Know Your Market

Publix continues domination of Florida’s retail marketplace

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:37:58 GMT

The new coronavirus COVID-19 hasn’t changed one reality: Publix has an iron grip on Florida grocery sales.

Walmart runs a distant second among Florida’s grocery retailers, according to 2020 market share numbers from Shelby Market Research.

In South Florida, Shelby reports that Publix commanded a market share of 60.2% in the first quarter of 2020, trailed by Walmart with a 12.54% share.

In central Florida, Shelby said Publix’s market share was 52.9%, with Walmart’s at 18.9%.

In North Florida, Shelby reported Publix had a 46.6% share, followed Walmart with a nearly 20% share.

The COVID-19 crisis has increased retail sales but decreased the frequency of shopper visits.

Publix reported sales for the three months ending March 28 increased approximately $1 billion or 10.3% because of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

While retail sales are up, unacast.com reported that for the week of May 6, Florida’s retail grocery shopping trips were down 32% compared with year-ago levels.

Related to COVID-19 relief, Publix on May 5 said it had purchased more than 1 million pounds of fruits and vegetables to donate to Feeding America member food banks.

Fall business surging for Twin Cities distributors

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:56:05 GMT

Leaves may be falling, but autumn sales for Twin Cities distributors certainly aren’t.

“Right now we’re going crazy,” said Ron Spychalla, operations manager for St. Paul, Minn.-based Northwestern Fruit Co. Inc., a 40-year-old family owned company.

Local commodities like zucchini, watermelon, yellow squash, pumpkins and corn are rolling into Northwestern Fruit from Minnesota and Wisconsin, Spychalla said.

“We try to support local as much as possible,” he said.

Most items will be available into October, but summer squash should be around until November.

Minneapolis-based Wholesale Produce Supply LLC continued to offer a number of summer items into the fall this year because of lingering mild temperatures, said Jason Hendrickson, vice president of procurement and business development.

“It looks like we’re having an extended local season this year,” he said.

The company still had commodities such as bell peppers and mini peppers well into September and was receiving increased supplies of potatoes and hard squashes as fall ramped up. On the organic side, the firm offers berries and tomatoes year-round, Hendrickson said.

About 75% of the business at fresh fruit and vegetable processor G.O. Fresh in Minneapolis is with foodservice customers, said Mark Remold, purchasing manager.

“Our strength has always been foodservice,” he said.

Vegetables like romaine lettuce and cabbage are the company’s mainstays, but G.O. Fresh also offers apples, cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelons and pineapples during this time of year.

“We’re seeing a nice little surge in business right now,” Remold said in late September.

The company tries to source locally when local product is available and when growers meet the firm’s quality standards, he said.

G.O. Fresh also is “dabbling a little bit” in organic produce, like avocados, kale mix and pre-cut coleslaw.

“We haven’t had a lot of requests for it, but it’s something we are looking at,” Remold said. “We’re hoping we see some growth in [organic] next year.”

St. Paul-based Co-op Partners Warehouse partners with 125 to 150 vendors regionally, nationally and from Mexico and Canada, said James Collins, senior director of supply chain.

The company provides retailers and foodservice operators with “everyday items” like broccoli and bananas year-round and offers seasonal items as well.

“We’re selling pumpkin bins right now,” he said in late September.

Apple volume and the number of apple varieties also increase in fall, including the Honeycrisp variety, which was developed at the University of Minnesota.

Locally grown kale, beets, fresh herbs, broccoli, cauliflower, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, green beans, turnips, beets and root vegetables are other fall items, he said.

“We are definitely seasonal,” Collins said.

Sales tend to dip from August through October, when consumers frequently patronize farmers markets, and they pick up again in November.

May, June and July are the company’s busiest months.

Business is stronger now at Northwestern Fruit than it was prior to the pandemic, Spychalla said — but some things are changing.

For one, more customers are placing their orders online rather than by phone. Online ordering may have its advantages, Spychalla said, but he refers the personal touch of a phone call.

“Then you can make sure you understand exactly what the customer wants,” he said.

Twin Cities suppliers continue to deal with inflation, Spychalla said.

“Inflation is as bad as it’s ever been,” he said. “Everything has gone up.”

The cost of fuel is “outrageous,” and that has led to higher prices for anything related to oil, including transparent packaging materials, Spychalla said.

Remold of G.O. Fresh said higher prices are caused by more than just inflation. Adverse growing conditions and bad weather in several growing areas have been frequent this year.

“A lot of the [price] increases in raw product are driven by those natural disasters,” he said.

There is good news on the foodservice side, said Hendrickson of Wholesale Produce Supply.

“Minneapolis seems to have a booming restaurant business,” he said.

Foodservice sales have rebounded from the pandemic slump and continue to hold strong, with the exception of the downtown area.

Many companies still have employees working remotely rather than coming into the office, he said, and that has prevented downtown eateries from making a full recovery.

“Outside of downtown, it seems to be awesome,” he said.

Fall has been bustling for Montreal produce suppliers

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 19:04:50 GMT

As fall rolls on, there’s a lot of activity underway at a number of Montreal-based produce suppliers.

Courchesne Larose Ltd. has a new CEO who will guide the company through its future strategy and expansion plans, Capespan North America is promoting its attractively priced easy-peel soft citrus, and banana distributor Equifruit Inc. is expanding its reach into the U.S.

Courchesne Larose

Courchesne Larose, an international importer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables, announced the hiring of Michael Aucoin earlier this year.

Aucoin has extensive experience in the Canadian food industry, said Guy Millette, executive vice president. His experience includes roles at Smuckers and Hershey.

The company is a one-stop shop and carries a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables, including bananas, citrus, grapes, stone fruits and melons, Millette said.

Its goal is to offer fresh product sourced as close to its consumers as possible, he said.

“As the season passes and local products are available, we follow Mother Nature,” Millette said. “We buy local, make sure we offer a solution that includes [as little] transportation as possible, and we make sure to keep the carbon footprint as low as possible.”

Courchesne Larose also serves the foodservice industry through its wholesale division that provides more than 3 million cases annually to foodservice distributors.

Ordinarily in the fall, vegetables like onions, carrots, cabbages, potatoes, parsnips rutabagas, hard squash and others are stored to be consumed all winter long, he said. “But this year, Mother Nature has decided otherwise.”

Most of Quebec’s crops and much of Canada’s have suffered from drought, rain, heat and cold. The projections for winter vegetables storage volume are not optimistic, Millette said.

Products that usually are available into May or June will finish several weeks and probably months earlier than normal.

“We will then import from the U.S., Mexico, Central America and most probably Europe,” he said.

The transition from local to imports can be hard on consumers, with prices rising 20% to 40% in a few weeks, Millette said.

Sales, though stronger than usual in June and July, were down during the end of August and September due to economic pressure on consumers, he added.

But sales of organic produce have been on the rise with the integration of the organic line from sister company Bercy Foods Inc. last October.

“Twenty years ago, most of the organic fruits and vegetables were grown by farms who were growing exclusively organics,” he said. “Today, an important part of the organics supply comes from farms growing both conventional and organic, and supply options are now more abundant.”

Capespan North America

Capespan North America does just about as much business in the U.S. as it does in Canada, said Paul Marier, senior vice president.

The company works with several major U.S. supermarket chains and also does some wholesale and foodservice business in the U.S.

Citrus and table grapes account for most of the company’s sales, with volume tilted toward citrus, he said. The company also offers some apples and pears.

Capespan North America, which also has an office in Philadelphia and two employees working out of California, is promoting its Outspan Gems easy-peel citrus, which Marier says is comparable to the two brands that dominate the soft citrus category.

“We say we’ve got something that’s equivalent, nicely packaged, and it’s not going to be quite the same price,” he said.

Marier said Capespan North America is trying to grow the Outspan Gems label “one customer at a time” in the U.S. and Canada.

Outspan Gems are primarily imported from South Africa and generally are available from May through mid-November.

The company’s grapes are available from November through April.

The firm recently added limes from Peru and Colombia and vanilla persimmons from Spain. Limes are sold in Canada and potentially to U.S. customers. Vanilla persimmons are available in Canada.

Equifruit

Fall is a busy time for Equifruit as banana bidding season commences, said Kim Chackal, co-owner and director of sales and marketing.

Equifruit has been in growth mode in Canada for the past 15 years, and now the company has launched sales in the U.S. market with a program with Costco Wholesale in the New York City area this summer.

“We bring our bananas into ports on the East and West Coast and intend to grow a national program in the U.S.,” she said.

In Canada, the company partners with companies like Costco Canada, Sobeys in Quebec, Longo’s, Farm Boy and many independent retailers, Chackal said.

Most of the firm’s bananas are organically grown, and they’re sourced from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.

Equifruit is gearing up to exhibit for the second time at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce & Floral Show, set for Oct. 19-21 in Anaheim, Calif., Chackal said.

“This is a key part of our U.S. expansion strategy as we expect to continue discussions with buyers in person,” she said.

“Our team will be suited up in our Banana Badass jumpsuits and yellow Crocs and ready to share the good news about how our 100% Fairtrade-certified bananas are helping improve farmers’ lives and their communities,” she added.

Here's where Connecticut crops stand after heavy rainfall

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 15:27:57 GMT

Excessive rainfall hurt some of the fall corn, squash and cucumber crops in Connecticut but doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on apples. Meanwhile, imported bananas continue to be a good seller in the produce department.

Precipitation has been a thorn in the side of JP Jarjura & Sons Co. , a Waterbury, Conn.-based produce wholesaler.

“During July, August and September, there was too much rainfall this year,” said owner William Jarjura. “It hurt some of the crops, there’s no question about it.”

The Connecticut River overflowed its banks, he said. “The guys near the river got flooded out. That’s caused a little shortage.”

Jarjura said he normally would pay $13 for five dozen ears of corn. This year, the price is $18 to $20.

“The corn market was a little high, but the quality was still OK for whoever had it on higher ground,” he said.

Quality of the pumpkin, butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash crops was marginal, he said, and volume was fair. The tomato crop rotted from the ground up.

“All the leaves fell off the plant,” he said. “It wasn’t a good vegetable year.”

The situation was a little different for the apple crop.

“We have a nice crop out there, and we kept up on our fungicide program, so we should be OK,” said Eric Henry, president of Blue Hills Orchard Inc. , Wallingford, Conn.

Blue Hills Orchard grows several apple varieties, including empire, fuji, Pink Lady and EverCrisp. Harvesting for most of the apples should be finished by the end of October, Henry said. Shipments will continue out of storage until spring.

“We’ve had a ridiculous amount of rain,” Henry said, adding that includes more than 1 foot of precipitation from mid-September until mid-October — highly unusual for that time of year.

“The rain sized the fruit up nicely, but it messed up our picking schedule,” he said.

Larger fruit means greater volume.

“If you put an extra quarter inch per piece of fruit, that adds bushels,” Henry said.

JP Jarjura & Sons also distributes apples.

“The apple crop seemed to be OK for some reason,” Jarjura said. “There seems to be a decent amount of apples this year.”

The company ships a number of soft-skin apples, like mcintosh, cortland and macoun, he said.

Blue Hills Orchard has added a picking platform to make the apple harvest easier, Henry said.

The new equipment is working well on the company’s high-density trellis system, he said. It’s easier to reach trees without using ladders or picking buckets, which saves labor and increases efficiency.

“That’s the name of the game,” Henry said.

Bananas are top of mind at New Haven, Conn.-based Cedro Banana Distributors , where sales have been steady all year long, since they’re one of the cheapest items in the produce department, said Billy Mascari, vice president.

Bananas have been averaging about 69 cents a pound. During these inflationary times, some consumers are cutting back on more expensive items and buying an extra hand of bananas, Mascari said.

“Our ripening rooms are always at full capacity,” he said.

Besides its wholesale and ripening operations, Cedro has a trucking division, Mascari Bros. Inc., which recently added three new trucks, bringing the total to 10, he said.

Why Chicago-area distributors anticipate a happy holiday season

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 20:00:19 GMT

Chicago-area produce distributors were thankful for a strong Thanksgiving holiday period and anticipate more of the same for Christmas and New Year’s.

“We’re pretty much rolling along,” Mark Pappas, president of Coosemans Chicago Inc. , said in late November.

Despite intermittent price spikes on a few items, like hothouse peppers and grape tomatoes, no major shortages occurred, and most commodities were pretty consistent, he said.

Pappas was hopeful this season that companies would reinstate holiday parties that were placed on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That would help the industry in general,” he said.

Business also was “excellent” at Schiller Park, Ill.-based Sun Belle Inc. , where founder and CEO Janice Honigberg expected the company to experience significant growth in product offerings and market coverage as a result of its recent acquisition by Frutura, a Reedley, Calif.-based grower and distributor of fresh produce.

“We’re joining as part of their berry group,” she said.

Frutura also acquired Santiago, Chile-based Giddings Fruit , a longtime partner of Sun Belle and year-round supplier of organic and conventional berries from Mexico, Chile and Peru.

Since the acquisition included Giddings’ Cerasus, a large Chilean-based cherry grower and part of Giddings Fruit, Sun Belle now can offer North American markets high-quality Chilean cherries that previously were destined primarily to buyers in Asia, Honigberg said.

Sun Belle is also marketing Ozblu variety blueberries from another Frutura company, Agricola Don Ricardo, a large Peruvian grape, citrus, avocado and blueberry grower.

Besides her role at Sun Belle, Honigberg now serves on Frutura’s board of directors.

“It will be very interesting to learn about the grape, citrus, avocado and cherry businesses as well as berries,” she said.

Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based The Ruby Co. expects to experience “another year of tremendous growth,” especially in the foodservice sector, which accounts for 40% to 50% of the company’s sales, said Josh Wolff, partner and director of growth and strategy.

“It’s a testament of who we are, how we operate, and how we support our customer base,” he said.

The company also supplies retailers, broadliners, distributors, repackers, processors and wholesalers.

Last year, The Ruby Co. had to pass along a lot of significant price increases to its customers, he said.

“This year, given the crop conditions and the freight market, we were excited to provide savings back to our end customers when possible.”

Potatoes and onions are The Ruby Co.’s main commodities, but an added focus has been placed on diversification and expansion into new service offerings and new commodity offerings during the past five or six years, Wolff said.

“As a direct result of best-in-class service and execution, this year we had very impressive customer retention rates,” he said. “We have focused on growing with existing customers while also picking up a lot of new and exciting business for the coming year.”

At Coosemans, Pappas said the U.S. economy is a cause of some concern because of the role specialty items play at a time when some consumers are cutting back on purchases.

“Sometimes [specialties] are the first things people choose to do without,” he said.

But so far, any cutbacks appear to be minimal, he added.

The company’s “really sweet” Green Dragon apples and the Hidden Rose variety with its rose-colored flesh make great holiday gifts, Pappas said.

Other staples at Coosemans include exotic mushrooms, fresh herbs, arugula, Belgian endive, dragon fruit and blood oranges.

Sun Belle will continue to concentrate on a full line of berries as well as pomegranate arils from the U.S. and Peru, some specialty fruits and vegetables and cherries, Honigberg said.

In addition to strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, golden berries and cranberries, Sun Belle will import and distribute Chilean red currants from late December until March.

The company has introduced new labels for a select line of berries that includes a new blackberry variety, a proprietary raspberry variety and jumbo blueberries.

Honigberg is optimistic about the coming season.

“We think we’re going to have a fantastic December, January and February,” she said.

Wolff of The Ruby Co. said he has noticed a drop in freight rates and an increase in truck availability.

“Overall, it’s been a shipper’s market in terms of freight,” he said.

During the pandemic, when demand exceeded supply, asset-based companies expanded their fleets and hired more drivers.

“Increased capacity of trucking and fleets has led to tremendous oversupply of assets on the road, so the supply and demand imbalance has caused freight rates to come way off this year,” Wolff said. “It will be interesting to see what freight does in Q1 of 2024.”

Sales remain strong in St. Louis as fall items arrive

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:30:00 GMT

Business remains brisk in the St. Louis market as produce distributors tweak their product lines to add traditional fall items.

“The market is as strong as ever,” said Sean Kelley, market manager at the St. Louis Produce Market .

“We are 100% occupied,” he said, with 14 owners on the site supplying the region with fresh fruits and vegetables.

The market completed the second part of its roof replacement project this year, so that now all the roofs on the 70-year-old facility have been replaced within the past couple of years.

“Business really does seem to be very busy for everybody on the market,” Kelley said.

Midstate Produce Co. on the market handles “the bread and butter of the industry,” like onions, iceberg lettuce, bananas and tomatoes, said Joe Sanders, owner and president. But the company now is placing a big emphasis on exotic items, like rambutan, dragon fruit, gooseberries, jackfruit and red bananas, which are sourced directly from shippers at ports of entry.

“Exotics are a growing section of our business,” Sanders said.

Buyers perceive Midstate Produce as a good source for exotics, since they don’t have to order a full pallet of products that may not appeal to all consumers, he said. The company goes out of its way to offer specialty items out of concern for its customers, Sanders said.

“Customer service is dying, and we focus on it,” he said. “We work harder than anybody else to find product for our customers and to service them.”

Business remains steady year-round at Midstate Produce, with its product line shifting slightly throughout the year.

The company brings in seasonal items, including larger supplies of watermelons in summer and adding pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds, and acorn and butternut squash in the fall.

Pumpkins start shipping in September, with the busiest period from the third week of that month until the third week of October. Then butternut squash picks up ahead of Thanksgiving.

Midstate Produce also ships some local items in the fall, such as fuji, jonagold, red delicious, gala, golden delicious and granny smith apples, winter hard squash and late summer soft squash, Sanders said.

The company serves primarily the Midwest and Southeast.

St. Louis-based Midwest Best Produce Inc. switches from its big, year-round push on watermelons to its seasonal pumpkin rotation in October, said Dan Pupillo, president.

Steady movement on pumpkins began the first week of September and was expected to continue until about Oct. 20.

Mexico provides a heavy supply of watermelons all year, and in winter ships cabbage, broccoli, peppers, mangoes and limes largely for the foodservice trade, he said.

Local products were winding down, though some were still available from Michigan in early fall. Most were transitioning to Texas, Mexico and Florida.

The company does ample volume in vegetables during the winter, consolidating in St. Louis to ship to surrounding states, Pupillo said. That program closes in summer, when local crops are available in various growing areas.

One long-time St. Louis Produce Market company closed its doors this summer.

After about 55 years, Vince Pupillo decided to close VMP Produce Co. in July.

Pupillo, whose father and grandfather were in the business as well, said he continues to do some part-time work for Vaccaro & Sons Produce on the market selling many of the commodities he sold at VMP, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and onions.

Midstate Produce Co. purchased the VMP building, he said.

Pupillo said he enjoyed his more than five decades in the industry.

“I liked all my customers,” he said. “They treated me with respect, and I tried to return that respect.”

Vaccaro & Sons has been acquired by GrubMarket Inc., a San Francisco-based food tech and e-commerce company that serves businesses and end consumers and provides food-chain software solutions, said Dale Vaccaro, general manager.

The company offers up to a dozen kinds of apples in the fall.

“There seems to be a bumper crop of Washington apples this year, so we’re promoting a lot of apples,” he said.

Other fall items are pumpkins, pomegranates, table grapes, and soon, California navel oranges.

“Volume sort of falls off in the fall because business at some local independent retailers falls off,” Vaccaro said.

Places like produce markets, roadside stands and seasonal-type vendors make up a niche market for Vaccaro & Sons, and that business dissipates at this time of year. But there is good news on the foodservice side.

“Foodservice seems to have picked up a little bit,” he said.

The company provides restaurants with a variety of salad items, like romaine, green leaf and iceberg lettuce, spring mix and tomatoes.

Although foodservice business is “getting close” to pre-pandemic levels, it still isn’t quite there, perhaps due to inflation, Vaccaro said.

“I’ve noticed that since the beginning of the year, consumers are watching their pennies a little bit more,” he said.

There also was good news in the potato and onion categories, which account for “a nice chunk of our business” but suffered from tight supplies the past couple of years, Vaccaro said.

“This year, there seems to a nice crop of both,” he said. “We’re seeing those markets come back to reality a little bit.”

Even with strong sales, St. Louis produce distributors continue to cope with inflation, which hasn’t shown many signs of waning.

“Inflation is not subsiding for me,” Sanders of Midstate Produce said.

Fuel and labor are some of the expenses that continue to rise.

“It’s the consumer who takes the hit, because we have to pass it on,” Sanders said.

But even though shoppers may be trimming their grocery lists, Midstate Produce has not experienced a drop in sales, he said.

Even movement on exotics remains robust because retailers still want to offer their customers variety to set themselves apart from competitors, Sanders said.

Costs are up across the board, and suppliers have to transfer those cost increases to customers, agreed Pupillo of Midwest Best Produce.

Transportation costs hit a peak and have begun to settle down, though they still are higher than in past years because of the higher fuel and other costs truckers have to take on, he said.

Costs of fuel, fertilizer and other farm inputs also have risen, Pupillo said. “The whole industry suffers the same pains.”

Vaccaro of Vaccaro & Sons said many skyrocketing costs have started to level off, but labor costs are not going down.

“To retain good help, [workers] need to be paid,” he said. “That market is not coming off at all.”

NYC's Hunts Point Produce Market central to mayor's initial $40 million investment

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:03 GMT

NEW YORK — Hunts Point Produce Market has needed modernizing — a serious, comprehensive update to its infrastructure — for at least 50 years.

But as market leaders have said for years, they can’t fund it alone. This effort will require significant investment from several levels of government to ensure the safety of the food supply and people in the most densely populated region of the U.S.

So, New York City Councilmember Amanda Farías, chairperson of the Committee on Economic Development, is pretty proud that Mayor Eric Adams is backing his “Hunts Point Forward” commitment with $40 million, according to a news release.

Released June 15, the plan outlines more than 70 short- and long-term recommendations in the next 15 years for the South Bronx industrial and residential neighborhood that includes one of the biggest wholesale produce terminal markets in the U.S.

“This plan addresses the most critical needs of the neighborhood by facing the issues of food insecurity and environmental justice head on,” Farías said in the release. This is “a community who has long needed and is more than deserving of these long-term investments, and the Hunts Point Market itself that has had no investments made in over 50 years.”

This $40 million investment from Adams is an “initial” financial commitment, according to the release. In the mayor’s Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery , he indicated $140 million would go toward Hunts Point infrastructure and community priorities, including $40 million in city capital funding for local open spaces and infrastructure. The plan’s recommendations include creating family-sustaining jobs, improving public safety, enhancing community health and access to healthy food, promoting environmental justice, and delivering upgrades to open space, transportation, and other key community infrastructure.

“My vision for the city’s economic comeback starts right here in Hunts Point, in a community that kept the entire city fed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Adams said in the release. “This plan delivers immediate support and a long-term vision …”

A few recommendations that pertain to the produce market include:

Making the neighborhood a model of industrial sustainability and resiliency, while addressing decades of environmental injustices, by continuing to invest in facilities within the Food Distribution Center that are vulnerable to climate change, identifying the next phase of resiliency investments and continuing to advocate for funding to redevelop the produce market into a modern facility.
Connecting Hunts Point residents to local industrial jobs through a variety of workforce development strategies, including a partnership between the New York City Department of Small Business Services and Food Distribution Center tenants to broaden access to open positions.
Increasing access to affordable fresh produce through youth-run farm stands and a new grocery store in The Peninsula redevelopment.

The core values of this plan align with the values of Kate MacKenzie, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy.

“It connects essential food distribution businesses to local residents through job opportunities and expanded healthy food access,” MacKenzie said in the release. “Moreover, the plan, shaped by community voices, is a major step for health equity.”

Related news: Hunts Point Produce Market, community to get $140 million from NYC

This “Hunts Point Forward” plan is a big step toward charting out the necessary massive investment in the Hunts Point community, state Sen. Luis Sepúlveda said in the release.

“Historically, Hunts Point, and the South Bronx at large, have not received such massive investments as in other places,” he said. “This plan is a multidisciplinary effort to upgrade the quality of life of Hunts Point residents, including its vision to remodel the Hunts Point Market, the inclusion of a new Metro-North station, investments in renewable energy and creation of new jobs for local residents.

“As the New York state senator representing Hunts Point, I am hopeful for the future of my district and the future envisioned by this plan.”

Related news: Turning to Hunts Point produce experts in times of crisis

Summer sales soar in Michigan

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 21:12:40 GMT

It’s the peak of the summer season, and business seems to be heating up for many Michigan produce distributors.

“Summer months provide an opportunity for many new sales opportunities, from California fruit to local vegetables and everything in between,” said Dominic Riggio, president of Riggio Distribution Co. on the Detroit Produce Terminal.

Organic produce plays an important role at Riggio Distribution.

“At RDC, we offer and stock close to 100 organic SKUs daily,” Riggio said. “The quality, availability and consistency of organic produce has greatly improved over the years, and those items have become regular stocked items that our customers rely on us for.”

The company strives to offer a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, he said.

Riggio Distribution Co. on the Detroit Produce Terminal strives to offer a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, says Dominic Riggio, president. Organic produce plays an important role at the company. “At RDC, we offer and stock close to 100 organic SKUs daily,” he says.

(Photo courtesy of Riggio Distribution Co.)

Ben B. Schwartz & Sons Inc. on the Detroit Produce Terminal also offers a full line of produce and focuses on local Michigan items during the summer, said Jordan Grainger, vice president of sales and business development.

“People try to use as much local product as possible at this time of year,” he said.

Berries, grapes, melons and potatoes are some of the bestselling items during the summer, he said. In the fall, the company adds gourds, fall squash and pumpkins as needed.

The wholesaler also can ship a full line of organic items on request.

Good weather and good growing conditions mean quality should be good throughout the summer as long as the weather holds, he said. Volume should be similar to last year.

Michigan Congressman Shri Thanedar visited Ben B. Schwartz & Sons Inc. on the Detroit Produce Terminal following the International Fresh Produce Association’s Washington, D.C., Conference in June. The company strives to offer a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, says Jordan Grainger, vice president of sales and business development.

(Photo courtesy of Ben B. Schwartz & Sons Inc.)

Superior Sales Inc., Hudsonville, Mich., was seeing improved quality the last week of July after the summer season got off to a somewhat bumpy start, said Randy Vande Guchte, president.

“We’ve had a lot of crazy weather between rain and heat,” he said. “We’ve had pollination issues on some of our dry veg, like cucumbers, bell peppers and squash.”

Early supplies on those items were light.

“Business as a whole is a little bit slower until you hit Labor Day,” he said, due in part to flourishing backyard gardens.

The company was kicking off its corn program in late July.

“That crop looks pretty good,” Vande Guchte said.

Squash, cucumbers and beans also were coming in.

“The bean market is really good right now,” he said.

Vande Guchte said he was pleased with this year’s spring asparagus deal.

“It did move well,” he said. “I was kind of surprised, I thought that with higher inflation we wouldn’t move as much, but the people who pick up that kind of product can afford it.”

Superior Sales focuses on local products.

“All of our growers are located in the state of Michigan, northern Indiana and northwest Ohio,” he said. “Everybody in Michigan and in the Midwest promotes local.”

Summer vegetable items will run until around Sept. 20 or into early October, then the company will switch to things like hard squash and root vegetables.

Pumpkins and ornamentals will be available for fall.

BelleHarvest Sales Inc., Belding, Mich., offers a summer dry vegetable program that includes green bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers and tomatoes, said Nick Teriaca, vice president of sales and marketing.

The program was just getting underway the week of July 17.

“Overall, it’s looking good,” Teriaca said. “Volume is there, demand is there; its’ shaping up like a typical year.”

Zucchini and yellow squash had a strong pull early in the year, he said, while tomatoes seem to be more popular in the fall.

Broccoli and cauliflower are good sellers in the early fall, and green bell peppers are more popular later in the year, Teriaca said.

Michigan produce distributors are doing their best to deal with inflation.

“The produce industry is not immune to inflation,” Riggio said. “Costs have gone up, and that is reflected in sales, however, fresh fruits and vegetables remain a great value for their cost as well as their nutritional value.”

Ben B. Schwartz has not seen a drop in sales, but Grainger said that might be happening at retail and foodservice level.

Labor costs had been rising steadily, but they seem to finally have stalled, at least at warehouse level.

“I haven’t seen an increase in the past year,” he said.

High labor costs have hit growers the hardest, said Vande Guchte of Superior Sales.

“The H-2A hourly wage and the expense that goes along with it increases every year,” he said. “It’s putting a lot of pressure on the growers to be able to make money, because if you don’t get more dollars for your product, you can’t cover your increased costs for your labor.”

Boston-area suppliers share how summer is shaping up

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 17:39:33 GMT

Produce distributors in the Boston area tend to offer a similar product line year-round, with a few tweaks during the summer months.

Community-Suffolk Inc. at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, Mass., offers products like celery, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes and a full line of lettuces, said Steven Piazza, president.

Competition from Canada and local sources, like backyard gardens and farmers markets, means business can be a bit lighter during the summer than other times of the year. Nonetheless, spring and early summer this year “have been very, very busy and very productive,” he said. “We have no complaints at all.”

Warm weather this season caused some products to come on earlier than usual, and Piazza said he was hopeful that local competition would end early and the company would get back up to full speed soon. That could happen by mid-September and back-to-school time, when cooking starts to heat up.

“We really see the effect of that [time period] in our volume, especially when it cools down a little bit, and people are cooking roasts, soups, stews and things like that,” he said.

Peter Condakes Co. Inc. at the New England Produce Center also handles a wide product line with emphasis on vegetables, said Peter John Condakes, president.

The company will have plenty of local squash, tomatoes and bell peppers into September with an ever-lengthening summer season, he said.

“Local has become a big buzzword in the last 10 to 20 years,” Condakes said. “But we’ve been handling local product for decades.”

This was not a good year for vegetables, however.

“This year has been the most challenging I can ever remember,” Condakes said.

Conditions were cold and wet in Florida early in the year, and challenges remain in other areas this summer.

“Right now, we’ve got extreme heat and, in a lot of places, [it’s] not necessarily inches of rain, but the amount of time that it’s been raining,” he said in late July. “It’s keeping everything wet, therefore a lot of picks are way down.”

Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and parts of New England were some of the hard-hit areas, Condakes said.

Prices on tomatoes, a company specialty, have been “jaw dropping” because of tight supplies, he said. Conditions can change on a dime, though, if weather improves and a shortage suddenly becomes a surplus.

“It’s a little bit of an art deciding how much to have on hand,” he said.

S. Strock & Co. at the New England Produce Center offers a full line of conventional and organic fruits and vegetables for major supermarket chains, independent retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and foodservice distributors all over New England, said Michael Strock, director of business development.

But Strock said he expects consumer behavior to change as result of fallout from inflation.

“Providing uncompromised quality and adding value to our customers’ operations will remain our focus during these recessionary times,” he said.

The Boston service area is a bit different from other regions, distributors say.

“Most of the Boston area has a high expectation of the quality of the fruits and vegetables that are in the stores,” Piazza said. “We have a pretty educated pallet in the Boston area.”

The foodservice sector also has high standards.

“I truly believe the produce and the quality of preparations in the restaurants have been a big factor in their survival and growth,” he said.

New Englanders are very health-conscious, Strock added, which bodes well for fruit and vegetable consumption.

“Perhaps people are more motivated to keep themselves in shape to shovel all the heavy snow we typically get, or conceivably it’s the highly educated culture bolstered by the many great medical schools and universities in the region,” he said.

But Condakes said there can be disadvantages to operating out of the Boston area.

“In a lot of ways, we’re the end of the line,” he said, and transportation rates can be on the high side.

“We bear probably the highest freight rates in the country,” he said.

Delivering a load of fresh produce to Boston from Florida, California or Mexico can be pricey.

And there aren’t many backhauls leaving New England in refrigerated trucks.

“What’s grown here during the summer season generally stays in New England,” he said.

Colorado gears up for summer

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:07 GMT

Supplies of a few local products could be a bit tight this summer, but for the most part, Colorado distributors will have plenty of good-quality fruits and vegetables to sell.

Shipments of Colorado potatoes and onions have been tight because of a freeze last October that wiped out some of the larger sizes, coupled with panic buying prompted by COVID-19 that had both commodities quickly disappearing from supermarket shelves, said Tony Garin, vice president of sales for Colo-Pac Produce , Denver.

Pinto beans were another high-demand item.

Garin expected lower-than–usual volume on local potatoes until a new crop comes on after late September — a little earlier for onions.

Colo-Pac will have gala and Honeycrisp apples from September through early November from Colorado’s Western Slope, and Colorado pears should come on in late summer.

Colo-Pac is pushing apple and pear sales for schools, he said.

A cold snap in April put a damper on the Western Slope stone fruit deal, he said.

It was too soon to know the extent of the damage, but Garin said one grower reported that early varieties of cherries and peaches will be “really light.”

However, more fruit should be available when later varieties come on as the season progresses.

Other local items include asparagus, which started in mid-April, and leafy greens, which should be ready to harvest in mid-June.

For the organic section, Colo-Pac ships a fair amount of tomatoes, onions and potatoes and locally grown yellow squash, lettuces, greens, cherries and a few peaches.

Organic demand is holding steady, Garin said.

Related content: Colorado goes local in springtime

Coosemans-Denver Inc ., a specialty produce supplier, offers hundreds of products, said Garrick Macek, vice president of operations.

Ginger, shallots and fresh culinary herbs are among the most requested.

Although the company tries to source locally when possible, that can be a challenge for a specialty supplier.

“A good portion of the products we offer and source come from outside of Colorado and even the U.S.,” he said.

Coosemans offers a selection of organic items, including herbs, radicchio and bok choy, but organic specialty items are not as readily available as conventional ones, Macek said.

On the foodservice side, popular items include baby peeled carrots, baby heirloom tomatoes, ginger, root vegetables, edible flowers, gourmet mushrooms, rainbow carrots, white asparagus, fingerling potatoes and lots of herbs.

But, as with most produce suppliers, Coosemans’ foodservice business has suffered repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foodservice sales are down 90% at Coosemans with “very little starting to come back,” Macek said.

It’s unlikely that sales at Coosemans will match last year’s, he said.

“I believe we have lost enough business to make it hard to catch up to last year, but it could happen if the economy opens up again soon,” Macek said.

Colorado consumers look forward to local produce, said Brad Jester, co-owner of 5280 Produce in Denver.

Palisade peaches, grown near the Utah border; Olathe corn and Rocky Ford watermelon and cantaloupe are just a few of the local favorites, he said.

Big Sky Trading LLC serves mostly food manufacturers and retailers, said J.T. Pickett, general operations manager and organic produce buyer.

Vegetables account for the majority of the firm’s business, but the fruit side is growing as well, he said.

“It’s a pretty even spread,” he said.

Greens, lettuces and spinach are top-selling vegetables.

The company handles all berry varieties and runs trucks to Washington for apples and pears, Idaho for potatoes and California and Texas for grapefruit, lemons, limes and oranges.

“We can get pretty much everything,” Pickett said.

Local summertime items include Palisade peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupe and carrots from Greeley.

“We try to incorporate (local produce) as much as possible,” he said.

Buying locally holds down freight costs for customers, he added.

Big Sky Trading is a member of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Colorado Proud program that promotes locally grown produce.

“We do everything we can to sell and encourage people to buy Colorado produce,” Pickett said.

Full line of fruits and vegetables due from Alpine Summit

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

Denver-based Alpine Summit Sales will have an extensive line of fruits and vegetables this summer, sourcing from varied growing areas including Colorado, California and Mexico, said Brandon Brown, vice president.

Colorado summer offerings, which Brown said are eagerly anticipated by local consumers, will include watermelons, cabbage, leaf items and a variety of vegetables.

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Big Sky Trading expands organics

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

Denver-based Big Sky Trading is expanding its organic offerings, said J.T. Pickett, general operations manager and organic produce buyer.

“That used to be a very small part of our business, but it’s been about a third of our business for the last two years,” he said.

Organic demand continues to increase, Pickett said.

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Colo-Pac Produce expands capacity

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

A year ago, Denver-based Colo-Pac Produce completed a major cooler expansion that greatly increased its cold storage capacity, said Tony Garin, vice president of sales.

This season, the company has completed racking its 10,000-square-foot warehouse to add more space. Capacity has increased from six to eight truckloads to 16 or 17, Garin said.

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Food boxes grow at 5280 Produce

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

A produce box program for consumers that Denver-based 5280 Produce launched about five years ago has exploded as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We have a huge following,” said co-owner Brad Jester.

Prior to COVID, about 300-500 people picked up a box of produce each week that cost $22-30 and contained about 12-14 produce items.

“This past week we did 3,000,” Jester said in mid-April. “It’s been crazy.”

About half the items are vegetables, the rest are fruit. Contents vary each week.

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The Fresh Guys produce supplier awaits summer

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

The year started off fine for The Fresh Guys , said president Peter Braidman. But then COVID-19 came along.

The Denver-based produce supplier is “muddling through day by day,” Braidman said, but business is down 70% compared to last year.

The company, which serves restaurants almost exclusively along with a few small markets, is “keeping somewhat busy” and has had no layoffs, he said.

Customers missed out on spring items, he said, but he’s now waiting for summer fruits and vegetables to come on, which will include a variety of

Rocky Mountain tomatoes, kales, collards, chards, cabbages, onions, bell peppers, Hatch peppers, Olathe corn and peaches.

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Honeyacre Enterprises ramps up greenhouse

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

Honeyacre Enterprises Ltd., Wiggins, Colo., started its greenhouse program the second week of April with tomatoes and cucumbers and will begin shipping orange, red and yellow bell peppers in June, said Russ Shoemaker, who owns the company with his wife Cindy.

Crops were slightly later than last year because of abnormally cold and cloudy weather that started in mid-March.

Honeyacre has about 25,000 square feet of greenhouse production and will have the same volume this season as last year, he said.

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Pacific Shipping cuts produce

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:37:02 GMT

While vice president Mike Robertson said it’s pretty much business as usual for Lakewood, Colo.-based Pacific Shipping & Trading Co. Inc., he added, “I can’t say it’s totally normal.”

Denver distributors are cutting back, and restaurants are not buying, he said.

And tightened federal trucking regulations have made it difficult for the trucking company to handle produce.

“It gets to the point where your drivers are so tight on hours, you can’t have them go to a produce shed and sit eight to 10 hours and eat up all their day,” he said.

“We don’t do a lot of produce anymore.”

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Atlanta’s farmers market is pulling out all the stops

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:58 GMT

The Atlanta State Farmers Market is so much more than the name might imply.

Yes, in the shed area, the general public wanders booths laden with fresh fruits and vegetables from area farmers.

But on the rolling 150 acres in the Atlanta suburb of Forest Hills, Ga., this place is also a major marketing hub and distribution point for fresh produce in the Southeast and throughout the country.

The new entry sign says it better: Atlanta/Clayton County Produce Terminal and Market.

About 50 companies handle wholesale retail, foodservice and nursery business, as well as direct-to-consumer foot traffic.

ATLANTA MARKET TERMINAL

The property is divided into two parts; the traditional farmers market to the west and the wholesale distributor warehouses with loading docks and refrigerated semi-trucks to the east.

After more than three years of construction, Collins Bros. Co. moved into an almost 80,000-square-foot additional facility on market property in April.

“It is the biggest one-time addition to the wholesale market since it was built in the 50s. We are very thankful to have it and proud to say they are in the building and operating,” said Paul Thompson, director of marketing for the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Since COVID-19 pandemic closures walloped much of the foodservice business, leaders have been working with the Georgia Department of Agriculture to find ways to make it through this health and economic crisis.

“We saw foodservice just completely die overnight,” said Jeff Howard, markets manager.

Many businesses redirected the focus from foodservice to retail as much as possible.

Supply hasn’t been a problem, however.

“During this whole pandemic, we have not seen shortages. The sheds here remain full,” Howard said.

Also, the shed area’s farmers market, where goods are sold directly to consumers on foot, has picked up considerably during the pandemic.

“People like to get outdoors and shop,” Howard said. “I’m seeing more and more sales to individuals.”

PLAN AHEAD

The department’s marketing and communication teams have helped farmers connect directly with consumers in several ways, especially online and with a new Georgia Grown To-Go program.

The program is basically a farmers market drive-through at higher volume, Thompson said.

“As this pandemic hit, we were able to learn some lessons from some of the things that were happening with the food chain and the distribution in South Florida, and saw some of those things occurring and were able to make some plans, to have some ideas in the works,” Thompson said.

The department’s marketing and communications teams spread the word about what companies were doing online and what kind of markets were transitioning to touchless.

Thompson said he’s seeing greater interest in Georgia Grown Products and local farmers markets.

“With more consumers staying home and wanting fresh produce, the awareness of how the food supply chain works is growing,” Thompson said.

ONE DAY AT A TIME

The pandemic is affecting everyone in different ways, said Eva Moghaddam, owner, president and CEO of All Seasons Fresh Produce at the market.

The company’s foodservice sales dropped to 30% of what they had been, but by June 17, sales had returned to 70% of previous levels, said Matthew Moghaddam, general manager and chief financial officer.

“I am learning from this event every day,” Eva Moghaddam said. “I can say the most destructive part of the pandemic is the constant confusion and getting stalled with your past ideas. I always want to provide, or make it easier, for every family to find healthier food options.”

As the state reopens, the Moghaddams said they’re handling operations on a day-by-day basis without looking too far ahead.

“That’s all we can do, and hope it gets better. And it’s not looking good, as far as the numbers of people getting sick,” Matthew Moghaddam said.

At Nickey Gregory at the Forest Park market, staff shifted focus to retail sales to get through the challenging months for foodservice customers after restaurants, offices, schools and entertainment centers closed to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But by June 17, demand was finally picking up, especially with Georgia being one of the first states to re-open its public spaces, said Andrew Scott, director of business development and marketing.

“It’s nice to have restaurants open and people getting back to work after quarantining,” Scott said.

Also at the market, Athena Farms, a full-service foodservice distributor of fresh produce and other items, lost about 75% of its business overnight, said Robert Poole, senior sales manager.

About 15% of the company’s customers were from nursing homes or other kinds of eldercare facilities, so those didn’t shut down, he said. But the other customers were hotels, restaurants and catering companies.

“We’re slowly, slowly inching back to normal, but we kind of have to see what the next three months hold. We’ll see,” Poole said.

“After all the protests, if there isn’t a spike, we should go back to normal. All we can do is take one day at a time and keep plugging away.”

RETAIL

Retail produce sales are up, as well as home delivery meals, Scott said.

Comparing 2020 and 2019 Shelby Market Shares data for Georgia (Atlanta, Athens, Macon, Rome) shows that Publix took over the No. 1 position from Kroger within the past year :

Publix: 140 stores, 33.6% share;
Kroger: 115 stores: 25.2% share;
Walmart Supercenter: 81 stores, 17.1% share;
Ingles: 35 stores, 6.6% share;
Food Depot: 24 stores, 3.4% share; and
Whole Foods: 9 stores, 2.4% share.

2019 Shelby Market Shares data showed that Kroger was the clear retail market leader, with 151 stores and a 30.5% share of the retail grocery market.

FOODSERVICE

“Even though there was a severe downturn with the hotel and restaurant industry, things are slowly coming back. There may be a little thinning of the herd, if you will,” said David Collins, who runs

Collins Bros. Produce Co. with his brothers at the Atlanta State Farmers Market.

“Maybe those that remain will get stronger or healthier. It’s not going to be what it was overnight.”

Collins’ foodservice customers initially expected foodservice business drop to 20%, but it dropped 70-80%, he said.

So, they shifted employees from foodservice to fill in the gaps in the retail division and also collaborated with other companies in the distribution community to help each other out.

And then Collins Bros. received the biggest award in the state from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families food box program.

USDA FOOD BOXES

On June 1, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited the three companies at the Forest Park market that won contracts:

Athena Farms received $1.3 million for fresh fruits and vegetables boxes, as well as $495,000 for dairy products;
Collins Bros. received $7.3 million for a fresh produce box; and
Nickey Gregory received $1.7 million for fresh produce boxes.

Also, Atlanta-based Federation of Southern Cooperatives received $480,000.

Poole said everyone at Athena Farms is “incredibly grateful” for the USDA box program, and they’re anticipating another round.

“That really saved our butt. We’ve been in business 25 years, so this would be the first time we’d have had to do a really significant cut to our workforce, and I’m not sure if we would’ve survived,” Poole said.

“It’s helped us employ a lot of people, and we’re reaching a lot of people who need help. And when you see people’s faces, the grateful look on their face to receive a box that feeds a family of four, we just feel really, really good about this,” Collins said.

Using its new, almost 80,000 square-foot facility on the market meant for the Phoenix Wholesale Foodservice division, Collins Bros. created about 385,000 Farmers to Families food boxes by June 17, and was 90% complete on the contract, he said.

Nickey Gregory also appreciated the help during the health and economic crisis.

“The USDA program has been a nice shot in the arm for us with our sales being down the past few months,” Scott said.

The company is delivering the boxes to 12 food banks across Georgia, Florida and North Carolina and also partnering with local counties to deliver more boxes to residences, he said.

Georgia expands organic, local, greenhouse options

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:58 GMT

To find the latest news and resources related to conservation agriculture and sustainable food systems, visit AgWeb.com/ACAM.

Eva Moghaddam wants to make it easier for every family to find healthier food.

It’s a value that many producers and distributors in this industry share, a value that can coincide with a healthier earth as well, she said.

Several Atlanta area marketers and growers are showing that the two are not mutually exclusive — not even during the COVID-19 pandemic when human health is first and foremost on most minds.

“I learned life is magnificent, and it is a precious gift for everyone and every living thing,” said Moghaddam, owner, president and CEO of All Seasons Produce, which handles wholesale marketing and distribution at the Atlanta State Farmers Market, Forest Park, Ga., and Evans Growers, which handles production about 200 miles southeast in Claxton, Ga.

“Every plant, every seed and every little green life is hope, and it is beautiful.”

In July of 2019, Moghaddam found a property with 56 greenhouses on 13 acres in Claxton, close to her Vidalia onion farm.

The location seemed perfect for growing organic herbs, of which there is a gap in the Atlanta market, said husband Matthew Moghaddam, general manager and chief financial officer.

After purchasing the property in November, it took the Moghaddams four months to get certified as U.S. Department of Agriculture organic for herbs and peppers.

They are now growing basil, thyme, mint, mini sweet peppers, red peppers and Anaheim peppers, among other varieties.

“We knew organic growing needs constant sustainability and a controlled environment to succeed, and the greenhouse will be best for organic growth without using any pesticides or chemicals,” Eva Moghaddam said.

She had planned for a long time to do organic efficiently through controlled environment agriculture with drip irrigation and temperature controls.

“It’s very difficult to do in the field, with irrigation and bugs and diseases,” Matthew Moghaddam said.

They saw a demand for more organics before the pandemic because there aren’t many companies growing organic herbs in Georgia; most are importing herbs, he said.

All Seasons and Evans Growers has 319 acres of conventionally grown produce too, including cabbage, Vidalia onions, zucchini, squash, broccoli and sweet potatoes, also in Claxton, with a packing house on it.

In December 2019, Pure Flavor , Leamington, Ontario, kicked off its second winter season using hydroponic methods and transitioned 25 acres as part of Phase 1 to grow exclusively tomatoes in its Fort Valley, Ga., greenhouse, 100 miles south of Atlanta.

The company partners with the Georgia Grown program.

Pure Flavor also has a 60,000-square-foot distribution center in Byron, Ga., about 95 miles south of Atlanta.

Doug Bailey, assistant dean of academic affairs at University of Georgia, led a five-day spring break agricultural tour for students from the College of Agricultural and Environmenal Sciences that included the Pure Flavor greenhouse.

The company’s hydroponic growing methods create greater yield than traditional methods and without soil, he wrote in a trip blog.

“These methods allow the company to be sustainable by using less water with less nutrient runoff from plants. To produce their organic products, Pure Flavor uses beneficial insects such as lady bugs and bees to control pests and pollinate plants,” Bailey wrote.

“Pure Flavor brings an important and diverse addition to the face of Georgia agriculture.”

At the Atlanta State Farmers Market, Collins Bros. Produce Co., Forest Park, Ga., has more than 400 organic items and about 100 Georgia Grown products for sale.

“Before this COVID-19 came along, there was a big push of locally grown, sustainable agriculture, and there was a lot of talk on what they need to do to engage with the distribution community,” said David Collins III, one of the company’s owning brothers.

Most sustainable initiatives have taken a “back seat to this COVID thing,” he said, “but I think it’s still something people are embracing.”

The less fuel you have to use going from A to B, the more efficient you become, he said.

“When you can grow good product here in Georgia, would you bring it from 2,000 miles away when you have right here? I think not,” Collins said.

“I think you’re seeing a push toward that and it’s a good thing. And hopefully you’ll see that continue.”

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Atlanta market terminal makes room for the new

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

A few of the large wholesalers and distributors at the Atlanta State Farmers Market, Forest Park, Ga., have expanded by adding or moving into new spaces on the property.

The expansions have had a ripple effect, opening up other spaces for other companies to expand, said Jeff Howard, markets manager.

“It’s growth. That’s what it is. It’s growth,” Howard said.

“We’re on 150 acres and we’re limited to where we can go, so you have to tear down something and rebuild it bigger and better and more readily available and readily usable for the 21st century.”

Close to a quarter of the market, which was built in the 1950s, was torn down for the Phoenix Wholesale Foodservice division of Collins Bros. Produce Co . to have a new, almost 80,000-square-foot facility, said David Collins, who runs the company with his brothers.

They moved into the new space near the end of April, he said.

“We think it’s bright, clean, open and a lot easier to clean. It’s a better vessel for ingress and egress of product; it’s streamlined. It’s better material, better design,” Collins said.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to do a better job.”

In Building T, the new facility has motion-detector lighting, extra wall barriers and about 25 cross docks to receive on one side and load on the other.

There are flexible door enclosures so the dock wraps itself around the refrigerated trucks to keep the cold air from escaping while the trucks are being loaded or unloaded.

Refrigerated rooms come with six temperature zones, including a freezer with extra insulation.

“We got the advice of our air conditioning mechanical engineers and they over-spec’ed it with the best refrigeration equipment available today to keep the cold chain process where it should be,” Collins said.

Collins Bros. still has its previous 60,000-square-foot facility, which it uses for retail, plus an off-site location.

“Much like other markets in the Southeast, our market was getting a little old and tired, and we were investing a lot of money in keeping it clean and(maintained). There comes a time where it’s better to tear it down and start over. And I don’t say that easily,” Collins said.

The company had outgrown its previous digs for a long time, he said.

“It’s been encouraging. I have to give a lot of commendations to the state for their partnership on this,” he said.

“They were really good to work with all the way through. Gary Black and his whole team doing a tremendous job. This is just one of the attributes of some of their good work.”

Nickey Gregory Co . moved into a new warehouse, from Building N to M, in February, which doubled its space, said Andrew Scott, director of business development and marketing.

The company’s Family Fresh Foods processing division is in its second year, doing fresh-cut produce for its customer base and other foodservice companies, he said.

Also at the market, All Seasons Fresh Produce almost doubled its space in Building P to about 24,000 square feet, moving in at the end of March, said Matthew Moghaddam, general manager and chief financial officer.

The company added four more temperature zones, and all business is conducted on one floor.

“Now it’s much better. There’s more space for staging and storage, more office space, and it’s more comfortable and easier access to the office,” Moghaddam said.

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Georgia Grown thinks thrifty, launches drive-through markets

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

What’s the latest on the Atlanta fresh produce market? Watch Paul Thompson, director of marketing for Georgia Department of Agriculture (top left, then clockwise); Amy Sowder, Northeast editor of The Packer; Jeff Howard, markets manager for the State Farmers Market; and Terrell Davis, media specialist for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, discuss things at bit.ly/Georgia-update.

When you ask what’s happening at his company, Andrew Scott, director of business development and marketing at Nickey Gregory, based at the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park, Ga., says it’s been all about his state’s produce.

“‘Georgia Grown’ is what’s been going on for us the past couple of months,” Scott said.

In June, many commodities are in season as the southern Georgia growing cycle winds down and heads north. Then, Scott anticipates the fall season in Georgia.

The Georgia Grown program is doing more than ever, even in tight times.

As part of the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Buy Georgia Grown, Now More Than Ever campaign, Georgia Grown is partnering with local governments to connect produce growers directly to consumers in highly populated areas.

Called Georgia Grown To-Go, it’s a series of pop-up markets, primarily in metro Atlanta, where consumers buy fresh produce directly from farmers with limited contact, drive-through service.

It’s been helpful for the state’s farmers who have surplus produce that would’ve gone to foodservice customers, said Paul Thompson, director of marketing for the agriculture department.

“We’ve been able to help to move some of that produce and bring some notice to what’s in our backyard with the growers in other parts of the state that aren’t in Atlanta,” Thompson said.

With refrigerated tractor-trailer trucks at the ready and a line of consumers in cars ready to be loaded, this is larger-scale than a traditional farmers market.

The Georgia Grown program has never done anything like this at this volume, he said.

Local governments and nonprofits had enabled four such pop-up, drive-through markets by June 17, and there are few more planned before a break, and then the To-Go program may resume for the fall harvest.

The growers have told Thompson it’s a helpful program, another revenue source and marketing tool.

“It’s their chance to get out in front of their community ... to tell their story of who they are and where this stuff is coming from,” Thompson said.

Shoppers can select their boxes of produce online at georgiagrowntogo.com.

Each box variety includes a description from the farm, such as this blurb about a box of Georgia Grown sweet corn:

“My name is Casey Cox, and I’m a sixth-generation farmer near Camilla, Ga. On our family farm, Longleaf Ridge Farms, we grow sweet corn, peanuts, field corn, soybeans and timber. We are excited to participate in the Gwinnett Georgia Grown To-Go market and bring some of our delicious Georgia Grown sweet corn to our Georgia neighbors!”

Shoppers can also donate a box to a neighbor or local charity.

“It’s just been nice to get great feedback from folks that feel that they’re part of a larger purpose. They feel well-received,” said Terrell Davis, media specialist with the department.

Meanwhile, the department is continuing to encourage large grocery chains to source local produce and promote its availability in marketing strategies.

For example, some Publix store managers have reinstalled their Georgia Grown marketing materials the department provided last year, Thompson said.

“Due to the economic ripples caused by COVID-19 and safety restrictions, the Georgia Grown marketing strategy has adjusted to become nimble with marketing spend and personal safety,” Thompson said.

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Buurma Farms upgrades equipment, adds partner

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

Willard, Ohio-based Buurma Farms Inc. added some new equipment for this year, said Loren Buurma, partner.

“We had some wet weather last year and (were) looking for additional help with our spray program. We bought a new tractor — a front-wheel assist spray tractor — better with wet weather,” he said.

The new vehicle has “more pulling power,” he said.

The company also purchased new drill for “better placement of seeds,” Buurma said.

The company also went to a wider, raised bed for planting hard squash, kale, beets and collard greens at its Ohio operation this year, Buurma said.

“We already used that style of bedding in Georgia for planting carrots, and we switched that to our Michigan op-eration,” he said. “In Ohio, we use a narrower bed, but we’ll experiment with this wider bed — probably twice as wide. Instead of getting two rows in a bed, depending on the crop, you’re gonna get three to four.”

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DNO Produce adds cooler space to distribution center

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

Columbus, Ohio-based wholesaler DNO Produce is in expansion mode, said Alex DiNovo, president and COO.

DNO is adding a cooler to its distribution center, DiNovo said.

“It’s only about a 4,000-square-foot cooler, but it’s extra space,” he said.

The company also is connecting one building to its main distribution center, DiNovo said.

“We’re going to have another set of docks and also getting drawings made to have a 12,000-square-foot addition to our processing center,” he said. “The plans are being made now and have to get all that done. We might break ground on that this year. We are aggressively looking to expand our market share.”

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D.R. Walcher halts expansion

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

The COVID-19 pandemic has put some expansion plans on hold at D.R. Walcher Farms in North Fairfield, Ohio, said Ken Holthouse, partner.

“We were planning an expansion at Walcher, adding onto the building and getting into some bagged product eventually, but the way the COVID thing has hit, we’re waiting,” he said.

“We need to get this season behind us. The whole world wants 2020 to go into the history.”

The planned expansion includes a 20,000-square-foot canopy at Walcher’s 10-year-old packingshed, Holthouse said.

“We’re pretty large into the fall squash and fall decorative items; you have to get it out of the sun as much as pos-sible and we don’t have a whole lot of space,” he said.

“We’re going to wait on that for the time being.”

Sister company Holthouse Farms in Willard, Ohio, has added about 15,000 square feet in the past three years, Holthouse said.

“There’s a new loading dock extension, a new office complex and a box storage barn,” he said.

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Fruit association partners on organic vegetables

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

The Newcomerstown, Ohio-based Fruit Growers Marketing Association has partnered with Fremont, Ohio-based Great River Organics to launch a local organic line of vegetables, said Alex Buck, president of the Fruit Growers Marketing Association.

“Organic is an important and continuously growing part of the industry, and we need to be a part of it,” Buck said.

The association also has hired 25-year food-industry veteran Jeff Givens as its new quality assurance manager, Buck said.

“His focus will be on maintaining high quality for our customers and along with several field/orchard manager du-ties,” Buck said.

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Ohio Restaurant Association launches COVID-19 efforts

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:54 GMT

The Columbus-based Ohio Restaurant Association has launched a couple of initiatives stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, said Homa Moheimani, director of communications.

The first is the Ohio Restaurant Promise, which the association created as a pledge from restaurants that they are focusing on safety and sanitization, she said.

“Restaurants can take the pledge that this is our promise to you,” she said.

The promise says restaurant owners/operators will commit to adhering to state and local health, as well as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The promise includes maintaining social distancing and a regimen of regular sanitization; it also assures that all employees wear masks and wash their hands regularly.

Details are at ohiorestaurant.org.

“They can download materials, find PPE supplies, best practices,” Moheimani said.

The promise launched in May, she said.

The association also is working to help restaurant workers who have lost their jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic, Moheimani said.

The association, in conjunction with the Ohio Restaurant Association Education Foundation, has formed the Ohio Restaurant Employee Relief Fund “to activate emergency funding for personnel in the foodservice industry who have been affected by COVID-19,” the organization announced on its ohiorestaurantsrelief.org website.

The effort seeks public and corporate donations.

More information is available at ohiorestaurantsrelief.org.

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Sanfillipo Produce sees more online orders

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:36:49 GMT

Columbus, Ohio-based wholesaler Sanfillipo Produce Co. has upgraded its online ordering system, said Jamie Sanfil-lipo, partner and sales manager.

“It’s picking up a little bit each month,” he said.

The company started it with a “small home-delivery thing,” called Sanfillipo Direct, and it grew, Sanfillipo said.

“We put up a separate website where people can order a minimum of $50 and we’ll deliver it for them,” he said.

Sanfillipo Direct started early in the spring, launching on Facebook, Sanfillipo said.

“We’re getting orders every week,” he said. “We said if we saw an increase, we’d do some marketing. But every-body’s doing it. We’re fighting for the same dollar.”

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