Management expert Morten Hansen will be the keynote speaker at the United Fresh Convention & Expo scheduled for June 10-12 in Chicago. Hansen is scheduled to speak June 11 at the breakfast general session. The convention and expo is at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Hansen is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller […]
Category: Produce News
The Shelby Report covers the produce industry for grocery retailers nationwide, from fresh fruit and vegetable trends and supplier announcements to merchandising strategies and regional market news. Updated regularly across our five regional editions.
Find all our fresh coverage in Focus on Fresh.
StixFresh Sticker Extends Freshness Of Fruit Naturally
StixFresh has come up with a way to extend the freshness of fruit naturally with a sticker. The company claims the stickers can extend the shelf life of fruits for up to two weeks longer. An all-natural compound contained on the sticker creates a protective layer around the fruit. Scientists at StixFresh have used a […]
Gotham Greens To Open In Rhode Island This Fall
Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor and members of the community will join Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, March 28 for an official announcement and construction preview at its first urban greenhouse farm in New England. The farm is located […]
NEPC Reveals Retailer Roundtable Panelists For May 1 Event
The New England Produce Council (NEPC) and the Organic Produce Network (OPN) have revealed the retailer participants for the roundtable session at the New England Organic Produce Conference, to be held May 1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Brian Fleming of Stop & Shop, Kevin Barry of Big Y and Mark Jewell of Hannaford […]
Lef Farms Offers Crisp Baby Greens Exclusively At Hannaford
lef Farms has added a unique leafy green to the market called Crisp touted as a crunchy alternative to Romaine and iceberg lettuce. “As always, we want to introduce greens that bring more to the table than just the typical spring mix. New Crisp does just that by packing a crispy crunch into every bite […]
New England Produce Council Dinner Meeting Hosted By Dole
The New England Produce Council Inc. (NEPC) held a dinner meeting at the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) on Thursday, March 14, sponsored by Dole and attended by retailers, vendors and foodservice representatives. The day began with a volunteer group of NEPC members sorting and packing food items for member agencies in eastern Massachusetts. Anthony Sattler, […]
HAB Report: Avocado Purchasers Are A Diverse Group
With $2.3 billion in annual retail sales, avocados are one of the largest categories in fresh produce, a new study published by the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) concluded. “Avocado Shopper Insights: Regional Demographics and Purchase Trends” shows that avocado-purchasing households are a diverse group. While avocado-purchasing households are found in large numbers across all eight geographic […]
Henderson’s IGA An ‘Oasis’ For Visitors, Vital To Community
2019 Nebraska Market Profile by Terrie Ellerbee/editor-Midwest If you visit the Facebook page of Henderson’s IGA in Valentine—and you should—don’t be surprised to see Clint Eastwood. He stars in a “Fistful of Brats.” Humphrey Bogart is in another video (well, his profile anyway) titled “Burgers of the Sierra Madre.” Notable quote: “Burgers? We don’t need […]
Lane Southern Orchards Spending $4M On Peach Packing House
A $4 million renovation and expansion of Lane Southern Orchards’ existing packing house in Fort Valley, Georgia, is underway and is expected to be complete for an early-summer peach harvest. The expansion doubles the capacity of the current packing house from 1.5-3 million cases, or 23,000 25-lb. boxes per day, in preparation for the 2019 […]
That’s Tasty Launching Organic Stir-In Purees For Home Cooks
That’s Tasty, a brand made by Shenandoah Growers in Rockingham, Virginia, is launching Stir-In Purees. The purees, made with organic ingredients, will be available on shelves in the coming weeks, the company said March 7. The purees are available in garlic, ginger, spicy harissa, sun-dried tomato, Italian herbs, parsley, basil and dill flavors. Each features […]
Pure Flavor Georgia Distribution Facility To Be Completed In Spring
A new Pure Flavor distribution center under construction in Georgia is expected to be completed later this spring. The distribution center is off Interstate 75 in Fort Valley, not far from a greenhouse facility that opened in late 2018. The first harvest was picked from the greenhouse in December. “When we put the first shovel […]
Dole, Bashas’ And Food City Bring Learning Garden To Life
Dole Packaged Foods, Bashas’ and Food City joined with the Captain Planet Foundation to bring a learning garden to the students of Higley Traditional Academy in Gilbert, Arizona, on Feb. 20. Employees of Dole, Bashas’ and Food City joined Gilbert Vice Mayor Eddie Cook in helping teachers and students install their new Captain Planet Foundation […]
Campbell Soup Co. To Sell Refrigerated Soup Plant In Washington
Campbell Soup Co. has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its Everett, Washington, refrigerated soup plant to an affiliate of the Joshua Green Corp. (JGC), a Seattle-based private investment company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The 225,000-s.f. Everett facility is part of the fresh division, which includes Bolthouse Farms and Garden Fresh […]
Farmstead Using Compostable Bags For Delivery Of Perishables
Farmstead, the online grocery delivery service in San Francisco, California, is using compostable produce bags for deliveries to customers. Prior to the shift to compostable produce bags, the company was using thin-plastic film typically seen in the supermarket produce aisles. Responding to customer demand and in an effort to reduce plastic and provide a more […]
United Fresh Launches 2019 Produce Industry Compensation Survey
The United Fresh Produce Association has launched its 2019 Compensation Survey for the fresh produce industry. The data collected will be published in a research report designed to assist produce industry employers in understanding critical compensation benchmarks. The survey collects compensation and benefits data from produce companies for more than 30 full-time positions in the […]
Seal The Seasons Launches Locally Grown Frozen Fruit In The Midwest
Seal the Seasons, a national brand selling locally grown frozen fruit, is partnering with Meijer as the first Midwest retailer to carry its products. Seal the Seasons partners with farmers on a region-by-region basis to buy its fruit in season, freeze and package it, and sell it in nearby grocery stores. Seal the Seasons was […]
Wonderful Halos Launches New Multimillion-Dollar Marketing Campaign
Los Angeles-based Wonderful Halos launched a new integrated marketing campaign this season, “The Checks-All-The-Boxes Box,” to encourage parents to choose Halos mandarins as the perfect solution when assigned snack duty. The campaign is based on the insight that snack duty can be a stressful and annoying chore, made worse by the fact that parents know […]
Blueberries Gain American Heart Association Heart-Healthy Certification
As American Heart Month kicks off, the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council has announced that blueberries now are certified as heart-healthy through the American Heart Association Heart-Check Food Certification Program. The Blueberry Council and its grower members can use the official heart-check mark on blueberry packaging and throughout online, print and other promotional materials and activities. The American Heart […]
Study Finds Health Benefits Of Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice
Montmorency tart cherry juice helped lower systolic blood pressure and LDL or “bad” cholesterol in older adults by reducing certain biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in older adults, according to a new study published in Nutrients. Larger and longer follow-up studies are needed to confirm these findings. Montmorency tart cherries are the most common variety of tart cherries […]
Giant Food Promotes Healthy Eating With Celebrity Campaign
Giant Food Stores is participating in a national celebrity campaign featuring local sports icons promoting fruits and vegetables. The FNV campaign, which stands for “fruits and veggies,” developed by Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), was created to use the power of marketing and celebrity endorsements to change the way children and young adults think about […]
