SACRAMENTO, CA - Rain has finally hit California soil, much to the relief of many Californians.
The Weather Channel reports a stark change in California’s weather pattern may render the state a little less vulnerable to drought conditions. The changing weather pattern will continue to bring rain and snow to the West through the first half of the week, providing good news for drought-stricken California.
Snowpacks are expected to have some growth, due to the much-needed snow that will fall in the higher elevations. The water content of California's snowpack was at only 5 percent of the April 1 average, which is the lowest level on record for the date, the Weather Channel reports.
Most areas will see a total rainfall accumulation of less than 1 inch through Wednesday, but some areas near the coast of northern California may see more than 2 inches.
However, as The Weather Channel reports, every inch of rain and snowfall helps soften deficits in California. Downtown San Francisco has received just over 1.5 inches of rain since Jan. 1, which is more than 10.75 inches below average. In Southern California, downtown Los Angeles has reported just over 2.75 inches of rain since the beginning of the year, which is over 6.5 inches below average.
Though the rain and snow are certainly welcome, significantly more storms are needed to put any kind of dent in the ongoing drought.
LOS ANGELES, CA - 4Earth Farms has been pulling out all the stops to grow its organic brand in recent years and it has no plans of stopping.
I spoke with Mark Munger, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for 4Earth Farms, about the company’s focus on increasing the number of organic products, increasing quality, and providing consistency for retailers.
“Our organic line has been a big focus for growth within the company. Based on feedback and demand from our customers, we’ve been growing and evolving the program by adding additional items for the 4Earth Organics brand and our outside brands as well,” says Munger.
One of the main goals for 4Earth Farms has been to become a “one-stop-shop” supplier of organics.
Munger tells me, “Other companies don’t have a wide variety of supply. It’s both costly and time-consuming for retailers to run all over town to get their supplies.”
The company currently offers over 100 different organic produce items, Munger tells me, and has plans to add even more in the future.
“We are looking to fill supply gaps in the market and become more valuable as a supplier. We ask our clients, ‘What organic items are you struggling to find supplies for,’” he says.
This collaborative approach is something the company prides themselves on, Munger tells me. 4Earth Farms works from a best practices standpoint, combining its clients understanding of the customer base with its own organic product expertise.
When I asked Munger what differentiates 4Earth Farms' organic line from its competitors, he says, “It's the breadth of our line, our reputation for being high quality, and to retailers, it’s our consistency of supply. We’re aggressive marketers; we recognize that you have to have some price competitiveness. Being able to offer an organic item at an equivalent price to a conventional item really increases consumption.”
To learn more about the company’s organic line, visit 4Earth Farms’ booth at next week’s Northern California Fresh Produce & Floral Expo or visit its website at www.4earthfarms.com.
ANAHEIM, CA - Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing at Columbia Marketing International (CMI) joined AndNowUKnow to discuss what’s new with the company’s Daisy Girl Organics brand.
“Daisy Girl is now the number one selling brand in organic apple in the United States after two years,” Lutz tells us.
Now in its third year after introducing the brand, CMI has expanded the line to include five apple varieties. In addition, the company has also introduced four pear varieties to the line for the first time ever.
“It’s attracting new consumers to the category, which is really critical to grow sales,” Lutz continued.
For more on CMI and its Daisy Girl Organics brand, check out our interview with Steve Lutz above.
UNITED STATES - Food Genius is dishing up on salad trends in the foodservice industry.
The company has published Salads: Menu Trends and Insights, a 22-page insight into what restaurants are likely to feature salads and how.
According to the study, the biggest salad trending terms with the largest change in percentage since 2013 are:
- Kale
- Red Cabbage
- Butterhead Lettuce
- Mesclun
- Arugula
Across the nation over half of restaurants offer salads, most often as a small plate. Key findings include that salads are more popularly featured in independent restaurants, half of menus featuring salads are in fast, casual restaurants. This category actually occupies about 31 percent of all U.S. salad mentions.
The average price of a salad entree is reportedly $9.21, while the average small salad item plate is about $7.32.
As seen in the image below, the report shows by restaraunt price-range which are more likely to feature salad options in their menus.
The data also concludes that romaine lettuce is nearly four times more likely to be featured than iceberg or butterhead lettuce, though lettuce in general continues to be the most popular salad base. Other popular bases include spinach, arugula, and cabbage.
Tomatoes and onions are the two most popular restaurant toppings, though a wide diversity of toppings are available. According to Food Genius, these two produce items are actually expected to come on salads. Foodservice establishments do, however, try to offer toppings customers are familiar with.
For all the latest in industry news and trends, keep checking in with AndNowUKnow.
To download the report, click the link below:
WASHINGTON - Two PACA violators in Georgia and Utah have been restricted from operating in the produce industry, according to a USDA press release.
Daniel Hernandez, doing business as Daniel Produce, a Forest Park, Georgia-based company, has allegedly failed to pay a $4,715 award in favor of a Georgia seller. Daniel E. Hernandez was listed as the sole proprietor of the business.
High Country Distribution LLC, a South Jordan, Utah-based company, has failed to pay a $9,054 award in favor of a California seller. Roy V. Cook and Jason K. Henderson were listed as members of the business.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 4,250 PACA claims involving more than $77 million. USDA experts have also assisted more than 7,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $110 million. Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or major stockholders may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without the approval of the USDA. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA.
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA - The Allen Lund Company, San Francisco office has promoted two associates, Wendy Adan and Albert Llamas, to Operations Manager.
“As this office continues to grow and with our focus on produce, the importance of managing the often complicated process associated with perishables is crucial,” said Bob Rose, Allen Lund Company’s San Francisco Manager. “Both Wendy and Albert possess the skill set operationally and experience to grow and manage this portion of our business.”
Wendy Adan, an 8 year veteran at the company, is a graduate of San Diego State University with a degree in Business Management. Albert Llamas, who has been with the company since 1999, attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa for Business Management.
David Lund, Vice President of Sales and Branch Operations, complimented Adan and Llamas on their ability to provide excellent service. “Together they will be a great team as the office continues to grow in numbers and accounts,” said Lund. “Their experience in the produce industry will prove a valuable resource to the expanding staff and they will continue to provide the excellent service our customers expect.”
Both Adan and Llamas say they are excited about this opportunity and they are looking forward to new challenges with this position as they help expand the San Francisco office and ALC brand.
IRELAND - Daniel Johnson has a green thumb, but a bad sense of what he’s growing.
The 34-year-old swears he thought that the four fields totalling 19 cannabis plants were actually supposed to be tomatoes, though why the smell- or the lack of tomatoes- didn’t alert him to something being a little off, we aren’t quite sure.
To his credit, Johnson reportedly has no history of drug dealing or any kind of convictions. Who knows, maybe this is an easy mistake? So just to make sure, we asked Jeremy Stockwell of Double Diamond: Is there any way you could confuse a cannabis plant with a tomato plant?
His response was swift. “No way.”
The Irish Times reported that Johnson found a “tomato plant” in a pollytunnel several fields from his newly-rented home, and decided to have a vegetable garden by collecting the seedlings and planting a few plots in his backyard.
Johnson evidently took the police at their word when they told him his backyard garden was actually a pot farm, agreeing to go in to custody and plead guilty to unlawfully cultivating and possessing cannabis. It turns out the judge on the case agreed, with a comment about as skeptical as we are.
“This is the matter where the tomato plants miraculously converted themselves into cannabis plants,” Judge O’Conner surmised, according to the report.
“With the aid of holy water,” Padraig O’Connell, Solicitor (Defense) for Johnson, replied.
Holy water. Holy water? Not your standard courtroom conversation, I hope. But then, we are talking about miracle tomatoes.
The brief trial took place at District Court level and Johnson was given an eight-month sentence, though his conviction is suspended for two years. On the condition he doesn’t grow anymore illegal drugs, of course.
Hopefully this time he can tell the difference.
VENTURA, CA - Following the lead of companies like Loblaw, Sunkist and Ventura Coastal have taken on the task of increasing sustainability through utilizing less-than-perfect produce.
The two organizations have jointly released a sustainability case study entitled, "From Grove to Glass and Beyond: Using the Whole Fruit,” that aims to reduce waste by identifying, expanding or creating markets to utilize citrus fruit that does not meet quality standards for fresh sale. The end result would ideally be that every part of the fruit is used, including the peel.
By providing Ventura Coastal with its byproducts, Sunkist seeks to ensure that its growers’ fruit is being fully utilized, while also providing the market with various desired and profitable citrus products.
According to the report, Ventura Coastal is a strong partner for Sunkist, and is a Safe Quality Food certified manufacturer.
Other highlights from the report include:
- Ventura Coastal processed around 30 million single strength gallons of citrus juice annually from Sunkist fruit.
- Each year, Ventura Coastal sells approximately 285,000 short tons of citrus peel to dairy farmers throughout the state of California to be used as a primary nutritional ingredient for cattle feed.
- During peak season, Ventura Coastal processes nearly 5,000 short tons of fresh fruit each day.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that global food wastage was responsible for 3.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalent emissions in 2007, the most recent year for which data is available. Wasted food also takes nearly 60 cubic miles of water to produce every year.
For more information, you can read Sunkist's report here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has lifted restrictions against Alejandro Alarcon Vega, doing business as Alex Produce, for satisfiying a reparation order issued under PACA.
The Birmingham, AL company has met its obligations and is now free to operate in the produce industry. Alejandro Alarcon Vega was listed as the sole proprietor of the business and may now be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee.
As we’ve previously reported, Alex Produce was restricted for failing to pay a $4,582 award in favor of a Georgia seller.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 4,250 PACA claims involving more than $77 million. The USDA also assisted more than 7,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $110 million. Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or major stockholders may not be employed or affiliated with any PACA licensee without the approval of the USDA. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA.
SEATTLE, WA - No secret that today’s consumption trends, which are harnessing a major health kick, often include kale. And Starbucks, a leader in taking and making trends, has announced its attention to join the movement.
According to Fox News, the company has added Kale to a list of new flavors for its Evolution Fresh Smoothies.
"They are free from artificial sweeteners or fillers, just a unique, wholesome snack or beverage," Jeff Hansberry, President of Evolution Fresh, Starbucks' cold-pressed juice brand, said in a press release. "We’ve been testing in select stores since last year, and our partners have shared extremely positive feedback."
And that is not the only produce-driven splash Starbucks is adding. According to the Fox News report, the company usually associated with coffee enthusiasts will also offer a veggie-based smoothie mix called Sweet Greens, as well as strawberry or mango smoothies.
Each new beverage can be customized by consumers, including additional fruits and (of course) more kale.
These produce-packed, kale-included smoothies can now be purchased at any of the more than 4,000 Starbucks shops across the nation.