Latest News From Packer Tech

Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Oviedo, Fla., is expanding its Oxnard, Calif., cooling and fresh-cut facility, allowing the company to double fresh-cut celery production.

Fresh packaging company StePac L.A. Ltd., Tefen, Israel, has unveiled a sustainability strategy with four pillars.

Wish Farms, Plant City, Fla., has a smartphone app that brings new labels on its berry packs to life with augmented reality.

Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce is focusing on its partnership with Hazel Technologies Inc., and its Avolast shelf-life extension product at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit expo.

Sicar Farms has opened its new Mission, Texas, facility, with cooler capacity of 85,000 square feet, 21 loading docks, and office space.

Indoor grower BrightFarms, Irvington, N.Y., is using blockchain technology to trace its products.

iTradeNetwork, which recently announced plans to offer its services free to select growers and shippers to advance traceability efforts in the industry, has scheduled a web seminar to discuss its plans.

A company that makes mesh using resins from sugarcane is promoting its use as a sustainable option for produce packaging.

The Center for Produce Safety will embark on another campaign in the next year to raise funds for the group’s food safety research efforts.

Philadelphia-based AgroFresh Solutions’ FreshCloud Predictive Screening system has added capabilities to help Honeycrisp apple growers.

iTradeNetwork, which recently announced plans to offer its services free to select growers and shippers to advance traceability efforts in the industry, has scheduled a web seminar to discuss its plans.

The Center for Produce Safety has chosen 11 new research projects to fund, granting $2.7 million to research including listeria’s tolerance to sanitizers and disinfecting packinghouse washwater.

Indoor farming company Fifth Season plans to open a 60,000-square-foot vertical farm in Braddock, Pa., a former steel town near Pittsburgh.

The Food and Drug Administration has new guidelines to help companies develop and implement a written recall plan.

With an eye on shelf life and its contribution to food waste, flexible packaging company Belmark has partnered with PerfoTec to match the needs of produce with the packaging its shipped in.

iTradeNetwork has plans to offer 2,000 perishable food and beverage companies free use of its iTracefresh traceability suite, in what it calls an important leap to industry-wide traceability.

Agriculture biotech company Phytelligence has reportedly shut down following a legal battle with Washington State University and the Cosmic Crisp apple variety.

Hugh Forrest, chief programming officer of South by Southwest, is set to deliver a keynote during United Fresh’s BrandStorm 2020 in Austin, Texas.

Flavor Tree Fruit Co. has changed out some equipment at its arils facility, increasing automation and making the process less dependent on manual labor.

Ultimation Industries LLC has been named one of the 2019 Metro Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.

Stewart and Lynda Resnick, whose companies include Halos marketer The Wonderful Co., are pledging $750 million to Caltech, for sustainability research.

Signode Industrial Group, Glenview, Ill., has shortened its name to Signode and launched a new brand identity.

Two tech companies, 6 River Systems Inc. and Soft Robotics, have formed a partnership for an automated picking solution for e-commerce and retail warehouses.

Singapore-based tech company DiMuto has its first customer in the U.S., with citrus company Fancher Creek Packing using its Track & Trace blockchain technology.

The Food and Drug Administration has formed a partnership with the Yuma, Ariz., leafy greens industry and other groups in a multi-year study to determine how crops in the area are getting contaminated with pathogens.

Proseal’s GT4 tray sealing-solution has won a MTP Gold Medal ahead of a leading international tech exhibition.

Promising easy wireless access, Carrier Transicold has introduced the Micro-Link 5 Controller.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Teasing the details of a new era of smarter food safety, Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner Frank Yiannas spoke Sept. 18 at the United Fresh Washington Conference.

Kroger is rolling out avocados with Apeel Sciences’ shelf-life extender in 1,100 stores, and plans to stock Apeel limes and asparagus in Cincinnati stores this fall.

Tauranga, N.Z.-based Robotics Plus has won an ANZLF Trans-Tasman Innovation and Growth Award. 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 18 companies selected for round one of the Grow-NY food innovation and agriculture technology business challenge. 

Santa Paula, Calif.- based Calavo Growers, Inc. has announced the publication of their first sustainability highlights report.

The Reusable Packaging Association chose The Kroger Co. with reusable packaging supplier Polymer Logistics as the winner of its 2019 Excellence in Reusable Packaging award program. 

This week on Produce Market Guide pumpkins are the top commodity, closely followed by pears.

Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers since 2002, has been named the recipient of the organization’s 2019 Award of Honor.

Belding, Mich.-based BelleHarvest and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Michigan Fresh Marketing are preparing for the 2019-20 apple harvest with a new partnership, new packaging and technology investments.

With many companies using top-seal containers to cut down on plastic use to promote sustainability, ProSeal is showcasing the focus on sustainability at Pack Expo.

A robotic strawberry harvester known as the T-6 from Advanced Farm Technologies, Davis, Calif., has received a $7.5 million boost from investors in a Series A funding round.

JBT Corp. and SmartWash Solutions have entered into a partnership to offer fresh-cut produce processors in Europe a food safety solution.

The Postharvest Technology Center at the University of California-Davis has scheduled its 21st Annual Fresh-cut Products Workshop in September.

Dynamic Systems Inc., Redmond, Wash., has upgraded its Simba Logistics module, which uses barcodes to manage inventory and shipping for the company’s traceability systems.

Hazel Technology has completed a shelf-life study of its product on anjou pears in storage.

At the fourth annual NYC AgTech Week Conference, attendees can tour farms and attend panel discussions, workshops and networking events hosted by the NYC Agriculture Collective.

SVG Ventures, Los Gatos, Calif., is partnering with PMA, through a three-year agreement that brings tech panel discussions to Fresh Summit and a technology challenge giving companies the chance to pitch to investors.

Eco Convergence Group has changed its name to Kalera and is building an indoor growing facility in Orlando, Fla.

Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Apeel Sciences has announced supplier partnerships that company leaders say will enable a year-round supply of Apeel avocados, limes, asparagus, and apples for U.S. retailers and consumers.

David Marguleas is the new CEO of Sun World International, succeeding Merrill Dibble, who takes on a new role at parent company Renewable Resources Group.

Hazel Technologies, which has products designed to extend the shelf life of produce, has received $13 million in Series B funding.

AgSharks are back and ready to invest in ag technology.

The Packer's Northeast editor, Amy Sowder, conducted a mid-summer tour of Quebec's vegetable agricultural regions north and south of Montreal.