Latest News From Lettuce

Distinguished by its compact size and sweet taste, baby gem lettuce is a versatile ingredient suitable for a variety of culinary creations, the company said.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement has recently adopted Western Growers' GreenLink platform to collect and analyze food safety data from its member companies.

Greenhouse grower Little Leaf Farms has confirmed through recent Nielson data that it was cited as the bestselling packaged lettuce in New England, surpassing field-grown brands.

The Packer met with Frank Yiannas to discuss his recent pivot to the private sector, why fresh produce needs food safety leaders and the opportunities he sees to raise the bar for indoor-grown leafy greens.

The Food Safety Modernization Act’s new traceability final rule, the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement’s leafy greens assessment tool and the “Romaine Test and Learn” study seek to raise the bar and improve food safety.

The vertical, controlled environment agriculture greens grower says it’s doubling its retail footprint by expanding to Whole Foods Market and Gelson’s Markets California stores.

“Planting schedules just got thrown completely off kilter this year, and that just ripples through a season,” Mary Zischke, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California told The Packer.

Measuring bulk lettuce purchases (not packaged), Fresh Trends 2023 found that 41% of all consumers said they purchased bulk lettuce in the past year.

The indoor ag grower has added 20 acres in Central Texas to its controlled environment agriculture footprint, which also includes operations in Minnesota, Georgia and California.

Packaged salad brand Fresh Express is leaning into digital promotions and contests this May for National Salad Month, offering more than $25,000 in prizes.

With summer on the horizon, so is the seasonal peak to salad consumption — and companies are ramping up efforts to bolster sales of crispy greens and related items.

The Michigan-based controlled environment agriculture lettuce grower has recalled all products and date codes sold under its Revolution Farms Brand in an expansion of an earlier recall on April 5, 2023.

Taylor Farms is reopening its first, original Salinas, Calif., facility, which closed in 2022 due to a devastating fire, in time for the start of the growing season.

Mastronardi Produce is distributing Naples Fresh and Spring Born greenhouse-grown leafy greens under the Backyard Farms brand.

In its first-ever ad campaign, the controlled environment agriculture grower invites viewers to witness tender leafy greens flourishing in the middle of winter.

Dole plc has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Dole’s Fresh Vegetables Division to an affiliate of Fresh Express Inc. for approximately $293 million in cash.

The indoor hydroponic grower's chief revenue officer shares why he thinks controlled environment agriculture will continue to grow and sharpen its connection with consumers in 2023.

The 4,200,000 square feet of facilities in the Salinas Valley are an average 42 years old and are in desperate need of updates, according to the CEO of Growers Ice, a post-harvest real estate company.

Local Bounti is aiming to expand national distribution footprint and reduce food miles with new construction in Texas.

Known for his passion for radicchio and Italian specialties, Marchini leaves behind a fresh produce legacy.

Shipping-point prices for fresh-market vegetables surged 33% over the first 10 months of 2022, which a USDA report said was the largest year-over-year gain since 1995.

The Austin, Texas-based CEA grower has chosen a Dutch AI company to manage climate, energy and irrigation for Revol Greens' U.S. farm locations.

No surprise here; the accommodation and foodservice industry is the industry with the "most quitting" in the U.S., according to a study.

The Grower Shipper Association of Central California said that a shortfall in supply has been largely attributed to crop damage associated with an aggressive pest and disease complex of INSV and soil-borne diseases.

U.S. fresh fruit exports sagged 7% lower for the latest 12-month period, new USDA numbers reveal.

The vertical farm lettuce grower has recalled more than 600 cases of lettuce, but no cases of illness have been reported.

The state’s farmers grow about 25% of the annual U.S. lettuce supply, according to USDA statistics.

Leafy green grower aims to grow 17 million pounds of romaine annually in new central Texas greenhouse facility, increasing romaine production twofold.

While packaged salad is a consistent kitchen staple, producers and distributors of leafy greens reinvent the category — troubleshooting challenges that get in their way.

Taylor Farm's 2022 Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report tracks the salad producer's milestones toward building healthy communities, employees and the environment.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers adds the first Florida-based indoor leafy greens and herbs farm to its rigorous Fair Food Program.

The project takes the facility off of the traditional energy grid and lowers Taylor Farm’s carbon footprint.

Caledonia, Mich.-based hydroponic lettuce farm Revolution Farms is partnering with Grand Rapids-based retailer Meijer to bring local lettuce and salad greens to  262 stores across the retailer’s six-state footprint.

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Getting great lettuce closer to consumers is the main goal of Kalera, said Marc Jennings, senior vice president of foodservice sales for vertical farm operator Kalera, Orlando, Fla.

Retailers and suppliers alike are gearing up to promote a variety of salads, kits, toppings and dressings in the month of May.

The hydroponic indoor vertical farming company has opened its newest nearly 90,000-square-foot facility.

Kalera's chief commercial officer discusses the booming vertical farming industry and the future of food.

Sakata Seed America announced a new, permanent Lettuce Distribution Facility and appointed a new Lettuce Product Manager, all within the past few weeks.

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. is voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of garden salad due to a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.

North America’s largest greenhouse lettuce grower, Revol Greens, has acquired BJ’s Produce Inc, operating under the Living Fresh brand, in Athens, Georgia, to establish its first East Coast greenhouse operation.

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.

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.

The Arizona LGMA  is pleased to introduce its new public relations liaison April Ward.

Salinas, Calif.-based Taylor Farms has announced it has entered the greenhouse growing market with an investment in Pure Green Farms.

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.

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.

BrightFarms today initiated a voluntary recall of packaged salad greens produced in its Rochelle, Illinois (Ogle County) greenhouse farm sold in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement board has voted to mandate pre-harvest testing for leafy greens grown in fields where elevated risk factors are present. 

There were more shake-ups on PMG the second week of July, with cucumbers moving up to No. 1 and beans climbing from No. 6 the previous week to No. 2.

The first week of July brought a lot of shuffling of the top 20 produce items on Produce Market Guide, with some summertime specialties joining the ranks of standard favorites.