CALIFORNIA - Citrus-fueled drinks, desserts, and more will be among the needs of consumers as the holiday festivities begin. With demand for the category on the rise, I checked in with the experts to see how citrus is faring.
“Cuties® clementines have just started up, and supplies will be increasing each week in November. We are getting the pipeline filled for the holiday promotions, and with our Cuties holiday packaging, Cuties displays shippers, our consumer Spread the Cheer Sweepstakes starting Nov 19th, we are seeing strong demand by retailers,” Kate Reeb, Director of Marketing for Sun Pacific, tells me. She explains that California navels are up and running with with decent sizing, great flavor, and that volume looks to be steady for the Thanksgiving holiday.
I ask her what the buy-side should note as one of the biggest eating days of the year approaches.
“With the holidays right around the corner, navel promotions are favorable toward bags, especially as it’s really convenient for retailers to drop a bin of bags on the produce floor to keep up with the holiday increased traffic and demand in the stores,” she says. “Vintage Sweets® from our old grove, super sweet heirloom navels, and Sun Pacific’s Cara Caras will fill out the citrus category in mid-December and allow retailers a variety of opportunities for promotions to delight consumers during the holidays. In addition, our Meyer Lemons are in big demand during the holiday season as they have become one of the hottest culinary ingredients for festive cocktails, holiday baking, and cooking.”
Monique Bienvenue, Director of Communications for Bee Sweet Citrus, comments that while citrus is in demand year-round, the industry always sees a higher need for many of the varieties available throughout the holiday season.
“With festive celebrations right around the corner, many of our specialty varieties are sought out for their healthy, nutritional components and delicious flavor profiles. Not only do our specialty varieties complement many holiday dessert recipes, they can also help families ward off the common cold and flu. Being that citrus fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C, citrus can act as a healthy immunity-boosting snack to many families this holiday season,” Monique shares.
“With California’s citrus domestic season in full swing, consumers can expect to see Satsuma mandarins, lemons, and Navel oranges at their local retailers. By the middle of December, they can also anticipate the arrival of Cara Cara navels, Blood oranges and Minneola tangelos,” she adds.
Sunkist Growers, too, is ramping up for peak winter citrus demand. But Director of Communications Christina Ward tells me that with experience on its side, the team is ready.
“Sunkist has been growing high-quality citrus for 125 years, and thanks to the California and Arizona sunshine over this past summer, we have ample volumes of all varieties for the 2018-2019 citrus season. The addition of Cara Cara and blood oranges are perfect for the upcoming holiday surge,” she says. “Our versatile displays and Sunkist citrus destinations make for an appetizing in-store holiday spread. We also have 2-3 pound bags for festive holiday cocktails and dishes; great for the bar and essential for the kitchen.”
As consumers look to stock up on all their produce ingredients for the holidays, AndNowUKnow will bring you the latest on those must-have categories.
ORLANDO, CA - This fall, temperatures might be cooling in North America, but marketing is reaching a torrid pace for T&G Global.
I had the opportunity to speak with Brock Nemecek, Regional Marketing Manager for Pip Fruit, at last month’s PMA Fresh Summit to find more about the company’s fall plans to encourage consumption and add oomph to sales of its signature Envy™, JAZZ™, and Pacific Rose™ apples.
“We have lots of marketing plans to support our three premium apple brands: Envy, JAZZ, and Pacific Rose,” said Brock, explaining that the JAZZ is currently in the middle of a major consumer campaign. “We’re launching the JAZZ’d Up Jeep national sweepstakes. Where we will, in 2019, be awarding a custom 2019 Jeep Wrangler, that’s ‘Jazz’d Up,’ to a JAZZ Fan.”
The next few months will be hot, hot, hot despite the recent cold snap, Brock told me, and our industry can expect a brand refresh for the Pacific Rose by early 2019.
“Also, in 2019, we will be rolling out the third annual Envy Road Show. And so that road show is gonna be all along the Eastern Seaboard going from Florida up to Toronto,” continued Brock. “We will be partnering with 7 to 10 major retailers and doing sampling demos—and also appearing at tourist attractions, consumer events, concerts, festivals, etc.”
For more, watch our video interview in its entirety above.
HOUSTON, TX - Foodservice distribution titan Sysco Corporation is planning a $15 million expansion to its Des Plaines, Illinois, refrigerated facility, according to local news source Journal & Topic. The expansion will reportedly add 70,000 square feet of additional capacity to the existing location in the greater Chicago area.
According to the Journal & Topic, a letter to the city authored by Namit Bammi of Bammi Law Group outlined the company’s plans to expand on its current 156,750-square-foot property at 501 S. Wolf Road.
Earlier this month, Des Plaines aldermen granted Sysco an extension of a property tax incentive first approved in 2004. The company will continue to pay a property tax rate of 10 percent—though the news source estimated that tax revenues from the property in 2017 totaled $502,366. The news source reported that Sysco was considering leaving the area, according to Bammi’s letter, were the incentive not extended.
The company currently employees 715 in Des Plaines, at both its Wolf Road facility and a 462,000-square-foot location at 250 Wieboldt Dr.
For more, read the Journal & Topic’s report in its entirety here.
AndNowUKnow will continue to report with more fresh fruit and veggie news.
YUMA, AZ - It’s that time of year again when many of California’s major produce growers head south for the winter. Right on target and gearing up for this annual transition from Salinas to Yuma, Arizona, is The Nunes Company and its Foxy Produce brand.
Joining me to share the latest on the move is Vice President of Sales Doug Classen, who looks to the highlights and the challenges equally as we move through November.
“It’s an early Thanksgiving on November 22nd this year, so a lot of items are transitioning right in the middle of the pull. We’ve planned ahead and feel we’ve got a good handle to make sure our customers have their trucks placed in the best area for efficient loading,” Doug tells me. “We grow all of our 40 different conventional and 35 different organic commodities, 365 days a year to offer our customers year-round coverage.”
Currently, the Nunes Company is finishing up on its last couple of weeks on broccoli, cauliflower, and celery in Salinas and has already started romaine and leaf vegetables in Yuma. Iceberg in Huron, California, will finish by the 16th and the team picked up in Yuma on November 12th. Celery has started in Oxnard. All conventional items, except celery, will be shipping in Yuma by November 26th. Foxy’s organic program will generally mirror the same schedule as its conventional program.
“We stress communication and service at all levels—from field operations, customer communications to the loading of our customer’s trucks,” Doug shares. “Transition with the wide variety of crops that we grow always poses a degree of challenge; however, we strive to communicate as best as possible with our customers to aide in making their pick-ups as smooth as is expected from our team at Nunes.”
With the Thanksgiving pull right around the corner, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest on the transition and the road ahead.
WATSONVILLE, CA - The time to get in on one of the produce industry’s premier events is now! Tour de Fresh is now accepting sponsorship opportunities for its sixth annual ride—and it’ll be one to remember. 2019’s ride will span the majestic Big Sur Highway One in California, starting in Monterey on October 12th ending up in in Anaheim on October 16th in time for PMA Fresh Summit.
“This year will be a milestone for the Tour with the potential of reaching one million dollars raised that directly put fresh fruits and vegetables on the plates of hungry school age children across the country, since the event’s inception,” said Cindy Jewell, Vice President of Marketing for California Giant Berry Farms. “We are proud to bring together individuals and companies that share the common passion in this industry to join together supporting this ride helping to improve the health of our nation.”
Tour de Fresh, presented by The California Giant Foundation, provides a variety of sponsorships levels that make it easy for companies within the fresh produce industry and beyond to get involved and support the goal of donating over 50 salad bars to schools. Companies can select from customized benefits based on sponsorship level as well as year-round media exposure and marketing opportunities. According to a press release, last year’s sponsors were included in more than 250 media placements in trade and consumer publications, which earned them more than 117 million total impressions and over $48,000 in ad equivalency per brand.
“Tour de Fresh is an amazing opportunity to work with our industry to not only give back to a worthy cause, but one with an initiative that aligns with our core values,” said Daniel Cooke, Senior Director of Marketing for Americold. “As soon as this year’s ride completed we couldn’t wait to sign back up for sponsorship in 2019—we are proud to continue being part of the Tour de Family.”
2019 will see the continuation of popular sponsorships like Finish Line and Premier, as well as new sponsorships. The new Tour de “Refresh” will allows the sponsor to work with Tour organizers to create a custom branded beer that will be provided to Tour participants at the end each day. Confirmed sponsors include California Giant, Americold, DMA Solutions, Sakata, Fight Like a Girl Foundation, PMA, and Paramount Export.
Tour de Fresh will continue to make headlines and provide excellent opportunities in the name of a good cause, so keep up with AndNowUKnow for the latest.
NEW YORK, NY - Blue Apron is taking the new year, new you philosophy to heart. In a bid to to accelerate its path to profitability, the meal kit company has released its plans to restructure its business in 2019.
“The ways in which consumers access meals for various occasions has evolved rapidly with expanded choice and the continued convergence of online platforms and brick and mortar stores,” said Brad Dickerson, CEO, in a company press release. “Blue Apron has an established brand and a strong foundation of loyal customers who trust and rely on the quality and convenience of our products. We are taking decisive actions to prioritize our highest-impact opportunities and build a stronger, sustainable business. As a result of these actions now underway, we expect to be profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis in 2019. This included the difficult decision to part ways with valued employees. On behalf of the entire company, I thank these colleagues for their many contributions to the business.”
The press release noted these immediate organization-wide actions in its restructuring vision:
- Sharpening focus on direct-to-consumer business by prioritizing customer segments with proven affinity and retention, as well as attracting consumers with similar attributes
- Methodically expanding consumer reach through retail channels and on-demand platforms
- Streamlining personnel to create a more agile and focused organization, resulting in a headcount reduction of 4% of total workforce
- Further optimizing fulfillment center network to build on momentum of recently achieved operational efficiencies
The news of this plan broke the same day the company announced its third quarter report. Highlights of the report included:
- Net revenue decreased 28% year-over-year to $150.6 million in the third quarter of 2018, compared to the third quarter of 2017
- Net loss was $33.9 million in the third quarter of 2018 compared to a net loss of $87.2 million in the third quarter of 2017
- Adjusted EBITDA improved 61% year-over-year to a loss of $18.8 million in the third quarter of 2018, compared to a loss of $48.0 million in the third quarter of 2017
Will this restructuring give Blue Apron a fresh start? AndNowUKnow will keep you up to date.
MIAMI, FL - We’ve been watching with bated breath as retailers scramble to catch a corner of the emerging grocery delivery market. Any competitive edge could signal a sea change, and this week, Walmart announced plans to pilot a new program, partnering with Ford and app-based delivery company Postmates to test autonomous vehicle delivery services in Miami-Dade County.
“Retail is changing at a rapid pace, and what’s 'easy' in 2018 might feel old-fashioned in 2028. In fact, Walmart is already offering grocery delivery in nearly 100 metro areas and is continuing to innovate to find new ways to serve customers…” said Walmart’s Senior Vice President, Digital Operations Tom Ward, in a blog post published this week. “That’s why we are partnering with Ford to explore delivery with autonomous vehicle technology. We’re still learning—it’s a pilot—but, we want to make sure we stay on the cutting edge of grocery delivery by exploring what’s new and next.”
Ward noted that the company hopes to learn how to best take advantage of self-driving vehicles to deliver fresh groceries, and Ward noted that its current delivery partner Postmates is already connected to Ford’s digital platform.
“Walmart and Ford agree autonomous vehicles have an important role to play as we consider the future of delivery,” added Ward. “Before self-driving cars can go mainstream, we must get a better sense of how people want to interact with them. Together, we will gather crucial data to learn the best way to bring items to customers.”
Will Walmart’s partnership with Ford and emphasis on autonomous vehicle delivery give the retailer a competitive edge against its rivals? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Food is life, and life is food! Across the world, holidays, traditions, and milestones are celebrated with feasts of some sort, and even the mundane day-to-day starts and ends with food on a plate. Increasingly, more consumers are veering away from filling those plates with indulgent items and are instead charging full force toward the produce aisle. To empower even more consumers to walk the walk and talk the talk of upping the amount of produce in their grocery carts, Kroger debuted a brand-new app, OptUp, that is gamifying shopping and making healthy eating the most fun it’s ever been.
This past week, I had the opportunity to journey to sunny Scottsdale to pick the brains of those who are most excited about Kroger’s new OptUP app that is changing the retail game, literally.
“Kroger has a passion and commitment to the idea that food is medicine, which I think also brings to life the importance of produce in general. That deeper understanding of the phytonutrients and different micronutrients in food, I think, will be a helpful way in general for produce to be marketed. OptUP relies on science and evidence that will be helpful in the context of how we sell more produce at Kroger and how we have an impact on chronic conditions nationally. We want to help this bigger picture,” Kroger’s 84.51° Vice President Richard Hall told me.
Simply, the OptUP app tracks shoppers’ purchases and shows them how, with small changes, they can lead healthier lifestyles. Rather than tell shoppers what they should or should not buy, Kroger’s tech, analyst, and dietician teams appointed a numerical score to every item offered in Kroger stores and devised a scale of 1 to 1,000 to motivate shoppers to work towards filling their cart with items that will increase their score toward that perfect 1,000.
“I’ve never seen a technology that is driving people to the produce department in this gamified fashion like OptUP is. The OptUP interface is recommending that at least 50 percent of shoppers’ purchases reside in the green category, which includes fresh produce. It’s creating an addictive nature in shoppers because if shoppers want their scores to go up, they have to buy more items like produce. The gamification is really what sets this app apart from other apps and even retailers,” Lori Taylor, Founder of The Produce Moms®, said to me.
While the app isn’t just focused on produce items, both Richard and Lori see OptUP as yet another avenue Kroger has created to bolster fresh fruit and veg.
“I think produce fits the whole trend of eating more healthily, and OptUP is all about eating more healthily, so it just fits so perfectly to drive that part of the store,” Richard said. “With OptUP, you’re inevitably going to see more fresh fruit and veg in your basket, so it quickly illustrates that these items are important for shoppers and creates a halo effect for the rest of produce.”
Officially launched a few months ago, the Kroger team is already working to enhance the customization, personalization, and holistic view of health the OptUP app offers in order to match the database with the increasing number of healthy options available to shoppers across Kroger’s stores.
“This app is a long game; Kroger has made this commitment. It’s a huge undertaking to stay on top of all our industry’s new items and make sure that the app represents all the food sold at Kroger. It’s similar to Google Maps because Kroger is constantly having to reevaluate and become more granular in order to make the app and the nutrition scores more refined and comprehensive. This was a three-year-long project, and it’s exciting to see it finally off the ground,” Lori added.
While the app is officially in play and transforming shoppers’ grocery experiences everywhere, there is still much on the horizon for Kroger and OptUP. To stay up-to-date on the latest innovations and tech that are fusing together the buy- and supply-sides, stick with us at AndNowUKnow.
ORLANDO, FL - Hotness isn’t the only quality that consumers look for in a pepper. Sometimes just the right amount of kick can carry a dish, and a subtle spiciness is preferable to a full-fledged kick to the palate.
With that in mind, we chatted up Roger Mooking, Culinary Director of SUNSET® Produce, at this year’s PMA Fresh Summit 2018, to find out more about the company’s SHAZAM!™ Shishito Peppers.
“These are incredible peppers,” Roger told me. “What's especially unique about them is one in ten of them will be spicy. But for the most part, they're a flavoring pepper. So think of a bell pepper with a slight citrusy-ness to it, and it's naturally intrinsic and robust with flavor. But the hottest pepper of the Shishito will be much less so than a jalapeño.”
With an easy to open, grab-and-go pouch bag, SUNSET’s latest retail pepper pack is sure to add vim to produce aisles and vigor to dishes in kitchens across the country.
“They're also really good if you chop them up fresh and throw them in a salad. They're super on-trend right now, and you should have this in your kitchen whether you're a restaurant, or whether you're at home, or whether you want to become a better cook. They're really easy to cook [and] super tasty.”
For more, watch arguably my favorite interview above.
ORANGE COUNTY, CA - How do you bring a fruit to life? Why, with Zespri’s consumer campaign of course. The campaign, titled “A Real Snack, for Real Life” was also a consumer sweepstake that brought the Zespri brand to life and drew consumers to retailers as they searched for SunGold Kiwifruit.
“Our consumer campaign and promotion were very successful,” said Sarah Deaton, Marketing Manager for North America. “We are beyond excited about the results with over 800,000 entries—including over 100,000 unique contest entries! The ‘A Real Snack, for Real Life’ Zespri SunGold campaign—targeting busy moms—generated significant media exposure reaching 164 million impressions.”
Zespri also noted in its press release that it is extending its season with production in new regions. This winter, Zespri North America will supply consumers from December through February with Italian-grown conventional and organic SunGold and green kiwifruit. The New Zealand Kiwifruit season will begin in May and run through November. The press release also stated that Zespri’s Italian growers grow for taste and give consumers the same consistent eating experience they experience with the New Zealand fruit. Zespri is expecting to import the largest volume of Zespri Italian SunGold and Organic SunGold Kiwifruit to date, up 70 percent over last year although the overall volume remains in short supply with the production base still developing.
Although SunGold leads the growth strategy, Zespri stated that its goal is to supply a full range of fresh kiwi products including SunGold, Green, Organic Green and Organic SunGold.
“It’s exciting to watch the growth of the brand,” Deaton said. “Zespri’s brand awareness has increased by 117 percent in our top markets, and over 41 percent nationwide compared to last year.”
To build on the media campaign, Zespri helped move over 87,000 units of SunGold for retailers using the Ibotta app, which gives consumers cashback rewards when they purchase Zespri Kiwifruit.
“This is just another way we support retailers by driving consumers to their stores and increasing sales,” stated Deaton. “We also support retailers by developing customized programs and promotions through our market development managers. We assist retailers with regional display contests, custom POSM, and digital programs to help promote and encourage the trial of SunGold and other Zespri Kiwifruit varieties. We continue to hear from consumers that they love Zespri SunGold but are still having trouble finding it. We see tremendous growth with our strategic retail partners when they are building large displays to help consumers find Zespri easily.”
For the latest in fresh produce news, stick with us at AndNowUKnow.