, the new facilities were built adjacent to Campos Borquez's existing employee health care center. Farm worker community development funds from Giumarra Borquez’s participation in the Fair Trade program were used to finance the construction of this project and will also be utilized in its operation.
This is yet another success for the partnership between Giumarra and Campos Borquez. Their vertically-integrated operation grows, packs, and distributes asparagus throughout the North American market. The asparagus is packed under the Nature’s Partner label, and may also be marketed as Fair Trade Certified.
“As our partnership continues to grow, we are thrilled to be a part of the achievements of Pablo Borquez and his family, including becoming the first asparagus grower in the world to be certified by Fair Trade USA in 2012,” says Bruce Dowhan, Vice President and General Manager of Giumarra Borquez. “Pablo has been working to better his community since the early 1990s, and we expect to see more employee-voted improvements with the continued growth of the Fair Trade program.”
Giumarra Borquez says that it will begin shipping its Fall asparagus crop in October and is expecting significant increases in volume. Word out of the company is that there will be plenty of supply to support promotions for Fair Trade and the upcoming holiday season.
Congratulations on the new facility, Campos Borquez!
IRELAND - The 2014 Google Science Fair has announced its winners, Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow, three 16 year old Irish students who showed that the nitrogen-fixing bacteria, diazatrophic rhizobia, could increase the yields of traditionally low-yield crops. By introducing this bacteria to over 10,000 seeds used to grow cereal grains, germination time was cut in half and drymass yields shot up 74% over average.
Could this crop yield breakthrough be expanded into the fruits and vegetables cultivated in the produce industry?
“These results have significant potential for increasing yields of food crops and reducing losses due to adverse weather conditions,” the girls shared in their Google Fair submission, according to Inhabitat. “They also offer opportunities for reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture by reducing fertilizer usage. As demand for cereals increases with population growth, this discovery could act as a partial solution to the impending food poverty crisis. There is potential for future work in this area and we plan to investigate the biochemical mechanism involved and carry out more extensive field trials.”
Check out the entry video of these aspiring scientists to find out more about their project:
This is certainly an impressive acheivement for three 16 year olds. So far, the experiments have been limited to just cereal grains, but I'd be interested in seeing if it would be possible for it to be incorporated into the growing techniques used in the fresh produce industry.
According to Inhabitat, Ciara, Émer, and Sophie are not unaccustomed to honors from the science community. They won first place in a national science competition in 2013 and represented Ireland in the European Contest for Young Scientists in September 2013, winning top honors there again.
As the winners of the Google Science Fair, the three will receive a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands courtesy of National Geographic, a $50,000 scholarship from Google, and other prizes from LEGO Education and the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in the Mojave desert.
Congratulations on this very impressive achievement, Ciara, Émer, and Sophie!
CALIFORNIA and TEXAS – Much needed September rain has made its way to California and Texas, both of which have been experiencing severe drought conditions.
For California, a Pacific storm is bringing significant rainfall by pulling in a narrow plume of deep moisture from the tropics. Weather.com reports that 1-3 inches of rainfall totals were common in northwest California and much of the Pacific Northwest last night and into this morning.
Wednesday was the wettest September day on record in Eureka, California. The 2.59 inches of rain that fell topped the longstanding record from September 11, 1895. Rainfall rates of 1-2 inches in three hours led to a flood advisory early this morning for the northern Sacramento Valley.
Ryan Walbrun from the National Weather Service predicts the strongest rain Thursday morning then waning down through the day and into Friday. Though, this rainfall isn’t expected to impact California’s drought conditions, it is definitely spurring optimism that a rainy winter could be on the way.
For Texas, however, heavy rain is improving drought conditions in that state. This rain is the latest in a string of wet weather to come after the remnants of hurricane Odile brought much needed moisture to the Lone Star State.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that 48% of Texas is now out of drought conditions. That number is up from 43% last week, according to the Associated Press.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track weather patterns that affect the industry.
IRELAND - TOMRA Sorting is investing approximately €2.1 million ($2.6 million U.S.) in a new state-of-the-art research and development facility in Citywest, Dublin. The 3,500 square meter facility, which opened September 25th, features an office, workshop and demonstration space, as well as a peeling process development lab, an advanced optics lab, and a sorting test facility.
Over 70 people were in attendance during the official ribbon cutting ceremony, which kicked off a tour of the facility as well as a demonstration of TOMRA’s new sorting machines. The equipment in action included the FPS field potato sorter for unwashed potatoes and the high capacity Bulk Size Grader for carrots, onions, and potatoes showcasing the latest in sensor based technologies, according to a press release.
Minister Damien English, the Minister of State for Skills, Research & Innovation, performed the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Dr. Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of TOMRA Sorting, and Maurice Moynihan, local Managing Director and Market Director of TOMRA Sorting Food. Speaking at the launch of the facility, English praised the investment by the company as “a vote of confidence in Ireland and its skilled workforce.”
Dr. Rehrmann echoed this statement, noting, “Our investment in the new facility will enable the Dublin team to concentrate on developing innovative solutions for the global food industry and continue to set TOMRA aside as the market leader in sensor based sorting solutions. TOMRA is also committed to providing a truly great place to work for all our 2,400 employees worldwide.”
Dermot Clohessy, Executive Director, IDA Ireland, said that the facility is a welcome boost to Ireland’s technology and innovation ecosystem. “It provides further evidence that Ireland is a highly attractive location to carry out sophisticated research and development initiatives,” he said. “IDA Ireland looks forward to continuing to work closely and support TOMRA in the future.”
Congrats on the opening of this new facility, TOMRA!
COACHELLA, CA - Prime Time International is welcoming Bill Spidell to the company’s sales team in Coachella, CA. Bill is making a comeback to the Coachella Valley, where he previously worked in fresh produce sales for twelve years, according to a press release. Prior to joining Prime Time, Bill worked with Dulcinea Farms in Ladera Ranch, CA for five years, as well as Richard Bagdasarian in Mecca and Sun World in Coachella.
“Bill is someone we have known and respected for many years,” said Jeff Taylor, Managing Member of Prime Time. “He is familiar with our product mix and has fit in nicely with our existing marketing team.”
Speaking on his new position at Prime Time, Bill commented, “Coming to Prime Time gives me the opportunity to work for a unique and successful company and to provide outstanding service to a stellar list of business partners.”
Bill is an Oregon State University graduate, and currently resides with his wife, Nancy, in Palm Desert.
Congratulations on joining Prime Time, Bill!
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Garden Cut, a brand of Indianapolis Fruit Company, has launched a new branding and label design for its pre-cut and ready-to-use products in retail stores. A new “To Go Snack” line of produce-based products was also released during the launch.
“We are responding to the growing business segment of fresh-cut, more convenient product,” said Indianapolis Fruit Company (IFC) Owner, Mike Mascari. “By updating our brand labeling and packaging, we have made Garden Cut product easier to locate in a store’s produce department and in more convenient portion sizes for consumer use.”
Mascari also noted that the pre-cut product is also designed for consumers who want to incorporate fresh produce into their cooking and diet without the prep time.
“The new To Go Snack offering is especially popular in convenience stores,” said John Cunningham, Director of Sales/Marketing. “We are happy to offer a fresh and healthier alternative in these locations, from a brand that the consumer can recognize and trust.”
Garden Cut reviewed current market trends and many designs before settling on the new brand identification. These product offerings have been updated to streamline efficiencies in the packaging lines.
Antonia Mascari, IFC Marketing Manager says, “Brighter brand colors make the packaging more attractive while still showing the high quality of the produce product. We moved away from our previous green branding coloration because it could not be seen against green produce. The new purple and yellow brand colors make it easier to identify Garden Cut at the store level.”
The newly branded Garden Cut products will be sold throughout the Midwest in hundreds of grocery stores, according to a press release.