Opinion
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.
I raise a salute to Bob Dole, the former U.S. Senator from Kansas who died Dec. 5 at 98 years old.
The Packer received this letter to the editor from the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Canadian Potato Council in response to a recent opinion article.
Every decent story, and likewise many lessons begin with: Once upon a time…
Editor’s note: The following editorial, written by former Washington, D.C., editor and columnist Larry Waterfield, first appeared in The Packer in 1989. It has appeared in every Christmas edition since then.
I had the honor of being on Farm Journal’s AgriTalk today with host Chip Flory.
More than 100,000 people have dropped comments in the Federal Register document that spells out the Biden administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing: Emergency Temporary Standard.
I was nibbling on the last of some Christmas cookies when Russ T. Blade appeared from behind my Rudolph-reindeer coffee mug.
From the Garden of Eden to today’s refrigerator fruit drawer, the good old apple is a consistent heavyweight in the produce department.
No need to quibble; all fruits and vegetables should qualify for “healthy” labeling.
What is the most buzzworthy variety of fruit or vegetable that you have experienced/seen in the last year? What makes it special?
Everyone’s time is valuable. You never want to go into a meeting flatfooted.
Greenhouses for lettuce and leafy greens are being built at a rapid pace across the U.S. In contrast, in neighboring Mexico there is no similar greenhouse production and in Canada there is very little.
Should retail buyers or the USDA build in sustainability requirements in their contracts with suppliers?
I remember vividly where I was on Sept. 15, 2006, when the Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory warning consumers not to eat spinach.
Someone told you to find a television, and you stared in disbelief. You were shocked, bewildered. You stood in terrible awe. A gaping hole, billowing smoke, chaos.
Fall is all about the harvest bounty — bubbling hot jonathan apple pies adorned with sugary laced lattice tops, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, ornamental gourds, sweet fall grapes, hard squash and crunchy apples.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported another sad fact about obesity.
As the industry waits for the new “normal” in the world and in the fresh produce business, one can’t but help wonder about the soon-coming merger of the Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh.
The lack of in-person produce expos leaves marketers with one fewer tool in their toolbox.
Customers never like selecting what they consider is leftovers, even if what’s available is pristine.
The lack of an in-person Fresh Summit is a big loss for fresh produce marketers.
Occasionally a store manager would call for assistance, usually after their produce department’s gross profit turned out low, and the shrink figure high. They wanted a fix. Right away.