SALINAS, CA - Setting the stage in 2025 to commemorate a year of meaningful milestones and forward momentum, Markon is celebrating its 40th anniversary with its sights set on the IFPA Foodservice Conference. Known for its steadfast commitment to innovation, integrity, and operational excellence, the company is using this year’s event to reflect not only on its continued evolution within the fresh produce industry but also on the strategic growth and partnerships that have helped shape its trajectory.

“Markon is proudly celebrating 40 years as the trusted leader in foodservice for the fresh produce industry,” Nelia Alamo, Vice President of Marketing, shares with me. “Through our member distributors, we consistently deliver high-quality, innovative products designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s chefs and operators.”

Markon’s program is built around member-exclusive products, K-12 solutions, and expanded multi-unit restaurant support for this year’s IFPA Foodservice platform. Let’s take a look:

Nelia highlights some of the products and initiatives to discover:

• Member exclusive products: We offer unique items such as our chef-created Ready-Set-Serve Bistro Butter Blend, Ready-Set-Serve Authentic Guacamole available in convenient 1/9 pans that fit directly into kitchen lines, and the newly branded Markon First Crop Living Butter Lettuce, which is sustainably grown with 90 percent less water and land usage than conventionally grown lettuce. The attached roots keep heads fresher longer, extending shelf life.
• Robust K-12 solutions: Markon aids school foodservice operators in navigating supply needs with delicious, nutrient-dense fruit and vegetable products.
• Expanded multi-unit restaurant support: WE emphasize our capability to consistently deliver fresh produce through a broad distribution network across the U.S. and Canada.

"Markon provides a distinctive combination of produce offerings specifically designed for the foodservice market. We surpass industry food safety standards to keep our customers’ ingredients as fresh and safe as possible. We pass on the benefits achieved through our cooperative to our customers,” Nelia expresses.

Solutions-oriented, Markon is always proactive in its approach to executing on the foodservice front, collaborating closely with members’ corporate chefs to quickly identify emerging needs and trends in modern kitchens—from new flavor profiles to labor-saving solutions.

“We work together with our trusted grower and processor partners to create new and innovative products that cater to the specific foodservice needs of our members’ customers,” Nelia says. “Markon maintains strong connections to the industry through ongoing operator engagement. We achieve this by hosting in-person customer tours in key growing regions throughout the year. During these events, we get firsthand recommendations and requests from our members’ foodservice operator customers. Markon also values insights from our supplier partnerships, trusting them to deliver custom solutions tailored to the foodservice industry.”

Looking to learn more about Markon and join in on the festive 40th anniversary occasion? Stop by IFPA Foodservice booth #500. See you all in Monterey!

FRESNO, CA - The International Fresh Produce Association’s Foodservice Conference is taking place July 31 to August 1, and suppliers across the industry are preparing to showcase their products. I recently connected with Richard Cowden, Sales, to hear what Baloian Farms has in store.

“At Baloian Farms, we specialize in growing premium vegetables, with bell peppers as our centerpiece. In addition to bell peppers, we also offer a variety of fresh vegetables, including squash, cucumbers, and eggplant. One of our seasonal specialties is the popular flat sweet red onion, a unique offering available exclusively from May to September,” Richard began telling me. “Our bulk packaging brands include Pam Pak and Marty Boy. We also provide value-added and custom packages for retailers and foodservice.”

Richard noted that, for over 50 years, Baloian Farms has been producing a robust wet vegetable program—a diverse range featuring Romaine, cauliflower, leaf lettuces, spinach, and other seasonal items. Baloian’s season starts in the fall, and it is always highly anticipated by customers because the supplier provides consistent, high-quality wet vegetables from fall through the holidays and into spring.

“In addition to what we are doing in California, we are working to expand our Nogales, Arizona, and Mexico growing operations,” Richard added. “Our Nogales office specializes in quality control, warehouse management, sales, and transportation and serves as a vital hub for receiving and shipping product grown in Mexico to our distribution centers in California. Our Nogales/Mexico operations provide continuity of supplies year-round.”

According to Richard, attendees who visit the booth will walk away with an understanding that Baloian Farms:

• Is a multi-commodity grower, packer, and shipper of premium-quality fresh vegetables
• Offers a variety of dry and wet vegetable programs
• With operations in Mexico, most commodities are available year-round
• Takes pride in being a family-owned, fourth-generation operated, vertically integrated farm
• Does everything from the ground up, from growing and harvesting to packing, cooling, selling, and distributing
• Sales team is customer service-oriented and takes the time to understand and meet each customer’s unique packing, timetables, loading, and packaging needs

“We are excited to highlight our fresh produce and connect with other professionals in the industry. As experienced growers, packers, and shippers, we have a variety of products, programs, and services that we are eager to share with attendees,” Richard explained. “The Monterey Foodservice show is one of the most anticipated events of the year, and we will be exhibiting alongside produce companies from across the nation. It is a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with industry friends and customers while also forging new alliances.”

If you will be in attendance at the 2025 Foodservice Conference, be sure to stop by the Baloian Farms booth!

FRESNO, CA - A new article appearing in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry explores the concept of “superfoods” and makes a case that fresh grapes have earned what should be a prominent position in the superfood family.

The author, leading resveratrol and cancer researcher John M. Pezzuto, Ph.D., D.Sc., Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Western New England University, brings forth an array of evidence to support his perspective on this issue.

As noted in the article, the term “superfood” is a common word without an official definition or established criteria. Mainstream superfoods are typically part of the Mediterranean Diet and generally rich in natural plant compounds that are beneficial to a person’s health. Pezzuto addresses the broader topic of superfoods in detail, then makes the scientific case for grapes, noting that fresh grapes are underplayed in this arena and often not included with mention of other similar foods, such as berries.

Grapes are a natural source of over 1,600 compounds, including antioxidants and other polyphenols such as flavonoids, anthocyanidins, catechins, phenolic acids, resveratrol, and more. Polyphenols are credited with the health benefits of grapes, via antioxidant activity and influencing cellular processes. It is the whole grape and the unique matrix of these compounds within it that creates the biological effects, not a single component.

Over sixty peer-reviewed studies have been published in the scientific literature on grapes and health. The role of grapes on cardiovascular health is well established, including promoting relaxation of blood vessels and healthy circulation, as well as modulating cholesterol levels. Clinical trials also show that grapes support brain health (help maintain healthy brain metabolism and beneficial impacts on cognition), skin health (enhanced resistance to UV radiation and DNA damage in skin cells), gut health (modulating the gut microbiome and increasing diversity in the gut), and eye health (retinal impact via increase in macular pigment optical density). Finally, in the realm of nutrigenomics – the study of foods on gene expression in the body – grape consumption has been shown to positively alter gene expression in relevant.