NORTH CAROLINA & PENNSYLVANIA - Wegmans-loving consumers are celebrating as the retailer announces two store openings. The first will be in Holly Springs, North Carolina, and the second will be in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Wegmans already has several locations in North Carolina, but it is growing its footprint with its newest store in Holly Springs later this year. According to reporting from Country 103.7, while the exact opening date is not yet known, it will be in 2024.

The other new location will be in Bucks Country and officially opens today, March 20. As Patch.com reports, the store is 88,000 square feet and has 415 employees. It will offer an abundant selection of thousands of products and restaurant-prepared foods prepared by Executive Chef Ryan Franks and his culinary staff.

The location also features a produce section with hundreds of different fruits and vegetables, including many organic choices.

Where will Wegmans set the course for next? Only time and AndNowUKnow will tell, so keep reading.

ALEXANDRIA, VA - The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is upgrading its toolkit for farmers, landowners, and others. Recently, the organization revealed that it is improving its interactive Environment, Conservation, and Cover Crop Seed Resource Guide, which helps buyers find dealers for specific seed types by location to support production and sustainability goals.

“It’s important to plan proactively, and as far in advance as possible, to ensure your local, professional seed dealer has your selection of seed in stock when and where you need it,” said ASTA President and Chief Executive Officer Andy LaVigne. “Professionally produced and processed seed is designed to help farmers achieve success through managing the use of the right seed, at the right place, at the right time. It has been selected, harvested, cleaned, analyzed, processed, and packaged for performance, and it has been tested for purity and germination. All of this helps ensure you get the best quality seed to meet your production and sustainability goals while minimizing the presence of invasive and other weeds.”

Every year, ASTA works with its members to update the map, ensuring that farmers, landowners, and other interested parties have access to the latest information and local, professionally produced environment, conservation, and cover crop seed.

A recent survey by the organization found that an added 10.5 million acres of cover crops will be planted in the next five years as a result of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart-Commodities projects, a release explained. This demand demonstrates the benefits of conservation resources like the map and supports ASTA’s efforts in sustainability advocacy for cover crop seed.

Click here to view the guide.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more of the latest tools. 

WATSONVILLE, CA - Driscoll’s is wearing a new badge of honor, and it reads “Most Innovative Company.” The berry brand recently joined Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024.

“Driscoll’s has one of the world’s largest Research and Development Flavor Centers that is solely dedicated to berry flavor innovation through our own proprietary varieties,” said Soren Bjorn, Chief Executive Officer of Driscoll’s. “We leveraged this center of excellence for the launch of our premium Sweetest Batch™ berries. Shoppers can now experience unprecedented flavor with a trusted brand that they know and has been part of their daily lives.”

As a press release detailed, Fast Company's editors and writers identified the companies driving progress around the world and across industries, evaluating thousands of submissions through a competitive application process. Alongside the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company recognizes 606 organizations across 58 sectors and regions.

Driscoll’s was recognized for promoting innovation across the fresh produce category and elevating category expectations for how fresh produce should taste. For over a century, the berry provider has been on a mission to delight consumers with Only the Finest Berries™.

“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is both a comprehensive look at the innovation economy and a snapshot of the business trends that defined the year,” said Fast Company Editor in Chief Brendan Vaughan. “We saw extraordinary innovation across the board in 2023, but we also saw a handful of clear patterns: the growing footprint and impact of AI, the triumphant return of live events, and great leaps forward in climate tech. We face daunting challenges on many fronts, but the solutions we celebrate in MIC give me plenty of hope about the future.”

Fast Company will host its Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala on May 16, featuring a morning and afternoon of inspiring content, a creative black-tie gala including networking, a seated dinner, and an honoree presentation.

Read more about this recent win here, and keep clicking on AndNowUKnow for the latest produce news.

SALINAS, CA - From innovative new veg kits to the expansion of its Chopped Salad Kit and Mini Chopped Salad Kit lines, lots of noteworthy things are happening under the roof of the Taylor Farms operation. Digging into the provider’s latest portfolio expansion, Vice President of Sales Amanda Knauff shared some exclusive details with AndNowUKnow.

“We're showcasing a few of our different innovations across multiple segments,” she began. “We have items like our new veg kits—you can air-fry them, you can sauté them all different ways, so that’s a unique twist to the style of kits we have today.”

The supplier has also broadened its lineup of Chopped Salad Kits, bringing inventive new flavors to store shelves.

“We have some new flavors in our Taylor Farms Chopped Kits and in our mini segment as well,” Amanda shares. “We have fun flavors like Nashville Hot and Pizza Ranch.”

Be sure to check out our exclusive video above for more insights from Amanda herself!

As always, be on the lookout for the latest from ANUK.

REEDLEY, CA - The winter citrus season will soon come to a conclusion, but supplies are still on their way to store shelves. The Fruit World team is hard at work harvesting the last of its crops, and I got the chance to hear about it from Bianca Kaprielian, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, in a recent interview.

“We can’t believe how quickly this season is passing. We’ll be harvesting specialty citrus for another month and citrus staples into late April or early May,” Bianca told me. “Standout offerings include organic Tango and Murcott Mandarins—the flavor has been off-the-charts good this year—and conventional Gold Nugget mandarins, which we’re just starting to harvest. The Gold Nuggets are eating like candy with brix above 15! We even designed a variety-specific Gold Nugget bag to make it easy for retailers to offer another mandarin SKU and capture additional sales.”

For the organic and conventional Mandarins, Fruit World is packing into 2 lb, 3 lb, and 5 lb bags and 25 lb and 33 lb volume fill cartons. Final varieties of the season include Tango, Murcott, Klondike, and Gold Nugget. According to Bianca, they taste great and look even better in the newly rebranded bags. They also pack stem and leaf Mandarins, with the season wrapping up by early May.

Fruit World’s organic grapefruits are deliciously tart this season. The supplier is reporting a good supply of 32–48 ct. Buyers, if you are looking for a last-minute hot buy or promotions, connect with Fruit World about volume discounts on organic grapefruit, packed in 40 lb volume fill or in 10/4 lb bags. Fruit World’s District 3 Minneola supply has finished up and harvest is underway in District 1, shipping out of Reedley, California. Bianca highly suggests that retailers order them soon, as they have a delicious sweet-tart flavor, and supply will wrap up quickly. The same goes for Blood oranges—they’ll only be around for a couple more weeks.

“Even though we’re in our final push of the winter citrus season, California citrus season really never ends because of our diverse growing regions throughout the state. We offer year-round organic lemon and orange programs, so we can fill your category with the right citrus at the right time,” Bianca explained. “We are very particular about picking our citrus to the depth of flavor, and then we match harvests with specific buyers based on their consumer preference for taste, size, and value. We like to stretch the Navel crop out as far into May as possible because the sugars have had all that time on the tree to develop and the fruit is super sweet and tasty. Then we seamlessly move into Valencias once they have built up enough sugar.”

Fruit World specializes in delivering the most flavorful fruit in California, including organic and conventional citrus, grapes, stonefruit, and more. They curate large—and small-scale citrus programs across North America.

“We focus on providing our customers with peak-season produce and an extremely high level of customer service and transparency. Our growing operations allow us to reliably supply national supermarkets, independent chains, and mom-and-pop grocers, all while staying rooted in our family values,” shared Bianca.

To contact Fruit World's sales team and set up your spring citrus promotions, click here.

And keep reading ANUK for more fresh produce news.