AUSTIN, TX - In December of last year, H-E-B announced its plan to invest $200 million into the South Austin market of Texas. Driving growth in the region has always been top of mind for the grocer, which recently announced the opening of a new storefront that resulted from these investment plans.
Leading this new store will be John Flores, Top Store Leader, who has worked for H-E-B for 46 years.
“I’m honored to serve our South Austin community with this new and innovative store,” Flores noted in a press release. “This is one of the highlights of my career with H-E-B. Along with all of our partners, we’re committed to make this store a shining beacon for the city, and we look forward to providing an outstanding shopping experience with the best H-E-B has to offer.”
This new store brings new innovations and features to Texas shoppers, building out H-E-B’s continued strategy to deliver only the créme de la créme to consumers.
Only the most modern of amenities will be available, including the latest tech in grocery delivery. A wide selection of organic foods will be available, as well as an extended Dinner Tonight selection of fresh meal kits.
AndNowUKnow will be on the lookout for upcoming H-E-B store openings. For now, stick around as we cover the latest in retail.
AMSTERDAM - When rumors surfaced that Uber was considering the acquisition of Grubhub, the entire foodservice industry was abuzz. Just one month later, we finally learned whether this deal would be followed through as Grubhub made an official statement this week. As of yesterday, Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V. and Grubhub entered into a definitive agreement whereby Just Eat is to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Grubhub for $7.3 billion in an all-stock transaction to create one of the world’s largest online food delivery companies.
“When Grubhub and Seamless were founded, the online takeout industry didn’t exist in the U.S. My vision was to transform the delivery and pick-up ordering experience,” Matt Maloney, CEO and Founder of Grubhub, commented. “Like so many other entrepreneurs, we started modestly, restaurant by restaurant in our Chicago neighbourhood. Today, Grubhub is a leader across North America…Combining the companies that started it all will mean that two trailblazing start-ups have become a clear global leader. We share a focus on a hybrid model that places extra value on volume at independent restaurants, driving profitable growth. Supported by Just Eat Takeaway.com, we intend to accelerate our mission to be the fastest, best, and most rewarding way to order food from your favourite local restaurants in North America and around the world. We could not be more excited.”
As reported in a press release, the transaction represents Just Eat’s entry into online food delivery in the U.S. The combined company will become one of the world’s largest online food delivery companies outside of China, with strong brands connecting restaurant partners with their customers in 25 countries.
Built around four of the world’s largest profit pools in online food delivery—the U.S., the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany—the merger will give the company the ability to deploy capital and resources to strengthen its competitive positions in all its markets. Strong leadership positions in almost all countries will also contribute to Just Eat becoming a significant player in North America. Just Eat Takeaway.com owns the leading Canadian business SkipTheDishes. The two combined processed approximately 593 million orders in 2019 with more than 70 million combined active customers globally.
“Matt and I are the two remaining food delivery veterans in the sector, having started our respective businesses at the turn of the century, albeit on two different continents,” Jitse Groen, CEO and Founder of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said. “Both of us have a firm belief that only businesses with high-quality and profitable growth will sustain in our sector. I am excited that we can create the world’s largest food delivery business outside China. We look forward to welcoming Matt and his team to our company and working with them in the future.”
Congratulations to Grubhub and Just Eat Takeaway.com on this monumental deal!
ARVIN, CA - How is it possible to witness an energetic, early morning onion harvest in California or watch product move through a packing house in real-time from the comfort of your desk? Just jump into one of Country Sweet Produce’s (CSP) Virtual Farm Tours and bring the experience home—quite literally. The last tour date is Wednesday, June 17, so book while you can!
As the country slowly begins to open back up with the precautions of social distancing and retailers vie for a piece of the California produce pie, CSP is answering the call for innovative business solutions and we are not the only ones touting their success.
"The virtual tour gave us an opportunity to see multiple facets of Country Sweet Produce’s Bako Sweet operations without having to travel,” Markon’s Quality Assurance Director John Galvez shares with me, as he details his Virtual Field Tour with CSP. “Filming two representatives at different field and facility locations was a great way to maximize the experience in a short amount of time and accommodate everyone's busy schedules—which was much appreciated."
And, just a quick note about urgency: Next week is the last week of available bookings through June 17! Spaces have been filling up fast as retailers respond to Country Sweet Produce’s polished itineraries and customized experiences for its customers and potential customers. The look of value is changing these days and those companies that can find their niche even in the middle of a crisis will come out ahead and on top.
High-end retailer Longo Brothers Fruit Market (Longo’s) has also caught the CSP Virtual Field Tour bug! With onion harvest underway and customers looking to get the latest on CSP’s watermelon, sweet potato, and new steam bag programs, there was much to discuss and opportunities to be tapped.
“Making the ‘new normal’ normal again, even from 2,500 miles away, was a pleasure with Country Sweet Produce,” Mimmo Franzone, Director of Produce and Floral for Longo’s tells me. “To see the fruits of Country Sweet Produce's labor in real-time, even with the challenges of today, is one way that the team continues to set themselves apart from the competition. It was great to participate in a virtual farm tour last week. From the onion fields to the watermelon patches and even the packing lines, the Longo’s team had an incredible experience. It was like being there! Thanks again to CSP for taking the initiative and giving us this opportunity to visit its farms.”
Longo’s came in force, also inviting its produce management team at the store level.
“I want to thank the Country Sweet team, for virtually opening the family’s farm today and to congratulate the whole team in the amazing work that they are doing. The hard work, consistency, and care shows in every sweet onion, every red sweet watermelon, and every fragrant sweet potato that it is grown,” Longo’s Produce Manager, Alfonso Arcentales, shares. “Although there was a lot of physical distance between us, the CSP team made that distance disappear and brought that farm to life. The team took great care, taking us through the onion shed and fields to the beautiful early sweet potato plants and luscious melon and squash vines. It all felt very palpable.”
Enticed? So, were they! These are just a few of the many voices testament to the advantages of the new Virtual Farm Tour program.
Please use this link to schedule a visit with members of the CSP team! If you would like a longer block of time or want to go to a specific field, please reach out to [email protected] and she will coordinate with the entire crew.
Nimble and dynamic are two attributes well suited for our industry, and Country Sweet Produce is living up to the value of each one.
LEAMINGTON, ON, CANADA - In the digital spirit United Fresh LIVE! is spreading, Pure Flavor® is making a cyber launch of its own to coincide with the trade show’s debut. To help consumers harness their inner culinary skills, and retailers be the go-to for that harness, look no further than the Craft House Collection, a line of greenhouse vegetables, "grown for the chef in you."
“To coincide with United Fresh LIVE!, we are launching new items into our Craft House Collection that now includes Mini San Marzano Tomatoes, Long Sweet Peppers, Shishito Peppers, and Baby Eggplants,” Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer, shares with me. “Consumers can explore the vibrant and flavorful recipes crafted by our chef partners to create unique and memorable dishes at home with the greenhouse-grown vegetables.”
Initially launched in the Spring of 2019 with Craft House Mini San Marzano Tomatoes and Aurora Long Sweet Peppers, the program expanded to include Baby Eggplants in late Fall 2019 and Shishito Peppers in Spring 2020. Now, this new product assortment will be promoted via a new branded landing page that will provide detailed brand and product descriptions, sample packaging, Chef-approved support, brand videos, and much more to add to the line’s growing reach.
Beyond the Craft House Collection, which the team assures retailers will have an immediate impact in-store, Chris says Pure Flavor is taking the opportunity United Fresh presents to highlight core products and topics the company is known for, such as its Georgia Grown Program, snacking veggies, organics, and year-round growing programs.
“We have always taken our presence at United Fresh to the next level,” Chris explains. “The virtual space now allows us to showcase more of our strategic marketing talents by creating an enhanced virtual experience to not only inform, but engage the attendees throughout the week.”
With barbecue season in mind, the Pure Flavor virtual booth’s creative presentation will primarily showcase the Craft House Collection, all of which, Chris promises, are more than grill worthy.
“Consumers are looking for meal alternatives, and with social distancing restrictions slowly starting to lift, it is the perfect time to promote grilling and getting people who have been cooped up for months outside to entertain,” Chris reminds me. “To inspire this, attendees visiting the booth will be able to view product videos, info sheets, and be able to download content to use at a later time.”
And for those of us missing the on-the-floor dishes we love to sample, Chef Rick Panaigua will be creating Craft House Collection inspired recipes Monday–Thursday at 2 p.m. EST via ZOOM.
“When a chef falls in love with a product, you can be sure they will tell you about all the features and benefits if it's one of their favourites. By going beyond the package, we give greater product value to help ensure the consumer understands how to best use that item and with what,” Chris shares.
To put it simply, Chris tells me Pure Flavor is creating an I.C.E.-based approach with Craft House—inform, connect, educate—that retailers can then take and implement throughout their own produce departments.
“While we are disappointed that we could not have a face-to-face event in San Diego, California, our team has fully embraced the opportunity to create a unique and engaging presentation for United Fresh LIVE!,” Chris sums up. “We also encourage all of our teams—Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Finance, Food Safety, Operations, etc—to take part in the various sessions throughout the week. It’s a great opportunity to meet others in the industry, network with suppliers, and to learn more about topics and trends that impact the fresh produce industry as a whole.”
All this and Chris assures me that the team continues to develop unique vegetables in its product trials to further expand the Craft House Collection’s range of products. To see where that line stands now, be sure to register and attend United Fresh LIVE! next week, June 15–19. To see where it’s going, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
FOWLER, CA - Innovation in the packing house is where fresh produce supplies are transformed into retail-ready beauties. Bee Sweet Citrus recently rolled out its own innovation, launching a brand-new wash line to assist growers in moving citrus in and out of California’s coastal counties. With no cure or treatment currently available for the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, this wash line represents a giant step forward in the industry-wide fight against HLB, and serves as Bee Sweet’s most recent project focused on innovation and sustainability.
“Right now, the California Department for Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee (CPDPC) have set performance standards that growers must follow before they can move fruit from one quarantined area to another,” stated Vice President of Farming Keith Watkins. “Of those, growers either have to spray their fruit for the psyllid, or clean their fruit of stems and leaves by running the fruit on a dry brush bed or across a wash line.”
HLB, also known as citrus-greening disease, is vectored by the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) and has wreaked havoc to the citrus industry in Florida and Texas. According to a press release, as psyllid populations have increased in Southern California, quarantined zones have been established throughout California to slow the spread of the vector and the disease.
Located in citrus “District Two,” Bee Sweet’s coastal wash line sits on 15,000 square feet and is the first of its kind in the San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties. With planning and permitting support from the Wallace Group, the advanced equipment can wash fruit, treat it, and sort it by size and grade.
“The only way to stop HLB from spreading is to stop the psyllid,” continued Watkins. “Even if an area already has a high psyllid population, preventive measures, such as washing fruit to remove the pest from the loads, is imperative to slow the spread of the disease.”
The newest addition to the company’s “Go Green” initiative, Bee Sweet’s Nipomo wash line offsets the need to “spray and move” citrus. Prior to its existence, growers harvesting fruit along California’s Central Coast had no choice but to spray its fruit for the psyllid. Though this method is effective in mitigating movement of the pest, other beneficial insects die in the process resulting in flare-ups of other harmful pests.
“The Central Coast is its own quarantine zone, and being that Bee Sweet Citrus is one of the larger growers in that area, we knew that solely relying on spraying wasn’t sustainable for the future,” added Watkins. “When looking at long-term solutions, we knew that building a wash line would provide growers with a way to quickly and efficiently wash the fruit to meet quarantine protocols, with the least amount of damage to the fruit or the land.”
Though the Nipomo wash line is owned and operated by Bee Sweet Citrus, the company plans to open it up for outside growers to use as well. There are also plans to utilize the facility as an educational tool for students attending California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. There, students will have the opportunity to see how the equipment is run, as well as why it’s a sustainable tool in the fight against HLB.
Keep an eye out for more supply-side innovations as we at AndNowUKnow report on the industry’s latest.
BENTONVILLE, AR - After expanding in China, it seems the big-box retailer is continuing to bolster its Stateside presence. Walmart’s banner, Sam’s Club, today announced the nationwide launch of curbside pickup. The service, which provides a contact-free, ordering online, and a delivery-to-car shopping experience, will be free for Plus-level members and is expected to be available in all clubs by the end of June.
“Sam’s Club members have been integrating technology into their shopping habits for a while with Scan & Go, samsclub.com, and in-club pickup,” said Lance de la Rosa, Chief Operating Officer, Sam’s Club. “As we continue to innovate to make the shopping experience better and faster for our members, we’re proud to be able to quickly implement and offer curbside pickup across the country, particularly during a time when they are searching for alternative ways to shop.”
Curbside pickup is part of a list of Plus membership benefits, which also includes early shopping hours, free shipping on most online items, 2 percent cash back on qualifying in-club and pickup purchases, and more.
According to the release, Sam’s Club has been piloting curbside pickup at 16 clubs with positive results from busy families and business owners. The company is expediting the rollout—taking it to all 597 clubs—to appeal to customer shopping preferences and growing desires for convenient options that fit into consumer’s lives.
“While free Curbside Pickup is a new Plus member benefit, we recognize all of our members are looking for contact-free shopping options as part of the current environment,” added de la Rosa. “Because of that, we are going to temporarily make the service available for every member and do what we can to help them get the products they need, when and how they want them.”
For more information, click here for the full press release.
ANUK will continue to report on the latest updates in the retail sector.
COMMERCE, CA - 4Earth Farms has been working with local food banks and charities for years, helping to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to families in the communities surrounding the company’s headquarters. Recently, the organic grower has partnered with Heart of Compassion, Food Forward, and the City of Commerce to deliver nutritious and essential fresh produce to families in need.
“We recognized long ago that although our warehouse is filled with fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables, many of the residents that live in and around our neighborhood live in a food desert or don’t have the means to buy fresh produce,” says David Lake, President of 4Earth Farms. “To help solve this challenge, we have been partnered with some amazing charities that facilitate getting fresh produce donations from our facility to food-insecure families.”
Local charities such as Heart of Compassion in nearby Montebello, California, benefit immensely from contributions and partnerships with leaders like 4Earth to continue providing for the communities.
Over the last five years alone, the grower has donated over 120,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food banks and charities.
“Through a wonderful partnership with 4Earth Farms during the last six years, Heart of Compassion has been better able to alleviate food insecurities for more than 2,000 individuals weekly, including countless families, seniors, veterans, and those experiencing homelessness,” says Pastor Eric Tietze of Heart of Compassion.
Aside from regular fresh produce donations, 4Earth Farms is also working with Food Forward to distribute produce boxes through USDA’s Farmers to Families program.
According to the press release, 4Earth Farms and Food Forward have distributed over 75,000 produce boxes to families in the Southern California region since May 15.
“4Earth Farms has generously supported Food Forward, and remains a valuable industry ally,” says Luis Yepiz, Wholesale Market Recovery Manager with Food Forward.
4Earth has also been working with the City of Commerce to supply fresh produce boxes that are delivered to the city’s youth. The company’s first donations were handed out to school-age children as part of their free lunch program in May.
“I am grateful to 4Earth Farms for their generosity to Commerce’s youth. Companies like 4Earth Farms are a reflection of our community’s values. The 4Earth Farms donation provides a sustainable source of quality nourishment during these uncertain times,” City of Commerce’s Mayor Ivan Altamirano states. “Thank you to the entire 4Earth Farms team for making a positive impact in Commerce!”
A second produce box donation will take place in June as part of the summer lunch program.
“We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to the community that supports us, especially knowing that much of our produce donation is going to families and children,” says Mark Munger, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for 4Earth Farms. “We can’t think of a higher purpose than giving children better access to fresh fruits and veggies!”
ANUK will continue to bring uplifting and heartwarming updates from our wonderful industry, so stay tuned.
ONTARIO, CANADA - Like the curious vine of a cucumber plant, Mucci Farms continues to expand its footprint across the continent. Most recently, the company announced it is adding two new U.S.-based facilities in Romulus, Michigan, and San Antonio, Texas. Furthering its rapid expansion efforts over the last several years, the company is adding the new locations to increase efficiencies and service more regions.
“We’re very excited about these two new locations because they will improve our ability to service retailers and consumers in the U.S.,” said Gianni Mucci, Vice President of Operations. “Not only will we be able to service a larger area of the United States, we will significantly reduce our carbon footprint and food mileage which will serve retailers and consumers with high-quality fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on environmental responsibility.”
As with all of Mucci Farms’ new builds and expansions, both facilities will be equipped with state-of-the-art automation and technology, and serve as cross docks to maximize efficiency. A press release noted that the Romulus, Michigan, warehouse has a 66,300-square-foot footprint and will primarily service the Midwest and Northeast United States.
“This location will help us pack, repack, and distribute our full lineup to the region in a timely manner,” Mucci explained. “Romulus is a great location for us as it allows us to avoid wait times at the border and quickly redirect product to several states.”
The Texas warehouse is a 54,000-square-foot facility strategically located to serve as a cross-dock primarily during the winter months. San Antonio is a central location that will help the company service southern states in the U.S. and addresses an industry-wide labor challenge.
“The San Antonio area has a population of 2.5 million people, and the labor market is particularly experienced in produce,” said Ronnie Alvar, Director of Operations. “This helps us onboard a knowledgeable team of people that understand the nuances of the produce industry and can efficiently manage the supply chain.”
Additionally, this warehouse is equipped with a unique feature in the loading docks. Alvar continued, noting, “With hot temperatures in Texas, our dock allows trucks to back into the warehouse in a manner that doesn’t break the cold chain. The doors actually open up right inside our pre-cooled loading dock, so we are able to preserve product quality as there is no temperature fluctuation transferring product from the truck to the warehouse.”
With a large focus on U.S. expansion, this announcement supports Mucci Farms’ first U.S. project in Huron, Ohio, a 75-acre greenhouse/warehouse operation. Being built in 3 x 25-acre phases, the first phase has been harvesting and servicing retailers since 2018 and phase 2 is currently under construction with a goal to harvest its first crop this fall. The entire project is equipped with supplemental grow lights allowing for local production 365 days a year.
Growing fresh produce for over 60 years, Mucci Farms is a vertically integrated greenhouse farming company with over 1,700 acres of lettuce, tomato, pepper, cucumber, and strawberry farms in Canada and the United States between itself and a global grower partner network. Headquartered in Kingsville, Ontario, the award-winning company is dedicated to continual investments in automation and technology along with a high level of research and development to offer consumers the most flavourful fruit and vegetable varieties in the world.
Where will Mucci’s proverbial cucumber tendrils reach next? Stick around as we investigate.
DEERFIELD BEACH, FL - When it comes to growing a brand in a competitive market, positioning is everything. Freshmade specializes in identifying opportunities in the fresh perimeter by focusing on what it calls "true brand relevance." I recently got in touch with Vanessa Doll, Director of Client Services, to get a sneak peek into how the agency creates a winning design for its fresh produce clientele.
“Our core principles lie in the belief that there is a sweet spot between disruption and relevance, and tapping into that spot is the key to successful growth,” Vanessa tells me. “A winning produce brand must differentiate itself while still maintaining broad appeal. It’s our mission to identify that spot for every brand we work with.”
The agency uses a simple approach that keeps communications easy and encourages client participation. Freshmade’s process includes steps such as brand assessment, intelligence gathering, and competitive analysis, to define unique selling points and category consumption insights to best market to consumers.
“When developing a positioning strategy, we aim to pinpoint the spot in a consumer’s mind where we can create a unique impression that’s distinct in the marketplace,” continues Vanessa. “In the end, all roads of our process lead us to an overarching ‘big idea’ that will create an unforgettable brand. Anything that makes ‘the final cut’ must ladder up to this idea, and communicate it very clearly and concisely.”
Consumers are becoming savvier about produce brands and unique varietals, which is a great opportunity for fresh.
“In every other category, consumers are poised to find brands they can devote themselves to, and I see produce as no exception,” Vanessa explains. “Produce brands will quickly need to carve out a distinctive position and carefully hone their messaging to succeed.”
As we see this shift in marketing directly to consumers, that means packaging design in produce needs to catch up with other categories. One way to target a new consumer is to introduce an idea that has familiarity.
“Consumers shop the whole store, and they learn to recognize key assets in isolation—those indicators can carry over to the produce category with the right strategic thinking. This concept opens up a world of possibilities in food packaging!” says Vanessa. “With SUNSET®’s WOW™ berries rebrand, for instance, we used black matte and gold foil to indicate premium, borrowing from luxury haircare and gourmet chocolate."
With talent hailing from global CPG design firms who managed P&G and Kraft brands, Freshmade brings more than 15 years of experience and a highly curated team to branding in produce. That knowledge is then harnessed to spur ingenuity for its clientele such as Publix, Mastronardi® Produce, and Frieda’s Specialty Produce.
“We understand the unique challenges brands in this industry face, as well as their distinct advantages. This helps us quickly identify key differentiators when designing for produce,” Vanessa remarks. “We are a full-service agency that is solely focused on food, and that expertise comes to play across all of our capabilities. Everything a brand needs for a successful redesign is done in-house, and we have a fully equipped kitchen for recipe development, food photography, videography, and social media content creation.”
As consumer habits change, Freshmade will stand at the ready to spot the next innovation to take place. Will we be ready for it? ANUK will continue to report.
NEWARK, DE - We may feel physically farther from our community, but virtually we’re closer than ever. This is, in part, due to leaders like PMA's Center for Growing Talent (CGT), whose latest program includes a Virtual Wellness Walk and Run Challenge that is bringing together the produce and floral industry to participate in a healthy opportunity.
“The idea of the Virtual Wellness Walk and Run Challenge is first to bring together our industry since we have not been able to gather in person in some time,” said CGT Contributor Relations and Fundraising Manager, Kelsey Palandrani. “Secondly, each contribution and registration supports our education programs, designed to attract and develop talent on behalf of the industry. With traditional events on hold and university students going remote, we know that it’s more important than ever that we’re working to reach potential talent in new ways and the Virtual Wellness Walk and Run Challenge helps us accomplish that.”
Following stay-at-home restrictions, the Virtual Wellness Walk and Run Challenge serves as an outlet for healthy competition and team building (many organizations are using the event to bring their teams together even if they’re far apart), all while supporting the attraction and development of the next generation of industry talent.
Among this year’s 490 registered participants and 39 teams include supply-side leaders like Naturipe Farms, Sun World International, and Renaissance Food Group. Other leaders like Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Volm Companies, Catania Worldwide, Progressive Produce, Lakeside Produce, and Mucci Farms also helped to sponsor the event. And, according to a press release, participants have already clocked more than 5,500 cumulative miles.
“We are so happy to see the miles and the participation grow,” said Director of Business Development, Jamie Kitz. “We have all been walking untraveled paths over the past several months and we’re grateful that the industry has chosen to walk those paths with us. For those of us who have been out of the office for several weeks, this type of program is perfect for some healthy competition and connection with colleagues. We challenge all of our industry members to join, challenge their teams, and challenge their industry partners to take a social distance walk with their friends, families, and pets, record those miles and time, all while contributing to the industry and CGT programs.”
Thus far, two thirds of the participants have signed up for the 30-mile cumulative challenge and have been submitting their results regularly, with the top performer in the cumulative challenge leading the way with 140 miles. Participants can also run or walk 1 mile or a 5K.
If you haven’t joined the challenge just yet, there are still two weeks left to go—the Virtual Wellness Walk and Run Challenge will continue through June 21. So, what are you waiting for? Register now for the CGT Virtual Wellness Walk/Run Challenge today to get your health on!