Podcast

Podcast: New innovations in produce shipping

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:23:05 GMT

Imagine you’re shipping a 40-pound box of broccoli, of which, 20 pounds of it is ice and another 20 pounds of it is the broccoli itself. Wouldn’t it be more efficient if you were able to ship more broccoli and reduce the ice?

That’s exactly what Verdant Technologies is hoping to solve with its HarvestHold product, a 1-methylcyclopropene-based postharvest solution that extends the usable product life of fruits, vegetables and flowers by an average of 40-50%. HarvestHold is

Matthew Aronson, chief revenue officer of Verdant Technologies, joined the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast to discuss the move away from ice in shipping fresh produce and the residual effects it can have.

Aronson said that HarvestHold’s use extends far beyond fresh broccoli into other fresh produce, and floral, commodities.

One thing he said many broccoli growers and shippers will see is freight savings. When a 40-pound box of broccoli is filled with 40 pounds of broccoli and not just half, it cuts down on the number of boxes and also reduces the weight.

“You’re paying to ship water and ice thousands of miles,” he said. “If you go from a full truckload with ice and broccoli — about, 1,000 cases — you take that ice out, you can now fill up that truck, so you go from about 1,000 cases to 1,500, and you pick up another 400 or 500 cases in the same truck that you’re paying for.”

Aronson said Verdant Technologies’ HarvestHold is an easy product to apply in the field as workers harvest the crop, which means workers also don’t have to handle ice when harvesting.

“It just really integrates very seamlessly with their operation,” he said.

Aronson said there’s a great sustainability story, too, with reduced carbon footprint and water use.

There’s also the added benefit of eliminating a potential contaminant as the ice melts and the potential for slips and falls, which is a major selling point for retailers.

“The average payout for a slip falls instant in the U.S. is about $50K,” he said. “When you zoom out a little bit, 60% of all grocery retail claims are from slips and falls. And what does that mean from a dollar standpoint? On an annual basis retailers are spending upward of $450 million a year to defend slips and falls.”

How to prepare for FSMA 204

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 23:57:35 GMT

As Jan. 20, 2026, nears for the enforcement of the Food Safety Final Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act, Lucelena Angarita, director of food supply chain visibility at GS1 US, says it’s never too early to start preparing a fresh produce business for this change.

Angarita joined the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast to discuss FSMA 204, which dictates more record-keeping and requirements of high-risk foods throughout the fresh produce supply chain from grower to packer, both foreign and domestic.

While there might be some discussion of whether the Jan. 20, 2026, enforcement date will get pushed back, Angarita said this is still a critical time for fresh produce businesses to take action.

“Start understanding how the rule impacts your specific organization and what exemptions apply to your business,” she said.

However, Angarita encourages businesses to not reinvent the wheel when it comes to finding ways to implement key data elements, or KDEs, and critical tracking events, or CTEs. GS1 US has resources to help produce industry businesses prepare for FSMA 204.

“This is something that is meant to be done within your supply chain network,” she said. “So, leverage others. Reach out to [GS1 US]; reach out to your peers [and] your trading partners and make sure you’re understanding not just where your current state is, but where your network is and what are their expectations.”

Angarita said some companies and retailers may have additional requirements along with the FSMA 204 documentation.

“We’re hearing this more and more as one of the major focus points, not just for the rule itself — because the rule doesn’t really require unique identification or bar codes or anything like that — but the trading partners or your customers might be requiring these things because it does create all these operational efficiencies; it increases accuracy,” she said.

Angarita said FSMA is ultimately designed to enact recalls quicker and with less food waste, helping to find the origin of an issue faster and eliminating the product from the supply chain as quickly as possible.

“Yes, it’s a lot of data that’s being asked for, but I think understanding that at the heart of this is to help keep people safe, help better inform people and get the answers in terms of what products are recalled faster so that they’re removed from that supply chain sooner and then hopefully sickening less people,” she said.

How technology and data transform irrigation practices

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:21:21 GMT

Water is an invaluable resource everywhere, however, in California, it is of a particular purpose, serving the nearly 40 million residents as well as fueling the state’s strong agriculture industry.

And it’s this strong need for responsible water use that has helped connect agriculture irrigation with emerging technology offerings.

In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode, James Nichols, a third-generation pistachio grower and president of HotSpot Ag, shares how data and innovative technology can help deploy water where it’s most needed.

Nichols, whose family has been growing in the San Joaquin Valley since the 1980s, said the state’s Mediterranean climate helps create an optimal place for the more than 450 crops grown there. He said growers in the state get a bad reputation for overusing water, and that’s just not the case.

“Most growers under-irrigate as there are negative consequences for over-irrigation from a plant health and production standpoint,” he said. “There’s fairly large and negative consequences for over-irrigation from a plant health and production standpoint.”

Growers will often under-irrigate to avoid the added cost of water, and they don’t want to waste water as they understand the importance of their role in the country’s food production, he said.

Nichols said he started his business to help his family’s farm to control and understand its water use in real-time.

“One of the challenges we had was knowing how much water we were applying per what our [water] plan was,” he said.

It started with measuring the irrigation demand of the crop and then the water supply for that crop, Nichols said. After getting a handle on measurement, he then moved into automating the family farm’s irrigation.

“What we what we primarily focus on at Hotspot is what is giving growers the tools to execute their irrigation plans,” he said. “From my experience, growers have a very good idea of what their crop needs. The problem we’re trying to solve is to help them grow or be able to execute that plan.”

He said this includes saving energy, too, because if a grower can turn off a pump during the most costly part of the day, it could save $5,000 to $25,000 per year.

Nichols said the future of irrigation automation is to help use data to create an optimal schedule, using both the water budget and the soil type to deploy water when its most effective for the plant and most economical for the grower, and to help growers inject liquid fertilizer so the plant gets what it needs delivered to the root system for better uptake.

View the full episode in the video player above.

Discussing the intersection of food safety and sustainability

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:22:57 GMT

It’s a misconception that food safety requirements often conflict with sustainability efforts, says Joelle Mosso, associate vice president of science programs for Western Growers.

In this “ Tip of the Iceberg ” podcast episode, Mosso shared how sustainability and food safety can coexist in the produce industry.

“That increasing narrative we keep hearing about with this conflict between food safety and sustainability is a little bit more of a perceived conflict than a real one,” she said. “What you’re actually looking at is the whole supply chain, the whole life cycle of that product, of which maybe some less-than-optimal practices may be used but still have a favorable outcome. Recognize, there’s no food without food safety and there’s also no food without sustainable production.”

Instead of looking at the sustainability of food production at a granular level, especially when food safety practices are needed, it’s better to look at meeting sustainability goals on a broader level to create that balance, Mosso said. And on an international level, different sustainability mandates can make it hard for a grower to navigate selling produce on a global stage.

“We’d like some harmonization across the globe, because it is really confusing and very difficult for growers in businesses to manage their perspectives in potential markets if the markets keep changing,” she said.

Mosso said it’s also important to educate the consumer, often driving some of these sustainability goals.

“When you think about food consumption and production, it’s really one of the most fundamental things that we do as humans,” she said. “We all eat. Our societies are built on a very complex food supply chain system, which means most people who eat never have to think about how it was produced. ... A big trade-off is that if you don’t understand how it was produced, you don’t recognize or even value necessarily the challenges it took to get a berry onto your plate.”

And the challenge with sustainability efforts are that they often come at a cost to growers or packers, and that added cost has to be carried onto the consumer — even though the consumer might not understand why something costs more.

“The realities are [that] everything comes at a cost, and ... you have to be financially sustainable as well so growers can easily produce product and put it in the packages that consumers want; that cost has to be translated and transmitted through the supply chain,” Mosso said. “Consumers then have to be willing to pay for what they asked for. How do we bring consumers up to understanding that you can have what you want, but there’s trade-offs, and understand why they’re there? It’s not anyone price gouging. It’s just that there are realities of supply chain, and that’s fundamentally part of sustainability.”

Related: View more “Tip of the Iceberg” episodes

Outgoing Pear Bureau Northwest CEO shares career highlights

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 14:47:32 GMT

Earlier this year, Pear Bureau Northwest announced that President and CEO Kevin Moffitt will retire from the bureau after 35 years with the nonprofit marketing organization. In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, Moffitt shared how a career that started in bananas led to his role at the bureau, his favorite memories and more.

Moffitt said he started his produce marketing career with Dole in California, focusing on banana ripening. Then it was on to the East Coast to test fresh-cut lettuce and vegetables and then fresh-cut trials of pineapple. He also worked for Sun Sweet Prunes, Sun Made Raisins and Diamond and gained some experience in international marketing.

He found his path in pears when Terry Elwell, who at the time worked in marketing for the Washington Apple Commission, said the Portland, Ore.-based pear bureau wanted to find someone for an international marketing role. Moffitt has been with the bureau ever since.

He said he used his banana ripening knowledge to complete handling information on pears.

“I actually was the first one to pull together all of the research that had been done on pair ripening and find out where the gaps were and what else we needed to do and actually created a pair handling manual with ripening instructions,” he said.

When asked what makes pears so unique, Moffitt talked about the different varieties of pears and how well they pair — pun intended — with different types of food from sandwiches to snacks to smoothies and desserts.

“I think the unique side of pears is the versatility, and there’s so many different ways that it could be used,” he said. “We have a lot of varieties out there that can be used. Some are a little bit firmer — they’re better for baking — and some are softer they could be used in sauces. When pears are getting to be a little riper, you can use them in cooking or in sauces or smoothies. You can use it from start to finish when it’s firmer all the way to the end, and I feel that that really is a unique aspect of pears.”

Moffitt said he’s excited to see that half of pear consumers are under 45 years old and that they like to experiment with flavors and varieties, which bodes well for the future of the pear industry.

“I tell my team, ‘Don’t go where the trends are. Go where the trends will be,’” he said.

He said the bureau is focusing on increasing consumption and helping consumers understand when pears are ripe, because depending on the variety, it may be easy to see as with bartletts or not with d’anjou.

“A lot of produce is an impulse purchase, but pears skew even higher than most items in terms of impulse purchase,” he said. “We have to gain awareness, and we have to gain understanding of how to use them — how to tell when it’s ripe and then increasing consumption.”

Moffitt said some consumption growth came from 2-pound bags of pears, which took off in the last five years. The bureau, he said, has come up with some creative ways to help educate consumers on ripeness with QR codes on the packaging that take consumers to short-form videos of growers in the orchard.

“The other thing that we did last year that I’m pretty excited about is an augmented reality experience that came through the QR code, and when the consumers scan the code on their phone, they can see the pears swirling around on their phone virtually,” Moffitt said. “Then it talks about what to do with the pears, talks about the versatility of pears and which varieties go well on which pizza, salad, sandwiches, drinks, and then it finishes with the check-the-neck message — checking the neck for ripeness. And when it’s soft near the stem, it’s going to be ripe and ready to eat.”

To view the full episode, click on the video player above.

What ag companies should know about cybersecurity

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:00:00 GMT

Not too long ago ZAG Technical Services released a statement discussing the ag industry’s vulnerabilities to cybersecurity threats .

In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, ZAG Technical Services CEO Greg Gatzke discusses why ag is one of the most vulnerable business segments to cyberattacks and what business owners can do to be better prepared.

Gatzke said technology can mitigate or help most of agriculture’s most pressing issues such as water, labor and government regulations, but there’s another aspect to consider.

“As we build this technology to reduce the amount of labor required to manufacture produce and food, we become more dependent upon it and without that cybersecurity, we’re putting the business at risk,” he said.

Gatzke said one important measure for a company to take is to implement multifactor authentication on email and remote access. He said it can add an additional step for would-be cybercriminals.

“Your kids have [multifactor authentication] on their Gmail accounts,” he said. “Why do we not have them on corporate accounts?”

Agribusiness companies seeking assistance in improving cybersecurity should begin with an understanding of how long it would take to recover if there is a breach, Gatzke said. He also recommends asking a potential cybersecurity company where the business could improve its security.

“The takeaway is to understand your dependence upon IT, understand that your company cannot function in the way it does without IT and then understand if you recover and where your risk is at,” Gatzke said. “If you understand those things, then you can treat it just like you do every other line of business.”

Vilsack Says 98.9% of Farmers Won’t Be Impacted by Biden’s Tax Plan, Tax Experts and Economists Still Disagree

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 20:28:55 GMT

President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda continues to be put to the test this week, as the key to passing the plan sits with Congress. Not only are legislators working on a stopgap spending bill before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but House leaders are working to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which has drawn criticism from counterparts on the right.

Monday, the Senate GOP blocked a measure to raise the debt ceiling. The stopgap bill would have funded the government through Dec. 3, suspended the debt limit, as well as provided hurricane relief. the bill was backed by Democrats, saying the GOP was sabotaging the ability for the United States to pay its bills, while GOP leaders stated they would support a bill that focuses solely on government funding and hurricane relief, but raising the debt ceiling wasn’t an option.

The battled played out Monday, as Democrats have a series of bills they aimed to pass this week. The reconciliation bill includes the “human infrastructure” element as well as climate initiatives, childcare subsidies, Medicare expansion and more. Democrats are pushing for tax increases to help pay for the massive price tag but those tax changes are coming with major opposition from the GOP. Among the possible taxes measures are changes to capital gains, which are still causing a stir because many farm groups which argue the tax changes will cost family farms.

Vilsack Defends Biden Administration’s Proposed Tax Changes

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has gone on the offense, trying to set the record straight on how the possible capital gains tax changes would impact family farmers. Not only did he write an op-ed in the Wall Steet Journal earlier this month, but he made his case on AgriTalk with Chip Flory last week. Contrary to previous reports, he says nearly all family farms will see no impact from the possible changes to stepped-up basis.

“I understand and appreciate the criticism that I’ve gotten, but the reality is the criticism is based on an incomplete analysis of the proposal. It’s one thing if what’s proposed were that the only folks who qualify for the exemption, if you will, are those whose family continue to own and operate the farm. But they’ve forgotten in their calculations and in their review about the exemption levels of $1 million per person, $2 million per couple, if there’s a homestead, $2.5 million per couple. When you apply that, combined with the exemption for owner and operator, you get 98% of the farms, almost 99% of the farms, not covered by this.”

Vilsack’s statement used a statistic produced by a recent USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) study , which showed 98.9% of family farm estates would not owe capital gains taxes when the principal operator dies, based on the proposed exemption levels, or be impacted by carryover basis. Furthermore, ERS points out their analysis of the tax changes found 80.7% of estimated family farm estates have total farm and non-farm gains less than the exemption, meaning they would have no change to their capital gains tax liability under the proposal.

Contradicting Claims

The data — and Vilsack’s statement on AgriTalk — contradicts a study done by Texas A&M University’s Agricultural & Food Policy Center (AFPC) that shows the Biden Administration’s proposed tax changes could be costly for family farms . The AFPC study found only two farms out of those studied would be immune to the proposed tax changes, and those two farms rent 100% of the land they farm. The remaining family farms would possibly have to take on more debt just to finance the higher tax bill.

“There would be a significant tax liability across all the farms that we looked at, except for two, so 92 of the 94 farms,” Joe Outlaw, co-director of Agricultural Food Policy Center and a Texas A&M economist, told Farm Journal after the report was released. “The one sure thing I can tell you is even with the projection of higher prices from FAPRI that we have right now, none of those farms can absorb this tax liability without having to refinance and go into debt. Not one. That’s the take-home.”

The AFPC study was done at the directive of Senate Ag Committee GOP leaders, but Outlaw pointed out their economic analysis is done for both sides of the aisle and the findings have no political bias. Under the AFPC’s modeling system where producers provided actual accounting records, AFPC found even with higher prices, most farms don’t have the cash on hand to pay for it.

Differing Definitions of a Farm Family

So, how can one study find nearly 99% of family farms won’t be impacted by the tax changes, yet another one comes to the conclusion nearly all family farms will be hit with a higher tax bill and accrue additional debt? Farm CPA Paul Neiffer says it goes back to the database each used and what the two groups used as the definition of a family farm. Neiffer thinks if the ERS analysis would have included only those farmers who make most of their income directly from farming, then the analysis would show a different result.

“USDA needs to parse their database to only include farmers who make a living from farming. If they did that, I would expect more than 75% of those farmers would be affected by President Biden’s tax proposal,” says Paul Neiffer, CPA and partner with CLA who focuses on agriculture. “Also not including farm landlords, which again may be the majority of farmers since their land is likely in entities, would likely dramatically increase the number of farmers potentially subject to the tax. An exemption of $1 million likely only covers less than 100 acres of ground in Iowa that was purchased only 20 years ago.”

The ERS report states the data set used comprised of 1.97 million family farm households. However, an ERS spokesperson told Farm Journal of those 1.97 million family farm households, 918,209, or 46%, say their primary occupation is farming.

The Texas A&M AFPC report, which found all but two operations would be impacted by changes in the stepped-up basis, as well as inheritance tax, used a database of 94 representative farms in 30 states. The data is then combined with a farm-level policy simulation model, which has been used for decades. Despite USDA and Secretary Vilsack’s claims the tax changes won’t impact nearly 99% of family farms, economists say the findings of the Texas A&M study still hold true.

Congress In Control

Even as Vilsack pushes for farmers to trust the Biden administration when they say most family farmers will not be impacted by the proposed tax changes, ultimately, it’s up to Congress.

In September, the House Ways and Means committee put some farmers fears to rest, as the Committee’s version of the bill didn’t include the transfer tax and left the “stepped-up in basis intact.”

More recently, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) was asked by reporters if changes to stepped-up basis were still on the table. He responded by saying, “Not at the moment. No.”

As the House punts to the Senate, Senate leaders could have the final say. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t offer any details on the plan, declining to provide any details on the menu of tax options,

As the two chambers hash out details, Neiffer says without changes to stepped-up basis, including the transfer tax due at death, the House’s plan is more favorable for family farmers and ranchers, but it does include some changes that could cause dairy farmers and larger farms to pay more.

“As far as a grade, what used to be probably an ‘F’ plan is now up to a ‘B-’ or ‘C+’, at least based on the House Ways and Means Committee proposals that came out,” Neiffer says.

He says if the House adds back in the transfer tax , then his grade would go back to an ‘F.’

Tip of the Iceberg Podcast — New editors, GOPEX, retail shortages

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:27:41 GMT

Welcome to episode 69 of Tip of the Iceberg Podcast.

In this episode, we take detour from our regular interviews with industry members and talk amongst ourselves. Listen in on our watercooler chat as we introduce our two new editors, Melissa Treolo and Ed Boling.

Then, we talk about what we’re looking forward to at the Global Organic Produce Expo (GOPEX), the conference hosted by Farm Journal’s produce brands, PMG and The Packer at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., Jan. 31-Feb. 2.

REGISTER NOW!

And lastly, we’ve got to throw in one of the hot topics of the day: The shortages of product and labor at retail stores. What are we seeing, and why?

You can read more on that topic in this story: Why shelves are spotty, staff are missing.

Listen on your favorite platform for podcasts, or by clicking the purple play button below.

Tip of the Iceberg Podcast — Dole, Clarifruit create AI quality-control software

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:27:53 GMT

In this episode, we chat with Elad Mardix, CEO and cofounder of Clarifruit, based in Israel, about his partnership with Dole in rolling out what he says is the world’s first artificial intelligence-powered quality control software solution.

Watch the video of this interview here.

In early 2021, Dole concluded a pilot project with Clarifruit for its pineapple exports from the Philippines to six markets. Clarifruit’s new quality-control software and computer-vision technology is used to automate fresh produce quality inspection and evaluation and analyzes factors such as size, color, stem color or any visible defects.

The goal includes the ability for U.S. companies to download the Clarifruit software on mobile devices as well as desktop computers, and to connect with and integrate that company packinghouse’s existing quality-control sorting technology. Also, imported fruit can be evaluated by the U.S. buyer while it’s in the grower’s country using set standards and specifications, without the subjectivity of human error.

Mardix said that so far, this project has more than doubled productivity and reduced error-prone quality control reports. The two companies are now in the process of scaling this technology to more markets, including the U.S., and more fruit categories beyond pineapples.

It could change the way we do quality control for imports and exports, at the retail and wholesale levels.

Listen to the interview on your favorite platform for podcasts, such as Apple or Audible . You can also listen by pressing the purple play button below.

The association with Clarifruit was kickstarted when Dole started its Dole Sunshine For All Fund, announced in early 2021, which seeks to partner with innovative startups to accelerate its adoption of innovation and technology. The partnership will bring Dole closer to its commitment of achieving zero fruit loss by 2025.

What's the deal with carrots? Bolthouse Farms tells us

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:27:37 GMT

Fresh carrots have been a mainstay at retail: They’re grown year-round, have a relatively low sticker price, are familiar and hardy for shipping.

(Farm Journal)

This produce category has its peak seasons of demand however, and is subject to fluctuating according to pandemic-related changes in consumer behavior, said Zak Karlen, general manager of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Bolthouse Farms .

The fresh carrot grower, processor, shipper and marketer has two main businesses: fresh carrots and carrots in consumer packaged goods.

“We’ve been dealing with the pandemic as everybody else has for 20-plus months now, and it’s almost like trying to put your hands around smoke as you solve a problem,” Karlen said on the Tip of the Iceberg Podcast . “As soon as you fix a problem, it creates another problem.”

First, Bolthouse focused on health and safety of employees, establishing extra protocols to bolster that critical, essential aspect of the business. Measures include no longer transferring an employee from one plant to another, incentives toward taking personal COVID-19 precautions, and COVID trackers. And, communication, of course, as is so necessary when situations change so often.

“Our communication team has done a really good job on doubling down on policies and procedures to make sure that everybody understands that we’re going to ground ourselves on the basics,” he said.

Some of those issues seem to be stabilizing a bit since early January, Karlen said.

“We’ve had to really kind of expand on the way we look at operations as well, which includes some SKU rationalization to make sure that we’re supplying customers with the core (stock-keeping units),” he said. “And then some of the more labor intensive ones, putting them to the side for 30 to 45 days to make sure that we can keep customers and consumers stocked with carrots.”

Learn more about carrots .

Ready-to-eat baby carrot demand dipped while whole carrot demand rose after March 2020 with more people staying at home, but now that whole carrot demand has mostly leveled out back to the 2019 demand.

“But the premiums are picking up quickly, the matchsticks, the petite. And so the category in the last four weeks has been growing relative to other veg, which is exciting, right?” Karlen said. “We want the category to grow. But us being able to stay up with that changing consumer demand has also been challenging through this COVID environment.”

(Farm Journal)

The company’s 2,400 employees haven’t been immune to the industry’s latest supply chain challenges either, possibly complicated even more by the omicron variant, such as labor shortages, freight delays and soaring costs.

When planting carrots in the Central Valley of California, Bolthouse works on a schedule that’s nine to 12 months out.

“And so it’s not like we have that ability to instantly react to a 20% surge in demand if there is such a surge. And so we are somewhat supply constrained because we want to make sure that we’re maximizing acres, and we don’t have excess acres that could potentially go to waste,” he said.

Carrots are experiencing the fallout of driver shortages as well, but as with all these challenges, Bolthouse is focusing on making its own business as stable as possible, getting as many good quality carrots as possible out to customers.

“We’re all kinda in this together, and it’s super important we use shared resources and bounce best-in-class ideas off each other to ensure we keep the food system going — because without that, you can have a serious problem on your hands,” he said. “In a weird way, I’m really excited about 2022, in trying to stabilize what we’re doing and focusing in on what we can control. What we can’t control, I’m not really going to lose a lot sleep over it.”

Podcast: Amanda Keefer's tricks for produce-filled meals on a budget

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:27:09 GMT

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive — well, more expensive than everything already is these days with price inflation in all sectors.

That’s one of Amanda Keefer’s key messages while she’s a guest on Season 2, Episode 2 of “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast . Keefer is the managing director of Healthy Family Project, a cause-marketing organization for consumers as well as the fresh produce industry. Keefer hosts a podcast too, named after the organization, geared toward the general public seeking health advice.

“There is a huge misnomer that eating healthy is expensive,” Keefer said.

Listen by clicking the purple arrow below or find it on your favorite platform for listening to podcasts.

Making a grocery list and sticking to it is one way to stay on budget, but also pay attention to what’s in season locally and what’s on sale. Those fresh fruits and vegetables tend to be less expensive and tastier too.

Basically, try to shop, cook and eat the foods that were available in your grandmother’s day. Of course, we can take advantage of the amazing imports when we want throughout the year, but remember that bottom-line budget.

Keefer offers a lot more practical, realistic advice for those of us in the produce industry and those of us who aren’t.

Give it a listen !

For more podcasts, try:

Why exotic fruit matters — a chat with Angela Scarfia

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:27:05 GMT

In Episode 3 of Season 2 of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, we meet Angela Scarfia, a bonafide exotic fruit expert — and in her “free” time, no less.

She creates TikTok and Instagram posts, especially reel videos, showing her tasting and talking about different kinds of exotic fruit.

Scarfia shows her audience (including 30,700 TikTok followers and 18,500 Instagram followers) how to buy, store, ripen, prepare and eat everything from purple star apples, orange watermelon, mamey sapote , lemon guava, huckleberry, lychee , durian, rambutan, star fruit, kiwano/horned melon, tamarillo , sapodilla/butterscotch candy and soursop.

To name a few.

This woman sometimes makes dishes out of the produce, and she often educates people on how and where it’s grown, nutritional value, where to find it, and all sorts of tidbits of information.

Related news: NYC fruit influencer: Here’s how to market your company on social media

Scarfia also leads exotic fruit tours in New York City’s Chinatown neighborhood and in Costa Rica. She partners with growers and brands to spread awareness about their exotic products too.

Find out why Scarfia does all this. After all, it’s not even her full-time job. She already has one of those, and it’s not even related to produce.

What 'clean eating' means to one participant in Viva Fresh's Clean Eating Challenge

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:26:59 GMT

Beth Keeton is a featured participant in the Viva Fresh Clean Eating Challenge, a six-month journey she chronicled — publicly! — every so often, talking about her progress and challenges in following her food and fitness goals. She said it was a struggle to decide how personal to get, when we always try to put the best face forward in this selling business.

The challenge is part of the Viva Fresh Expo, going on April 21-23 in Dallas, Texas, and hosted by the Texas International Produce Association.

As a past featured participant in this challenge myself, it was surprising to hear how similar our journeys were.

Like Keeton, my goals shifted a bit as I learned more during the challenge. And I’ve taken some of those lessons with me, a year later. Our health — including our diet, exercise, mind and spirit — is a multifaceted thing that we can’t ignore. We can’t do our jobs or enjoy our lives to the fullest if we don’t pay attention to it.

Health concerns are universal, and this challenge is a great vehicle for the produce industry to practice what it preaches.

To hear the back story, journey and takeaways directly from Keeton and me, listen to this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode.

What’s the deal with ultra-fast grocery delivery? A Gorillas guy tells us

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:26:56 GMT

We’ve wondered how those ultra-rapid grocery delivery services actually work. This new produce retail model takes convenience to yet another level.

You can be baking an apple pie, realize you are short on a gala or two, order it on your app and have it at your door within 15 minutes. Really.

These services are cropping up in big cities worldwide: Buyk, Gorillas , Gopuff, Getir, Jokr, Fridge No More.

While Buyk and Fridge No More have recently folded, how are those that are still standing making it work? How can it be profitable to deliver a single avocado?

In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode, I talk about that with Jay Schneider of Gorillas in the U.S., which is based in New York City.

Listen to the podcast to dive into the details of this ultra fast-paced business model.

And look for a feature story on ultra-fast grocery delivery services in the May-June issue of PMG magazine.

Tip of the Iceberg Podcast — The farmworkers under those NatureSweet tomato labels

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 17:51:38 GMT

In this Tip of the Iceberg Podcast episode , learn about a greenhouse brand that expanded a program because of how many supermarket shoppers called the customer hotline about it.

The Equitable Food Initiative-partnered episode has to do with NatureSweet, which grows and sells tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Have you ever seen those little NatureSweet Cherubs tomatoes in the supermarket and peeled the top sticker label to see an employee photo? I have. Then I hovered my cell phone’s camera over the QR code on that label and watched a little video from that employee.

It’s part of NatureSweet’s Associates Under the Label program, which began in 2019 and expanded because of those consumer calls.

“Consumers are the reason that we’ve expanded this program. They have told us they want to see more by continuously engaging and having conversations with us on it,” said Marketing Director Amit Patel on the podcast episode .

When the program launched in 2019, there wasn’t a way for consumers to engage with NatureSweet.

“They’d call the company’s hotline and leave heartfelt thank-you’s directly to the associates — on the customer hotline usually used for product complaints or compliments. They’ve really pushed the initiative to where we expanded it digitally and get hundreds of comments on social media. We highlight it on our website and have an email program as well.”

Any shopper can discover who picks, cleans, grades, sorts and packs those little NatureSweet tomatoes within those clear plastic dome containers found in so many grocery stores nationwide. It’s a way to provide more transparency, share the grower story and connect with consumers on a more personal level.

Tip of the Iceberg podcast — Let there be light (in the parking lot)

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:27:44 GMT

No one wants to be seriously worried about their physical safety — beyond the usual look-both-ways-when-you-cross caution — when they get out of their vehicle and walk to their work building.

Imagine if it was pitch black in your parking lot. It’s 10 p.m. Or 4 a.m. And you are alone. Other trucks driven by fellow arriving co-workers may not see you. And what about the constant high alert women often have to be on? Under the cover of darkness, anything nefarious could happen.

Two workers at Gonzales, Calif.-based organic leafy greens grower Misionero — Araceli Miranda and Eduardo Adina — share with us on this episode of Tip of the Iceberg podcast why adding lights to the parking lot was important to employees and how they overcame the challenges of no electrical access to light all necessary areas.

This was a common request brought up by workers at several Equitable Food Initiative-certified facilities, and it can be a pretty easy project to provide safer working environments.

The episode is part of a partnership with EFI to spotlight what produce companies are doing to improve to create a transparent supply chain, a safer food system and healthier work conditions, elevating employees’ voices. The methods often lead to more productive workers, better quality and more efficiency overall.

Matt Rogers' journey from Whole Foods Market to AgSocio farm labor contractor

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 22:29:42 GMT

The thing is, it’s tough to really know what’s going on with the agricultural labor you’re sourcing when you’re a produce retailer, buyer, even wholesaler or shipper.

Matt Rogers has been working on this for more than a decade at the retail side, as well as the middleman side.

Listen: Rogers’ interview with Equitable Food Initiative’s LeAnne Rhodes Ruzzamenti on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast

Rogers jumped into the produce business through Whole Foods Market, where he spent 13 years working on global produce deals and handled social, environmental and food safety issues for the corporate produce team. He roamed the U.S., Mexico, Central America and South America, meeting growers and seeing some of the best — and worst — labor standards and practices.

That’s led to today, as co-founder and general manager of AgSocio, the first farm labor contractor to receive Equitable Food Initiative verification of the highest labor standards in its pilot program.

Learn more: Equitable Food Initiative’s 2022 accomplishments

AgSocio is an agricultural labor and service provider operating in California and Arizona, founded on the vision that farm labor contractors could successfully operate ethically, justly and transparently, while being competitive.

Rogers is participating in his fair labor practices mission in several ways, inside and outside his company.

Rogers participated in forming the global Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices , which details 13 standards and was adopted in 2018 by the International Fresh Produce Association, which was then United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association.

He represented Whole Foods Market at the time and was working with other larger retailers, foodservice companies, big restaurant buyers, labor contractors, many growers, some attorneys and labor experts.

Those who signed the charter made a commitment to maintain certain standards in housing, recruiting, health and safety of the workers along the food supply chain, globally.

“The question is now how to implement it and really make it real,” Rogers said in his EFI interview on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast.

What is this charter, really? Learn here

People working near the end of the supply chain need to ask about fair labor practices of the produce items they’re buying.

It’s not easy to get answers, and many professionals along the supply chain don’t know the labor specifics yet, which is why Equitable Food Initiative is working on a verification program.

“Labor is hidden back in the supply chain for many players in the industry, from the buyer sitting in a retailer or foodservice corporate office who is very removed, but even to shippers or the brands that are marketing produce,” Rogers said. “They are multiple layers removed, frequently, from where the labor really is employed.”

Start asking questions about who touches the product all along the supply chain:

Are they H-2A employed? Are they employed directly by the growers?
Or are they employed by a farm with the contractor?
If by a farm contractor, are they properly licensed? How are they recruiting people?

“I mean, there are some basic due diligence questions that buyers, brands, growers with other third-party growers, importers — whoever you may be — can, and really should, be asking about the labor in your supply chain,” Rogers said.

He’s a Standards Committee member at EFI, a National Agricultural Worker Advisory Council member and a CiertoGlobal board member.

EFI’s pilot program is an experiment in bringing farm labor contractors into the mix of third-party certification programs, because, Rogers said, “while there are many, many rules and regulations and laws, they are not appropriately enforced, and it is hard to stand out.”

There are many professional farm labor contractors who run good, compliant operations, he said, but there are many who do not — “and it’s hard to tell one from the other.”

“This verification with EFI is one more thing that we can do to show that we really are trying to be different, that we are compliant and to show our customers that we are investing in not just that transparency, but also that we’re investing in our workforce,” he said. “We believe that by engaging with the workforce, we can provide a better service to them.

“As labor gets more and more and more expensive, we all need that extra productivity edge that comes from teamwork and comes from having everybody rolling in the same direction.”

Listen: Full interview on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast

Organic waste from ShopRite stores powers part of Connecticut town

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 13:05:22 GMT

The Cingari family business began with one man and a produce pushcart in the 1920s and has since grown to 12 Cingari Family ShopRite supermarkets across Connecticut , part of the Wakefern Food Corp.

And now they’re modernizing with environmental sustainability in mind — and they’re especially proud of how they’re transforming organic waste to power a large part of a nearby town. Tom Cingari, vice president of produce, floral and e-commerce, talks on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast about these changes, as well as produce trends and digital impulse buys.

“We’ve literally done everything from when you walk in the door, straight through,” Cingari said of the flagship Norwalk, Conn., store on the podcast interview. “We’ve gone really, really heavy on the perishable side of the business.”

The Norwalk store’s produce department has new refrigeration and wooden bin-style tables, many low to the ground: “So you can see over the entire department and see all of the color. And it just looks incredible, and it gets people excited about buying produce,” he said.

Related news: Longtime owner of Connecticut ShopRite stores dies

The Cingaris converted all of the store’s refrigeration cases to high-efficiency refrigeration, including doored refrigeration. So, even though they added 10% to 15% more refrigeration to the store with the additions, they’re actually saving about 30% in energy.

Then there’s Blue Earth Compost’s Quantum Biopower program .

In the past, after pulling out what perishable food could go to food banks and pantries, the rest of it would go in the trash, besides some composting.

“There was never an outlet for some of that perishable waste, which, for me, is everything from produce,” he said.

The Quantum Biopower program repurposes all that organic waste — fresh produce, dairy, meat, bread — by processing it in an organic digester.

“It encapsulates all of the ethylene gas that would typically just go out into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas and turns that into energy. And they actually are able to send power to an entire part of one town in Southington, Conn., all using organic waste,” he said.

The waste becomes energy that is used to power government buildings and more in the town with a population of 43,800 people. All 12 stores are participating in this program.

This new program also means there’s less waste that the Cingari stores have to haul out, which means lower energy costs from trucks that have to haul dumpsters.

“There’s a long downstream effect of getting rid of some of that super heavy waste,” Cingari said.

Because this technology is relatively new, it’s not actually saving the stores money yet, but it balances out with the financial savings from no longer needing to haul out all that waste.

This supermarket practice of transforming organic waste into energy isn’t that common yet in the Northeast, while it is a bit more common on the West Coast, Cingari said.

“But it’s definitely a trend we’re seeing across the board,” he said.

Learn: More produce-specific trends and sales strategies from Cingari of the Connecticut ShopRite stores on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast

The challenges and opportunities for agriculture in California

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 17:11:57 GMT

PALM DESERT, Calif. — A.G. Kawamura brought a wealth of knowledge to his role as the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. As a third-generation farmer, he’s seen the evolution of agriculture firsthand.

In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, filmed during the 2024 Sustainable Produce Summit, Kawamura shared how farming in California’s Orange County has changed. He said his family started farming in the county when it was very rural. Now Kawamura calls himself an urban farmer because he selects pieces of land to lease for farming in areas typically not thought of for agriculture.

“We always look for a vacant land lot, and if the weeds are going well, we know it’s probably pretty good piece of ground,” he said. “We look for a water supply, because we are irrigated agriculture. Being able to use that model over and over and over again, we’ve been able to jump into an abandoned airport, an abandoned golf course; we’ve been able to walk into a military base and realize that they have a lot of ground that’s sitting idle, and we can help revive it and put it back into production.”

He said the cost of farming has changed over the years and threatens the very existence of California farmers. He said he’s seen many farmers in the Golden State opt to leave the industry or the country and begin production in Mexico to avoid the high cost of land, labor and water.

“If you have a labor-intensive highly perishable crop that has higher labor cost that spell the difference between viability and actually survivability,” he said. “Ultimately, you’re a high-cost producer and you’re losing the ability to make money. So many people have picked up and left. … That may be the most tragic thing is when you see really good farmers going out of business either because they can’t grow fast enough to offset these costs or they just can’t compete in a marketplace where they’re competing head-to-head against other imported goods.”

Kawamura said at one point in Southern California there were 27,000 acres of table grapes about 13 years ago. Now there’s less than 2,000 acres in production.

Mechanization, he said, is one bright spot in the future of farming, and asparagus, he is a crop ripe for robotics. He said at one point, there were more than 30,000 in production in the state, and it’s less than 100 or 200 acres now.

“That industry, for example, could come back tomorrow once you have robotics,” he said. “These are the kinds of opportunities that exist; you just have to recognize that things have to change.”

Agriculture’s water use in the state is always a big debate, and Kawamura said he’s excited to see where the future of the industry is headed, thanks to new technologies and targeted irrigation methods.

“We’ve gone from flood irrigation to furrow irrigation, to sprinklers, to drip irrigation,” he said. “We see that there’s all kinds of interesting ways to save on water and become more efficient in our water. The new tools that continue to come out including in the breeding arena for more water-efficient plants or salt-tolerant plants if the water quality is potentially impacted — these are all the new things that are coming along just in for many of us to try and put into play.”

He said he wished the lawmakers in the state had a better handle on the challenges of modern farming, calling it death by a million cuts. He said farmers in the state — and around the country — do so much good work in the realm of sustainability and social responsibility. He said something must change where farmers get some break or incentive for growing nutritious food.

“Where the government has a wonderful role where they can step in in many ways,” he said. “Whether you’re dealing with climate-smart agriculture whether you’re dealing with nutrient-dense food distribution into the most food insecure — it’s finally starting to happen that people are realizing ‘Boy we’ve had these problems for a long, long time let’s start looking at solution’ instead of wringing our hands and saying ‘Oh, it can’t be done.’ Ultimately we can say that don’t wait for the government to get it right; the industry itself is starting to get these things right.”

Click on the video player above to hear the full podcast.

Related: How sustainability and technology are shaping fruit breeding

Tip of the Iceberg podcast — Why this Food Lion produce manager is one of the nation's best

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 05:22:53 GMT

Chris Jorgensen, a produce manager at a Food Lion store No. 1472 in Gloucester, Va., is special. Why?

Out of the thousands of produce managers at grocery stores nationwide, he was named one of only 25 winners in International Fresh Produce Association’s 2022 Retail Produce Manager Awards.

Learn what he does that makes him stand out, and take some inspiration to improve your own business.

Jorgensen grew up on his grandmother’s farm in Nebraska, selling produce on the farm. He has it in his blood. He started at Food Lion in 1999 and hasn’t looked back.

What’s his secret the past 23 years?

Listen to this episode of the Tip of the Iceberg podcast.

Tip of the Iceberg podcast — Farmer Vern on climbing the staff-satisfaction ladder

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 20:48:09 GMT

What’s a couple inches on a ladder? It can mean the world to farmworkers, or even retail, distribution and warehouse workers.

Vernon Peterson, a fourth-generation grower in Kingsburg, Calif., adjusted his orchard ladders with 10-inch steps and 45-degree stability teeth after hearing the need from his farmworkers at Abundant Harvest Organics, part of Homegrown Organic Farms.

“Ladders are a big deal in the field,” he said. “It took one guy. It cost me a couple bucks a ladder and a guy a couple days to install. It wasn’t that big a deal, but folks really appreciated it, and it was their idea.”

Peterson farms organic tree fruit, such as peaches, plums, nectarines and persimmons.

His farm is Equitable Food Initiative certified and is an early adopter of regenerative organic certification at the gold level.

Listen to the whole conversation between Peterson and LeAnne Rhodes Ruzzamenti, EFI’s director of marketing communications:

Certifications play a key role in Peterson’s sustainability efforts.

“There are just a whole lot of weasel words in this business, right?” Peterson said. “There are words like ‘sustainability.’ There’s ‘green.’ There’s ‘regenerative.’ There’s stuff that anybody can say they are. But when you get down to EFI certification or regenerative organic certification, now you’re talking. Now you’ve got something that’s real.”

This kind of change has to work from the bottom up, rather than the top down, he said. “The top can inspire, but the people who know how the world turns, how to get the job done, if they’re not involved in the process of decision-making, you’re never going to get it done by dictating from the top down,” he said.

EFI has given his company a structure, a framework to make changes in worker conditions.

Representatives from all levels of the operation — field, packing shed, cold storage, quality control, sales — have a voice in improving the farm.

“Everyone can speak to the process, make that process better, more efficient, more effective. And it’s demonstrable,” he said.

Peterson has “easily” seen a 50-55% improvement in worker effectiveness.

Want to hear more? Listen to the Tip of the Iceberg podcast .

Is the honey bee crisis really over?

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:38:39 GMT

Last week was National Pollinator week, and while there have been some media reports highlighting the growth in hives, Danielle Downey, executive director of the nonprofit Project Apis m., talks in this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast about hive growth in the news, challenges still facing the honey bee industry and the critical role honey bees play in food production.

Downey says 1 in 3 bites of food depends on honey bees for pollination — that’s the direct role honey bees play, she said. This is why her organization, Project Apis m., helps fund honey bee research to support hive health.

“The way that we grow food has changed into really big systems and the number of people we’re feeding is increasing so the pressure on those systems is just really high, and honey bees are a very important unsung hero in those systems,” she said.

What those in the produce industry may not know is there are a small number of commercial beekeepers who move the hives into each specialty crop for pollination across the country. And this pressure to pollinate crops as well as threats from invasive species such as the varroa mite and diseases like colony collapse disorder continue to threaten an already vital part of produce.

“The honey bee will not go extinct, but the pressures on the businesses that provide that pollination — many of them collapse all the time just like other businesses so the bee health crisis continues,” she says. “Year over year, we see 40% losses and that means if you go into winter with 100 colonies the next year you come out you’ve lost 40 of them. It’s not sustainable, and the way that those businesses stay healthy is to divide the bees that come through and build their numbers back up each year.”

This is a significant cost for beekeepers, and the margins continue to get thinner and thinner while the demand for honey bees to pollinate crops grows.

Along with the varroa mite and colony collapse disorder, Downey says the habitat in which honey bees live is changing.

“There’s just less natural forage on the landscape to support bees,” she said. “You may notice there’s less bugs on your windshield when you make a long drive, you may notice there’s less flowers in the ditch, and all of that is connected to the environment that just doesn’t support healthy bees as well as it used to.”

She says recent media coverage of an increase in colonies may not be as great of news as it seems. Downey suspects some of the numbers are duplicate counting as commercial hives go from California almonds to Washington to Texas and then to North Dakota.

“We certainly don’t see the large beekeeping businesses growing,” she said. “So, I think we’re still very tight. The pressure on the bees is high. The margin for error is less and less, and the consequence if we don’t have enough bees is that we don’t get pollination of the food crops, so we’ll have less of them, [and] they’ll be more expensive and less accessible.”

Bees also have new threats such as the Asian giant hornet, which was discovered in British Columbia and found in Washington state, and the yellow-legged hornet, found in the Southeast. Downey says the USDA took an aggressive control strategy to eradicate any nests of the Asian giant hornet — also called the murder hornet due to how it destroys honey bee hives. She says in two years, the USDA has not found any queens or nests in the West, and she suspects the USDA will take a similar approach to control the yellow-legged hornet.

“This is why beekeepers feel like the crisis never really relents,” she said. “They’re always having to watch and prevent that next worst thing from finishing off the hives and always be trying to rebuild. So, although we haven’t fallen off the cliff, I think the pressure is still really high.”

Downey says throughout the nonprofit’s existence, Project Apis m. supported about 200 honey bee research projects totaling $13 million. Visit ProjectApism.org to learn more.

Listen to the full episode by clicking the video player above.

'Tip of the Iceberg' podcast — Can farmworkers star in big agtech innovations?

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 14:05:13 GMT

How do you center people amid all the agtech innovation?

When you think about agtech, you don’t think about farmworkers first. Often, tech startups and venture capitalists come to mind. But what if the farmworker’s perspective, ideas and needs were placed front and center while these necessary innovations propel our produce industry forward?

Listen: Alexia Estrada talks about farmworkers in agtech

What if all the agtech innovations we’re seeing can attract workers to agriculture rather than eliminate workers? What if we place the farmworker’s perspective, ideas and needs first, rather than passively seeing what tech startups and venture capitalists have in mind?

Enough with the questions. One woman is asking them and answering as many as she can.

Alexia Estrada, through her organization, Semillero de Ideas (Nursery of Ideas), is hoping to keep farmworkers at the center of technology advances by creating makerspaces where grower-shippers and tech companies can partner with workers.

She hopes that through these discussions, we can find ways to attract workers to agriculture, rather than develop technology that seeks to eliminate them. Estrada challenges the industry to redesign work and use tech to attract young workers, who she says are looking for values-driven work that is aligned to fresh produce.

She invites listeners to this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode to reach out to her via her LinkedIn or website: semilleroideas.org .

'Tip of the Iceberg' podcast — Give walnuts a fresh makeover

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 14:38:30 GMT

Walnuts need a major makeover.

Usually, about 65% of the walnuts grown in California are sold to the overseas market, but a September heat wave means darker walnuts, which isn’t the preferred style for that market, said Robert Verloop, CEO of the California Walnut Commission.

Listen to the full interview here or on your favorite podcast platform.

So, the commission and its producers are shifting their focus to more domestic markets. The commission has a plan for a walnut makeover to increase sales and consumption.

Walnuts can be two things at once: fit into the health focus of the new year but also the comfort-food indulgences that consumers gravitate toward in winter, such as brownies and cookies.

“But our long-term vision, really, is to shift walnuts into more of a fresh, eating-out-of-hand snacking opportunity,” Verloop said. “We’ve had a phenomenal health story to tell about walnuts, but that gets kind of lost in the baking aisle.”

Learn more: Walnuts

The commission is developing retail promotions with cheese, yogurts, cereals and a lot of other fresh produce items. The commission’s research in the past year showed that well over 70% of the people understood that walnuts go together very well with fresh produce items because of the health benefits.

Verloop is impressed by the “thoughtful and progressive” programs conducted by some almond and pistachio sectors. “But walnuts haven’t had that same level of attention. And a lot of that has to do with the industry’s focus has been on international development,” he said — plus walnuts’ relegation to the baking aisle.

In 2023, there are about 4,000 walnut growers and more than 70 handlers for a crop that’s typically about 1.5 billion pounds. Normally, the primary markets are Turkey, Germany, elsewhere in Europe, the Middle East, India, Japan and Korea.

In places like Turkey and throughout Europe, walnut consumption is in the kilos per year, while in the U.S., it’s 0.7 pounds per year. “That barely scratches the surface. And especially when you consider that a lot of that is in the baking application,” he said.

Verloop wants to increase the points of distribution and improve walnut packaging.

The commission is funded by mandatory assessments of the growers and is an agency of the state of California, working with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, focusing on health research and export market development activities.

These are some walnut findings and tips than can help retailers:

Commission research found that 76% of consumers are more likely to purchase walnuts when they are displayed alongside fresh fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle. The most obvious pairings are squash, apples and pears, but salad greens and many, many other pairings work well.
Tap into consumers’ focus on health by displaying walnuts with their top nutritional benefits — especially omega-3 fatty acids.
Retail registered dietitians can encourage consumers to incorporate walnuts into their meals and snacks, providing information about the broad health benefits and suggesting easy and delicious ways to eat walnuts on a regular basis.
Look for better packaging, more flavors, special walnut butters and a walnut meat program.
Market, promote and merchandise walnuts on boards, following the butter, vegetable and charcuterie board trend.

The California walnut industry is seeking to do more direct activities with retailers, whether through the commission, or individual companies, Verloop said.

“Our handlers that are developing some of these new products are reaching out,” Verloop said. “I think there’s a latent opportunity to expand — really significantly — a high value item that doesn’t need a tremendous amount education.”

Listen: Full interview with Robert Verloop on the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast here .

Unlocking the impact of difficult conversations to benefit your business

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:51:52 GMT

It’s no secret that labor continues to be an issue in the produce industry, as well as most industries in the U.S.

What if someone said a key to finding and keeping good workers is having difficult conversations in the workplace?

That person would be right.

In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, LeAnne Ruzzamenti, director of marketing and communications for Equitable Food Initiative , hosts a people-first episode where Louisa Clark, founder of Confidently There, a coaching and consulting firm, shares how an organization’s lack of communication can create what Clark calls the buildup of the unsaid.

Clark says when employees feel a company’s culture does not support speaking up, it has a major impact on the organization and the people that work there.

“We see it in a real lack of any kind of speak-up culture. We see it in people being terrified of making mistakes, and therefore mistakes not being reported, or people seeing errors,” she said. “We see people feeling resentful and exhausted and frustrated with each other.”

Clark says an organization that lacks open communication feels weighty and stagnant.

“Quite often, obstruction can start to happen,” she said. “Those who get the most frustrated very often are the ones who are the most innovative, the most creative. They’re the most driven to shake things up and do things differently and lean in and have difficult conversations. If that doesn’t feel possible around them, then very often they go.”

Clark says leadership with only challenge and no kindness is also a myth.

“What we want is a balance of this challenge,” she said. “When we have equally high levels of challenge and support, or nurture, warmth or simply even availability, when those two things are working in tandem, we feel as though it’s equitable … And this … allows us to really cultivate a sense that within a very healthy, functioning hierarchy that an organization of course has to have, that we’re actually carving out horizontal channels of communication, despite the vertical structure.”

Listen to this podcast episode here.

Tip of the Iceberg podcast: What to do with those pumpkins?

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 19:28:09 GMT

Hey, the pumpkin craze is real, and it’s not over yet. Consumers either decorate their doorsteps or tables with them or they buy it in a can, in a spice jar, in a latte or within a dizzying variety of other products.

So, how do you make the case for buying (or repurposing) whole, fresh pumpkins for culinary uses? What do you do with your porch pumpkins when you’re swapping décor for the next holiday?

This episode of the Tip of the Iceberg podcast addresses these questions and more, featuring Holly Lucille, a practicing naturopathic doctor and senior medical advisor at Fullscript, which started as a dietary supplement dispensary and has since become a tool for integrative practitioners and patients. It’s a resource for those needing advice on following doctor’s dietary orders, gaining wellness insights and how-to tips.

Learn: Pumpkins, the commodity

Lucille has the knowledge of what fresh, whole pumpkins can do for the consumer as far as functional health and how to prepare what seems like an unwieldy vegetable. She also provides actionable takeaways for companies and supermarket produce buyers, managers and executives to increase sales.

“So, have a great decoration, clean ’em up and get that flesh out of there,” she says.

Related: Have you heard of our free professional development courses at ProduceEDU.com ? You take the course on your own time and get a certificate of completion. Hey, it couldn’t hurt when you ask for a raise or new role.

There’s a Produce Buying Fundamentals course about navigating surprises and stress on the produce desk.
And there’s a course on merchandising, which focuses on the sales strategy, food safety and artistry behind in-store produce displays.

Also: PMG’s next merchandising display contest deadline is coming up Dec. 8, for the Fall 2022 Produce Artist Award Series. Send us six to 10 large photos of your apples, hard squash, pears, pumpkins and sweet potatoes at artists@producemarketguide.com . Include your name, company, location and job title.

And don’t forget, listen to the whole pumpkiny interview on our Tip of the Iceberg podcast.

'Tip of the Iceberg' podcast: How small things are big in worker retention, safety

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:25:36 GMT

What do strawberry carts have to do with food safety, high quality product and worker retention?

A lot, as it turns out.

On this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast, let’s welcome LeAnne Rhodes Ruzzamenti, EFI’s director of marketing communications, as she chats with Marylu Ramirez, human resources manager of GoodFarms — also known as Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce. The company grows berries and tomatoes.

This episode marks the third of a series with Equitable Food Initiative, often called EFI, which works with retailers and growers to create a transparent supply chain, a safer food system and healthier work environments.

These episodes will focus on the improvements or advancements companies and their people are making that elevate workers and create better working conditions.

Check out all the shows on this podcast on your favorite platform.