NEWARK, DE - Next month’s PMA Fresh Summit Convention & Expo will host over 40 students from 13 universities as part of the PMA Foundation Career Pathways program.
These students will join more than 20,000 fresh produce and floral companies to learn more about the industry’s vast opportunities through a series of career panel discussions, educational workshops, and networking, according to a press release. For the first time this year, participants will embark on an industry tour hosted by Ready Pac Foods, Inc.
“Acquiring and sustaining talent is a significant issue in our industry,” said Tristan Simpson, Vice President of Corporate Communications. “It’s so important to invest time and effort into programs like this one, a program that can provide such valuable resources. We’re looking forward to welcoming the students, and I’m sure we’ll all make great connections.”
Julianne Crapps, Category Manager for Sysco, was a PMA Foundation Career Pathways participant in 2014. “The Career Pathways program gave me various career options upon graduation, which offered a strong start to my professional journey. It has also offered me various industry contacts that I remain in touch with today.”
The following schools will be represented:
- Arizona State University
- California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
- Cornell University
- Louisiana State University
- Michigan State University
- St. Joseph's University
- Texas A&M University
- University of Florida
- Pontificia Universidad Cátolica de Chile
- University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)
- University of Pretoria (South Africa)
- University of Queensland (Australia)
- University of Sydney (Australia)
This year’s Pack Career Pathways students can be identified by their “I AM THE FUTURE” ribbon. Be sure to introduce yourself and share your career path story with them.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation is the latest company to join the ‘Eat Brighter!’ initiative, the joint partnership between the PMA and Sesame Workshop. Sesame Street characters will appear on Procacci Brothers’ most popular tomato products, including Santa Sweets Authentic Grape tomatoes (organic and conventional) and UglyRipe Heirloom tomatoes, according to a press release. The new packaging will debut within the coming weeks.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to feature Elmo, Big Bird, and their Sesame Street friends on our products,” said 
Rick Feighery, Vice President of Sales. “Sesame Street continues to resonate as strongly as ever with children. We’re looking forward to working with our retail partners to use the program to work more fruits and vegetables into children’s diets.”
Frank Paone, Director of Marketing, echoed this statement, noting, “This great partnership has the potential to make eating healthy fruits and veggies more fun for kids, which will in turn establish the healthy and nutritional diets that kids need, especially during their crucial developmental periods.”
Childhood obesity was identified as the number one children’s health concern by parents across the United States, according to the National Poll on Children’s Health conducted by the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Over the last three decades, the childhood obesity rate has tripled.
“Kids are conditioned to think that fruits and veggies are healthy and to them healthy often means bland or bad tasting,” continued Paone. “The Sesame characters will provide an opportunity for suppliers like us to reach kids and open their eyes to the reality that fruits and veggies can be just as tasty as other snacks.”
It’s great to see companies like Procacci Brothers take the initiative to help increase produce consumption among kids. With this latest marketing push, we, as an industry, can help make a greater impact in the lives of children.
OAKLAND PARK, FL – International Cold Storage (ICS) will be moving into a new 2,600-pallet-position warehouse at the end of October. The move will allow ICS to meet its expanding operations base, which has grown by impressive margins over the recent past.
“ICS has been storing fresh produce for importers and growers since 2003, with a great emphasis on providing exceptional customer service. Now we’ll have an outstanding facility to go along with the outstanding customer service we have always provided,” shared company President and CEO, Joel Barthel. “Our business has grown dramatically, and with that, we need to be in a facility that will meet and exceed the increasing standards required to be a leader in our industry, whether those standards be in the area of food safety, efficiency or service. With this new building, ICS will be able to do just that.”
The new facility will have 12 receiving docks, 6 shipping docks, and a new inventory control system that will allow for real-time usage for customers. It will also give ICS the room it needs to grow in the future, something which Joel considers especially important in light of the expansions of the Panama Canal and the positive effect he expects it to have on the industry.
“As trade into this region increases, due to the expansion of the Panama Canal, we fully expect to see a surge in the need for first-class cold storage facilities,” he said.
According to a press release, during peak season, ICS plans to employ 40-60 workers, making it a valuable new member of the Oakland Park community.
Joel Barthel has 25 years of experience in the produce industry, holding a variety of positions in Accounting, IT, Logistics, and Produce Importation, before founding ICS in 2003. This experience gave him valuable insights into what it takes to have a successful and efficient logistics operation in the fresh produce industry.
“It all comes down to two things: efficient operations and exceptional customer service. You’ve got to do it better than everyone else does,” he said.
This experience formed the foundation for ICS and has facilitated the company's climb through the industry to the place of success it is currently enjoying.
Congratulations on the new facility, ICS!
WENATCHEE, WA - Columbia Marketing International (CMI) has been named a finalist for the 2014 PMA Impact Awards in Excellence in Packaging for its GoGo Fresh, single serve cherry packages.
“More and more consumers are shopping convenience stores looking for fresh fruit snacks,” shared Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing for CMI. “The conventional grocery store 2 lb. cherry bags are far too large for convenience stores so fresh cherries were rarely seen in this channel despite the fact that cherries are a high demand and high impulse product. The new CMI GoGo Fresh single serve bag really opened the convenience store channel for the first time.”
“Our consumer research showed that nutritional information and fiber content are important considerations for many consumers,” Lutz continued. “We used the new packaging to call out these benefits as well as highlight that our cherries are GMO free.”
“We look forward to an expanded roll out of the CMI single serve cherry packaging during the 2015 season,” he concluded.
Congratulations on the impressive accomplishment, CMI!
BERKELEY, CA - The private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC is closing in on a deal to acquire Grocery Outlet, according to inside sources from the Wall Street Journal. At this point, no word of the size of the deal has been reported, although the floor of any acquisition is expected to be north of $1.1 billion, the amount of the first round bids in Grocery Outlet's auction.
If Hellman & Friedman does close in a deal, one which the Wall Street Journal reports could be announced as soon as Monday, it will first have to beat out fellow private equity firms Bain Capital and Roark Capital Group, which both advanced to the second round of the auction after placing their initial bids.
Since its founding in 1940, Grocery Outlet has been providing shoppers with a full line of grocery products fresh produce, frozen, deli and refrigerated, fresh meat, general merchandise, health and beauty, and beer and wine. It currently has over 200 stores in California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any future updates on the Grocery Outlet and its potential suitors in this sale.
UNITED STATES – Salads are gaining ground on fast food sales, leading to increased menu presence.
Bloomberg reports that in an earnings call this month, Wendy’s Chief Executive, Emil Brolick, named salads among the things that helped boost its same store sales by 3.3% in the second quarter. In March, the burger chain added two salads to its permanent menu and is currently featuring a third summer salad entrée.
Though it is still a small category in overall fast food sales, both side salads and entrée salad sales are increasing. In the 12 months ending in May, national burger supplied almost 500 million orders with main or side salads. According to Wendy’s, the company’s main salad sales increased 5% in the 12 months ending in May.
Researcher NPD predicts that fast food salad consumption will continue to increase among millennials with entrée salads taking the lead, according to Bloomberg.
With this increase in salad sales and McDonald’s adding fresh fruits to happy meals, fresh produce continues to make its way to the fast food lane. I am very interested to see how far this trend might go.
PUERTO BARRIOS, GUATEMALA – Chiquita Brands International, Inc. celebrated the inauguration of the expanded and renovated port facilities at Terminal Ferroviaria de Puerto Barrios, Guatemala in a ceremony with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.
"For more than 100 years Puerto Barrios has been a strategic point of embarkation and entry for Chiquita and Guatemala," said Ed Lonergan, Chiquita's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are very grateful to the people of Guatemala and delighted to join with President Otto Pérez Molina whose participation has made this expansion possible. We are particularly excited about the enhanced levels of service to our Chiquita and Great White Fleet customers that will result from this investment in expanded capacity, and the economic opportunities that this will generate for the local community."
Through its Guatemalan subsidiary COBIGUA, Chiquita is the largest exporter of Guatemalan bananas and plantains, and one of the key customers of Puerto Barrios, according to a press release. Chiquita has more than 225 container vessel calls annually at the port, and the company imports and exports more than 125,000 containers of fresh fruit, refrigerated and dry cargo and other goods.
Chiquita’s Puerto Barrios is a leader in employee workplace safety. As of August 2014, the employees there celebrated their fifth one million work hours without a loss time incident or 1,767 days over the past five years without an employee injury.
"Sustainability and safety commitments such as this are embedded in Chiquita's Purpose and Core Values. Puerto Barrios is an elite Chiquita team and demonstrates our commitment to safeguard the health and safety of our employees. Our target is zero occupational health and safety incidents in our operations and we congratulate Puerto Barrios on their achievement," added Lonergan.
Congratulations on this new expansion!
LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Keeping in line with the Rosh Hashanah tradition of trying a new fruit to celebrate the “new year,” Frieda’s Specialty Produce is encouraging retailers and foodservice to stock up on specialty fruits.
“We are ecstatic to hear that during Rosh Hashanah our clients who serve the Jewish communities see a definite uptick in their produce sales, especially in fruits,” said Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s. “Early fall is a great time for tropical fruits, and we have a great supply of Baby Kiwifruit, Rambutan, Asian Pear, Dragon Fruit, Red Cactus Pear, Carob Pod, and Jackfruit.”
In a press release, Caplan also recommended cross-merchandising Organic Heirloom Apples with honey in the produce department to keep in line with the tradition of dipping apples in honey for a sweet new year.
In addition to new fruits, the traditional Medjool Dates, Raisins on the Vine, Pomegranates and Pomegranate Arils are also in demand.
Rosh Hashanah, a celebration of the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on September 24 and ends on the evening of September 26.
BAKERSFIELD, CA - Sun World is planning to introduce two new proprietary grape varieties in 2015. These new varieties include an ultra early black seedless grape that will be the earliest grape to be harvested out of California, and a mid-season red seedless grape that will be an incredible alternative to some of the varieties in the marketplace during the domestic grape season.
Gordon Robertson, Sun World's 
Executive VP of Sales and Marketing, tells AndNowUKnow, “These new varieties, along with our recently introduced late season AutumnCrisp® and Adora Seedless® brand grapes, are part of a very aggressive growth strategy we have put into place to almost double our volume in the next two to five years to provide our customers with a consistent supply of proprietary varieties for the entire domestic grape season beginning June through December.”
Speaking on the current season, Gordon tells us that though warm temperatures are still pushing harvest times up, quality continues to be exceptional on the company’s grapes this year and he expects nothing less for its late season varieties. Demand remains strong in all markets, particularly overseas which is bringing up pricing.
Sun World currently has availabilities on all three colors of grapes. Black Seedless Midnight Beauty® brand grapes are available in promotional volumes through September with large, elongated berries, high brix, and full black color; AutumnCrisp® green grapes started harvest last week with availability running through November; and late season red Scarlotta Seedless® will begin harvest on September 15. Also newly introduced this year is the company’s late season Adora Seedless® brand grapes known for their incredible size and sweet flavor.
“Sun World has increased supplies on mid/late season varieties of green and black grapes such as AutumnCrisp®, Autumn King, Adora, and Autumn Royal, to market with Scarlotta Seedless® and meet customer demand for all three colors of grapes,” Gordon tells us.
Sun World offers a wide variety of retail support to generate excitement and share the unique story behind its branded grape varieties. These include POS signage, merchandising bins, ad romance copy and photography, as well as social media support.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue our coverage on Sun World’s latest!
TEWKSBURY, MA - After months of controversy and empty shelves, Market Basket has made a dramatic turnaround with Arthur T. Demoulas back at the helm.
According to the Boston Globe, a day-and-night restocking initiative which Demoulas enacted as soon as he was reinstated has resulted in 2.3 million cases of beef, poultry, and seafood and 1.65 million cases of nonperishables being shipped in just seven days. Friday alone saw 88 tractor-trailers stocked with produce pull up into stores across New England.
“Sales are already at 100 percent of where they were last year,” Arthur T. shared. “Bakery, produce, and meat are mostly in. Everyone just got to it and worked as hard as they could.”
With these successes under its wing, what's next for Market Basket?
Demoulas says his first priority will be to stabilize Market Basket's finances and finalize the $1.6 billion purchase of shares with the rival side of his family led by Arthur S. Demoulas. There is also the matter of paying off the $1.3 billion worth of debt that will be incurred in this transaction, a burden which Demoulas has acknowledged could limit the rate of Market Basket's expansion in coming years.
Despite the challenges, Arthur T. Demoulas remains committed to the core of Market Basket's business, especially the discount pricing model that has won the retailer the many successes it has so far enjoyed.
“Every retailer has to stand for something,” Demoulas said. “We’re very much grounded in the basic philosophy of driving the ‘more for your dollar’ business model. That’s really something we live by every day.”
“We keep it as simple as possible for people,” he continued. “We keep costs low and quality high. We keep the stores clean and offer service with a smile. And if at the end of the day you have some success, then you share that with the associates.”
With regards to that profit sharing plan, an annual expense in the range of tens of millions of dollars, Demoulas told the Boston Globe that he was “unwavering” in his commitment to keep the program in place.
“We don’t anticipate that any of that will change,” he said. “We’re committed to the profit sharing plan that’s been in place now since 1963.”
That unwavering commitment to the well-being of his employees is why Market Basket's employees spent the many long days of summer protesting Arthur T.'s firing. It is a humbling and heart-warming sight to see him return that loyalty which his employees have always invested in him and his family's business.
Congratulations on the September successes, Market Basket!