UNITED KINGDOM – Could miniature robots be joining the ranks of farmhands around the globe? According to The Guardian, yes, but optimistically, not for another couple of years. Developing in laboratories now, academic farming experts are researching whether miniature robots are a solution to chemical use, food waste, and labor shortages on farms, and posit that while a possible solution, mini robots might not be the answer farmers are seeking yet.
As reported by the source, current blanket practices waste 95% to 99% of pesticides and herbicides as the method “blankets” chemicals across entire fields, allowing pests and weeds to grow resistant, harming helpful pollinators like bees, and essentially rendering the chemicals ineffective over time.
“Farmers have been heavily reliant for decades on the heavy use of pesticides. Some spraying is very desperate,” said Toby Bruce, Professor of Insect Chemical Ecology at Keele University, according to The Guardian. “Farmers are spraying [chemicals] to which there is resistance. They will not be killing pests as the pests have evolved resistance. They will be killing other insects [such as pollinators].”
In order to reduce pesticide waste and its harmful side effects, researchers are programming the robots to be able to apply tiny quantities of pesticides directly to the plants that need them.
The robots are also able to detect when fruit and vegetables are too small or malformed to be harvested. Because malformed produce typically has a lower market value, this would help reduce food waste and allow produce enough time to be harvested when it is ready.
With labor shortages worrying farmers worldwide, the mini robots could also provide the extra hands needed to harvest crops in the field. And this isn’t the only place in our industry seeking extra help from artificial intelligence. Last month, Giant Foods stores piloted Marty, and Walmart began testing shelf-scanning robots in over fifty stores.
While robots seem to be an easy solution, The Guardian reported that the technology is not at an advanced enough stage to implement in the field just yet, and noted that start-ups are needed to spearhead this innovation as many farm technology companies are unwilling to give up their current business models.
With technology advancing every day and offering different ways to rid pests and minimize waste, are mini robots the future of sustainable farming? AndNowUKnow will continue to report on the robot takeover.
VANCOUVER, CA – This month Loblaw Companies Limited has unveiled a first-of-its-kind innovation and reaffirmed its commitment to reduce carbon emissions and modernize its trucking operations with an entirely electric or hybrid fleet. Representatives of the company were joined by Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change to unveil a 53-foot, fully-electric Class 8 truck, capable of making commercial grocery deliveries with zero carbon emissions.
"As one of Canada's largest energy users, given the size and scope of our retail network and supply chain, we know we have a critical role to play in helping Canada reach its carbon reduction targets," said Rob Wiebe, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain. "We are committed to leading responsibly in this area, working with our partners like BYD for sustainable solutions to help our company, and our country, meet those goals."
The company noted, in a press release, that this first-of-its-kind truck marks an important step as the company moves to transitions its corporately-owned trucking fleet to electric vehicles.
The fully-electric Class 8 truck and hybrid refrigerated trailer, manufactured by BYD, both employ technology that the retailer notes will be expanded to Loblaw's fleet in the coming years. Loblaw also noted that eliminating the use of diesel in transport trucks and refrigerated trailers could reduce more than 94,000 tons of C02 emissions per year, the equivalent of removing more than 20,000 cars from the road.
As part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030, Loblaw has committed to reduce the intensity of transportation emissions to 0.087 gCO2 e/t-km and will continue work to bring technological advances throughout the supply chain. The company has been working on several carbon-reducing strategies since 2011, focusing on increasing energy and transportation efficiencies, reducing refrigerant emissions, and improving waste diversion efforts.
By 2030, Loblaw plans to have reduced emissions associated with electricity consumption by 35 percent, transportation by 25 percent, and refrigerants by 50 percent. And the company plans to improve waste diversion to 80 percent in stores and 95 percent in distribution centers.
Will other retailers follow suit, making strides to increase efficiencies while reducing carbon-emissions? AndNowUKnow will keep you posted.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - With convenience top of mind in all aspects of our industry, both in retail and foodservice, Google has launched a feature to trim a little more time for consumers. The internet giant unveiled a feature showing wait times for area restaurants on its Google Search to minimize one of the biggest deterrents to going out. The application will be added to Google Maps next, and News Source Tech Crunch reports that grocery stores are next.
“To see wait times for nearly a million sit-down restaurants around the world that allow walk-ins, just search for the restaurant on Google, open the business listing, and scroll down to the Popular Times section. There you’ll see the estimated wait time at that very moment,” Google writes on its blog, Keyword. “And by tapping on any of the hour bars, you’ll see the estimated wait for that time period. You can even scroll left and right to see a summary of each day’s wait times below the hour bars–so you can plan ahead to beat the crowds.”
The box shows labels such as “busy,” “usually busy,” “usually not busy,” etc., along with the wait time, based on anonymized historical data, similar to how Google says it computes its previously launched Popular Times and Visit Duration features.
Available for both Mobile and Desktop, consumers will be able to plan ahead for their eating out and–ideally–help themselves and restaurants prevent those hour-plus waits.
While the company did say collaborations with supermarkets are next, it didn’t hint as to when the feature will hit checkout lines. However, the availability of high-traffic shopping times could give brick and mortar one more step in the race against online shopping as consumers look–as ever–for the quickest, easiest way to get their produce into their refrigerators or onto their kitchen tables.
For the same reason self-checkout has become a regular installation, could this be grocery shopping’s next partner in line? Continue to read as our team looks to bring you the latest on this and other developing produce industry news.
WENATCHEE, WA – With the winter months fast approaching, and rain and snow clouding the weather forecast Stemilt’s Piñata®, a classic apple with a tropical twist, can bring sunshine, sales, and brighter spirits to your produce department shelves just in time for the holidays.
“This year’s Piñata harvest was a great, successful one,” said Roger Pepperl, Marketing Director, in a recent press release. “It’s a ‘classic crop’ with high colors, excellent condition, and dessert flavors with a nice balance of acids and sugars. Consumers will not be disappointed when they get their hands on these apples.”
Harvested at peak timing, the 2017 Piñata crop has maximized beautiful coloring–a full red to stripy red with a yellow-orange background–and high acids and sugars. Not only does the Piñata pop on the shelves, but is a constant classic despite the launch of newer apple varieties, which Pepperl accredits to the high-quality crop and well-established trees of the Piñata variety.
“We have some of the best, most experienced farmers in the industry and they have worked hard to ensure that the trees are well-established and cared for,” stated Pepperl. “Their dedication to those trees is extremely apparent in this year’s crop. They are producing large, high-quality Piñata apples that have everything a consumer wants: a crisp bite with an explosion of flavor.”
Piñata apples are peaking at size 80s conventionally and size 100 organically. Pepperl suggests that retailers capitalize on the smaller sizes as small sized fruit bodes well with parent consumers who are looking to provide healthy, flavorful snacks for their children.
“Lil Snapper® kid-size fruit is an ideal item to carry, especially in a year with smaller fruit sizing,” Pepperl noted. “The Piñata apple is a favorite among children consumers as it has the perfect balance of acid and sugar. Plus, the 3lb pouch bags have proven very successful among parent consumers as they offer the right amount of fruit for a school week.”
Stemilt offers Lil Snappers Piñata in 9/3 lb pouch bags for conventional and organic varieties. Stemilt also offers Piñata apples in value bags that fall under the umbrella of the Apple Lovers program, as well as in an 8/5 lb Piñata display ready carton (DRC).
Pepperl also encourages retailers to use the fun, tropical branding as a way to catch the eye of the consumer. Both Piñata DRCs and standard cartons have palm trees, an apple island, and a cruise ship to play off the “tropical twist.” Pepperl said that chains have been successful when constructing high visual, stimulating Pinata apple displays with cartons in produce departments.
“Piñata promotions now through Cinco de Mayo are essential in pushing high volumes and earning dollars,” said Pepperl. “We have seen chains do exceptionally well in January as they use the branding to create a ‘tropical destination’ for shoppers and encourage purchases during the cold winter months. We have also seen displays that combine Piñata apples with pineapples to create an illusion of an island destination and encourage consumers to jump on board with the tropical twist!”
Naturally crossed between three heirloom varieties–Golden Delicious, Cox’s Orange Pippin, and Duchess of Oldenburg–back in the 1970s in Dresden-Pillnitz, Germany, Stemilt’s founding family, the Mathisons, obtained the exclusive rights to grow and market the Pinova apple cultivar variety, the brand name for the Piñata, in 2004 before hitting the U.S. market in 2009. Now that it has been established, the Piñata has become a consumer favorite because of its versatility and ability to naturally resist browning.
“The Piñata variety couldn’t come at a better time as the holidays are right around the corner,” stated Pepperl. “It is the ideal apple in so many different ways; from its flavor to its branding to its culinary abilities, there really isn’t anything this apple can’t do.”
Great for snacking and perfect for holiday culinary masterpieces like pies, tarts, and whatever else one dreams up with apples, Piñata apples have explosive flavor consumers won’t want to miss out on during the dreary months. Check out your produce aisle for Piñata apples today, and for more holiday treat must-haves, stay up-to-date with AndNowUKnow.
LOS ANGELES, CA - Tapping into the affirmation that always feels good at any age, Good Choice, Kid has launched. The campaign is Wonderful Halos’ way of celebrating healthy eating habits in the face of temptation, and this year’s run is geared towards not only kiddos young in age; it also congratulates those young at heart–or the “big kids” who might be older in age–for making healthier snack choices.
“We’ve always known that Wonderful Halos is the obvious choice for kids because they’re healthy, easy to peel, seedless and bursting with sweet flavor,” said Adam Cooper, Vice President of Marketing, in a recent press release. “But our research shows that adults also turn to the Pure Goodness of our California mandarins with the same enthusiasm, so these commercials present the perfect opportunity to extend our existing campaign and celebrate the good choices made by kids of all ages.”
New commercials complement the established Good Choice, Kid campaign and are a product of the continued investment of $100 million investment that was made throughout the first five years of the brand. On top of this investment, Halos is also looking to make its biggest digital investment to date, as it launches a robust influencer program and increased visibility across social media platforms. Print, national FSIs, PR, a New York City Times Square digital billboard, and Wonderful Halos’ biggest in-store POS display program will be amplifying the campaign and bringing Halos to consumers everywhere. The POS collection will showcase a grove-to-store tractor and grove tree display, which the company hopes will highlight its fresh California mandarins’ delivery process.
Wonderful Agency, the company’s in-house creative team, curated the new commercials and this year’s campaign. The Good Choice, Kid campaign was released at the onset of last mandarin season, and with four smart and witty television spots, children were able to identify with the characters in the commercials as they faced difficult snacking choices in precarious, far-fetched, and hilarious instances. Now, the Agency is looking to widen its audience to attract all ages with commercials, both old and new, throughout the mandarin season in local and national markets as an aspect of the company’s multi-million dollar ad spend.
“In expanding the campaign to directly address adults’ snacking choices, we finally dispel the notion that with age comes wisdom. Adults are just as capable of making wrong-headed choices as kids are,” said Chief Creative Officer Darren Moran in the release. “With these spots, we’re simply offering up a healthy but delicious alternative to runaway organs and ruined parties.”
Mandarin season runs now through May, and consumers are able to pick up 3- and 5- pound bags and 5-pound boxes in produce aisles at groceries and club stores nationwide.
This year's revamped campaign is just one more way that Wonderful Halos is looking to expand its audience and ensure the continued growth of its bags and boxes.
MIAMI, FL - Once a specialty product found in higher-end restaurants, now a beloved veggie for everyday dining, French beans, or haricots verts if you’re fancy, are the perfect year-round product for retailer’s looking for a reliable and delicious green to offer in produce aisles.
“Since Crystal Valley Foods switches production regions in the Guatemalan highlands to different micro climates, we are always in production,” Jay Rodriguez, President, tells me. “As is typical during this season every year, we do expect extra promotional volume during the holidays. We manage our crop production as best as possible to match the demand peaks in the market which historically has exhibited higher demand during holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.”
To help retailers promote French beans and other Crystal Valley products, Crystal Valley’s marketing department is available to create the right, relevant POS and sales support for your store, recommending eye-catching displays that show the addition of tasty French beans to holiday meals along with turkeys and roasts. Retailers also have the option of specifying the portion size that best fits their customer profile, and are even available to private label if needed.
“We offer a tremendous degree of flexibility to our customers in the area of pack sizes, and they have an option of receiving clipped beans as well,” Rodriguez says. “Food service customers can select 5-pound ‘bulk packs’ with beans packed in extended shelf life bags, or they can opt for 2-pound bags packed in a case of 10 or 5. The packs with the 2-pound bags offers our customers that larger volume they might need but with smaller units in order to maintain freshness.”
Crystal Valley also offers white asparagus—perfect for Hollandaise-based holiday dishes. Produced in Peru year-round and distinct from green asparagus in appearance, preparation, and serving, white asparagus gets its color from the way it is grown—in sandy soil conditions in northern Peru with the spears growing into the sand, unexposed to sunlight—and is a more neutral tasting vegetable providing uniqueness for holiday tables.
Or if you’re looking for something sweeter, Crystal Valley imports blueberries from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, and blackberries from Mexico and Guatemala. With the season in full swing now, Crystal Valley expects a good volume. It offers blueberries in 6 oz dry pints or 18 oz and 24 oz containers, and blackberries in 6 oz and 12 oz containers, as well as organic for both varieties.
For more on exceptional year-round offerings in our industry, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND – Residents of Eastern England’s Lincolnshire County received an unexpected produce delivery when a trailer overturned on the A52—an important route running through the East Midlands—spilling roughly 10 tons of potatoes onto the side of the road—and into one resident’s driveway.
“The trailer came off the tractor on the bend and deposited around 10 tons of potatoes in the drive of the bungalow,” said Eddie Hewitt, a local from nearby port town Wainfleet who first came across the incident, according to local news source Lincolnshire Live. "He's done a neat job as he has parked the trailer in the guy's driveway and not blocked the road...The homeowner is having chips for tea."
Hewitt reportedly spoke with the truck’s driver, as well, who was unharmed.
"The driver said [my grandsons] could have some potatoes, so they were happy,” added Hewitt.
The incident occurred on a stretch of the A52 between Boston and Skegness just before 3:00 p.m. when a truck rounding a bend on the road became uncoupled from its trailer and the container tipped into the roadside. No injuries were reported and traffic was largely unaffected as the trucks cargo was largely confined to the roadside and a single driveway.
Could two tons of spuds be headed to a driveway near you? AndNowUKnow will keep you up-to-date, Home Fry.
KINGSVILLE, ON - With the season of giving and gratitude upon us, it’s fitting that SUNSET® was recently recognized for some of its work in the community. The produce company was presented with the Food Bank Council of Michigan’s 2017 Beacon of Light Award.
Presented at the annual Michigan Harvest Gathering Luncheon in Lansing, Michigan on November 8th, Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan nominated SUNSET® for recognition of its having donated over 5 million pounds of produce this past year.
“For over ten years, Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan has been an excellent partner in our efforts to give back to the community,” shared President Paul Mastronardi. “Together, we’ve distributed millions of pounds of fresh, healthy produce to people in need and we’re extremely grateful for this tremendous honor.”
The donations from SUNSET® have been used towards the Gleaners School Food Mobile Pantry program. According to a press release, this feeds families from 79 underserved schools in southeast Michigan.
“We are grateful for all SUNSET® has done and continues to do for Gleaners,” said Gerry Brisson, President of Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. “Through their generous donation of millions of pounds of produce, hundreds of thousands of food-insecure families are receiving the healthy food they need to thrive. The partnership with SUNSET® is dramatically advancing our shared vision of a hunger-free southeastern Michigan.”
Now in its 27th year, the Michigan Harvest Gathering (MHG) is an annual statewide campaign that has successfully raised over 54 million meals for Michigan’s emergency food response and those in need.
Congratulations to the SUNSET® team on this latest honor!
KINGSVILLE, ONTARIO - When was the last time you looked something or someone up on your phone or computer? My guess is that if it wasn’t within the past hour, you are out of town and on a beach somewhere in perfect contentment. No, not you? Well, our enjoyment of that fantasy is just about as unlikely as us not connecting to the web for answers and information. While we might not be on vacation, DelfrescoPure® is making our searches feel a bit more like paradise by redesigning its website to cater to consumers’ needs. To make this happen, the company teamed up with Windsor-Detroit-based Douglas Marketing Group (DMG).
"DMG was selected based on their long-standing experience and an integrated approach that combines key objectives in marketing with an online strategy supported by exceptional design," stated Fiona McLean, Marketing Manager for DelfrescoPure, in a recent press release. "Our process was a well-thought-out charted course with DMG that created an integrated approach with our team at DelfrescoPure."
The website design keeps users in mind and showcases the rich diversity of the company's products so that consumers can visually experience the goods. Layered with various engagement tactics, consumers navigating the company’s new website will find it to be easier to locate messaging about brand renewal, products, produce, and recipes that make the company so great.
The navigation has been made simpler by the creation of a drop-down menu, which allows consumers to find the high-resolution and eye-catching photography of the company’s products. The visuals communicate key factors, relevant information, and detailed content about the company’s products with a blend of graphics and text. Alongside fun facts and information regarding nutritional benefits about the company’s products and produce, there is also a recipe portal with high-resolution photography. But, to top it off, the company’s website is responsive in that it is user-friendly across multiple browsers and devices so that regardless of consumers’ environments or behaviors, they will be able to locate exactly what they are looking to find!
Users can thank the collaboration between both companies, which has made their online experience easier. With so much time being spent online these days, such alteration to our searching efforts is very much welcomed! While the companies worked closely to make this transition happen, we look forward to seeing how well the new website affects the company’s growth and business moving forward.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Whole Foods former Co-CEO Walter Robb is adding his food industry star power to Colorado Springs-based FoodMaven, a company that redistributes “oversupplied food” from suppliers to buyers through an online marketplace. Robb, who stepped down from his role at Whole Foods at the end of last year, has joined the startup’s Board of Directors, as well as invested what FoodMaven CEO and Co-Founder Patrick Bultema called a "significant" and “sizable" sum.
"FoodMaven is going straight at the growing challenge of food waste and has created an imaginative and innovative market-based approach to using more of what we produce," said Robb. "I am excited to join with Patrick and team to help with this effort and grow the company."
FoodMaven has said its business model complements the big food system by acquiring high-quality food from oversupply, imperfects, and local products, and through the use of its Internet marketplace and logistics system, the company is able to re-sell and deliver what it refers to as “lost food.” “We believe that the food system needs a 'back-to-the-future' play—an agile hybrid of the best of local, and the best of the current big food system, seamlessly blended together," said Bultema.
In the next five years, the startup will look to expand to up to 100 major cities in the next five years. According to a press release, FoodMaven has a someday goal of $1 billion in revenue and 8,000 employees.
"Walter is one of the most influential people in the U.S. food system, and we are thrilled to welcome him as a significant investor, trusted advisor, and member of our Board of Directors," said Bultema. "His decades of thought leadership in the food industry, experience at Whole Foods Market, and most recently his involvement in Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, will be instrumental as we continue to grow FoodMaven and transform how we think about the big food system."
FoodMaven has put an emphasis on being a solution for all walks of the food industry, offering quick delivery times, cheap prices, and high-quality to restaurants, kitchens, and other buyers, while providing an avenue to make a profit on products that would otherwise be lost as food waste to grocery distribution centers, food distributors, and producers.
Now in a final push to build in the Front Range metro areas of Colorado, FoodMaven plans to roll out its services nationally in 2018. Want to learn more about the company Walter Robb has signed on to play for? Visit foodmaven.co.