TORONTO, CANADA - DoorDash Canada is getting in on the Women’s History Month celebration with its latest launch. The delivery maven has revealed its new Made by Women platform, dedicated to amplifying the voices and contributions of women chefs and restaurateurs. The program will offer access to marketing, educational, and financial resources restaurants need to succeed, grow, and make an impact.

“As a female leader, I am proud of the ongoing commitment at DoorDash to amplifying female voices and providing funding for women-owned businesses,” says Shilpa Arora, General Manager of DoorDash Canada. “This program aims to empower women across Canada and make a tangible impact and empower local economies. With DoorDash's dedication to supporting female entrepreneurs and leaders, we aim to create lasting change and opportunities for women in the restaurant industry.”

DoorDash is launching the Made by Women Grant program in partnership with Monday Girl, which will provide fifteen $10,000 grants to Canadian women-owned restaurants. A press release stated that the program aims to provide funding to support the growth of women-owned restaurants in Canada, a press release stated. Both new and existing DoorDash partners are invited to apply.

The Made By Women program is an extension of DoorDash’s ongoing Entrepreneurship & Access program, which helps level the playing field for entrepreneurs and increase opportunities for businesses owned by immigrants, people of color, and women. The educational and marketing support of the program will become available later in 2024.

"Today's launch of Made by Women is incredibly rewarding. It's been inspiring to see this initiative come to life and connect with merchants, knowing the impact it will have on their businesses and communities,” said Martine English, Senior Merchant Brand Manager of DoorDash Canada. “At DoorDash Canada, we're proud to be a force for good and champion women chefs and restaurateurs, empowering them to make a lasting difference in the industry."

Women-owned restaurants can learn more about the Made by Women Grant program and apply from March 8–April 15, 2024, by clicking here.

We applaud DoorDash for elevating the voices of women in the industry!

NEW ZEALAND - Retailers will soon be playing the smooth tune of JAZZ™ apples in their produce departments. T&G Global announced that the first 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand-grown JAZZ apples are being picked this week. This season, T&G and its independent growers will collectively pick over 4 million tray carton equivalents of apples this year.

“Across the country, we’ve had near-perfect apple growing conditions, with hot sunny days and cool nights, enabling the crop to develop great colour and eating quality,” said Craig Betty, Director of Operations. “Our JAZZ apples taste great—with that perfect balance of crisp, tangy-sweet flavour that consumers love and seek out.”

T&G and its growers began harvesting early season varieties including Poppi™, Royal Gala, and Pacific Queen™ in Tairāwhiti Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay in early February. The South Island JAZZ crop is up next, which will be harvested a few weeks later. Envy™ branded apples will begin to be picked in early April.

“Last year, with Cyclone Gabrielle striking Hawke’s Bay just as our harvest was getting underway, some JAZZ volumes were impacted,” Betty continued. “Our team, together with our independent growers, have put in a huge amount of work to clean up and restore orchards. The quality of this season’s crop is testament to their dedication and effort.”

The first JAZZ shipments will depart Napier Port bound for Asia in late March, a press release stated.

“In addition to JAZZ being readily available in stores across Aotearoa New Zealand for Kiwis to enjoy, in late March our first shipments will depart Hawke’s Bay for Hong Kong, and over the coming months JAZZ will be available in China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam,” Betty added.

It’s also the first full season T&G’s state-of-the-art automated Hawke’s Bay packhouse has been operational.

“Our Whakatu packhouse helps ensure we have the capacity to handle increasing volumes of fruit and that the quality of our fruit is prioritized by utilizing some of the world’s leading AI defect sorting, soft fruit handling, and robotic fruit packers and palletizer technology,” Betty concluded.

As these high-quality apples hit shelves, keep an eye out for ANUK.

SINALOA, MEXICO - Veggies From Mexico recently reported a favorable 2024 start for growers across Sinaloa. This favorable start owes itself in part to the Expo Agro Sinaloa 2024, an event that attracted over 40,000 attendees and featured more than 180 exhibiting companies.

“This Expo allows Sinaloa and Mexican growers to be on top of the criteria that international markets demand for food safety and social responsibility since the event provides seminars and training by internationally recognized specialists in these matters,” explained Georgius Gotsis, Chief Executive Officer, in a press release

During the event, Gotsis participated in a panel discussion on social responsibility in which he highlighted the practices and services that Sinaloa growers provide to their employees, including childcare, breastfeeding support, school transportation, sports facilities, and housing.

To stay ahead of the curve, VFM plans to enhance the training and education of its auditors to meet the standards, certifications, and social responsibility requirements set by North American clients. This commitment aims to maintain the compliance levels of its growers.

AndNowUKnow will continue to bring you the latest from the fresh biz.

OXNARD, CA - Mission Produce is seeing a promising beginning after recently reporting its most recent financial results. With the addition of mangos and blueberries to its offerings, the company continues to build on its central Hass avocado business.

“We are off to a strong start in fiscal 2024 with the delivery of a first quarter that demonstrated solid execution across all facets of our business. The team’s focus resulted in significantly improved per-unit margins, which translated to nearly 700 basis points of gross margin expansion and resulted in a significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA performance year-over-year,” remarks Steve Barnard, Chief Executive Officer.

One of the highlights of the report is Mission’s total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 increased by $45.2 million. This is a 21 percent increase compared to the same period last year and is driven primarily by higher average per-unit avocado sales prices, a release explained.

The company also reported growth in mango and blueberry revenues resulting from higher average sales prices driven by industry supply constraints during the period.

According to a press release, an overview of the fiscal first quarter 2024 also includes the following:

• Total revenue increased 21 percent to $258.7 million compared to the same period last year driven primarily by a 23 percent increase in average per-unit avocado selling prices on flat avocado volumes
• Net income/(loss) was breakeven, or $0.00 per diluted share, compared to $(8.8) million, or $(0.12) per diluted share, for the same period last year
• Adjusted net income of $6.7 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $(5.0) million, or $(0.07) per diluted share, for the same period last year
• Adjusted EBITDA of $19.2 million, compared to $2.3 million in the same period last year

Barnard went on to say, “Our margin improvement was spurred by strength in avocado margins in our marketing and distribution segment, as well as the achievement of record quarterly revenues in our blueberries segment due to advantageous pricing conditions, which contributed meaningfully to our overall adjusted EBITDA generation. In our international farming segment, our team has been focused on implementing cost savings measures across our farming and packing operations. We expect to see the benefits of these initiatives in the second half of our fiscal year when we harvest and sell our owned avocado production from Peru. Our improved overall performance is a direct result of the actions we are taking to optimize our business and enhance profitability, and it is expected to result in a meaningful step-up in free cash flow generation in 2024.”

We’ll continue to keep an eye on the fresh produce sector, so stay tuned to ANUK.