RIVERSIDE, CA - Polymer Logistics is looking to bring big changes to produce aisles across America with the release of the world's first Wood Effect plastic crates. These foldable, stackable crates are made of simulated wood and combine the fresh look and feel of traditional wooden crates with the immense advantages of Retail-Ready Packaging, such as the "active-lock" mechanisms.
"If retailers truly want to offer their customers that market fresh look then they need to find an alternative to the generic plastic crate that is prevalent in every retail Produce aisle," stated Adrian Dale, Managing Director Polymer Logistics UK. "Here at Polymer we believe that this represents a major breakthrough in terms of store enhancements and are confident that if retailers invest in the Wood Effect crate they will see a major uplift in sales."
The fresh produce aisle is a major focus of retailers looking to improve their establishments because retailers are increasingly recognizing the strong connection between the perception of freshness and locally-grown products and sales growth. Before now, retailers were forced to choose between costly traditional wooden crates and artificial, tired looking plastic crates.
Polymer's new Wood Effect Crates allows retailers the best of both worlds, keeping the farm-fresh look of wooden crates without the hygiene and cost issues actual wood crates pose.
According to a press release, the Wood Effect crates were named as a finalist for the United Fresh Produce Associations 2014 New Product Awards.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Nature Fresh Farms and the popular blog, The Produce Mom, are kicking off bell pepper season with their Pepper Pinathon Pinterest contest. Nature Fresh bell pepper lovers can pin their favorite bell pepper recipes to put them in the running for a range of exciting prizes.
“Consumers really enjoy participating in events like this. They benefit from gaining new recipes and other information straight from the industry experts. I’m excited to focus a Pinterest contest specifically on peppers, which are at the peak of their growing season,” said Lori Taylor, The Produce Mom.
Nature Fresh hopes that the contest will spread awareness about the versatility and quality of their pepper products which were awarded Best Overall Pepper and Best Orange Bell Pepper at the 8th annual Perfect Pepper Competition.
“It’s a perfect time to promote our peppers,” said Andrea Quiring, Marketing and Social Media Director at Nature Fresh Farms. “Our peppers are in full production and our growers and staff continue to work hard at producing the finest greenhouse products. We hope that consumers will engage in the contest and use the pepper recipes we have provided.”
Anyone interested in participating in the Pepper Pinathon Pinterest contest can visit the Produce Mom's website for full instructions.
Nature Fresh Farms
WENATCHEE, WA - CMI is reaching out to convenience store shoppers on the go with its appropriately named "Go-Go Fresh" fixed-weight mini cherry packages. The easy-to-carry bags naturally draw the sight of the busy customers who frequent convenience stores with their bright, bold color schemes and see-through packaging highlighting the cherries inside.
“We have been consistently hearing from consumers and customers that they really want convenient, on-the-go snack products for smaller format stores,” said Katharine Grove, of CMI. “We developed Go-Go Fresh cherries to directly target the convenience store channel to appeal to consumers looking for healthy food choices,” said Grove.
Extensive customer testing showed that customers who frequent convenience stores are hungry for a fresh, healthy option. According to a press release, they were particularly drawn to labeling highlighting “GMO free”, “Low-calories”, and “Fat-Free” snack options, buzzwords which a focus panel made up of consumers and retailers admitted would be likely to spur impulse purchasing. These key words will feature prominently on the front of Go-Go Fresh packages.
“Our convenience store test partners are eager to start the Go-Go Fresh program. They have been involved in the planning process, and are confident that it will be a great success,” said Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing at CMI. “Retail partners involved in this test were thrilled about the program knowing that it had been pre-tested in focus groups,” said Lutz.”
For now the cherry pouches will only be available in select stores throughout July as part of CMI's final phase of the product testing process. Based on the response, CMI plans to refine the pouches so as to have them ready for a national release next year.
Go-Go Fresh Cherry Pouches will be sold at $1.99 for one bag, or two for $3.00.
If you’re an iPhone or Android user and you find yourself making phone calls with hard-to-remember extensions or conference room codes, there’s an easier way to dial those contacts. You can save the extension or passcode to a new or existing contact. Here’s a quick and easy tip to simplify your conference calls.
iPhone
There's two different options you can use for iPhone devices. The first dials the extension automatically after the phone call has been answered. The second should be used when you need to listen to the automated message before entering any extensions or passcodes.
- Auto-dial extension
- Enter the phone number you wish to dial
- Hold the Asterisk/Star key until you see a comma
- Enter the extension or passcode
- Save it to your Contacts list by hitting the + button to the left of the number
- Wait
- Enter the phone number you wish to dial
- Hold the Pound key until you see a semicolon
- Enter the extension or passcode
- Save it to your Contacts list by hitting the + button to the left of the number
Now every time you dial that contact, you will see a button on the bottom left that shows the code you entered. Just tap that button to enter it on the keypad automatically.
Android
Similarly, there’s two different options you can use for Android devices: Pause or Wait. “Pause” dials the extension automatically after the phone call has been answered. “Wait” should be used when you need to listen to the automated message before entering any extensions or passcodes.
- Pause
- Go into your contacts list
- At the end of a new or existing phone number, tap the “Symbol” button on your keyboard
- Tap "Pause" or the comma key
- Dial the extension or passcode
- Wait
- Go into your contacts list
- At the end of a new or existing phone number, tap the “Symbol” button on your keyboard
- Tap "Wait" or the semicolon key
- Dial the extension or passcode
You can even use these functions to quickly navigate through phone menus. Try entering combinations like 11,22; and so on.
That’s not all we’ve got. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more tips and tricks for your smartphone.
ESSEN, WESTPHALIA - Aldi is putting fresh produce first with the undertaking of a major renovation plan in stores across the eastern United States which will expand the fresh produce and organic options it can offer its customers. The new stores will feature an additional produce aisle, allowing Aldi to offer both more selection and expanded product lines. According to a spokesperson with Aldi, some of these new product lines include SimplyNature natural foods and LiveGfree gluten-free items.
Joe Hauptman, a partner at the Willard Bishop retail food consulting firm, said that Aldi is pushing for these renovations so that "they're able to attract a wider range of shoppers."
The renovations are part of an overall push to market Aldi as an attractive option for the modern consumer, a consumer which the Times Herald Record noted is more budget and health conscious than ever before.
"Today, when you go into many Aldi parking lots, you are highly likely to see high-performance cars, foreign and imported cars, and working-class vehicles," Hauptman said. "They recognize that everybody is looking to stretch grocery budgets today."
Among those stores being renovated are the Wallkill, Newburgh, and Kingston locations. The Wallkill location will be the first to be ready for its grand-reopening and will be welcoming customers back inside starting Thursday next week. Newburgh and Kingston Aldis should be ready to go by October.
Aldi
OVIEDO, FL – Duda Farm Fresh Foods is celebrating celery and its versatility in a unique way.
Duda is inviting cooks across the nation to enter the “Sweet Celery Bake-Off” and create an original dessert recipe featuring celery. Participants have a chance to win a grand prize of $500 and be a featured recipe on the company’s website, according to a press release.
“As a sixth-generation American family farm that specializes in celery, citrus, lettuce, radishes and corn, we encourage healthy eating through social promotions, recipe development, contests and more,” said Nichole Towell, Director of Marketing. “We decided to take one of the healthiest veggies in the kitchen and create a dessert challenge. We know celery isn’t normally a dessert ingredient, but we think the keen minds of food lovers everywhere will come up with some seriously sweet ideas.”
One Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 Visa gift card, and two others will receive $100 Visa gift cards for the best use of celery in a dessert and the most creative celery dessert. To enter the competition, click here and follow the on-screen instructions to submit an original recipe that includes celery.
LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Three generations of the Frieda’s Specialty Produce family have been recognized for their accomplishments.
Company founder Frieda Rapoport Caplan was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters during Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo’s commencement ceremony for her achievement as one of the nation’s most successful female entrepreneurs. Frieda introduced unusual and exotic produce to supermarkets that revolutionized the produce industry and changed the way Americans eat fruits and vegetables, according to a press release.
“It was a great privilege to present Frieda with this degree in recognition of her visionary leadership in the agricultural business industry,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong.
Caplan’s daughter, Frieda’s VP and COO Jackie Caplan Wiggins, was at that commencement ceremony, missing the announcement of her own award at the United Fresh Produce Industry Leadership Program Alumni Reunion dinner in Chicago.
Wiggins received the "Timothy Vaux Outstanding Alumni Leadership Award” by her fellow graduates of the leadership program. This award was established to honor individual Leadership Program graduates who have demonstrated exceptional leadership achievements in the areas of Produce Industry Leadership, Industry Service & Outreach and Community Service, according to a press release.
“Jackie is the embodiment of exceptional leadership, passion, and dedication,” said Victoria Backer, United’s SVP of Member Services. “She is the type of person you depend on. She doesn’t take on responsibilities unless she knows she can come through, and when she does, she does it whole-heartedly.”
Wiggin’s niece Alex Jackson, sales account manager and daughter of Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s, is joining the 12 other members of Class 20 in the Leadership Program.
“The part I am most excited about is becoming more involved with United Fresh after Class 20 graduates, especially in increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables in children’s diets, which I am extremely passionate about,” said Jackson. “I am also honored to have been selected for this program as a second-generation class member.”
Congratulations on your accomplishments Frieda, Jackie and Alex!
RICHMOND, VA - If U.S. scientist Michael Mautner has it his way, a shuttle ticket to Mars could be in your future.
Mautner, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher, envisions a future in which scientists are able terraform foreign planets to allow for the cultivation of crops which could provide nourishment and oxygen for human space settlers.
"People have been talking about terraforming, but what I'm trying to do is give some concrete evidence that it's possible to do this, that it's possible to grow in extraterrestrial materials. What I've found is that a range of microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and even asparagus and potato plants—can survive with the nutrients that are in extraterrestrial materials," Motherboard magazine quoted Michael Mautner as saying.
This so-called “space asparagus” is grown in soil made from ground-up meteorite samples. That they can be successfully grown in this type of soil conjures up visions of meteorite farms circling the Earth in its orbit and peanuts growing in space dust.
It is, of course, more complicated than that. A quote from Mautner on the International Business Times reveals: "The conditions outside Earth are presumably anaerobic—that's an order of magnitude harder to do. But, if we can find things that can grow in extraterrestrial materials under Earth conditions, you can start to talk about it."
Scientists at NASA have already confirmed the viability of growing most plant life in zero gravity environments and as Geek.com notes, plants growing in anaerobic conditions is not as impossible as it sounds. Now that Mautner has confirmed that it is also possible to grow crops in alien soil, humanity is a step closer to that far away dream of long-term space settlement being an actuality.
Science still has a long, long way to go in this field. That said, as long as it still costs $23,000 to transport a kilogram of food into space, we'll have to think of something new if we ever want there to be a Team Mars competing in the World Cup one day.
Michael Mautner is doing his part to point the way.
CINCINNATI, OH - Customers who visited the Kroger in Lexington, Kentucky in 1978 might not have known it at the time, but the young stock boy passing by them in the aisles was Rodney McMullen, now CEO of Kroger. Over the next four decades he would lead Kroger to become a giant in the grocery world.McMullen put himself through college by working at Kroger.
"My parents figured if there's a will, there's a way," McMullen told reporters at Cincinnati.com. "I worked every job in that store, from the dairy to the deli."
He graduated 4 years later with a Masters in Accounting and a job offer from Kroger to work as an Accounting Supervisor in Kroger's Charlotte, NC division office. He quickly impressed corporate executives while in Charlotte. In 1986 he was promoted to Financial Analyst and moved to Cincinnati. While there he played a key role in Kroger's 1988 restructuring program under CEO Lyle Everingham and President Joe Pichler.
"He was so good at doing the calculations in record time," Pichler recalled. "He ran with the best on Wall Street."
By 1995 he was Kroger's CFO, a position from which he oversaw the 1999 Fred Meyer $13 billion acquisition.
Cincinnati.com notes that he was a similarly big part of implementing the sales strategy that allowed Kroger to compete with Wal-Mart's basement bottom prices.
"Sales had begun to flatten and our divisions said our prices were out of whack with Wal-Mart," Pichler recalled.
To combat this problem, Kroger calculated that by cutting prices they would be able to generate enough new sales to outweigh the loss of revenue per item. They would then be able to use this new revenue to further cut prices, allowing Kroger to compete on a more even playing field with the Wal-Mart super stores. Under Pichler and McMullen's leadership, Kroger saw sales surge in the wake of the price cuts, jumping from $50.1 billion in 2002 to $98.4 billion in 2013.
Additional innovations under McMullen and new CEO David Dillon such as the “Customer 1st” strategy, which capitalized on Kroger's 2003 investment in its groundbreaking loyalty reward card program, further solidified Kroger's place in the retail market.
By the time Rodney McMullen became Kroger's CEO, he had enjoyed 36 years of tremendous success with the company and mentorships with some of the biggest minds in Kroger's history in Everingham, Pichler and Dillon.
"The last 25 years, I've worked with legends,” said McMullen.
According to Cincinnati.com, today Kroger operates 2,640 supermarkets in 34 states and the District of Colombia, employs 375,000 workers, and has a surging stock backed by backed by 10.5 years of consistent sales growth and a very successful takeover of Harris Teeter.
Donald Kent, Sr., retired Stater Bros. Markets' VP of Produce Operations, passed away on June, 18th at his home in Riverside, CA at the age of 76. Don was born in San Bernadino, CA on August 17th, 1937. He lived there for 31 years and then in Riverside for 45 years.
He served in the U.S. Army as a Sergeant in the Artillery at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma as well as CA National Guard infantry 1958-1962. After 37 years of service, he retired from Stater Bros. Markets.
Don is survived by his wife Jeri of Riverside, CA; sons Kevin of San Diego, CA and Don Jr. and daughter-in-law Lena of Riverside, CA; brother Andy of Pacifica; sister Lottie Joy of Hesperia and 5 grandchildren.
The Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, July 3rd at 12pm at The Grove Community Church, 19900 Grove Community Dr. Riverside, CA 92507. The burial will be at 2pm at Riverside National Cemetery with a light reception back at the church after.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the American Heart Association or the Wounded Warrior Project in lieu of flowers.
AndNowUKnow would like to extend our deepest condolences to Don’s family and friends.