Also check out PMA foodservice new products booths A-E and PMA foodservice new products booths F-N.
MONTEREY, Calif. — Editor Greg Johnson and staff writer Mike Hornick collected these news items on the exposition floor at the Produce Marketing Association’s recent Foodservice Conference and Exposition.
Peak of the Market
Winnipeg, Canada-based Peak of the Market plans to open a 24,000-square-foot distribution center in Calgary around Aug. 7, president and chief executive officer Larry McIntosh said.
“It’s the first time we’ve opened a facility outside of Manitoba,” McIntosh said.
“We wanted to service our customers better and there are lots of opportunities in western Canada.
Product from the company’s growers will pass through the Calgary facility. Other suppliers will also be able to store there and use the docks, McIntosh said.
McIntosh said the center will carry a ful line of fresh produce and serve customers in Alberta and British Columbia.
Pear Bureau Northwest
Cristie Mather, director of communications for Pear Bureau Northwest, Milwaukie, Ore., said the commission has relaunched its foodservice website, at foodservice.usapears.org.
She said it is designed for foodservice operators, distributors and chefs and features recipes, menu ideas and pear handling and ripening information, among other features.
Prime Time International
Prime Time International, Coachella, Calif., displays its new nine-count red and green pepper packs for foodservice at the expo.
Director of marketing Mike Aiton says the packs are about 5 pounds and eliminate excess handling, preserving higher quality. Prime Time also packs peppers in four-count bags. The company has expanded its mini pepper acreage by about four times this season, and it’s still not enough to fill the demand, Aiton says.
Sunkist Growers
Sunkist Growers plans to offer seedless lemons in late October. “They’ll be seasonal at first but eventually we will have it year-round,” says Leland Wong, director of marketing. The fruit is from a variety developed at the University of California, Riverside.
Wada Farms
Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC, Idaho Falls, Idaho, plans to double acreage of red and yellow potatoes to more than 1,000 acres this season, said Joe Esta, vice president of sales.
He said those varieties are seeing more demand from foodservice customers.
Harvest should begin in mid-August, and those varieties should ship to the market in October.
Greg Johnson Wayne E. Bailey Produce
Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co., Chadbourn, N.C., is standardizing its George Foods label this season to give it more of a consistent look across products, says George Wooten, president and owner.
World Variety Produce
World Variety Produce, Los Alimitos, Calif., which markets under the Melissa’s label, showed its cherry-plum cross at PMA Foodservice, though production of the limited-time retail fruit has ended in the Fresno, Calif., area. The first-year offering will be back in 2013, says Bill Schneider, director of marketing.
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