Latest News From Foodservice

Increasing automation, using bio-based materials and stepping up recycling education efforts are a few ways suppliers have responded to sustainable packaging demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communication is the essential first step in dealing with foodservice staffing and labor challenges, according to Alex DiNovo.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced that would give tax credits to offset uncollectable foodservice sector debt incurred as a direct result of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Whole Leaf — the Coaldale, Alberta-based grower of the Inspired Leaves brand — will provide greenhouse-grown lettuce to all 384 Wendy’s locations in Canada. 

Church Brothers Farms, Salinas, Calif., is introducing sweet baby cauliflower and sweet baby broccoli to the foodservice market.

Datassential found in a recent survey that many foodservice operators are purchasing less fresh product as they reduce their order frequency to adjust for lower demand.

The pros and cons of restaurant food delivery apps came under the microscope in a Produce Marketing Association Foodservice: Delivered session. 

Deeper connections with supply partners, labor savings through technology and more racial diversity at top levels are takeaways that foodservice executives have gathered since the coronavirus disrupted the industry.

Episode 8 of Tip of the Iceberg Podcast, brought to you by The Packer and PMG, features an interview with Shannon Kyle, who handles sales and marketing for Torrey Farms in Elba, N.Y.

For Ohio produce suppliers and their foodservice clients, things were going — and growing — smoothly through the winter months.

Lipman Family Farms, Immokalee, Fla., is highlighting its Clipped & Clean Green Beans and expanded fresh-cut line at the Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice: Delivered.

Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce has entered an exclusive partnership with Hazel Technologies for a new program called AvoLast that keeps fruit ripe longer.

(CORRECTED) Naturipe Farms, Salinas, Calif., has value-added blueberry foodservice packs that promise contact-free production in the kitchen, longer shelf life and other benefits.

Editor-in-chief Tom Karst, retail editor Ashley Nickle and Northeast editor Amy Sowder discuss key topics from the week, including how growers, school foodservice and retail are adjusting amid COVID-19.

Companies have their own definition of what “local produce” means, but the consensus is the closer the better. 

With more than 2,000 attendees from nearly 40 countries registered days before the show, expectations are high for the July 20-24 Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice: Delivered virtual event.

Los Angeles-based Progressive Produce is expanding its year-round Hollywood Fries program.

B&W Quality Growers, Fellsmere, Fla., has a new blend of greens for the foodservice sector.

While we’ve all felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in our homes and in our businesses, no industry has been more affected than the restaurant industry.

The National Mango Board is a sponsor of Kitchen Collaborative, a recipe development initiative in which chefs partner with sponsors to create recipes.

The Newark, Del.-based Produce Marketing Association has released more details on the Foodservice: Delivered virtual event, set for July 20-24.

Fresh Direct Produce Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, has acquired organic produce distributor Mike and Mike’s Inc.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $512 million for fresh produce purchases through renewed contracts to companies packing and distributing in the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

U.S. retail grocery prices increased 0.8% in May and are running nearly 5% above a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Produce Marketing Association is accepting nominations for the Impact Award.

As disastrous as we all know COVID-19 has been to our nation and to the fresh produce industry, the collateral damage still brings me up short.

The United Fresh Produce Association had a surprise waiting for the finalists of the Retail Produce Manager Awards and Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards at the general session of United Fresh Live! on June 18.

California Giant Berry Farms’ Third Annual Chef Invitational is moving online and add a philanthropic component, giving non-profits the ability to win cash prizes.

When COVID-19 arrived in March, the students and the salad bars in school cafeterias disappeared.

The Packer's Tom Karst, Ashley Nickle and Amy Sowder share their first impressions of the United Fresh Live! trade show, the first of its kind for the produce industry, after day one of the virtual event.

Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Renaissance Food Group added some people-centric elements to its booth at United Fresh Live! to give its virtual presence more personality.

Episode 3 of Tip of the Iceberg Podcast features an interview with Greg Ibach, the USDA’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, about the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

In today’s COVID-19 pandemic-filled business world, adapting is crucial, according to chefs who shape the menus of restaurants, retirement communities, school systems, hotels and quick-service restaurants.

El Agave, doing business as Essential Food & Produce, Evansville, Ind., is the newest distributor member of national foodservice buying group Golbon, Boise, Idaho.

The Produce Marketing Association is using a “restaurant week” theme for its digital Foodservice: Delivered conference.

Avocado harvest is gearing up in south Florida, with harvest and shipments kicking in by early June, shippers said.

The National Mango Board has a full schedule of activities for its virtual booth at the United Fresh LIVE! Expo June 15-18.

Field Fresh Farms, Watsonville, Calif., has refreshed its branding and packaging and expanded to retail business.

The United Fresh Start Foundation’s annual School Foodservice Forum will be during the United Fresh LIVE! virtual event.

The world as we know it is changing before our very eyes, thanks to COVID-19’s effects.

On a daily basis, The Packer sees a number of ways in which lives are being changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, from foodservice operators and the companies that supply them to farmers who’ve been forced to waste crops.

Marketing the spring harvest and stored produce of the Carolinas isn’t the same game these days.

The National Watermelon Promotion Board is rolling out a database to connect growers and distributors with buyers.

Atlanta-based Royal Food Service Co. has been awarded a maximum $465 million contract to supply for fresh fruits and vegetables to Georgia military and school customers.

COVID-19 has had a profound effect on the economy of Florida, nearly stopping tourism and related industry in its tracks since mid-March.

Catch up on the story everyone's discussing — the USDA's Farmers to Families Food Box Program and the questions that followed the release of the list of companies that received contracts.

As a result of the unprecedented disruptions to today’s produce supply chain, what can the industry plan for as the new normal?

U.S. onion growers should be paid $5 for every 50-pound bag of onions they have had to dump or donate because of the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent loss of foodservice sales.

Purdue University professors will have a discussion on disruptions in supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and implications for consumers.

The United Fresh Produce Association and Datassential are featuring foodservice trends during a web seminar to accompany the association’s quarterly foodservice report.