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Nearly 2 in 10 consumers polled by The Packer this year say the biggest influence on their produce purchasing decisions is the type of packaging used.

The Packer’s Tom Karst recently asked Matt Hiltner, marketing coordinator for Santa Maria, Calif.-based Babé Farms, Inc. about current trends in specialty produce marketing.

Attendees of the New York Produce Show and Conference will find plenty of restaurants open for business in December, but the recovery from the pandemic continues to be rocky for many operators.

Through early November, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was taking comments on a proposed rule that would terminate the marketing order for Washington state potatoes.

Fresh potatoes have struggled at foodservice outlets during the pandemic, but frozen potatoes have gained market share during the past year, according to a new report from Potatoes USA.

“Food inflation is a hot topic,” Michael Swanson says noting that overall prices in the category are running at 6% higher than a year ago, whereas typically year-to-year food inflation is 1%.

California Governor Gavin Newsom in October signed a package of legislation designed to raise consumer awareness and industry accountability around packaging and recycling issues.

Among the many uncertainties of 2021, fruit and vegetable professionals were faced with extreme weather that wreaked havoc on the supply chain.

The year 2021 brought no “back to normal” for the restaurant industry. Instead, at the end of the year, the foodservice sector seems in danger of repeating the darkest days during the pandemic.

The five-year growth trend of indoor farming, especially controlled environment agriculture, accelerated in 2021, when supply chain delays and rising costs made shipping produce from across the country more difficult.