Opinion
Looking at fruit and vegetable news today, a new study reports that almost half of the world’s population does not eat enough fruits and vegetables.
In the produce aisle, “I want credit!” is a common lament.
Is the produce/retail supply chain vulnerable to cyber-attacks? How can the industry take steps to reduce that risk?
“If only my store manager knew…” So began a labor-related line I heard from many produce managers as I visited stores in my supervisor days — especially as spring uncoiled into summer in the produce aisle.
How can the produce supply chain have more surety, more resilience, more strength?
Last month the USDA issued a report on findings of a sampling assignment that tested raw agricultural commodity romaine lettuce at facilities and on farms in the Salinas and Yuma growing regions.
There’s something unique about a retail produce crew. Unlike other grocery store departments, produce is different.
While it is beyond doubt that SARS-CoV2 is not a foodborne pathogen, what can we learn from the measures that were put in place to control COVID-19 that also had a positive impact on food safety?
No one likes to play catch up. In fact, once you fall behind on something, it is far more difficult to recover. And stressful.
Is this finally the year for immigration reform for ag employers?
When I first wrote this column nearly four years ago, I thought it would just be a quirky story about my grandpa’s funny name for green peppers.
The obsession with pumpkin spice is now worth roughly $500,000 annually and its use is up tenfold since 2004. But, is peak pumpkin on the way?
Fewer business practices are more important than punctuality.
2019 per capita consumption figures for fresh fruit were released this week.
This era of COVID-19 uncertainty is getting old.
To say retail produce training is essential is an understatement.
When customers see a familiar label, a popular growing region known for the elevated quality of fresh produce grown, they slow down, and they buy.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show the ebb and flow of retail and foodservice sales for the last 20 years.
Here is a quick look-in at fresh vegetable FOB and retail prices compared with both a month ago and a year ago.
Some of today’s management gurus may believe they have created or named the most-used business terminology. Specifically, one we hear all the time: time management.
Our values guide us in good times and bad, and a clearly defined organizational purpose will articulate the benefits of our organizations to our employees, customers and society as a whole.
When I think of sweet potatoes, I think of calling my mom back in college, asking for her sweet potato biscuit recipe, which was my nana’s recipe written in her one-room-schoolhouse-neat teacherly cursive script.
How is the retail grocery business? Glad you asked.
I really cut my teeth writing (what else?) retail produce bulletins. Mike Aiton, our director, was the real writing wizard and had a couple of us supervisors rotate to cover the task.
A year ago I was hopeful that the North American produce industry would get behind the meaningful incorporation of sustainability practices in its businesses to help mitigate some of the biggest risks it is facing.
I was sitting around the kitchen table last night, trying to recall to my wife, daughter and son-in-law all the excellent anecdotes and amazing insights gleaned from the general session speakers at Fresh Summit 2013.
Hoping to inspire a “food revolution,” Jeff Dunn, chief executive officer of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Bolthouse Farms, may also help ignite a new way of industry working together.
There’s a lot to be said about simple momentum. Take for example, my regular workweek. Like many other produce professionals, I have my share of paperwork.
In the past year, online grocery and e-commerce shopping exceeded previous highs and it is estimated that online grocery shopping will surpass $100 billion in 2021 (Chain Store Age, February 2021).
For the second time in under 12 months, the North American potato industry received news that no one wanted: more detections of the devastating potato wart disease found in fields in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.