BANCROFT, WI - RPE is introducing a new Oddball Organics™ brand to take advantage of the recent “misshapen produce” trend that’s been gaining popularity in grocery stores across the globe.
Compared to traditional organic potatoes, this new brand offers potatoes that can be considered to have odd shapes or have minor skin blemishes. RPE has embraced these imperfections to reduce waste and ultimately save its customers money.
Since last year, RPE’s cooperative growers saw a 47 percent increase in acreage for organic potatoes in Wisconsin alone. With the rise of production, more waste is often unavoidable.
“Many of these potatoes would have been discarded solely because they were misshapen,” said Russell Wysocki, President and CEO of RPE. “RPE, committed to responsible farming, is consistently working on saving our customers money as well as pushing toward the reduction of waste currently in the potato industry.”
Oddball Organics will be marketed at a discounted price from other organic potatoes.
RPE will offer several different varieties with this new brand, including russet and red and gold potatoes. Oddball Organics are offered in 3 pound poly bags, mesh bags, or bulk and display ready cartons, as well as custom programs to meet various customer needs.
VANCOUVER - Oppy is offering Italian-style prune-plums once again in its Blue Goose label.
This deep purple, free-stone fruit, which Oppy calls “sweet, juicy, and brimming with late-summer flavor,” is available in 2-, and 1.5-pound high graphic bags, as well as 30-pound bulk boxes, through mid-September, according to a press release.
The company hopes that this traditional “old world fruit” will be discovered by younger shoppers looking to try something different. Evan Myers, Executive Category Director of South American Imports, explained that because prune-plums have a “uniquely sweet and juicy flavor, they earn attention and repeat purchase.”
Myers says, “Wholesalers who serve neighborhood grocers in places like Chicago or New York can have excellent results with prune-plums.”
This year, Oppy is packing at Orchard View Farms, its premium Oregon cherry grower partner. Orchard View has the rights to the Blue Goose trademark.
“As a result, all the expertise and efficiency Orchard View is renowned for is being applied to the plum-packing process, and it’s showing in the quality,” said Myers.
Prune-plums are grown by local small-scale farmers in Oregon’s Milton-Freewater area and enjoy popularity throughout the major eastern U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas, including Oppy's headquarters in Vancouver.
COACHELLA, CA - Prime Time International has recently debuted five-pound boxes of peppers for restaurants and other foodservice customers.
This special pack, which is being welcomed with open arms from customers, is now available throughout the year from all of Prime Time’s shipping locations.
Any size or grade can be special packed in these new five-pound boxes.
Prime Time introduced this pack to satisfy the market's growing demand. Prime Time found that distributors often invested in labor and materials to split twenty-five pound cartons into individual five-pound boxes.
Jeff Taylor, Managing Member of Prime Time, explained, “When this is done at source it represents a significant savings, plus reducing shrink, for the distributor and ultimately the end user. We are now packing this five-pound box with red, yellow, or green peppers for an expanding list of our key customers.”
A sample box can be requested from a Prime Time sales representative.
SALINAS, CA - Taylor Farms has officially opened its brand new, state-of-the-art corporate headquarters in downtown Salinas. Clocking in at 100,000 square feet, the new facility is now home to approximately 150 employees working in all three Taylor Farms segments; Foodservice, Retail, and Deli.
Located on Main Street in the heart of the downtown district of Salinas, the building itself is artistically developed, and modeled after the architecture found in New Orleans. Large windows let in abundant natural light across all five of the building’s floors, and an underground garage provides for easy and out of sight parking. Most unexpected, however, is that the design also includes a 4th floor patio and barbecue area, giving employees and visitors panoramic views, a 50-person lecture hall, and collaboration spaces, or “huddle spaces,” where new and innovative ideas can be incubated.
According to the company, the new facility was built with a focus on innovation and collaboration, inspiring Taylor Farms to open up the first two floors to other businesses, with the hopes of creating a vibrant community gathering place. Currently, the Western Growers Innovation Center is occupying part of the first floor, but the space will also be open to restaurants and retailers. Taylor Farms hopes this venture will provide space to start-up companies with the goal of nurturing new ideas and accelerating technology and innovation in agriculture.
Bruce Taylor, Taylor Farms’ CEO added, “The idea is to get these start-up companies that have great technology but don’t know what to do with it, together with growers who have needs but don’t know where to go to meet those needs.”
Taylor was born and raised in the Salinas Valley, inspiring his desire to make the new headquarters more than just a building, the company says. Surrounding the new headquarters with graceful patios, courtyards, and ample open space, the architecture creates a sense of community that Taylor hopes will spur other economic activity downtown, and help revitalize his hometown.
Taylor says, “We want Main Street to be the living room of Salinas where the community can gather. We want to drive progress, as this city becomes an even more special place to live.”
According to a press release, Taylor Farms has purchased several other downtown buildings, which are in various stages of renovation. Some will be used for Taylor Farms’ operations; others will be leased out for retail and restaurant opportunities. The plan is to create a business and social hub.
CINCINNATI, OH - Kroger has named the Presidents of its newly formed Dallas and Houston divisions, which formerly composed the company’s Southwest division.
Dana Zurcher will serve as President of Kroger’s Dallas division, effective October 1.
Bill Breetz has been appointed as President of the new Houston division, and will maintain his responsibilities for overseeing operations in Texas and Louisiana.
As we previously reported, Kroger decided to split its Southwest division in an effort to support further growth in the region. The company planned to invest approximately $700 million in Dallas-Fort Worth and $500 million in Houston over the next three years, according to a press release.
“Kroger is committed to growing and serving our customers in the great state of Texas, and in our important Louisiana markets,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s Chairman and CEO.
Kroger’s Dallas division includes 105 stores in the Dallas and Fort Worth markets and in the Shreveport and Alexandria, Louisiana area. The new Houston division includes 109 stores in the greater Houston region, as well as stores in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Zurcher, the upcoming Dallas division President, currently holds the title of Vice President of Operations for the Southwest division. She brings 30 years of leadership experience to her new role, having had responsibilities ranging from store manager and district coordinator for the company’s Central division.
“Dana’s experience spans several retail divisions, and she understands nearly every aspect of our business,” said McMullen. “We are excited to have Dana lead our team in Dallas.”
McMullen also praised Zurcher’s ability as a leader who has a proven track record for helping associates discover their full potential.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any further developments.
SAN JOSE, CA - Selling 160 million pounds of produce annually, Chick-fil-A is one of fast-food’s biggest proponents of food safety in the fruit and vegetable industries. To learn more about Chick-fil-A’s thoughts on food safety, LGMA spoke with Dr. Steven Lyon, Manager of Supply Chain Safety for the company, and got all the details.
“What’s critical for us is that we find a program like the LGMA that uses academia, local government as well as industry buy-in and has them tie it all together so we ensure, literally, from farm to the back door of the restaurant that items are produced safely,” Lyon shared.
To see LGMA’s entire interview with Lyon, watch the short video below:
What started out as a single restaurant in Georgia in 1946, has grown into one of the nation’s largest fast food chains with over 1,900 locations in 42 states. Chick-fil-A is now one of the most successful chicken restaurant chains in the U.S, but in addition to chicken, menu items like Cobb Salad and Grilled Chicken Cool Wraps ultimately results in approximately 160 million pounds of produce being served at the chain each year.
Because of this commitment to both produce and the dining experience, Lyon says, “Food safety is critical to the dining experience” at Chick-fil-A. Furthermore, Chick-fil-A is such a believer in the LGMA program and its commitment to food safety, that the company uses LGMA’s program as a requirement for all its leafy greens.
JAPAN - Behold avocado lovers—McDonald’s has just released a new avocado muffin breakfast sandwich in its Japanese locations.
In the latest addition of, “why don't we have these here?” products, McDonald’s avocado muffin is a delicious looking meld of avocado, ham, lettuce, and a spicy sauce. This new sandwich also joins other avocado-centric items on McDonald’s Japan’s menu, including an avocado burger, an avocado-fried shrimp sandwich, and an avocado veggie burger.
"We’ve used avocados before in Japan on different sandwiches and they became quite popular with our customers, and this was a way to continue offering them avocados with a twist on breakfast," a McDonald’s representative told Mashable.com.
This isn’t the first time McDonald’s has forayed into upper scale and produce-centric territory in other markets. Just earlier this month, AndNowUKnow reported on McDonald’s Australia’s wilted spinach breakfast bowls and corn fritter with grilled tomatoes.
Will this eventually hit a U.S. location near you? It’s certainly not unheard of. McDonald’s restaurants in Southern California have been testing kale breakfast bowls since May, signaling to many analysts that produce may be making bigger and bigger impacts on the chain’s menus in the near future.
For all the latest on food trends influencing the industry, keep watching AndNowUKnow.
BENTONVILLE, AR - Recent store investments weren’t enough to overcome some of the headwinds Wal-Mart faced during its second quarter of the fiscal 2016 year.
Wal-Mart’s efforts to improve the store experience, increase wages for employees, and currency fluctuations pressured the retailer’s earnings this year.
Wal-Mart posted its fourth consecutive quarter of increased comp sales which rose 1.5%. Profits decreased 15.1% to $3.48 billion for the quarter. Customer traffic increased 1.3% for the third straight quarter. Total revenue was $120.23 billion, up from $120.1 billion in the same quarter last year, beating analyst expectations, according to USA Today and estimates from Thomson Reuters.
“The changes we need to make require investment, and we’re pleased with the steps we’ve taken,” Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said during a conference call with investors. “We made continued progress towards our plan this quarter. Even if it’s not as fast as we’d like, the fundamentals of serving our customers are consistently improving, and it’s reflected in our comps and revenue growth.”
Wal-Mart has made a number of investments to improve its performance in the past few months, including beefing up its e-commerce operations and opening new fulfillment centers throughout the States. A new technology platform and pricing algorithms have also been employed to help deliver lower pricing than competitors.
In April, Wal-Mart raised the minimum wages for 500,000 full-time and part-time associates to $9 an hour. The company has also made investments in employee training giving its entry-level workers greater chance for promotion.
Charles Holley, Executive Vice President and CFO, said that Wal-Mart’s operating profit will continue to be pressured for the remainder of the year as a result of these investments in store associate wages and additional hours.
Other highlights from the Q2 2016 report include:
- Q2 diluted EPS from continuing operations was $1.08. Currency exchange rates negatively impacted EPS by approximately $0.04.
- Neighborhood Market comps increased approximately 7.3%, with strong growth from new stores. Customer experience scores improved over last year.
- E-commerce sales globally increased approximately 16% on a constant currency basis. Gross merchandise value, or GMV, increased approximately 18% on a constant currency basis.
- Consolidated operating income declined 10%.
- Wal-Mart updated full year EPS guidance to a range of $4.40 to $4.70, from a previous range of $4.70 to $5.05. This range includes Q3 EPS guidance of $0.93 to $1.05.
Shares in Wal-Mart were down approximately 3% in early morning trading following the financial report.
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ - Capespan North America has signed an exclusive citrus distribution agreement with S. Surabian & Sons. The deal appoints Capespan North America as Surabian's exclusive sales and marketing agent for its extensive line of fresh, California citrus products.
“Securing a strong and reliable package of premium California citrus, complemented by our unparalleled import program, will allow us to serve our retail partners confidently and consistently, fifty-two weeks of the year, while delivering value to our grower-base in Chile, South Africa, Peru and California, upon whom we depend for our success. Surabian is the perfect fit for us,” said Capespan North America President and CEO, Mark Greenberg.
According to a press release, Capespan’s new deal also means that the company’s and Alliance International`s customers will have an uninterrupted supply of products under Capespan`s OUTSPAN™ brand for their traditional citrus products like oranges, lemons and grapefruit. Easy-peeling clementines and mandarins will be marketed under Capespan North America’s CLEM GEM™ brand. Capespan North America will also distribute products under Surabian`s traditional brands ESCHOL™ and BUY & BUY™.
Sam Surabian, the company’s principal added, “It is with great enthusiasm and optimism that we look forward to our partnership with Capespan North America. Our affiliation with them will enhance the distribution of our products throughout the US and, through its global network, worldwide. We owe our growers the best marketing solution available and we are confident Capespan North America will ensure we provide it to them.”
The deal will provide Surabian and its grower/partners with direct access to Capespan's network of retail and wholesale customers across the USA and Canada, as well as access to the Capespan Group's distribution companies throughout Europe, the UK, Asia and the Middle East.
PUERTO VALLARTA - AMHPAC’s 8th Annual Convention, located at the Sheraton Buganvilias® Resort & Convention Center on August 27 and 28, is right around the corner. So, in preparation, we thought that a short checklist might help you get started with your planning.
Here are 10 things you need to bring to the AMHPAC convention:
- Fresh attitude — AMHPAC promises a host of new perspectives
- Business cards and brochures
- Sunglasses, sunblock, and sandals — It averages about 90 to 93ºF on some days, especially during August and September and it is very humid.
- Umbrella — On another note, the rainy season also begins in these months… Get a quick snapshot of the weather by visiting Puerto Vallarta's weather report.
- Sport outfit and tennis shoes (if you participate in the race)
- Camera
- Hit List — Who you want to see...
- Portable Charger
- Advil and Pedialyte®
- A palette for Tequila
The team at AMHPAC is hoping to make your 8th annual convention unforgettable, offering attendees the chance to rub shoulders with national and international leaders of the horticultural industry, agricultural growers, government officials, and supply chain innovators. Look forward to an atmosphere of casual business but with high impact, as well as traders and retailers on a large exhibition floor sponsored by suppliers.
For more information on what to expect, check out the program at a glance by visiting AMHPAC's website here.
See you all there in a few weeks. Till then!