TRANSITIONS
Patrick Mills Named Retail Promotion Director for Idaho Potato Commission
With more than 25 years of produce industry experience under his belt, Patrick Mills has joined the Idaho Potato Commission, Eagle, ID, as retail promotion director of West/Canada, following the retirement of Kent Beesley.
Based in the Denver, CO, area, Mills launched his career as a produce merchandiser at Safeway in 2000 and then advanced to manage produce and floral products at Sprouts Farmers Market and Lucky’s Market.
Peruvian Asparagus Importer’s Association Announces New Co-Chairmen
At its 2023 October board meeting in Anaheim, CA, the Peruvian Asparagus Importer’s Association (PAIA) announced the new co-chairmen for 2024-2025: Carlos Solf, of Southern Specialties, for the East Coast chair and Craig Rolandelli, of Jacobs Malcolm & Burtt, for the West Coast chair.
The PAIA Association co-chairmen serve a two-year term and are voted in by their membership peers.
PAIA Association was developed in 2001 and will be celebrating 23 years of service to the industry in September 2024.
Sage Fruit Announces Key Leadership Changes
Steve Clement, the chief executive of Sage Fruit Company, Yakima, WA, will assume the position of PNW Tree Fruit’s new chief executive. In addition to his new role at PNW Tree Fruit, Clement will become the chairman of the board of Sage Fruit. In this capacity, he will collaborate with the new chief executive of Sage Fruit and continue to guide the company’s strategic direction.
Nicole Gordy, who has been serving as Sage Fruit’s director of business analytics, will be promoted to chief executive of Sage Fruit Company.
FMI Welcomes New Board Members
FMI (The Food Industry Association) announces new additions to its board of directors elected at the association’s January 2024 board meeting.
New directors (three-year term): Joe Fantozzi, Allegiance Retail Services LLC, Iselin, NJ; Tony Hoggett, Amazon.com Inc., Seattle, WA; and Joel Rampoldt, Lidl US LLC, Arlington, VA.
Chairman’s appointees (one-year term): Bruce Brown, WK Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, MI; Tom Flocco, Pete and Gerry’s Organics, Monroe, NH; Dana McNabb, General Mills Inc., Golden Valley, MN; Carrie Sander, Kellanova, Battle Creek, MI; and Terry Thomas, Flowers Foods, Thomasville, GA.
Frank Curci to Retire From Northeast Grocery
Frank Curci, chief executive of Northeast Grocery Inc. (NGI), Schenectady, NY, the parent company of Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Friendly Markets, has announced his retirement as a part of the company’s strategic succession plan.
Following an internal and external search, the NGI board of directors named John Persons, NGI’s chief operating officer, to succeed Curci, effective Feb. 26.
A 40-year industry veteran who started as a cashier at Tops and rose to the office of the president, Persons has spent his entire career with the Williamsville-based grocery chain and now NGI.
Driscoll’s Appoints Daniel Mathieson as President of the Americas
Driscoll’s, Watsonville, CA, has named Daniel Mathieson as president of the Americas. A veteran agribusiness executive, Mathieson will steer the largest business unit for Driscoll’s, overseeing all aspects of the enterprise, from strategic planning to financial success.
Mathieson is currently chief executive at Zespri. In the upcoming months, Mathieson will transition from his role at Zespri and will relocate with his family to the United States from Singapore.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Red Sun Farms Donates to Make-a-Wish
Red Sun Farms, Kingsville, Ontario, offers employees produce boxes for a nominal donation. These boxes are brimming with top-quality vegetables harvested from Red Sun’s greenhouses.
Every dollar collected from the purchase of these produce boxes goes toward supporting the Make-A-Wish Canada, Southwestern Ontario Chapter. This nonprofit organization dedicates itself to granting the wishes of children facing life-threatening medical conditions.
This year, Red Sun Farms contributed a record-breaking donation of $10,000.
Gotham Greens Expands with Dallas Metro Greenhouse Opening
Gotham Greens recently opened its first high-tech hydroponic greenhouse in Texas and the company’s 13th greenhouse nationwide, bringing its total footprint to more than 40 acres across nine U.S. states.
The 210,000 square-foot facility is in Seagoville, TX. It will provide a year-round supply of fresh produce to grocery and foodservice customers throughout the state.
Gotham Greens introduced a full line of GO TEXAN locally grown, pesticide-free, non-GMO produce, such as the regionally inspired Lone Star Crunch lettuce and a new line of fresh salad kits, available in three flavors: Southwest Ranch, Caesar and Green Goddess.
Edible Garden Receives Patent for GreenThumb System
Edible Garden AG Inc., Belvidere, NJ, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent related to its Greenhouse Agriculture System, GreenThumb.
The USPTO has issued U.S. Patent No. 11,830,088 B2, titled, “Greenhouse Agriculture System,” to Edible Garden. The patent encompasses methods and systems designed for optimizing various aspects of greenhouse farming, including the planting process, the application of pesticides, and the harvesting of greenhouse crops, such as herbs.
The greenhouse system is designed to incorporate the use of sensors and a proprietary learning engine. The data collected from these sensors is instrumental in forecasting the availability of the crops.
Melissa’s Elevates Mango Category With Air-Flown Peruvian Kent Varietal
Melissa’s, Los Angeles, CA, is announcing the arrival of its air-flown, tree-ripened Kent mangos from Peru, now available through March.
Kent mangos arrive ripe and ready to eat. To protect the mango, each is wrapped in a distinctive black sock that elevates it from the bulk bin to an eye-catching impulse buy.
Natural Delights Boosts Sales Through Sweepstakes
Natural Delights, Yuma, AZ, recently concluded its successful Happy Holi-dates Sweepstakes, providing participants with the opportunity to win prizes. The outcomes not only enhanced the brand’s ongoing strategic marketing initiatives, but also played a pivotal role in growing sales at retailers.
The consumer sweepstakes garnered over 140,000 online submissions, leading to the addition of 14,000 new contacts to the brand’s database.
Retailers can replicate this approach in their own stores throughout the year by employing merchandising techniques from the Happy Holi-dates Sweepstakes. Shippers are readily available on the brand’s trade website upon request and can be strategically placed in the fresh produce aisle or high-traffic areas to promote healthy snacking.
EFI Introduces Customized Audit Approach
Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), the capacity-building and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer groups, is expanding its certification offerings, reducing the burden growers face by allowing for a customized audit approach.
As of Feb. 1, 2024, grower-shippers have the flexibility to choose whether to include GFSI-recognized food safety and IPM standards in the EFI certification audit.
The new options include:
- Continuing with EFI’s one-stop-shop audit for labor practices, GFSI-recognized food safety and IPM/pollinator health. A new, optional addendum will help growers demonstrate alignment with the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule.
- Auditing to EFI’s social responsibility and culture of food safety standards, but submitting a valid GFSI-recognized food safety certificate from another program in place of completing an EFI food safety audit.
- Auditing to EFI’s IPM standards to fulfill customer requirements for pollinator health.
Frieda’s Celebrates Dragon Fruit Collection for Lunar New Year
Frieda’s Branded Produce, Anaheim, CA, is celebrating the Year of the Dragon for the Lunar New Year, starting Feb. 10. Frieda’s will feature Honey Dragons and Snow Dragons.
To leverage the spirited Year of the Dragon, Frieda’s is committed to assisting retailers in showcasing its dragon fruit collection, strategy and marketing campaign.
The company also encourages retailers to stock up on other Lunar New Year favorites, such as Popjoys kumquats, Buddha’s Hand, Mandarinquats, and an array of other citrus.
Dole Adds Shipping Service for Fresh Fruit North America
Dole Food Company, Charlotte, NC, announced the launch of a new weekly vessel service that will increase capacity of tropical fresh fruits, including Dole branded bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, mangos and limes coming to the U.S. from Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala into the Port of Wilmington, DE.
The service will deploy two 1,200 FEU container vessels in a 14-day rotation, with one of these vessels making weekly ports of call in Santa Marta, Colombia; Puerto Castilla, Honduras; and a new port of service in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, before landing in Wilmington, DE, each Saturday.
Both additional vessels entering the expanded service will allow for optimum freshness of the fruit through increased sourcing options, discharges and port rationalization.
Ocean Mist Farms Frost-Kissed Artichokes are Back
Ocean Mist Farms, Castroville, CA, announces its Frost-Kissed specialty artichokes are shipping now and will be intermittently available throughout the winter. Special petal inserts have been developed to help educate the consumer about the unique condition of these artichokes.
Ocean Mist Farms has developed point-of-sale materials for retailers to help educate consumers about these limited artichokes.
EverCrisp Available From Honeybear Brands
Honeybear Brands, Wenatchee, WA, is providing retailers and shoppers with its growing supply of the late season EverCrisp variety. EverCrisp is available through May from the Midwest and Washington state growing regions.
Honeybear Brands makes EverCrisp available to retailers in bulk, recyclable pouches and totes.
JVI Imports Announces New Brown Coconuts Program
In December 2023, JVI Imports, Philadelphia, PA, received its first container loads of brown coconuts from India. This is a new program for JVI Imports, the import division of Philadelphia-based specialty produce wholesaler John Vena Inc., known for its counter-season pomegranate program.
JVI Imports’ key partner is Vashini Exports, a large family-owned grower in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
According to Emily Kohlhas, marketing manager at John Vena Inc., JVI Imports will be targeting both retail and foodservice markets, with a focus on ethnic retailers. “Dry coconuts are becoming a more common sight in the tropical section of mainstream produce departments near pineapples and mangos, but the bulk of the demand is still being driven by ethnic markets, where brown coconuts are a staple part of the weekly shop,” says Kohlhas.
She also reports that there will be a particular focus on retailers that serve Indian, Southeast Asian and Latino communities.
JVI Imports anticipates consistent growth through 2024 as the customer base develops.
NEW PRODUCTS
Little Leaf Farms Releases Limited Edition ‘Happy Desk Salad’ Kit
Little Leaf Farms, Devens, MA, is turning the lunch desk into a dining event with its new “Happy Desk Salad” Kit, complete with Little Leaf Farms Crispy Caesar Salad Kit, a desk shade, desktop candelabra, custom placemat, water bottle chiller, fork, linen napkin and napkin ring.
Little Leaf Farms’ Crispy Caesar Salad Kit is packed with Little Leaf Farms Baby Crispy Green Leaf Lettuce, Garlic Croutons, Shredded Parmesan Cheese and Romano Caesar Dressing.
Produce & Floral Watch are regular features of Produce Business. Please send information on new products, personnel changes, industry, corporate and personal milestones and available literature, along with a high resolution image to: Managing Editor, Produce Business, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425 or email us at info@producebusiness.com.