McFARLAND, CA – Highway 99 is pegged to be the latest home to a summer promotion as Sunlight International announced plans that it will be taking its Pretty Lady brand grapes on a West Coast road tour. Starting in Fresno, CA, it will be traveling north through California into Sacramento, in order to promote its POS campaign and delicious new Green Emerald seedless grapes.
Sunlight International wants retailers and consumers to get excited about its summer grape offerings and thinks that this opportunity is the perfect way to get its brand name out there. The grapes are a great product and also come with unique full-graphic bins predesigned to complement the display-ready grape colander bags.
“Our bins make it easy for retailers to build impactful displays and drive consumer sales,” says Nick Dulcich, President of Sunlight International. “Promoting our brands and utilizing our own displays at events like the Fresno Food Expo and California State Fair is a fun way to interact with consumers and retailers and we are excited to show off our Pretty Lady For Summer in the Sacramento and Central Valley.”
In Fresno, Sunlight International will be running a booth at the Fresno Food Expo, juicing grapes on site for attendees to sample. By the next Saturday, it will be in Sacramento where Sunlight International will be participating in the California's Kitchen's ‘In the Raw exhibit’ at the California State Fair.
According to a press release, Sunlight International features varieties under the Pretty Lady for Summer brand during summer months, but since they offer their grapes from June through December they use Pretty Lady, Harvest Hobgoblin, Green Emerald, Pretty Lady for the Holiday, as well as other various brands the rest of the year.
ST. PAUL, MN – Although no direct link between Applebee's fresh produce and the recent E. coli outbreak has been conclusively proven, Applebee's is taking important steps to ensure the safety of its customers in the Minnesota region. Since the first episode was reported, 15 cases of E. coli have been identified, 12 of which can be traced to patrons who frequented an Applebee's between June 23rd and June 29th before becoming sick.
Applebee's decided to take a proactive approach, pulling green cabbage, shredded carrots, almonds, and the rice noodles as well as its Oriental Chicken Salad from menus in the region. According to the Monticello Times, only after consulting with Minnesota Department of Health officials did Applebee's decide to reintroduce these items to its menus late last week.
Applebee's says that it plans on cooperating fully with the investigation so as to ensure the health and safety of its customers for the future.
MONTEREY, CA - This Saturday, PMA Foodservice goers will have the opportunity to listen to an important discussion on marketing and social responsibility led by Steve Gill of Gills Onions and Dan Hermstad of Jacobs Farm. Together with Corinne Asturias from the research firm CEB Iconoculture, and Jane Frank from SCS Global Services, they will be discussing how businesses can best connect with a consumer base which is placing increasing importance on the environment and social responsibility.
“Consumers today want more information about how their products are made to make sure the practices of producers and brands align with their own values,” says Asturias. “Mentally they have moved from shareholder in a brand to stakeholder.”
Gills Onions is a shining star for these types of modern consumers, having developed the facilities to turn the waste products from their processing plant into electricity as far back as 2009.
“Gills Onions is committed to continuous process improvement in all areas of sustainability as we enter the second decade of the century,” Gill shares on Gill Onions' website. “Achieving zero waste, improving water conservation, and even developing effective nutraceuticals from onion waste are all achievable goals in the near term. We’re excited about our future.”
For his part, Dan Hermstad plans on sharing the philosophy and practices of Jacobs Farm, a grower which has been leading the way in social responsibility initiatives for the last 30 years.
“Fair trade certification, direct trade and all things related to social responsibility are the latest buzz and we think it’s important to share our story,” says Hermstad. “We’ve created 3 different farmer cooperatives in Baja California and multiple other farmer businesses to produce high quality, organic food that is safe for consumers as well as the people who grow it.”
The group will be giving their talk on Saturday, July 26th at the PMA Food Conference. According to a press release, the Conference will also feature other talks on a variety of subjects close to the industry, including global flavor trends, food safety and big data. Check out PMA's website for more information on this and other Conference events.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Roundy’s is officially exiting the Twin Cities market with the closure of its 9 remaining Rainbow stores.
Until this point, Roundy’s was still looking for buyers for these last remaining stores. However, James Hyland, a spokesman for Milwaukee-based Roundy's, confirmed Monday that "the last public shopping day for the nine stores not in the sales agreement will be tomorrow, July 22, 2014," according to the TwinCities.com Pioneer Press. Hyland added, "There were no buyers, so the stores are being closed."
This news comes after Roundy’s sold 18 Rainbow stores to a group of local grocery retailers, including Supervalu, in a $65 million deal in attempts to fully exit the Minneapolis/St. Paul market. To read more on this story, click here for our previous article.
Though no buyers have shown interest yet, supermarket analyst David Livingston believes that the closure could possibly lead to nonunion grocers looking into the properties, according to the Pioneer Press.
“They have union contracts, and if a nonunion operator wants to take time over, they need to be closed for a certain period of time to break the union contract,” said Livingston. “So maybe a nonunion operator is going to buy them, but they just can’t do it yet.”
Supervalu has already started its conversion of the 18 Rainbow stores that it acquired from Roundy's last May. 10 of the 18 locations are converting to Cub Food stores and two others into Byerly's. The final 6 locations will remain Rainbow stores. For more information on the conversion, check out our previous article by clicking here.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see if any buyers show interest in the properties. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for further updates.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Target is getting set to make company history on Sunday with the opening of its first ever TargetExpress.
The scaled-down store is in the University of Minnesota’s Dinkytown neighborhood. The Minnesota Daily reports that the new store is only 20,000 square-feet and will carry roughly one-fifth of what a normal Target stores does, including school supplies, groceries, household items, home décor, cosmetics, health and pharmacy items and a small electronics section.
“This is our backyard; it’s very close to headquarters,” said Karl Anderson, the Dinkytown store’s team leader.
Prices will be similar to local Target stores but comparatively priced to competitors in the campus area. Anderson adds that this TargetExpress store aims to relieve University students from a scarcity of grocery near campus by offering fresh produce, meat, deli, bakery, frozen foods and dry food items.
“The biggest thing we learned … is that students were telling us there’s nowhere to get fresh produce,” Anderson said. “Dinkytown is sort of a desert for that.”
About 85% of the store staff is made up of college students.
For a look back at the conception of this new TargetExpress, check out our previous article by clicking here.
With Target joining other retailers in small format stores, which retailer might be next? Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue following this trend.
ALMA, GA – Naturipe Farms LLC, a partnership between MBG Marketing, Hortifrut SA, Naturipe Berry Growers and Munger Farms, has opened the largest berry processing facility in the Southeastern United States in Alma, Georgia.
“The Alma Facility will enhance our ability to quickly process berries for our growers in Georgia and Florida and will serve as a back-up facility to our growers in our other regions,” said Larry Ensfield, COO of MBG Marketing.
“This new facility is over 73,000 square feet, with a capacity of 18,000 pounds per hour, making it the largest blueberry IQF facility in the Southeast USA. We are using the latest technologies to sort, wash and then freeze the berries in a state-of-the-art IQF tunnel. Here, the berries are individually frozen to -10°F in less than 6 minutes to preserve the flavor, nutrients, color and integrity of the blueberries. Additional inspections and sorting takes place before they are packed into bulk containers for foodservice and ingredient buyers or poly bags for retail consumers packs.”
This new facility also contains a large fresh blueberry distribution center to service the Naturipe Farms customer base across North America, according to a press release. The current capacity of the facility is for more than 10 million pounds of fresh berries with room to expand.
MBG Marketing held a grand opening ceremony for the new facility. Over 250 people attended with grower-members, business and community leaders, and local and state dignitaries including Peggy Murphy, Mayor of Alma and Georgia State House Representative Chad Nimmer, according to a press release. Bob Hawk, MBG President and CEO, proudly said at the event, "From the start of MBG on November 2, 1936 to today ... We have come a long way!"
Don Wade, a retired grower-member who was one of a small number of growers in the initial co-op meeting in 1983, spoke at the grand opening as well and said, “we started with just a couple of acres and now there are over 22,000 acres of blueberries planted in the state.”
The expansion of MBG’s fresh and value-added processing capabilities will continue to enable Naturipe Farms to help satisfy the needs of a growing market, demanding buyers, and improve returns for their growers.
Congratulations on the new facility!
UNITED STATES - Despite recent reports of a world-wide kale shortage caused by skyrocketing demand, growers aren't so sure that there is need for alarm. While suppliers who spoke with AndNowUKnow reporters did acknowledge that demand was up considerably compared to last year, all seemed confident that they would not have trouble keeping up.
One grower who spoke with ANUK noted that “kale has definitely been on tear the last two years, but we have never had a problem keeping pace with demand due to increased acreage and the multiple harvests for the plant.”
These statements stand in stark contrast to reports published on ABC News this previous Saturday. ABC quoted Tony Hubbard, an executive from Netherlands based grower Bejo Seeds as saying “You could describe it as embarrassing to us, but it's just one of those things that's happened on a global basis...[the shortage] caught us out well and truly, we put our hands up to that.”
ABC discussed at some length how much demand for this leafy superfood has grown over the years. Brad Gorman, the Director of Cole's Fresh Produce Division, explained that "Kale's growth has been off the charts. It is by far our fastest growing product. Kale's been around for three years and for a product to be growing at this rate after that amount of time I think is almost unprecedented."
On this matter, AndNowUKnow found broad agreement within the industry. But when it came to speculation over shortages in supply, growers expressed skepticism.
“We foresee no issue keeping up with demand in the coming months,” was the almost universal response.
Especially for a crop experiencing as much growth as kale, that kind of confidence is reassuring.
BAKERSFIELD, CA – Sun World is partnering together this summer with Farm Star Living to launch their “Make It a Sun World Summer!” sweepstakes. The sweepstakes offers Sun World an excellent opportunity to increase awareness about the importance of incorporating fresh produce like their grape varieties into the healthy lifestyle Farm Star Living champions.
“Farm Star Living’s focus on fresh healthy foods from the farm makes it a natural fit for our brand, and with its rapid audience growth since launching, we believe the site and Mary Blackmon are fast becoming influential amongst consumers,” said Sun World's Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Gordon Robertson.
Farm Star Living echoed Robertson's enthusiasm over the announced partnership, raving about how the quality of Sun World's grapes would fit in perfectly with their farm fresh foods and farm-to-table food movement.
“We are thrilled to have Sun World onboard as Farm Star Living’s exclusive grape sponsor. You truly can taste the difference in their grape varieties and we’re excited to help educate consumers about that difference,” Farm Star Living Founder Mary Blackmon said.
Five lucky winners of the “Make It a Sun World Summer!”contest will take home a three month supply of sun world grapes. The grand prize winner will receive a Villy's Custom Beach Cruiser.
“The sweepstakes and our partnership with Farm Star Living are part of our broader efforts to engage with consumers digitally in order to promote grapes as a sweet, yet healthy snack option, to educate consumers on other exciting and delicious ways they can incorporate grapes into their meals, and ultimately elevate awareness and affinity for Sun World and our grape varietal brands,” explained Robertson.
Those wanting to learn more can visit Farm Star Living's website for more information and instructions on how to enter. According to a press release, entries are welcomed any time between today and August 31st, 2014. Sun World and Farm Star Living plan on aggressively promoting this sweepstakes through their websites and social media throughout the summer.
KINGSVILLE, ON – Mastronardi Produce’s SUNSET® has been chosen as the new official sponsor of the Leamington Tomato Festival.
The festival, which started as the Heinz company picnic, has evolved over the past 31 years into the iconic community festival it is today. The new partnership begins August 15th with the inaugural Leamington SUNSET® Tomato Fest.
“The Mastronardi family has called Leamington home for 5 generations,” commented Mike Ciacelli, Director of the Leamington Tomato Fest. “They’re now leading the tomato industry in North America and we couldn’t be more proud to have them as our sponsor. With the recent closure of Heinz, this is definitely positive news.”
SUNSET® CEO Paul Mastronardi, a Leamington native, knows how the Heinz closure is affecting the community. “My grandfather worked for Heinz for a number of years and many of our employees have close ties to the company. Leamington is a small but strong community and we want to show our support in any way we can.”
Every summer, Leamington residents and members of the surrounding communities get together to celebrate the local tomato harvest with live entertainment, a tomato stomp and many family friendly activities, according to a press release.
Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET® has been celebrating its small town roots this year in honor of its 60th anniversary as a greenhouse company. The company has grown from one small greenhouse to one of the leading greenhouse companies supplying fresh produce around the globe.
“My great grandfather emigrated from Italy back in the 1920s looking for a better life,” continued Mastronardi. “Leamington has been my family’s home since then and has provided us with a world of opportunity. It’s a great place to live and this is just a small way we can continue giving back to our community and our family.”
This year’s Leamington SUNSET® Tomato Festival will be held August 15-17 at Seacliff Park. For more information, click here.
INDIA – Indian scientists have successfully created a seedless mango with a rich, sweet and distinctive flavor.
“We have developed a seedless mango variety from hybrids of mango varieties Ratna and Alphonso,” V.B. Patel, Chairman of the Horticulture Department at the Bihar Agriculture University (BAU) at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, told IANS.
The fruit weighs 200 grams and its pulp has less fiber than other mango varieties.
“We are happy and enthusiastic as well as confident and hopeful of improving the seedless mango variety,” Patel added.
India Today reports that the new variety is called Sindhu, and trials are underway at different locations throughout the country. Early trials were developed at the regional fruit research station of the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Maharashtra’s Konkan region and showed good fruiting on a three-year-old plant this year with fruit maturing in the middle of July.
BAU Vice Chancellor M.L. Choudhary said that the university has, on an experimental basis, agreed to recreate plants of this variety to make them available to Bihar’s mango growers during the next season, according to India Today.
“The seedless variety also has good export potential. The university would provide quality plants to mango growers in 2015 to exploit the export market,” he added.
According to India’s National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Bihar is third in mango cultivation and covers about half of the total fruit area in the state and produced 1.5 million tons of fruit last year.
For now, we will have to wait and see what impact this new variety might have on the export markets.