LEE'S SUMMIT, MO - The Mushroom Council announced the launch of the Mushroom Marketer’s Toolkit, a turnkey resource designed to help grocery retail personnel from headquarters to in-store teams drive mushroom sales and shopper engagement. The Toolkit consolidates merchandising guidance, creative assets and in-store tools retailers need to help increase sales and repeat purchase, especially among millennial and Gen Z mushroom shoppers.

What’s Inside the Mushroom Marketer’s Toolkit

• Shopper insights: learn the strategy driving the Mushroom Council’s bold consumer marketing approach
• Point-of-sale signage: access ready-to-print artwork including shelf-talkers for each mushroom variety
• Merchandising best practices: print backroom posters with education on handling and merchandising for the optimal at-shelf experience
• Shopper-facing creative assets: download “It’s Not Magic. It’s Mushrooms.” campaign artwork, recipe videos, social media posts, and other content and customizable templates to drive engagement both in-store and online
• Campaign calendar: learn the details of the “It’s Not Magic. It’s Mushrooms.” campaign; follow links to influencer content to make it easy to share the Mushroom Council’s star-powered campaign on channels including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

The Mushroom Marketer’s Toolkit is designed to extend the reach of the Mushroom Council’s “It’s Not Magic. It’s Mushrooms.” star-powered campaign platform, which includes A-list spokespersons and influential content creators promoting mushrooms across a range of platforms including streaming TV, streaming music, podcasts, and digital and social media. Targeting millennial and Gen Z shoppers specifically, the campaign positions mushrooms as a delicious, convenient meal solution with impressive functional benefits and drives them into stores with mushrooms on their shopping lists. The Toolkit provides retailers with the in-store assets and execution guidance needed to translate campaign-driven interest into the final point-of-purchase conversion, connecting shopper intent to product on shelf.

“We created the Mushroom Marketer’s Toolkit to give retailers practical, turnkey resources that make it easier to help grow mushroom sales at the store level,” said Cristie Mather, Vice President of Marketing, Mushroom Council, in the recent release. “By aligning with the ‘It’s Not Magic. It’s Mushrooms.’ platform, this Toolkit assists produce teams in converting millennial and Gen Z shopper interest into real purchase behavior through compelling merchandising, ready-to-use creative assets, and frontline training.”

The Mushroom Marketer’s Toolkit is available now to produce teams and merchandising partners. Hosted online and available 24/7, the toolkit will be regularly updated with new information and assets as the “It’s Not Magic. It’s Mushrooms.” campaign continues to roll out over time.

Visit mushroomcouncil.org/retailers/resources/ to access the toolkit.

In addition, the Mushroom Council is attending the Southeast Produce Council (SEPC) Southern Exposure conference Feb. 26 – Mar. 1 and will be available to provide a face-to-face walkthrough of the Toolkit onsite. Contact Cristie Mather to arrange a meeting at [email protected].

FIREBAUGH, CA & BUFFALO, NY - Any way you slice it, melons are, for many of us, part of our lifelong memories. Whether it is a cantaloupe sliced into a bowl during the dog days of summer or skewered with other fruit alongside cuts of BBQ meat or brunch dishes, certain melon varieties stand out, even if they are not the central player. This is where Tara Monreal, Marketing Director of Westside Produce and Classic Fruit, and I left off in our last conversation about how certain melon varieties have been positioned more as a supporting character than a standalone fruit.

“I think, over the years, cantaloupe and honeydew have turned into a background fruit. It's on fruit trays, in every buffet spread, and at hotel breakfasts,” Tara tells me. “But there is no modern-day narrative built around cantaloupe and honeydew. Most consumers don't associate melons with being high in antioxidants and vitamins A and C, or know that honeydew is 90 percent water, making it highly hydrating and rich in electrolytes. Most consumers don't even know cantaloupe is a superfood.”

Tara highlights a personal story to reinforce the sentiment.

“My sister just had a baby, and her doctors told her if she was struggling with milk production to eat more cantaloupe. The perception and knowledge of these melons is just not there. So there is definitely a level of education and narrative that is missing, making it, in many ways, a misunderstood fruit,” Tara shares.

When I ask Tara what she and her team are doing differently to reposition melons and connect with a younger generation of shoppers, she explains how Westside Produce and Classic Fruit are in a unique position to market melons in a new way.

“There aren't a lot of promotions or campaigns out there around cantaloupe and honeydew, so why not be one of the first? We aim to help people view cantaloupe and honeydew differently,” she reveals. “It's not just the fruit bowl you get on the side with your breakfast, but the main character. Instead of just selling supply, we are trying to build the category. We want to shift the mindset from a commodity to a lifestyle.”

Scoop out the seeds, add a scoop of ice cream in the center, and serve it by the pool. Make a melon mocktail at a dinner party or eat it as a recovery snack after your Pilates class.

“It is such a powerful and nutritious fruit that I feel so many are missing out on. There is also a level of awareness that we need to build. Last year, we had an amazing opportunity to launch a limited-edition melon label with professional quarterback Josh Allen and his family, as they are growers of ours. Melon sales in Western New York increased 120 percent during that time frame because consumers were so excited about it,” Tara describes. “Kids were dressing up their cantaloupes and bringing them into football games. We received comments that it was some customers’ first time buying a melon and that their kids were begging for more. Highlighting stories like this and getting other generations excited about the commodity is one step in that process.”

As both the Westside Produce and Classic Fruit alliance and the internal marketing team continue to grow, Tara shares what success looks like for melons at retail in the coming years.

“For us, we want people to not just see melons as seasonal, but as a staple. We want it to be a habit category driven by a lifestyle and health-focused shift that takes ownership in consumers' minds. The same goes for the retail level. We don't want it to be a commodity that rotates in and out, but one that has a permanent presence on the shelves. We want retailers to build trust in our supply so that it builds trust in the category. When melons have a defined role in the health and wellness conversation instead of being background fruit, and we see more consistent supply in stores, that’s a win for us.”

Tara’s passion for this program is palpable, and Westside Produce and Classic Fruit’s retail partners feel it.

Stay tuned for more from Tara and her team as spring gets underway.

GARLAND, TX - H-E-B has plans for two new projects in the City of Garland, according to a recent release on the company's site.

First, the company will revitalize a vacant shopping center located on the northeast corner of Centerville Road and LBJ Freeway. The approximately seven-acre site will soon be home to North Texas’ fourth Joe V’s Smart Shop, an innovative price format that focuses on offering fresh, high-quality products at the lowest prices in the marketplace. Construction is expected to begin in the coming months.

Part of H-E-B’s family of brands, Joe V’s Smart Shop operates 14 stores in North Texas and Houston.

The second project involves H-E-B’s intent to develop an H-E-B store on a 21-acre site located between Crist Road and Firewheel Parkway off President George Bush Turnpike. The purchase of that property is not yet final.

Additional details will be shared as these projects develop.

As a multiformat retailer, H-E-B operates Joe V’s Smart Shop, Central Market, and Mi Tienda stores. Additionally, H-E-B operates Favor Delivery, an on-demand delivery service that serves hundreds of communities throughout the state.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Wonderful® Pistachios has announced a collaboration with award-winning chef, TV personality, and author Eitan Bernath in celebration of World Pistachio Day on February 26. This partnership combines the brand’s No Shells Unsalted variety with Eitan’s culinary expertise to create an elevated, approachable pasta dish for home cooks: Lemon Butter Spaghetti with Whipped Pistachio Ricotta.

The collaboration kicked-off on Instagram and TikTok featuring a mouthwatering recipe video Reel of how to cook the original pasta recipe featuring Wonderful Pistachios. The partnership also included an intimate World Pistachio Day dinner party where Eitan showcased additional courses using Wonderful Pistachios No Shells Unsalted, including a pistachio baked feta and a deconstructed raspberry pistachio tart.

For more information visit WonderfulPistachios.com, or find Eitan’s pasta recipe on Instagram by following @wonderfulpistachios and @eitan.

ROSEMONT, IL - US Foods Holding Corp., one of America’s largest food distributors and leader in digital foodservice solutions, announced the launch of Menu IQ, an AI-powered profitability solution designed to help operators better manage food costs. Menu IQ transforms menu management from intuition into a data-driven strategy for optimizing menu profitability—at no additional cost to US Foods customers.

Aligned with US Foods’ commitment to deliver more tools to help operators run their business with ease, Menu IQ is integrated into MOXē, the company’s all-in-one industry-leading business application, where customers can browse products, manage inventory and track orders.

“Every day we hear about our operators’ biggest challenges, and menu profitability sits at the top of their concerns,” said James Jones, senior vice president of digital commerce, in the recent release. "Our customers are demanding easier, more intuitive solutions to help improve menu profitability, and Menu IQ enables us to meet this need. Menu IQ delivers real-time visibility into which dishes are driving margins so our operators can adjust instantly to make smarter decisions about which changes will drive increased profitability. This is a great example of how we continue to help our customers Make It."

Menu IQ is built the way operators work—bringing together essential capabilities that make menu management intuitive and actionable:

• AI Recipe Management: Upload recipes and automatically calculate food costs.
• Real-Time Profitability Tracking: Monitor which menu items drive margins—anytime, anywhere.
• Actionable Insights: Identify underperforming dishes and optimization opportunities at a glance.
• Integrated Data: Pull actual food costs from MOXē Inventory for accuracy using the US Foods food cost calculator.

To learn more or request a demo, please visit: usfoods.com/how-we-help-you/easy-ordering.

DUNDEE, FL - Dundee, FL, February 24, 2026 – Florida Classic Growers, Inc. invites SEPC Southern Exposure attendees to visit Booth #207 for fresh sampling of its premium Rubies® red grapefruit, including hand-sliced samples and freshly juiced grapefruit.

Rubies® grapefruit are known for their deep red color, exceptional interior quality, and balanced sweet flavor. Backed by generations of Florida growing expertise, the brand represents the company’s commitment to delivering consistent, high-quality citrus to retail partners and consumers nationwide.

A key driver behind the Rubies® program is Florida Classic Growers’ CUPS (Citrus Under Protective Screen) production system. CUPS is a controlled environment growing method that protects trees from citrus greening. The result is premium exterior and interior fruit quality, consistent supply, and environmentally responsible production using less land, water, and fertilizer.

“Our CUPS program is producing some of the finest grapefruit we have ever grown,” said Derek Rodgers, Director of Sales & Marketing for Florida Classic Growers, in the recent release. “When customers taste Rubies®, they immediately recognize the difference in flavor, color, and quality.”

CUPS also supports long-term varietal innovation in Florida, unlocking opportunities for additional high-value citrus programs while strengthening supply reliability for East Coast retailers.

“The innovation behind CUPS allows us to deliver a dependable, sustainable Florida-grown product,” said Steven Callaham, CEO at Dundee Citrus Growers Association. “Rubies® grapefruit showcase what’s possible when you combine tradition with forward-thinking agriculture.”