Mata’s Fruit Store in El Paso, Texas, plans to open its first digital store in early 2020, deploying online shopping technology from Local Express. Owned and operated by the Mata family since 1955, Mata’s Fruit Store has expanded several times over the years and offers a large selection of fruits and vegetables, a full-service meat […]
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.
NCSPC Looks To Future Of Agriculture At Annual Meeting Of Membership
The North Carolina SweetPotato Commission (NCSPC) hosted its Annual Meeting of Membership in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on Jan. 16. Commission members from across North Carolina gathered at the Maxwell Center to hear the latest updates from marketing and branding, talk about current and future state of the industry, explore the trade show, recognize achievements among peers and […]
SOUTHWEST: New Allsup’s Market Opens In Melrose, New Mexico
Allsup’s Convenience Stores, one of the first to offer self-serve gasoline and self-serve fountain drinks, is bringing another first to its customers—the new Allsup’s Market in Melrose, New Mexico. Allsup’s recently was acquired by Yesway, which is now the 18th largest convenience store chain in the country. One-part convenience store, with expanded grocery and perishables, […]
Romaine Outbreak Declared Over, California LGMA Focuses On Safety
On Jan. 15, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared e. Coli outbreaks associated with romaine lettuce grown in the Salinas, California, region over and the agencies have lifted the consumer advisory. In a statement, the FDA said there is no longer a need for consumers to avoid romaine lettuce from […]
New Food City Store Coming To Etowah, Tennessee
Food City is building a new store on US-411 North in Etowah, Tennessee. The 41,100-plus-s.f. supermarket will replace its existing location and be constructed on the same site. “The residents of Etowah have certainly been supportive of our company and we look forward to providing our valued customers with a new, larger state-of-the-art Food City […]
Basics To Open New Store In Hillsdale Neighborhood Of Portland, Oregon
Basics, a new market designed to help people cook more at home and support local farmers and producers with fresh, regional ingredients, will open its newest location in Hillsdale this February. The locally owned grocery is leasing the 12,000-s.f. space formerly occupied by Food Front at 6344 SW Capitol Highway. Basics was founded by Chuck […]
Big Bear Stater Bros. Has Grand Reopening After Extensive Renovations
Stater Bros. Markets has served the Big Bear community since 1980, and nearly 40 years later, its Big Bear location has been extensively renovated in response to requests from local residents and visitors seeking to take to the slopes. Located at 42171 Big Bear Boulevard, the store will continue to be led by Rick Jaeger, […]
Seal The Seasons Expands National Distribution, Surpasses 3,000 Stores
Seal the Seasons, the first national brand to sell locally grown frozen fruit, has expanded its distribution to seven new retailers over the last six months and is now available in more than 3,000 locations across 35 states. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based company has added three conventional and four natural retailers to its nationwide […]
WEST: Photo Update: Smart & Final Extra! Opens In Watts Neighborhood Of LA
Smart & Final opened its doors Jan. 8 at Jordan Downs Plaza, a mixed-use public housing community in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood. The brand-new grocery store is a vital part of the redevelopment of Jordan Downs. In an area that has faced the challenge of convenient access to nutritious food, the new store says it […]
Crunch Time Premium Apples Achieved Robust Sales Growth In 2019
The most recent Nielsen data shows Crunch Time Apple Growers’ two brands of premium apples continued to build momentum and sales growth in 2019, and they don’t appear to be slowing down as they head into 2020. In fact, for the three regions included in Nielsen’s latest review—Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and New England—SnapDragon, one of […]
Nonconventional Grocery Trends Forecast For 2020
Grocery shoppers can expect to see expanded produce departments, new sections for plant-based food and more cannabis products in 2020, says John Karolefski, supermarket analyst and purveyor of GroceryStories.com. Karolefski says many grocers will eliminate plastic bags at checkout and blend digital with physical shopping to keep customers and attract new ones. “Grocers will aim […]
Dole ‘Sunshine For All’ Float Wins Queen Award At 2020 Rose Parade
Dole Packaged Foods’ 2020 Rose Parade float, “Sunshine for All,” took home the Queen Award, which is given to the float with the most outstanding presentation of roses. Dole said the float, which featured a large golden sun with tropical waterfalls, celebrated the company’s belief that everyone has the right to nutritious foods, and its […]
Natural Grocers To Open 14th Oregon Store In Klamath Falls On Jan. 15
Natural Grocers will open a store in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, providing the community with access to organic and natural groceries. The store, located at 2800 S. 6th Street, will open at 8:30 a.m., and customers will have the chance to win up to $100 per week in free groceries for six […]
New Stater Bros. Store Planned For Whittier, California
Plans are currently underway to build a new Stater Bros. Markets store at the southeast corner of Whittier Boulevard and Sorensen Avenue in the community of Whittier, California. The new site, which will be built from the ground up, will join the commercial sector of The Groves in Whittier, developed by Frontier Real Estate Investments. […]
Bolthouse Farms Introduces More Than 25 New Products
AJ Bernstein, VP of marketing for Bolthouse Farms, said the Bakersfield, California-based company was launching more than 25 SKUs at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit. Most will start shipping in early spring, she said. Bolthouse Farms is adding two new flavors to its existing beverage line: Dutch Chocolate Banana and Carrot Ginger Turmeric. […]
Sunkist Keeps Focus On Citrus With Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Navels
Sunkist showcased its blood oranges and Cara Cara navel oranges at Fresh Summit. Erin Semper, retail marketing manager, said both orange varieties are ready in December. “They are excellent for eating, and they add a lot of extra color,” she said. “They complement nicely with our navel orange which, of course, is a big winter […]
Fresh Gourmet Co. Touts Its New Grower Direct Program
Fresh Gourmet Co. officially launched its Grower Direct program at Fresh Summit. The program covers dates, figs and sun-dried tomatoes. “We are very excited about this program,” said Cassandra Shindelbower, director of retail marketing. “We’ve created strategic relationships with some of the finest domestic growers of these products—multi-generational families. The whole line is 100 percent […]
Calbee North America Debuts Harvest Snaps Salad Toppers
Calbee North America launched its new Harvest Snaps salad toppers at Fresh Summit. Paul Laubscher, director of marketing, said Calbee International started in 1949 in Japan, but has been in the U.S. since the 1970s. It is one of the largest snack food companies in Asia. “Now we are branching out to come to the […]
Lidl Opens Its First Two Stores On Long Island, New York
On Dec. 11, Lidl opened its first two stores on Long Island, New York. The West Babylon store is located at 725 Sunrise Highway; the Center Moriches store is at 821 Montauk Highway. ShopOne Centers REIT Inc. an owner, operator and manager of grocery-anchored shopping centers, is owner of the Hubbards Commons shopping center in West […]
Equitable Food Initiative Reflects On Its 2019 Accomplishments
In 2019, Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) received a $1.2 million grant from Walmart Foundation to advance responsible labor practices in Mexico, welcomed 15 new operations to its program, partnered with Costco Wholesale on a joint promotional campaign, updated its standards to align to the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices, continued progress toward Global Food […]
