Just in! Check out the May-June issue of PMG magazine

Note: This is the Letter from the Editor for the May-June issue of PMG magazine. Check out the video to see a few of the commodities and topics that are featured this month, and keep an eye out for the digital edition coming soon.

Did you ever think you’d hear the word “unprecedented” so many times in such a short span of time? COVID-19 has certainly thrown us all for a loop.

With most restaurants and schools closed, foodservice companies have been fighting to keep the lights on, and retailers have been moving fresh fruits and vegetables like never before.

In the midst of this historic period, we wanted to acknowledge the truly essential work being done in grocery stores around the U.S. The entire produce supply chain – from growers and packers to logistics folks and truck drivers to wholesalers and retailers – has kept fresh fruits and vegetables available and thus has provided the little bit of normal that has remained in an otherwise very abnormal situation.

As the pandemic has unfolded, we noticed the #SupermarketSuperheroes hashtag floating around as people outside the industry started to recognize how important grocery store workers really are. Of course we couldn’t be more enthused to take advantage of this opportunity to give some credit where credit is certainly due.

You can check out our video slideshows of dozens of front-line produce folks here – our small way of calling out the great work being done in difficult circumstances.

Of course, we wanted to extend what we were doing online to our publication, which is why you see the #SupermarketSuperheroes theme featured on our cover this issue. As it so happens, Josh Smith – the young man in the photo – is not only a front-line produce professional, but he’s also one of the 2020 winners of the Retail Produce Manager Awards that are given by the United Fresh Produce Association.

This brings us to another central topic in this issue – produce managers aren’t only superheroes during pandemics. It’s a job with so many areas to handle, and yet the opportunities are also varied and vast. We spoke with a few of the folks being recognized by United to give you a glimpse into some of the great work happening in the produce manager role across the U.S. We hope you enjoy those stories as much as we did putting them together.

As always, thank you for reading, and always feel free to give me a shout if you’ve got an idea for an article or you just want to talk produce. I’m all ears!

Sincerely,

Ashley Nickle