Latest News From Retail

Promotora Agricola El Toro, a grower, packer and shipper with nearly 10,000 acres in Baja California, Mexico, has earned Equitable Food Initiative certification.

Dole Food Co. has partnered with Pixar film “Monsters Inc.” to launch recipes, serving suggestions, digital and social activations, family-friendly activities, trivia and influencer partnerships.

The National Watermelon Promotion Board, Winter Springs, Fla., is asking consumers to put their unique spin on the association’s recipes and carvings.

This doesn’t seem to be the year for New York state growers to experiment with the market. Instead, they’re playing it as safe as they can.

Adding a spark to a familiar pear variety, Wenatchee, Wash.-based Stemilt Growers is promoting the starkrimson red pear as the Sparkrimson.

Avocados continue to fare better when compared to year-ago numbers, but they’re lagging behind the same comparisons to the overall fresh produce.

A & A Organic Farms, Watsonville, Calif., has added organic French beans from Guatemala to its list of items.

While it’s often used in sweet dishes and beverages – smoothies, breakfast bowls, ice cream, tarts, cocktails – some chefs are branching out.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed 12 new members to the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee.

Cucumbers held on to the No. 1 spot on PMG the week of July 6, but beans rose four places to No. 2, while okra stayed at No. 3.

Jac. Vandenberg Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., will be marketing grapes under the Sunrays brand this winter and launching a new website for the brand.

North Bay Produce, Traverse City, Mich., has new packaging that emphasizes its logo and focuses on the fresh product inside.

Golden Sun Marketing, Mound Minn., has rebranded to GoldenSun Insights and introduced a redesigned website.

Homegrown Organic Farms has received Bee Better certification for Oregon blueberries.

I never thought I’d be the kind of parent who would purée whole, fresh vegetables and fruits for my baby’s first solid foods. That’s a rosy ideal relegated to those super-granola, Earth Mother types.

The COVID-19 crisis has not slowed demand for organic produce, and Albertsons executive Jim Donald sees “no ceiling” for the sector.

Well-Pict Berries, Watsonville, Calif., is offering a free digital retail kit to retailers to help them boost online berry sales.

The expansion of Lidl discount grocery stores into New York’s Long Island market spurred price-cutting by up to 15% from other retailers, a new study reports.

Potato and onion grower-shipper RPE, Bancroft, Wis., is adopting How2Recycle package labeling for Tasteful Selections products.

After being hard hit early in the coronavirus pandemic, the herb category seems to be bouncing back, some say with significant double-digit growth.

A new Washington organic blueberry company is marketing its first fresh crop.

This information, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, shows week-by-week shipments and f.o.b.s for commodities from shipments for the fresh market.

The Oppenheimer Group is partnering with microgreens and edible flower Koppert Cress, doing business as Flavour Fields, to develop and market varieties of specialty produce.

Cucumbers, peaches and okra held onto the top three spots on PMG the week of June 29, but the rest of the top 20 saw some shuffling.

Chiquita is releasing new fitness-related stickers on bananas in July to encourage fun, healthy living.

Retail fresh produce sales for the week ending June 28 rose at the lowest growth rate since April 19, according to research firm IRI scan data.

In preparation for National Fruits and Veggies Month in September, the Produce for Better Health Foundation is unveiling a toolkit as part of a strategy to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

Shanley Farms, Morro Bay, Calif., is seeing success with selling its Citriburst brand finger limes directly to consumers, especially during the pandemic.

Another good year should be on tap for the date industry following the 2019-20 season that was marked by a significant sales uptick resulting at least in part from COVID-19.

Episode 6 of the Tip of the Iceberg Podcast features an interview with retail veteran Mike O'Brien, whose tenure included 15 years as a vice president of produce, on the topic of produce manager succession planning.

Raley’s, West Sacramento, Calif., has promoted Laura Croff to senior vice president of people.

Natural Delights is highlighting national parks in July with facts, activities and snacks to enjoy while visiting.

From offering retailers help tailor programs to retailers needs to delivering meals and ramping up security and sanitation, companies are responding in different ways to the COVID-19 pandemic.

June online grocery sales jumped 9% compared with May, according to a survey from Brick Meets Click/Mercatus.

There’s something about an abundantly stocked produce department.

Blazer Wilkinson, Salinas, Calif., which grows and ships conventional and organic strawberries under the Foxy brand, is adding blueberries to the program.

The Packer's editor-in-chief Tom Karst and retail editor Ashley Nickle discuss the big stories of the week, from Farmers to Families Food Box Program contracts to USMCA to new store formats for Raley's and Schnucks.

The United Fresh Produce Association is highlighting the best ideas used by virtual booth exhibitors at the recent United Fresh LIVE! event.

Pretty Lady Vineyards released a Virtual Grape Guide to help retailers.

Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based Good Foods Group plans to debut in the coming weeks a direct-to-consumer site.

The first Raley’s O-N-E Market made its debut in late June in Truckee, Calif., its produce department filled with organic fruits and vegetables.

Tasteful Selections continues its 10-year anniversary celebration campaign as a partner in the kitchen.

Fresh produce plays a starring role at EatWell, the new natural store format St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets debuted in late June in Columbia, Mo.

Sun World International LLC, Palm Desert, Calif., has reached a settlement with one of its licensed growers in Australian in a dispute involving Sun World’s proprietary grape varieties.

Retail Feedback Group reports in its 2020 U.S. Online & In-Store Grocery Shopping Study that 50% of in-store supermarket shoppers also ordered groceries online in the last 30 days.

Wonderful Pistachios won Delicious Living magazine’s 2020 Best Bite Awards for its No Shells Honey Roasted and Chili Roasted.

Giving farmers and farmers markets the ability to fulfill SNAP purchases online is one recommendation presented by a group of Ohio farm organizations in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Fresh produce dollar sales growth over 2019 topped 15% in the third week of June, boosted by Father’s Day weekend, with vegetables experiencing sales growth of more than 20%.

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.

Albertsons co-chairman Jim Donald will discuss the role of organics, changes in consumer behavior due to COVID-19 and more during an online Organic Produce Summit session July 9.