Opinion
How can the U.S. Department of Agriculture advance racial justice, equity, and support for underserved communities?
For reasons that everyone can understand, healthier living is at the top of the collective to-do list for 2021.
Staff, order, prep and stock the produce department so that whatever decision is reached, it’s because the offerings are so fresh, the stock level so nice, that in that moment any decision is a good decision.
It’s quite a commitment to attempt offering a clean and fresh produce department when shopping traffic heats up.
At its last meeting, the LGMA board voted unanimously to require its members to conduct preharvest testing of product grown in fields where elevated risk factors may be present.
How is it that we are recognized as the most beneficial of all the food types that exist, but consumption is waning?
So, what exactly is a normal work week for a produce manager? It depends.
Every time a tool of production is taken away and not replaced with a better alternative, it has negative consequences.
Grapes are one of the strongest categories that a produce operation offers, with impressive volume and dollar sales.
As a result of COVID-19, there has perhaps been no greater level of awareness around federal feeding programs that target children.
My first Fresh Summit experience was in 2008 in Orlando, Fla. I had graduated from college five months before, joined The Packer six weeks before, and spent my 21st birthday working on our annual Fresh Summit preview.
With talk of sustainability buzzing around our industry, it is gratifying to read about the things companies in the food and agriculture sector are doing to reduce their environmental impacts.
What vegetable commodities are winning this year?
What are the headlines that you will remember from 2021?
The calendar indicates it’s mid-October, and I’m still wrapping up summer projects at home. But when I duck into Home Depot and see what they’re displaying — it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
The harsh truth right now in the produce aisle is that sales in much of the country are at a yearly low. That’s a difficult fact to admit, isn’t it?
I feel a disturbance in the force — in several produce departments and in all the other grocery stores this produce scribe patronizes. In numerous markets I hear this familiar phrase too frequently: out of stocks.
What is the top question that organic produce marketers receive from consumers? That was a question The Packer asked in a recent survey of organic marketers.
One failure, one company or one person can have significant (negative) impact across an entire industry. Each of us has a responsibility to ensure safe food. And this responsibility can have far-reaching consequences.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. That lesson rings particularly true for the produce supply chain.
What is the first thing you think about when you hear the words “International Fresh Produce Association?”
The stock market has been on a nice run, but generally speaking, companies that specialize in fresh produce have been laggards rather than leaders.
Sir Terance Conran said this about customer service: “That’s what I say about restaurants – the back part is manufacturing, the front part is retailing, the theatre is what holds the whole thing together.
Lee was a veteran produce clerk at a store I managed in the 1980’s. Lee was a tough old dude, quiet and soft-spoken. He came to work nicely dressed, had a full head of carefully combed gray hair.
Traceability re-emerged as a topic of produce industry focus when the FDA published the proposed recordkeeping regulation as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) (section 204) in September 2020.
In 2022, research trends that are directly relevant to the specialty crops industry will continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the USDA authorized the importation of Hass avocados from the Mexican state of Jalisco, beginning in April 2022. This decision opens the door to future imports from all producing regions in Mexico.
“There’s a dozen other people lined up for just a couple of management positions. What makes you different from everyone else?”
The United Kingdom’s (UK’s) horticultural sector has gone through a number of major supply chain shocks in the last 18 months, including COVID-19 and Brexit.