Produce - General

North Carolina Growers Embrace Resilience Amid Extreme Drought, Spring Heat

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:22:06 GMT

Farmers in North Carolina are facing an uphill battle this spring as a severe drought combined with unseasonable heat has stunted early-season specialty crops from brassicas to berries.

As of early May, North Carolina was experiencing severe agricultural distress, with approximately 67 counties under extreme drought conditions and record-breaking dryness impacting 96% of the Southeast.

“These conditions are becoming quite apparent on our farms, with retention ponds getting extremely low, cracks in the soil, difficulty preparing land for summer production, and reduced yields on many spring crops,” says Taylor Holenbeck, grower services coordinator for the Durham, N.C.-based Happy Dirt, a farmer-owned distributor of organic produce, specializing in connecting Southeast regional farmers with retailers and food hubs.

Spring greens have been hit particularly hard, says Holenbeck.

“Our spring greens crops have been the most impacted so far,” he says. “One farm is seeing half the average yield on their broccolini crop, while others are seeing extremely slow growth on kales, collards, cabbage and other brassicas.”

In the eastern part of the state, drought conditions and unseasonably hot temperatures that repeatedly reached the 90s during April, have increased pest pressures in the area.

“Without the rain to help wash pest eggs off the crops, this has led to large hatchings of diamond back moths, compromising many of the tender spring greens,” he says.

Holenbeck says a number of Happy Dirt farms are behind on their spring plantings, with some delayed by at least two weeks due to dry conditions.

And it’s not only what’s already in the ground that struggles in drought conditions, says Holenbeck, who notes that preparing new beds when soil is extremely dry, is also a challenge.

“Some farms are having to overhead water their land just to be able to prep beds, which is not how you want to be using your precious water resources in a drought,” he says.

Severe drought conditions in parts of North Carolina, like here at Randy Massey’s M&M Plant Farms, have led to retention ponds getting extremely low, cracks in the soil, difficulty preparing land for summer production, and reduced yields on many spring crops, says Taylor Holenbeck, grower services coordinator for the Durham, N.C.-based Happy Dirt.

(Photo courtesy of Happy Dirt)

‘Fast and Furious’ Strawberries

Weather conditions have also impacted the state’s strawberry production.

“Our strawberry season has been stunted as well, although this is due to not only drought, but the large swings in temperature this spring, causing the plants to be more vegetative rather than producing a lot of fruit consistently,” says Holenbeck.

Austin Hirsch, a strawberry farmer in Catawba, N.C., told AgDay’s Haley Bickelhaupt that while ripening usually takes a few weeks, in this year’s drought, it’s been “fast and furious.”

“The biggest challenge is trying to keep up with harvest,” says Hirsch of Bumble Berry Farms. The first-generation farmer says a hard winter followed by a warm week in early April accelerated picking of the farm’s early season variety, which began on April 8.

“We went out there maybe five or six days later, and the whole field was red…I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Hirch.

Bumble Berry Farms grows five varieties of strawberries, all of which have been impacted by drought, he says.

But one silver lining for Hirsch has been sweeter berries.

“The conditions raise the sugar levels,” he says.

Bumble Berry Farms estimates it strawberry crop yields were about 50% of normal this season and is now turning its attention to its blackberry crop.

But Happy Dirt’s Holenbeck remains optimistic that there’s still time for some North Carolina strawberries.

“We still have the month of May to have a great strawberry season,” he says. “And so far, the sweet corn and summer squash crops are doing okay but will need rain soon.”

Altar Cross Farms’ Morgan Sykes and father Roy Sykes survey their North Carolina blueberry crop.

(Photo courtesy of Happy Dirt)

Blueberries in the Balance

Altar Cross Farms, a family-run organic blueberry farm in Ivanhoe, N.C., which tends more than 100 acres of certified organic blueberries between its own 40 acres and a lease on an additional 65 acres, says it’s managing the unusually dry conditions through strategic irrigation and a watchful eye on the weather.

“This has been a particularly dry start to the season, which is a change from what we typically see this time of year,” says Morgan Sykes, sales and packing manager for Altar Cross Farms and daughter of the farm’s owners Roy and Donna Kykes. “We have been having to use our irrigation a lot more this year starting with the spring freezes to now this extreme dry weather.

“We are very blessed to have the irrigation system that we do but nothing is as good as the natural rain,” she adds.

On the family’s 40 acres, they conserve as much water as possible using a ditching system connected to catch basins at the end of each row to flow the water back into its pond.

“Even with that, our pond is about four feet lower than what it should be,” she says.

On the farm’s leased acres, the pond system requires they pump water from a well into the pond, which costs more because it has to be hooked up to a generator, she says.

But a dryer blueberry growing season does have some benefits, says Sykes.

“The quality of blueberries on a dryish year are a little better because you really don’t have to worry as much about soft fruit,” she says. “It will impact the size of the berry; they will maybe not be as big. That is where we will be utilizing our irrigation to try and plump them up.”

Overall, Sykes says things are shaping up to be a “really good year.”

“We packed the highest number of berries we ever had last year,” she says. “This year we are hoping to do even more, [as] we have a few more fields that are just coming into production now.”

Sykes says this time of year usually presents the opposite weather problem — too much precipitation. To address this, Altar Cross Farms has planted varieties that can tolerate more water and still remain firm.

“We have some O’Neals that are drought tolerant, but if they get a little rain, they are bad about splitting,” she says.

While the family had been planning to move away from the variety as a result, this year, it looks as though they’ll be able to pack more of them.

“All of our other berries we are just having to keep an eye on and irrigate them to help the berries grow and size up,” she says. “We are praying for rain. We just don’t want it all at one time.”

Rising Input Costs vs. Market Realities

In North Carolina, the dust is rising just as fast as the overhead. While drought conditions have forced farmers to rely heavily on irrigation, global conflicts have driven diesel prices up by nearly 50%, making the cost of watering particularly steep.

Holenbeck says while irrigation methods vary widely from farm to farm in North Carolina, those that use diesel, “are definitely feeling the effects of high prices.”

Soaring prices, not only for farms to run their irrigation pumps, but to operate tractors and on shipping costs for fertilizers and packaging, are putting a squeeze on the season.

“Higher fuel costs impact everything, down to the cost of the petroleum-based plastic used for mulch and clamshells that we pack small fruit into,” he says. “Unfortunately, our farmers are beholden to market pricing, so we are looking at the high-end of pricing on each crop, but have to balance being too high, otherwise sales slow, and that’s worse for the farms.

“Just because there is a drought here, doesn’t mean that the market isn’t low in other regions, so it’s a tricky balance,” he continues.

Farming for North Carolina’s Future

In the face of these soaring operational costs and a volatile climate, North Carolina’s specialty crop growers are no longer just reacting to the weather — they’re striving to outsmart it. By shifting toward heat-tolerant varieties they aim to transform drought from a seasonal crisis into a catalyst for long-term agricultural innovation.

“[The development of drought-resistant varieties] should be top of mind for both farmers and consumers, and there are some great initiatives in our region working toward more drought-resistant crops,” says Holenback, who says he’s never had more farmers ask him if they could grow okra for Happy Dirt than this year.

“Okra is a great example of a drought-tolerant crop, but unfortunately the market demand doesn’t match its utility for the farmers — yet, he says. “Happy Dirt sees it as part of our work to help educate customers on what crops thrive in our increasingly warm climate in the South, and why it’s important for consumers to learn how to integrate those fruits and vegetables into their diets.”

Holenbeck says Happy Dirt is looking to seed breeders to help Southeastern growers with more heat-tolerant varieties of vegetables.

“From lettuce to tomatoes, there are more and more heat-tolerant varieties available, which is giving our farmers the ability to stretch seasons and grow more of what eaters want locally,” he says. “This year we are implementing broccoli trials on two of our farms to observe which varieties do best in our quickly warming springs, and so far, despite the drought, we have seen some great results, and plan to scale broccoli production if the varieties continue to perform.”

Happy Dirt says it has also conducted some smaller trials with regionally adapted varieties of butternut squash from Common Wealth Seed Growers and okra from Utopian Seed Project. This year it is also trialing and saving seeds from a specific okra variety grown by the Freed Seed Federation.

“All this seed work is important for farmers to be able to adapt over time and focus on what grows well here,” says Holenbeck. “We also see increased customer demand for the organic small fruit category, many of which are grown perennially, such as Asian persimmons, blackberries, figs, muscadines, and blueberries to name a few. Due to the perennial nature of these crops, they can provide more resiliency to extreme weather and are a category that we plan to grow more of with our farmers.”

And when it comes to preventive measures, Holenbeck says one of the best things farmers can do is keep their soil consistently covered with cash and cover crops to help retain moisture and reduce erosion when there’s heavy rain.

“This effort pays off slowly, but as we face more erratic weather patterns, these types of practices become increasingly important,” he says. “We can’t fight nature, but we can try to learn from it and mimic it.”

Thx! Turns Nonprofit, Seeks to Usher in New Era of Purpose-Driven Commerce

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:55:55 GMT

Thx!, a purpose-driven program connecting consumers with farmworkers through impactful storytelling and dream fulfillment, has reached a major milestone in its evolution: The program will begin operating under the umbrella of Seeding Futures Inc., its U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, according to a news release.

Thx! says this strategic transition marks a significant step forward in its mission to prove that doing good is good business, while unlocking new opportunities for brands, retailers and consumers to create meaningful impact.

By operating within the structure of a nonprofit, Thx! says it will deepen its commitment to social impact, with a stronger focus on education-driven dreams for farmworkers and their families. At the same time, partners across the value chain will benefit from a more efficient and purpose-aligned model, it adds.

“This is a natural evolution of what Thx! has always stood for,” says Martin Casanova, founder of Thx! and Seeding Futures. “We are strengthening our foundation to create more impact, more transparency and more value for everyone involved — from farmworkers to consumers and from brands to retailers.”

Stronger Value Proposition for Partners

With this transition, Thx! partners, including growers, brands and retailers, will now engage with a program operating under a U.S. nonprofit structure.

Thx! says this provides several key advantages:

Enhanced credibility and transparency through nonprofit governance.
Greater impact focus, particularly in education and long-term empowerment.
Potential tax efficiency, as a significant portion of the program cost may qualify as a tax-deductible contribution in the U.S.
Stronger emotional connection with consumers, reinforcing brand value and differentiation.

The integration with Seeding Futures ensures that every action taken within the Thx! ecosystem continues to be verified, measurable and purpose-driven, says the nonprofit.

Leadership Expansion to Support Growth

As part of this new chapter, Matías Notti has joined the board of directors of Seeding Futures. Notti brings extensive experience in agriculture, international business and operations across multiple markets. His addition to the board reinforces the organization’s commitment to scaling impact while maintaining operational excellence, Thx! says.

“Matias has been with us since the very beginning. He was the one who envisioned Thx! as a co-branding program. His contribution has been incredible, and I’m truly excited to see him take on this important role,” Casanova says. “His perspective and experience will be instrumental as we expand globally.”

Bigger Vision for the Future

With this transition, Thx! and Seeding Futures are setting the foundation for accelerated growth and deeper impact across the Americas and beyond. The organization’s short-term goals include:

Expanding education-focused initiatives for farmworkers.
Increasing the number of partner brands and retailers.
Launching purpose-driven business programs across multiple channels.
Continuing to innovate in consumer engagement and storytelling.

Thx! says as it enters this new phase, its mission remains clear: to create a world where every purchase has meaning — and where helping others achieve their dreams becomes part of everyday life.

Beyond the Border: How Mexico is Shaping Produce's Global Fresh Future

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 22:38:04 GMT

As Mexico continues to solidify its role as one of the most influential markets in the global fresh produce and floral supply chain, industry leaders are watching how trade flows, shifts in consumer expectations and global dynamics reshape the future of fresh. Ahead of this year’s International Fresh Produce Association’s Mexico Conference in Guadalajara, The Packer connected with Jessica Keller, IFPA vice president of global industry relations, to discuss why Mexico matters now more than ever, the global trends transforming demand and how companies can position themselves for long-term success in an increasingly interconnected marketplace.

What makes Mexico a critical market in shaping the future of the fresh produce and floral industry?

Keller: Mexico is one of the most strategically important markets in the global fresh produce and floral industry, not just because of its scale, but because of its position in the global system. Mexico is both a powerhouse producer and exporter and a fast-evolving domestic consumer market. It plays a central role in feeding North America and is deeply integrated into regional supply chains, while increasingly influencing global sourcing, food safety, sustainability and labor practices.
Today, Mexico exports more than $18 billion in fresh produce globally, with the vast majority going to the United States. That underscores both its strength and its exposure. What happens in Mexico — whether it’s trade policy, logistics, climate adaptation, crop innovation or regulatory alignment — reverberates well beyond its borders. Mexico is not just a supplier; it’s a shaper of how the global industry continues to evolve.

What consumer trends are shaping demand for fresh produce in Mexico and globally?

What we’re seeing in Mexico closely mirrors global consumer trends, but often in a more amplified way. Consumers everywhere are demanding greater transparency and traceability, products that align with health and wellness goals and sustainability that is real, measurable and credible — not just marketing claims.

At the same time, they expect year-round availability at consistent quality, despite increasing climate pressures. What’s important is that these expectations are no longer regional; they’re globally synchronized. That raises the bar for producers and exporters everywhere and makes it more challenging, but also more critical, to balance these demands thoughtfully and strategically.

How are changing global dynamics impacting the industry today?

We’re seeing multiple forces collide at once — geopolitical uncertainty, climate disruption, labor constraints, rising trade complexity and shifting consumer expectations. As a result, supply chains are no longer optimized purely for efficiency. They’re being reevaluated for resilience, diversification and risk management.

For Mexico specifically, decades of success driven by heavy export concentration into North America have also created vulnerability to policy changes, logistical disruptions and buyer consolidation. That’s why the conversation today is shifting away from simply growing volume and toward building export resilience through market diversification and stronger cross-border partnerships. The companies that are succeeding are those that treat global dynamics as a strategic input, not just external noise.

What makes The Mexico Conference uniquely valuable compared to other industry gatherings?

The Mexico Conference stands out because of its strong focus on global education and real business outcomes. We offer in-depth insight into global market trends, along with buyer roundtables that are intentionally designed for deal-making.
These roundtables — now in their fourth year — connect suppliers directly with decision-makers in a highly focused, efficient format. We’re increasingly working to quantify the economic impact of those conversations, because meaningful transactions are happening at these tables.

The conference also facilitates critical cross-border dialogue on trade, sustainability and food safety, while providing direct access to leaders from Mexico, North America and, increasingly, global markets. This year, we’re seeing growing interest from buyers in Asia, particularly around commodities like bananas and avocados. That level of international engagement makes this event truly unique.

What opportunities does the conference unlock for companies looking to grow in or through the Mexican market?

The conference unlocks several important opportunities. First, it provides direct access to buyers and partners who are actively shaping sourcing and procurement strategies. Second, it offers critical insight into how Mexican production is evolving and where international collaboration is most needed. Third, it helps companies understand how to position themselves not just within Mexico, but how to leverage Mexico as a gateway to broader global growth. For companies considering expansion, this event shortens the distance between insight and execution by putting the right conversations and the right people in the same room at the same time.

What should industry leaders be doing now to stay competitive in an increasingly global and interconnected marketplace?

Leaders need to shift their mindset from reactive to intentional. That means investing in market intelligence and long-term planning, diversifying markets thoughtfully rather than opportunistically, and building partnerships that go beyond transactions.

It also means embedding sustainability, food safety and resilience into core business strategy — not treating them as add-ons. Competitiveness today isn’t defined by scale alone, but by adaptability, collaboration and clarity of strategy. In a global industry, no company succeeds in isolation.

That’s where organizations like IFPA play a critical role. Our mission is to create a vibrant future for all by advocating, connecting and guiding the global produce and floral industry. Events like The Mexico Conference bring that mission to life by creating the relationships, insights and shared understanding leaders need to navigate complexity and stay aligned with the markets and consumers that matter most.

One of North America’s Largest Farms Files for Financial Protection, Is Restructuring

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:50:02 GMT

Earlier this week, Monette Group, which farms more than 400,000 acres in Canada and the U.S. filed for financial protection and is restructuring.

The company filed for creditor protector in Canada via the Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA) and filed Chapter 15 in Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

The Cost of Expansion: Efficiency Erosion and the Leverage Trap

The group’s recent financial trajectory highlights a cautionary tale of aggressive, debt-fueled expansion meeting a volatile economic climate. While the organization successfully scaled its footprint and top-line revenue over the last several years, operational efficiency and debt sustainability have reached a critical breaking point. [all dollars are Canadian]

The Era of Aggressive Growth (2017–2022)
Driven by substantial borrowing, the Group underwent a massive scale-up, growing revenue from $45 million to $198 million and expanding its cultivated land from 97,000 to 269,000 acres. While total EBITDA initially followed this upward trend, the underlying efficiency—measured by EBITDA-per-acre—began to signal trouble, dropping significantly from its 2015 highs.
Operational Headwinds and Margin Compression (2024–Present)
The transition into 2024 saw revenue climb to a record $347 million across 440,000 acres, yet profitability decoupled from growth. Diversification into produce and cattle, intended to broaden the portfolio, instead acted as a drag on the bottom line. By 2024, EBITDA-per-acre plummeted to a decade low of $83—a nearly 50% decline. This downward trend was exacerbated in 2025; despite a projected $72 million EBITDA, actual earnings reached only $31 million due to a “perfect storm” of poor crop prices, high input costs, and yield losses.
The Sustainability Crisis
The group’s reliance on cheap capital (approximately 3% interest rates) and rising real estate valuations proved successful in a low-rate environment. However, the convergence of flat property values, persistent inflation, and high interest rates has rendered the current capital structure unsustainable. Despite holding significant underlying asset value, the group is now overleveraged, with compressed margins leaving little room to service debt or maintain liquidity.

What Is Monette Group?

Since 2010, Monette Group has been aggressively expanding from its family farm in Saskatchewan to Manitoba and British Columbia in Canada. Current President Darrel Monette took over the family farm in 2013. In 2019, the company expanded into the U.S. first in Montana and then Arizona and Colorado. The company’s website says its core values are: teamwork, efficiency, growth and ‘get shit done.’

With its expansion and diversification, the business expanded into four main brands:

Monette Farms: growing pulses, wheat, corn, sugar beets, barley, and alfalfa in Canada and the U.S.
Monette Produce: with growing locations in California, Arizona and Canada
Monette Cattle: ranches located in Saskatchewan and British Columbia
Monette Seeds: located in Saskatchewan in partnership with NexGen Seeds

The 18 business entities of Monette Group employ between 300 and 600 people, depending on the season.

Grain production, primarily canola, wheat and durum accounted for over 60% of group revenue in 2024 and more than 50% in 2025. Grain operations dominate the Canadian footprint with 68% of the group’s production occurring in Canada.

Fresh produce operations are primarily located in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, with significant fall and winter production in Arizona. In 2025, produce accounted for approximately 15% of group revenue. Crops include carrots, squash, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkin, cauliflower and watermelon. The group’s produce is mainly sold to Loblaws and the Little Potato Company.

Cattle ranching accounted for approximately 10% of revenue in 2024 and 17% in 2025. Cattle ranching operations focus on Black and Red Angus cattle, including herd breeding in British Columbia and feedlots across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Seed processing accounted for 19% of revenue in 2024 and 16% in 2025.

Its main crops 10 years ago were green and red lentils, durum, canola and malting barley.

According to the company’s website, Monette Farms’ newest addition is west of Phoenix, Arizona. It’s a certified organic farm and headquarters to Monette Seeds USA.

What Monette Farms Has Said

President Darrel Monette has penned a letter sent to landowners and leasing partners as well as a press release distributed with general counsel as the point of contact. Both are dated April 21, 2026.

In both Monette says this process will allow them to stabilize finances, restructure debt, and continue operating.

The letter read: “This filing is a proactive response to current industry pressures (higher input costs, higher interest rates, and tighter credit) and is not a liquidation.”

It continued: “We are working with our advisors and a court-appointed Monitor to develop a restructuring plan for credit and court approval.”

Per a company press release, the day-to-day farming activities, spring seeding and livestock care are continuing as planned. The release also said all employees are being retained at this time.

The Assets of Monette Group

According to its 2025 financial statements, the group has $1.24 billion of total assets booked at cost (and not reflective of market value.)

As of April 12, 2026, the group owns 274,000 acres of land. In the U.S. Monette owns 61,700 acres in Arizona, Montana and Colorado.

For crop production, it leases 175,000 acres in Canada and 43,000 acres in the U.S. with annual total lease payments of $29.4 million. For its cattle business, Monette holds grazing licenses on 1.2 million acres of land in Canada.

The group owns three seed processing facilities in Canada.

It leases more than 1,700 separate units of farm equipment, with 1,600 units leased from John Deere Financial. Annually, the group spends $26 million on leased equipment.In 2023, it was newsworthy when the business transitioned from Case IH equipment to John Deere equipment in a reported $100+ million deal.

What Else Is There To Watch?

Monette Group is one of the largest privately held farming operations in North America.

The timing of this filing is critical for the farm to put in a 2026 crop. In the CCAA filing, Monette Group said its seed expenses are $40 million per year. To get set up for seeding, Monette’s operations may receive 41 truck loads of product a day (nearly 15,000 truck loads a year).

The main filing is in Canada with proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) as part of a court-supervised restructuring process. From here is a process by which Monette will work with a court-appointed monitor to develop a restructuring plan for creditor and court approval.

The Chapter 15 filing asks the U.S. court to recognize the Canadian CCAA proceeding as the “foreign main proceeding” which can extend the protection of U.S. assets. It also prevents U.S. creditors from taking legal action such as seizing assets or filing lawsuits.

In the CCAA document, it is stated Monette Group held a $950 million secured credit facility dated December 5, 2018, which matured on April 15, 2026. Repayment of the obligations owing to the syndicate of lenders is a necessary component of the group’s overall restructuring strategy.

The CCAA filing comes after Monette per the guidance of its lending syndicate to sell assets. Two tracts were sold in 2025: in Regina, Saskatchewan for $41.18 million and 17,000 acres of land in Montana for $47.5 million. Additional sales were attempted this this winter, but with only one completed sale of 12,932 acres of farmland in the Stewart Valley of Swift Current, Saskatchewan for $54 million.

In the affadavit, Monette says a restructuring and selling of assets by the court appointed monitor is important to provide an orderly sale of assets and not cause a bulk liquidation which could result in lower values.

The farm has been active on social media:

Clarifresh Appoints Shelby Dwyer as Director of Sales, North America

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:51:57 GMT

Clarifresh, an artificial intelligence-powered quality management platform for the fresh produce industry, has appointed Shelby Dwyer as director of sales for North America.

Dwyer brings deep experience in fresh produce sales and a ground-level understanding of how quality decisions ripple across the supply chain from growers to retailers, says Clarifresh. She will lead efforts to expand Clarifresh’s North American presence and deepen partnerships across the industry.

“North America is a massive opportunity for a platform like this,” says Dwyer. “Buyers want consistency and growers want accountability. Clarifresh is one of the few tools I’ve seen that actually speaks both languages.”

Dwyer was previously a sales manager with the Fairtrade International-certified banana company Equifruit.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Shelby to our North American team,” says Elad Mardix, CEO at Clarifresh. “Clarifresh initially penetrated the North American market three years ago and is now positioned as the leading QC platform in the market. We see tremendous demand in the market for our solution, and I believe that Shelby’s industry knowledge and customer-focused approach will be instrumental as we continue to scale.”

How One Kansas Family is Cultivating a New Legacy by Diversifying their Farm

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:13:51 GMT

In a state where wheat, cattle and corn fill the fields of Kansas, broccoli doesn’t typically make the list of farm favorites. But it’s Jacob Thomas’, the co-owner of Jet Produce and Meats , favorite food to grow. His family’s farm started as a livestock operation in the 1950s. Today, it’s making a way for the next generation by diversifying the operation and connecting to the personal side of producing food.

“When I pick a head of broccoli, I know exactly ... what’s going to happen to it. Somebody’s going to buy that to eat for dinner,” Thomas said. His passion for produce began at age 14 when he asked his dad if he could plant a garden. “I think the draw to it for me was that a lot of farms are growing corn, soybeans and even raising livestock. How does that actually feed a person?”

Jacob and his wife Jennifer, started their farm and business while Thomas was a junior in college at Iowa State University. Their venture began on a quarter of an acre. “It was like, wow, there really is something to this. People will stop on the side of the road and buy vegetables. This is interesting.”

The following year, their business model grew to selling food at the farmers markets. Today, the operation, spans nearly 17 acres, includes eight greenhouses, and operates its own storefront on the family farm. Jet Produce also sells its products to farmers markets in the Kansas City area.

(Jet Produce and Meats Facebook Page)

Jet Produce grows most vegetables, pumpkins, popcorn and flowers. Thomas said flowers account for nearly 20% of their sales and help them manage risk throughout the year. Jacob notes that the direct connection to the consumer changes the experience of farming.

“That’s something that’s just really nice for me,” he said. "[To] have all that positive interaction with customers that are just so thankful for the food.”

Back to the Roots

Jacob and Jennifer have help from their daughters Lisa and Sarah, ages 7 and 5. Jacob’s parents are also active in the operation. Dale Thomas, Jacob’s dad, can be found managing the storefront. He wasn’t originally sure about Jacob’s interest in horticulture, but he now sees the value of adding produce to their operation.

“It’s a lot more personable than the farming I ever did,” he said. Dale’s primary role on the farm is taking care of the livestock and hay. It’s a job that brought the family back to its roots. “The Leavenworth Farmers Market, just basically said to Jacob one day, ‘you know there’s nobody here selling beef, why don’t you grow beef or sell beef?’”

Now, Jet Produce sells beef, pork, chickens, and lamb directly to customers. But the family isn’t just building consumer connections; their focus is also at home.

“My girls were at that age where they just want to hang out with me all day and they want to learn,” Jacob said. “Every opportunity I can get to have them help me plant something, help me sorting, anything that they can do.”

Jacob, Jennifer, Lisa and Sarah Thomas.

(Credits: Jet Produce and Meats Facebook)

Overall, Jacob said the wide variety of crops and livestock has gained the respect of other farmers in the area, even if it started as a different model of farming. “They realize now that what I’m doing isn’t just like a really big backyard garden. That it is farming,” he said. “It’s just different farming.”

How AI and Breeding are Accelerating the Purple Sweetpotato Revolution

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:30:35 GMT

Craig Yencho may have helped develop the most popular sweetpotato in the U.S., but he’s not content to rest on his laurels.

Yencho, a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University, worked with Kenneth Pecota, senior research scholar at the university, to launch the Covington sweetpotato in 2005. It quickly replaced the Beauregard in the No. 1 selling spot and has accrued a farmgate value of more than $5 billion over its 20-year lifespan, he says.

“As a plant breeder, I would never have guessed that we would have achieved that number,” Yencho says.

More recently, Yencho and Pecota have set their sights on the purple category.

The Stokes Purple variety is a popular purple sweetpotato offering, but it has its shortcomings: It’s a poor yielder, and it’s susceptible to many sweetpotato diseases, Yencho says.

Yencho and his team created a couple of alternatives: Purple Majesty and Purple Splendor.

They were released two years ago and “have really taken off,” he says.

“They are a substantial step up from Stokes Purple in terms of yields, earliness, shape, quality, packout and disease resistance,” Yencho says. “It’s going to be very interesting to see where these two go.”

The Purple Majesty variety is one of two new purple sweetpotatoes developed by Craig Yencho and Kenneth Pecota of North Carolina State University.

(Photo courtesy of North Carolina State University)

The new varieties also have unique eating qualities. They’re not the orange, moist, really sweet sweetpotatoes that U.S. consumers are accustomed to, but they’re packed with anthocyanin antioxidants thought to have many beneficial health-promoting properties, he says.

“They have a nutty, drier texture and are less sweet than the Covington,” Yencho says. “And they can be used in other dishes, like purees and mashes.”

The university plans to roll out even more purple sweetpotatoes within the next two years.

Per the university’s policy, the varieties were accessible only to North Carolina growers for the first two years, but they’re now available to growers in other states or even internationally as well.

Another variety Yencho is working on is an early-generation Covington-like sweetpotato that has resistance to guava root-knot nematode and southern root-knot nematode, both serious threats to sweetpotato crops.

“That’s been a huge part of our work, and we have made some good progress,” he says.

The new variety may not store as well as the current Covington, but Yencho says it’s been sent to farms for further testing.

All the university’s varieties are patented or patent pending, and producers must pay a royalty to grow them.

“Royalties help us do more,” Yencho says. “They’re fed back into the university and fund breeding programs across the spectrum, including the sweetpotato breeding program that I lead.”

Funding also comes from state and federal sources.

Yencho must appeal to a wide audience when working on a new variety.

Growers want something that produces good yields, resists disease and stores well; processors seek a good packout, good fry quality and the right sugar profile; consumers look for something with good sugar balance and a wow factor when it comes to flavors and colors; and retailers want a sweetpotato that lasts on the shelf.

“We try to balance needs and evaluate traits in the real world as best we can,” he says. “It’s very challenging, but also very fun and very interesting.”

Varietal development has been a lengthy process — it took 15 years to perfect the two purple varieties — but Yencho is confident that the timeframe will be closer to six to eight years or less in the near future.

Breeders’ ability to conduct a more analytical-based breeding program using techniques such as genomic and marker-assisted breeding tools, optical sensing and optical imaging should help reduce the timeline, he says.

“We work a lot with molecular geneticists, computer engineers and optical engineers, and we are also using machine learning and AI to help bring the timeline down,” Yencho says.

He says he remains excited about the future of sweetpotato breeding and is “looking forward to bringing interesting new varieties to the marketplace in collaboration with growers.”

Taylor Farms Acquires Equinox Growers

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:34:48 GMT

Taylor Farms has acquired Equinox Growers, a leafy greens greenhouse in Louisa, Va., from Generate Capital. The Salinas, Calif.-based salad company says the facility is the largest commercial greenhouse in the mid-Atlantic and features technology to grow a wide variety of high-quality greens.

“We’re incredibly proud of the hard work our team has put into developing this facility and creating an operation that is truly worthy of a partner like Taylor Farms,” says John McMahon, president of Equinox Growers. “Seeing Taylor Farms’ strong commitment to the CEA space is both energizing and inspiring, and we’re delighted to support their vision.”

The controlled environment agriculture facility will be managed by a team of Equinox Growers while fully integrating into Taylor Farms’ product portfolio and cold-chain logistics network, according to a news release. Taylor Farms says the scale of Equinox Growers combined with its distribution network will improve freshness and make locally grown greens more accessible to consumers throughout the Eastern U.S.

“Retailers and consumers alike are increasingly seeking long-term, reliable access to greenhouse-grown produce,” says T. Bruce Taylor, senior vice president of marketing and product for Taylor Farms. “We’re taking a major step forward into controlled environment agriculture as this acquisition allows us to continue diversifying our raw product supply — both in geography and growing method — while meeting the rising demand for high-quality greenhouse-grown salads.”

The CEA lettuce segment is one of the fastest-growing categories in packaged salads, expanding by approximately 25% year-over-year as consumers seek freshness, crunch and year-round availability, the release says.

“This greenhouse is led by a world-class group of growers and operators with more than 120 years of combined experience,” says Sydney Ramskill, Taylor Farms vice president of CEA. “With a focus on freshness, flavor and value, we are excited to grow our greenhouse programs in our brands and our customer partners’ brands.”

‘From Fields to Families’: Southern Exposure to Showcase Connections and Innovations

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:41:16 GMT

About 3,500 produce industry professionals are expected to gather at Florida’s Orlando World Center Marriott for four days starting Feb. 26 for the 23^rd edition of the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure Trade Show and Conference.

“From Fields to Families” is the theme of this year’s event, which is fully booked with 313 exhibitors, says David Sherrod, SEPC’s president, CEO and a member since 1999.

“Our exhibitors and attendees come from all over North America, as well as Central and South America,” Sherrod says. “These companies provide fresh produce or services to retail and foodservice companies within our southeastern marketing area.”

Even booths sell out quickly, he says.

“We provide an intimate yet comprehensive experience for our membership,” Sherrod says.

The Marriott World Center was chosen because of its large number of guest rooms along with plenty of ballroom and expo space and on-site restaurants for customer dinners. Nearby hotels accommodate additional guests.

A Look Ahead

Southern Exposure is more than just a trade show, Sherrod says.

“All of our networking events sell out every year,” he says.

Pickleball has been added because of the sport’s increasing popularity, and the Tom Page Golf Classic at the Reunion Resort & Golf Club has a waitlist, with 288 players confirmed.

Early entry will be implemented this year for retail and foodservice buyers.

“We debuted this at Southern Innovations last September, and it was a huge hit with buyers and our Gold and Silver sponsors,” Sherrod says. “It also allows more time for attendees to visit our Bronze sponsors afterward.”

SEPC University educational sessions that will examine the state of agriculture and the “Power of Produce” also have
been scheduled, along with special guests that include:

Stephen Mansfield, New York Times bestselling author, global speaker and coach, speaking at the Southern Roots Women’s Luncheon.
Molly Yeh, American chef, cookbook author and host of Food Network’s “Girl Meets Farm,” appearing at the LINKS (Learning, Interacting and Networking with Key players in the Supply chain) session.
John Maxwell, world-renowned leadership author, speaker and coach, featured at the keynote brunch.

(Photo: Christina Herrick)

Trade Show Preview

SEPC’s trade shows are designed to “provide innovative networking, community and educational experiences while creating an environment for building authentic relationships and increasing the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the Southeast,” Sherrod says.

The buyer-to-seller ratio is the best in the industry, he adds.

“With nearly 700 buyers from over 150 retail chains, foodservice operators and wholesale facilities, produce sellers love to attend Southern Exposure each year,” Sherrod explains. “We’re small enough to know everyone, large enough to reach anyone.”

Here’s a look at some of the exhibitors in attendance this year.

Southern Specialties, Booth No. 403

Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Southern Specialties Inc. is no newcomer to Southern Exposure. The company was among a handful of businesses that exhibited at the first SEPC trade show in Lakeland, Fla., in 2004, says Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development.

“Southern Specialties looks forward to being front and center at Southern Exposure to meet and greet our customers and prospective customers from throughout the country,” he says.

The company plans to showcase its value-added Southern Selects lineup along with products and pack styles for foodservice, retail and club store customers.

“With over 200 SKUs of specialty products, including asparagus, French beans, peas, heirloom tomatoes, avocados, berries, tropical fruits and processed products, we are guaranteed to have something of interest for every customer,” Eagle adds.

Fresh From Florida, Booth No. 308

Representatives from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be available to answer questions at Southern Exposure about the Fresh From Florida retail incentive program, which makes it easier than ever to source and promote Florida produce, says Susie McKinley, marketing and development division director.

“It’s also a fantastic opportunity to meet the people behind the Fresh From Florida brand and find out how we’re working to bring the best of Florida’s farms to your stores,” she says.

The Fresh From Florida team will host a reception of “light bites and drinks” from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Magnolia Room 13-14 at Orlando World Center Marriott on Feb. 26, McKinley says.

And Fresh From Florida souvenirs will be available at its booth.

Pure Flavor, Booth No. 125

Leamington, Ontario-based Pure Flavor will feature its Trio on-the-vine and Cherry Picked tomatoes at Southern Exposure, says Matt Mastronardi, executive vice president.

“Trio on-the-vine is a colorful mix of snacking cherry tomatoes grown in controlled greenhouse conditions for consistent quality, freshness and eye-catching display,” Mastronardi says. “Cherry Picked is a premium medley designed to deliver the same exceptional quality and flavor every time, featuring hand-picked specialty tomatoes — Azuca, Tiki Tomatoes and OMG Tomatoes — selected for bold, naturally sweet flavors and vibrant colors.”

Pure Flavor is a longtime participant in Southern Exposure, Mastronardi says.

“The show allows us to share our latest innovations, gather customer insights and strengthen relationships that support our continued growth and commitment to high-quality produce,” he says.

USA Pears, Booth No. 720

Milwaukie, Ore.-based USA Pears has good reason to participate in Southern Exposure, says Bob Catinella, director
of merchandising.

“It provides a valuable platform for one-on-one meetings with retailers, giving us the opportunity to explore strategic activations designed to increase consumer engagement and drive greater consumption of USA Pears,” he says.

USA Pears has been attending the show for more than 15 years, he says.

This year, the trade organization plans to showcase its new display bins and point-of-sale materials that are designed to elevate visibility and drive engagement at retail.

“Our go-to-market strategy centers on clear, consistent communication that highlights the exceptional flavor, quality and health benefits of USA Pears, helping consumers choose pears with confidence and enthusiasm,” Catinella says.

Ocean Mist Farms, Booth No. 223

Last year at SEPC’s Southern Exposure, Castroville, Calif.-based Ocean Mist Farms unveiled the second phase of its award-winning Roastables ready-to-roast kits, expanding the original line of washed and trimmed Brussels sprouts to include broccoli and cauliflower florets.

This year, Ocean Mist will showcase and sample Roastables alongside its latest innovation, Heartichokes.

“These trimmed and quartered artichokes promise less prep and more possibilities,” says Jeff Hutterer, director of value-added sales. “A true first-of-its-kind item in the marketplace, buzzworthy Heartichokes were recently launched to strong anticipation and excitement.”

Jeff Fulton, vice president of sales and product management, emphasizes the value of in-person connection at shows like SEPC’s Southern Exposure.

“These shows allow us invaluable opportunities to strengthen existing relationships, connect with new partners and engage directly with attendees,” Fulton explains. “We genuinely enjoy the hands-on experience, from cooking up our new innovations booth-side to sharing samples and answering questions.”

Crystal Valley Foods, Booth No. 801

Miami-based Crystal Valley Foods has been exhibiting at SEPC’s Southern Exposure show for eight years and has been attending for much longer, says Katiana Valdes, marketing director.

“It is one of our favorite shows because it is the perfect size to allow for great interaction with customers, potential customers and peers,” she says. “The expo, where we are able showcase our product, is always well attended by buyers from a variety of channels across the country, and we are often able to meet new perspective customers and vendors.”

SEPC also does an excellent job making sure that all parts of the conference, such as the gala and other collaborative and educational events, are a great place to do business, Valdes adds.

Naturipe Farms, Booth No. 313

Southern Exposure presents a “vital opportunity to connect face-to-face with East Coast buyers, retailers and industry partners,” says Jim Roberts, president of Salinas, Calif.-based Naturipe Farms.

The event allows members of the Naturipe team to “showcase the full breadth of the business, including Naturipe Farms, avocados and snacks, while strengthening long-standing relationships and building new ones in a collaborative, relationship-driven environment,” he says.

Naturipe, which has attended the show for about 20 years, will highlight its premium berry lineup, including MightyReds, its biggest and best jumbo strawberries, and Sweet Selections blueberries, which will be arriving from Georgia around the time of the show, Roberts says.

The Naturipe team will also debut its newest innovation, SnackBites, “a flavorful, high-protein snack designed to meet growing demand for convenient, better-for-you options,” he adds.

Bland Farms, Booth No. 106

“Bland Farms has been part of the Southeast Produce Council for more than 15 years, and Southern Exposure continues to be one of the most valuable shows on our calendar,” says CEO Troy Bland.

The quality of engagement sets this show apart from others, he says.

“The ratio of retailers and foodservice buyers to exhibitors is exceptional, which creates real opportunities for meaningful conversations, not just quick handshakes,” he says.

Southern Exposure consistently delivers strong ROI for the company, Bland says, but more importantly, it strengthens the partnerships that drive long term success.

“It’s definitely a must-attend event each year,” he says.

This year, Bland Farms will showcase its upcoming Vidalia sweet onion crop, its premium sweet onions and its Sand Candy sweetpotatoes.

“We’ll also share updates on several investments, from our expanded refrigeration facility to new laser weeders for our organic program, and our growing partnership with Weber grills,” Bland says.

Robinson Fresh, Booth No. 202

Robinson Fresh, part of Eden Prairie, Minn.-based C.H. Robinson, will show off some tropical products — such as mangoes, limes and avocados — as well as grapes, dry vegetables and watermelons at Southern Exposure, says Jose Rossignoli, president.

“SEPC provides an important opportunity to connect with industry peers and our customers to share insights, exchange ideas and explore the challenges and opportunities that are shaping the future of the fresh produce landscape,” Rossignoli says.

“SEPC is a great forum to showcase our end-to-end integrated approach, demonstrate our commitment to the fresh industry and engage with the people and companies helping define the future of produce,” he adds.

Duda Farms Fresh Foods, Booth No. 107

This year’s Southern Exposure will be especially meaningful for Salinas, Calif.-based Duda Farm Fresh Foods, because the company is celebrating its 100^th anniversary, “a milestone that reflects our dedication to quality, innovation and service,” says Nichole Towell, senior director of marketing and innovation.

The company will feature two of its signature offerings — fresh-cut celery and tray-pack corn — products that highlight Duda’s focus on convenience, flavor and freshness for consumers, Towell says.

Duda exhibits at Southern Exposure because the show embodies Southern hospitality for the produce industry, she says.

“From the very beginning, we’ve been both an exhibitor and a sponsor, and this show continues to stand out as one of the leading regional events that brings together key retail partners and industry professionals,” she says.

“It’s more than a trade show; it’s a place to connect, collaborate and celebrate the shared commitment to fresh produce,” Towell says.

Topline Farms, Booth No. 117

Southern Exposure is an important opportunity for Leamington-based Topline Farms to connect with industry partners and “engage in meaningful conversations that support long-term growth across the produce sector in the Southeast,” says Dino DiLaudo, senior vice president sales and marketing.

This year, the company will highlight continued expansion of its greenhouse tomato portfolio, with a focus on roma and heirloom tomatoes, two of the fastest-growing segments in the category.

“Recent investments in advanced, LED-lit greenhouse production have strengthened our ability to deliver consistent flavor, freshness and shelf life at scale,” he says.

“We look forward to connecting with partners to share insights, explore category opportunities and discuss how sustainably grown greenhouse produce can complement regional programs and support fresh produce consumption across the Southeast,” DiLaudo adds.

Red Sun Farms, Booth No. 105

Red Sun Farms, Kingsville, Ontario, plans to present recent advancements from its Chef Collection relaunch, along with updates on its strawberry genetics and breeding programs at Southern Exposure, says Harold Paivarinta, vice president of sales and business development.

“Customers will gain insight into how key varieties have progressed since our last discussions at Southern Innovations, including improvements in flavor, yield performance and consistency,” he says.

The company also will highlight ongoing varietal development and evaluation across the tomato portfolio, he adds.

“Southern Exposure serves as a key forum for the fresh produce industry, enabling collaboration across the supply chain,” Paivarinta explains. “The event facilitates technical dialogue on innovation, supports data-driven discussions with customers and peers and offers educational sessions focused on market trends, consumer insights and emerging technologies shaping the future of fresh produce production.”

APHIS Expands Mexican Fruit Fly Quarantine in Texas

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:57:21 GMT

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) established a Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens) quarantine in Peñitas, Hidalgo County, Texas, on Dec. 12.

On Dec.16, APHIS and TDA expanded the La Feria Mexfly quarantine in Cameron County, Texas.

APHIS and TDA established the Peñitas quarantine in response to a confirmed detection on Dec. 4 of one Mexfly larva in a sour orange collected on a residential property in Peñitas. The quarantine encompasses approximately 53.2 square miles with 223.3 acres of commercial citrus.

APHIS and TDA expanded the La Feria quarantine following the confirmed detection on Dec. 12 of one Mexfly larva in a grapefruit collected in a commercial grove in La Feria. This action expanded the quarantine by 46.71 square miles and includes 139.35 acres of additional commercial citrus. The amended quarantine encompasses approximately 124.2 square miles with 970.6 acres of commercial citrus.

APHIS says it applies safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of Mexfly to non-infested areas of the U.S., as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS says it is working with TDA to eradicate these transient Mexfly populations following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.

The APHIS Exotic Fruit Flies website contains descriptions and maps of all current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas.

Catalytic Generators and QA Supplies Sponsor Fruit Ripening and Quality Management Workshop

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 19:32:16 GMT

Catalytic Generators, a ripening solution company along with its sister company QA Supplies, will sponsor the upcoming 2026 Fruit Ripening and Quality Management Workshop. Held at the Southeast Fruit and Vegetable Conference , on Jan. 8–9 in Savannah, Ga., this is an updated East Coast version of the renowned Fruit Ripening and Ethylene Management Workshop originally developed by the University of California, Davis.

Catalytic Generators says the workshop will deliver essential insights for produce professionals seeking to enhance fruit quality and operational efficiency.

Designed for shippers, fruit handlers, wholesale and retail produce managers and other stakeholders in the fresh produce supply chain, the program will address critical topics in fruit ripening and quality management. Participants will explore strategies to minimize losses, optimize ripening processes and deliver superior, ready-to-eat products to consumers.

Sessions will cover advancements in ripening, facility design, temperature management, maturity assessment and technological innovations, fostering networking opportunities and hands-on demonstrations among industry experts.

“Catalytic Generators and QA Supplies are thrilled to support this workshop, which aligns seamlessly with our commitment to advancing postharvest technologies that ensure the highest standards of produce quality and safety,” says Greg Akins, president and CEO of Catalytic Generators and QA Supplies. “By sponsoring this event, we aim to empower attendees with the knowledge and tools to implement effective ripening programs and ensure optimum retail quality, which ultimately drives profitability.”

UNFI Canada Produce Division Sold

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 20:03:46 GMT

FDP Group, a distributor of organic and conventional produce in Canada, has purchased UNFI Canada Produce division.

FDP Group includes Fresh Direct Produce Ltd., Emperor Specialty Foods Ltd., Islands West Produce Ltd, and Yen Bros Ltd. The company serves grocery retailers and foodservice customers across the country with more than 2,000 produce items sourced from more than 36 countries.

The company says the move ushers in a new chapter for the company and Fresh Direct Produce as the acquisition will broaden its selection of fresh, high-quality produce while strengthening its position within the organic market. Fresh Direct Produce has two Distribution Centers in Western Canada with one in Vancouver, British Columbia and one in Calgary, Alberta. FDP Group also has distribution centers in Edmonton and Victoria.

The company says it plans to expand its global partnerships to better serve its customers.

“This strategic acquisition will further increase our ability to service and meet the needs of our organic customers across Western Canada,” says Adri De Wet, group president for FDP Group. “UNFI Produce has an extensive history, and we will continue to uphold their dedication to the organic category.”

How Syngenta’s New Insecticide Active Ingredient Will Benefit Specialty Crop Growers

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:12:45 GMT

The EPA recently approved the registration of Syngenta’s newest active ingredient, Plinazolin, which it has introduced into five new insecticides, three labeled for vegetables, tree fruit and onions.

The products released are part of a new mode of action in IRAC Group 30, which is a new class of chemistries for specialty crops.

The new products for specialty crops include:

Vertento
Incipio
Zivalgo

“This is a product that we have been waiting on for a number of years,” Chris Clemens, agronomy services manager at Syngenta, says of Vertento.

The company says it has spent the past 12 years in research and development and conducted more than 3,000 trials in the U.S. on Plinazolin. The global agricultural science and technology company says growers will be able to deploy the specific insecticides that use Plinazolin in 2026.

New Solution for Onion Growers

Labeled for onions, Vertento is a foliar-applied insecticide for thrips and mites.

“Thrips are a rasping, sucking pest, where they walk up and down the leaf and they scrape on the leaf, and it interferes with the production of chlorophyll, and overall, leads to lower yields,” Clemens says.

He says Vertento offers growers a new mode of action in IRAC Group 30. He says Syngenta has trialed the product in New York, Michigan, Georga, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and has seen excellent performance.

Clemens says this is a much-needed introduction for onion growers who have limited tools against thrips, as there could be potential resistance against existing products on the market. He says another important point is that Vertento shows no cross-resistance to older compounds, as it is a new mode of action.

“Having a new mode of action for a pest that requires anywhere from three to six or more applications is critically important to the industry so that we can preserve the life of those previous insecticides that have been around that we want to keep them effective,” he says.

Shown are untreated broccoli with diamondback moth damage and treated broccoli with two applications of Incipio.

(Image courtesy of Syngenta)

New Solution for Vegetables

Brassica, leafy, fruiting vegetable and cucurbit growers have a new tool in Incipio. Clemens says brassica growers will see a big benefit to deploying Incipio against diamondback moth.

“Diamondback moth has become a particularly difficult insect to control in brassicas, and it’s a similar situation that we have with Vertento and thrips and onions in that we don’t have as many tools as we used to have,” he says. “The new IRAC group 30 mode of action and its inherent efficacy against diamondback moth is going to make it an excellent new tool.”

Clemens says Syngenta has trialed Incipio in Arizona and California and has seen excellent results.

“We have done a lot of trial work in Arizona and California, where the length of control and the overall performance within Incipio is improved versus some of the old standards that include the IRAC group 28 and pyrethroids and other insecticides out there. … We’ve got confirmed resistance in California and Arizona, and growers have unfortunately seen much less efficacy with any of the products that contain chlorantraniliprole,” he says.

Clemens says along with federal registration, several states have also registered Incipio. He says along with diamondback moth, Incipio also offers effective control of western flower thrips.

Shown are potatoes untreated showing Colorado potato beetle damage compared to a crop treated with Zivalgo.

(Image courtesy of Syngenta)

New Solution for Fruit, Potato Growers

Syngenta has tested its Zivalgo foliar insecticide for many years with university and private contractors in the Pacific Northwest, Clemens says. In pome fruit, Zivalgo has shown good control for many pests.

“We’ve seen excellent performance against coddling moth, oblique banded leafroller, which is another lepidopteran pest that comes early in the year,” he says. “Excellent efficacy on mites, including European red mite and two spotted spider mites, and then also thrips as well, and all of those are pests and apples in pears, where we have an industry that relies heavily on insecticide applications for managing pear psyllid and we’ve seen excellent control there as well.”

Zivalgo is also labeled for citrus for control against thrips.

“Zivalgo has performed really well on thrips and citrus and trials in California over the last several years, very much, like with Vertento, we’re down to a limited number of efficacious insecticides that still remain,” Clemens says. “Over the last two years, working in the San Joaquin Valley, the best performer by far has been Zivalgo, at the high rate there, against the other competitors that are out there.”

And Zivalgo is also labeled for broad-spectrum control of Colorado potato beetles.

“The performance and activity that we’ve seen with Zivalgo on Colorado potato beetle is just outstanding,” he says. “We’ve tested it for several years against a number of different competitors under extraordinarily high pressure, and the clear winner in potato foliage protection has been with Zivalgo each of the last two years. So, excellent control there, even under extreme pressure.”

Innovation and the Younger Shopper: Seen and Heard at the 2025 New York Produce Show

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:48:52 GMT

NEW YORK — The 2025 New York Produce Show at the Javits Center, Dec. 2-4, offered a look at what’s new and next, featuring an array of innovation aimed to appeal to the coveted younger produce shopper, vibrant commodity campaigns, labor-saving solutions for retail and foodservice, and much more.

Fresh-Cut That Caters

Baldor’s Ryan Nelson showcased the company’s fresh-cut foodservice and retail solutions.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Easing labor challenges for its retail and foodservice customers is just one aim of Baldor’s value-added cut fruit and veg program that can be customized to the needs of each operation.

“The program is labor- and yield-saving with great shelf-life,” says Baldor’s Ryan Nelson. Whether it’s 50 pounds of peeled onions, pineapple chunks and spears, or fresh-cut mangoes with high sugar content, Baldor is listening to the needs of chef and retail customers and delivering what they need most, he says.

Baldor employs a team of 250 people focused on “cutting the highest quality produce,” says Nelson, adding the company continues to grow both the retail and foodservice sides of its business.

“Demand for quality is so strong in independent markets,” he says. “We want to take the same catered customer experience [available in] restaurants and give it to retail.”

Like Melon for Water

Shown from left, Katie Manetti, Juliemar Rosado and Stephanie Barlow discuss the importance of promoting watermelon year-round.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Watermelon isn’t just for the summer, says the National Watermelon Promotion Board’s Juliemar Rosado.

To encourage consumption, the board promotes seasonal recipes year-round and goes deep on nutrition and hydration in the winter months, she says. The board plans to launch a fitness and nutrition promotion in January.

And when it comes to reducing food waste and maximizing produce dollar spend, the board wants to remind consumers that the entire watermelon is edible, including the rind.

Video and Chill

Mark Smith and Christine Hofmann showcase the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market’s new booth, where attendees could watch the market’s new promotional video.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market brought its new booth and video to the New York Produce Show, where Chilly Philly was on hand for photo ops to remind the fresh produce industry that the market is “fully closed and fully refrigerated, because produce is No. 1,” says Christine Hofmann.

Walnuts Take a Crack at Snacktime

Mariani Nut Co.’s Darryl Bollack talked walnut snacking at NYPS.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

The walnut industry’s efforts to get the word out about walnut nutrition and snackability are showing signs of success.

“Consumption of walnuts has nearly doubled in the last five years,” says Darryl Bollack of Mariani Nut Co., pointing to the nut’s nutrition credentials, including omega-3s, antioxidants, fiber and nutrients, as reasons for heightened consumer engagement.

Aiming to fuel this trend, Mariani has launched a kettle-cooked walnut snacking line in three varieties: Walnuts with a Touch of Maple; Walnuts with Honey and Sea Salt; and Walnuts with a Touch of Cinnamon.

All three contain 3 grams of sugar or less, says Bollack.

It’s a Date!

Joolies’ Amanda Sains-Harris sampled Date Pops, while discussing date nutrition and noshing trends at NYPS.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Joolies is expanding retail penetration of its flavorful Date Pops snacking innovation, says Amanda Sains-Harris. It just launched nationally in Whole Foods Market and is a recent addition in Hy-Vee stores and The Fresh Market.

“Snacking is such a great way to bring the consumer into dates,” says Sains-Harris, who sampled Joolies Date Pops, Date & Nut Energy Bites in four varieties: Cinnamon Bun, Lemon Bar, Brownie, and Peanut Butter Jelly.

Joolies offers merchandising units for retail that feature a number of packaging options including organic pouches and retail tubs for a one-stop shop for dates.

Sains-Harris says retailers are taking notice.

“We’ve had retailers come to us and say, ‘I’m so embarrassed that I don’t have you in my store yet,’” she says.

“It’s been fun to watch this brand grow up,” she adds.

Sains-Harris says the younger generations “really love the brand.”

Millennials and Gen Z, who are having children, are also discovering dates as part of prenatal care, she adds.

Salad Kit Sneak Peek

Caitlin Tierney showcased innovation and versatility at Fresh Express.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Fresh Express offered a sneak peek of its latest innovation set to debut in March 2026: chopped salad kits in four varieties, including Zesty Hawaiian Crunch with macadamia nuts; Tropical Mango Crunch with roasted cashews; Creamy Mushroom Caesar; and Italian Herb & Parmesan.

The innovative kits with unexpected ingredients are designed to appeal to the Gen Z shopper segment that “we all need,” says Caitlin Tierney of Fresh Express.

The brand is also using its partnership with Chef Giovanni, who has over 50 million followers — many of whom are younger consumers — to reach Gen Z and millennial shoppers.

“And our salad kits are not just for salads,” adds Tierney. “They can be sauteed for tacos, nachos or unique recipes that make younger shoppers more curious.”

Prized Potatoes

From left, Idaho Potato Commission’s Matt Zapczynski, Ross Johnson and Matt Brigotti donned ugly sweaters and holiday spirit to talk Potato Lover’s Month at the NYPS.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

It was all about Potato Lover’s Month at the Idaho Potato Commission’s booth, where Ross Johnson and the team showed off this year’s retailer prize: a mobile 4K projector.

Every store that participates in the merchandising contest for Potato Lover’s Month will receive a projector, says Johnson, adding that more than 2,000 stores typically participate each year.

Apples in the Big Apple

Cynthia Haskins and Laurie Delong discuss what’s next for the New York Apple Association in the new year.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Cynthia Haskins says this time of year the New York Apple Association is promoting apples as part of holiday entertaining — think charcuterie boards, fruit plates, baking and snacking. But come the new year, NYAA will roll out its new health and nutrition blog on its website as well as a new monthly newsletter that will tout a different apple variety in each edition, she says.

“We’ll also be working more with registered dietitians after the new year,” says Haskins. “We’re developing a good portfolio of RDs who will serve as spokespeople.”

The RDs will also create content for the health and nutrition blog as well as assist with recipe development, another area of focus for NYAA, she says.

The association currently offers more than 300 recipes on its website that range from the healthy to the indulgent, says Haskins, who adds that with scores of consumers visiting its website each year, the association will continue to enhance its digital offerings.

Citrus Gets Colorful Brand Refresh

Anna O’Brien and Angela Hernandez show off Trinity Fruit Co.’s rebranded Buddies citrus line.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Trinity Fruit Co. highlighted its rebranded Buddies citrus line. Everything in the portfolio including lemons, easy-peel mandarins, blood oranges, minneolas and more has been rebranded in colorful, kid-friendly packaging, says Trinty Fruit’s Angela Hernandez.

What’s Hot and Cool in Specialty

Luxury produce offerings and more were on display at the Melissa’s Produce booth at NYPS.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

The team at Melissa’s talked hot trends and cool new products for all, especially the highly desirable under-40-year-old consumer who wants more organics, time-saving solutions and super-premium choices.

Luxury offerings included Royal Vine Grapes at $375 a case, $395 pineapples and a Lunar New Year lucky red gift box filled with super-premium offerings.

Inspired by the Dubai chocolate-pistachio trend, Melissa’s also featured Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Caramel apples.

Other specialty items on display included kishu mandarins; murasaki potatoes; tree-ripened mangoes; Dutch Yellow potatoes; and baby yams, which the Melissa’s team says have seen a “huge uptick in sales.”

SNAP Cuts Impact Brighter Bites

Brighter Bites’ Melanie Button shared details on the organization’s recent silent auction that closed Dec. 5.

(Photo: Jennifer Strailey)

Brighter Bites showcased silent auction items to raise much-needed funds in the wake of $4 million in budget cuts.

“We lost 40% of our budget due to the federal SNAP cuts,” says Brighter Bites’ Melanie Button. “And we’re still serving hundreds of thousands of families a year.”

Auction items included everything from a golf experience with Bruce Taylor of Taylor Farms to an Indy 500 experience with Tanimura & Antle to wines from Produce Business founder Jim Prevor’s private collection.

“We’re working to make sure families have access to produce who wouldn’t otherwise,” Button says of the fruits and vegetables Brighter Bites distributes exclusively through schools.

About the organization’s food access through schools, Button says: “We wanted to go where people were, especially in this moment of rising food costs.”

Peterson Brands Boosts Fresh Produce Beverage Portfolio

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:49:36 GMT

Peterson Brands, a provider of fruit and vegetable beverages, has acquired Akron, Ohio-based Country Pure Foods , a producer of portioned and multi-serve juices, plant-based beverages and frozen novelties.

Peterson Brands, a part of Peterson Family Farms of Companies, says this acquisition strengthens its position in key beverage categories and expands its presence in retail and foodservice markets.

Country Pure Foods operates multiple manufacturing facilities across the U.S., including locations in Akron, Ohio; Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.; Ellington, Conn.; and DeLand, Fla.

With this addition, Country Pure Foods brings a broad portfolio of brands, including Ardmore Farms, SideKicks, VBlend, FUN!, VitaMost, and Glacier Valley, along with extensive private label and co-manufacturing capabilities. Peterson Brands says Country Pure Foods serves a diverse customer base in K-12 schools, healthcare, restaurants and retail, providing beverage solutions that meet evolving nutritional and menu needs.

“Country Pure Foods’ product expertise, channel strength and long-standing customer relationships make them a natural addition to our organization,” says Aaron Peterson, chief executive officer of the Peterson Farms Family of Companies. “Together, we will expand our ability to deliver high-quality, innovative beverage solutions to customers nationwide.”

Peterson Brands says this addition also enhances its manufacturing and distribution capabilities and during this integration period, day-to-day operations at Country Pure Foods will continue without immediate changes. The companies say the operations will work together to ensure a smooth transition for employees, customers and partners.

“This acquisition represents a long-term investment in people, capabilities and innovation,” Peterson says. “We look forward to combining the strengths of both companies to create new opportunities for the customers and communities we serve.”

Peterson Brands, which operates within the broader Peterson Farms Family of Companies, is headquartered in Shelby, Mich., and also includes Peterson Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Fresh, Lakewood Organic, and Fresh Innovations California. Collectively, the family of companies serves retail, foodservice, K-12 and industrial markets across processed fruit, fresh-cut produce, branded beverages, organic juices and functional nutrition.

Produce Gets Political: NYPS Panel Discussion Examines the State of Trade

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:08:00 GMT

NEW YORK CITY — The New York Produce Show’s Global Trade Symposium on Dec. 2, explored the many challenges facing the North American fresh produce industry during a “Politics and Produce” panel discussion, moderated by Tom Stenzel of The Stenzel Group.

“The No. 1 issue that we’ve all been dealing with is the tariff issue in the United States this year, since President [Donald] Trump issued ‘Liberation Day’ back in the spring and imposed a 10% tariff on the world. How has that affected you or your constituents?” Stenzel asked the panel.

“It has definitely impacted us,” says Jessie Capote, executive vice president of J&C Tropicals. “Margins are down.”

Capote says J&C absorbed the 10% rather than pass it on to its customers.

“At the end of the day, the two most important stakeholders at J&C Tropicals are our growers and the consumer, and most of our decisions are based on the long-term success for both of those groups,” Capote says. “We didn’t think [passing along the additional cost] was the right thing to do long term.”

Tariff and trade wars have created a rocky road for Canada-U.S. relations. When the U.S. imposed tariffs on Canada, our neighbors to the north imposed retaliatory 25% tariffs on U.S. goods.

“That was a very contentious discussion, especially for citrus, tomatoes, peaches and a few other commodities, and they were removed in August,” says Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association. “But it really showed the dynamic of negotiations and how countries react to the administration in the U.S., and how the downward pressure, pressure from politicians, is truly impacting how businesses need to act.”

The impact of tariffs is broader than what’s been placed on fresh fruits and vegetables, Lemaire says. It’s also tariffs on materials from China used in creating produce packaging and more.

“The first thing we did when Trump won is we went out and pre-bought all of our chemicals, because we said, ‘he’s going to hammer China,’ said John Pandol of Pandol Bros. “A lot of our inputs went up. I bought them for last year, so with the crop I just finished, I had last year’s cost.”

But that $5 million was working capital “that’s not working,” Pandol says.

Fernando Cruz Morales of Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agricolas, a Mexican consulting group that analyzes the fresh produce market, says if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is abandoned and 25% tariffs are imposed on produce from Mexico, prices will soar and supplies will be disrupted.

“GCMA has run some numbers in economic models, and we find that the prices of fresh produce in the United States will increase 30%, and the total production of Mexico will decrease around 12%, and the total amount of exports from Mexico to the United States in Canada will probably decrease around 35%,” he says.

Washington apple grower Chuck Zeutenhorst of FirstFruits Farms looked at tariffs from the lens of the exporter.

“Obviously the USMCA piece is a big deal, but we are up against tariffing,” he says, noting that the U.S. apple industry exports to 40 to 50 different countries with Mexico and Canada, its two largest trading partners.

“In other producing countries, it’s not a level or a fair playing field,” he says. “Many times, other countries are going in with apples that have no tariff whatsoever.”

Zeutenhorst says the apple industry took a hit when the first Trump administration imposed steel and aluminum tariffs and countries including India and China retaliated.

“During Trump one, those tariffs basically took China and India out of our opportunities because their retaliation tariffs were so large that we couldn’t afford to go in there,” he says.

U.S. and Canada Produce Relations

Recent tensions around tariffs and trade and Trump referring to Canada as the 51^st state drove many Canadians to eschew products, including produce, from the U.S.

“Three in five Canadians in February of last year were not going to buy U.S. products,” Lemaire says. “We’ve never seen the Canadian perspective consolidate and gel like we have since President Trump, and that has truly driven behaviors. Right now, 63% of Canadians still feel the increased cost of food is due to the U.S. administration and its tariff strategy.”

Lemaire says the diversity of trade channels have already changed. Canada is now purchasing high volumes of Australian, Morroccan and Spanish citrus, for example.

“There’s a massive shift in behaviors of buying because of what we’ve seen in play,” he says.

But Lemaire says things are calming down.

“We’re down to about a third of Canadians saying they will avoid or make a choice depending on price or other factors, on U.S. products,” he adds. “So we’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but it all comes back to a perspective of, how do we work with each other in North America? And it will take time to rebuild.”

The California wine industry has also been impacted by trade wars with Canada, as Lemaire says Canada has banned the sale of U.S. wines in Canada.

The Packer spoke with Lemaire following the panel discussion to learn more.

“What really happened in Canada was a patriotism that grew out of comments from the administration; that really drove behaviors to look at buying anything but American,” Lemaire says. “And on top of that, within the provincial framework, the provinces are responsible for our liquor control boards and purchasing and selling and importation of liquor around the country, and they made decisions actually to pull U.S. product off the shelf because of tariff discussions, because of the trade discussions. And that was a political move at a provincial level, and it’s caused significant impact to the U.S. wine industry.”

As for fresh produce, Lemaire says progress is being made.

“When we look at fresh produce, Canadians are starting to shift their behaviors, with about 31% that are looking at buying U.S. product, where you have 69% saying, ‘You know what, I will either avoid or not buy U.S. product.’ Now that is down from well over 70% at the beginning of the administration, when everything was heating up. So, the good thing is, we’re seeing trending away from behaviors that are really not sustainable long term when we look at the importance of our integrated market in Canada.

“But there’s a lot of work to do to try and regain the trust of Canadians on the U.S. commodity markets as well as U.S. products in general,” he continues. “Our work’s cut out for us, but it’s important that we drive forward together to try and find solutions, because without an integrated North American market, the only losers are the consumer.”

As we approach the July 2026 six-year review of USMCA, how are Canadians feeling?

“If we see a real turbulent negotiation that Canadians feel their backs are being placed against the wall, it’s not going to help the entire perspective on purchasing U.S. products,” Lemaire says. “But right now, especially around food, we’re seeing alignment between philosophies, especially within the U.S. state officials and also the Mexican government. And we’re very hopeful that as we move forward, we’re going to see a strategy and clarity around the trade discussion within USMCA and hopefully build on that so that Canadians will be buying strawberries and citrus out of the U.S. and happily consuming them.”

The SF Market Rescues 10M Pounds of Fresh Produce

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:17:01 GMT

The SF Market, a wholesale produce market occupying a 25-acre campus in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood, recently marked a major milestone. It has recovered and donated 10 million pounds of fresh produce through its food recovery program.

The program, which continues to recover and donate an incredible 4,000 pounds of produce a day from its 20 merchants is a success in large part because of Carolyn Lasar, food recovery project manager.

“[We] started in 2016 and built up from just a few of the merchants here, and over a fairly short amount of time, we managed to get everybody on board, and so we’ve been capturing about a million pounds a year since then and still going strong,” Lasar says.

Carolyn Lasar, food recovery project manager, puts all the fresh produce she has available to donate into a text to communicate with nonprofits each day.

(Photo by Jennifer Strailey)

Lasar works with the merchants in the campus’ six warehouses Monday through Friday, looking for surplus produce that’s of good quality that can be donated to nonprofit organizations in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

“To my knowledge we’re the only wholesale produce market in the country that has its own food recovery program with its own staff,” says Michael Janis, general manager of The SF Market. “We’ve really leaned into a lot of our community work, and the piece that we’re most proud of is our food recovery program.”

Coordinating food for rescue at The SF Market is in many ways a one-woman show and a fast-paced one at that.

“I am the one person who works for food recovery here,” Lasar says. “So, I start at 6 in the morning, which is the end of the workday for our merchants, and I contact each one of them, first by text and also in person to find out what they have available.

“By 7 o’clock, I put together a list of everything that I have available from the whole market, and it’s a very low-tech operation,” Lasar continues. “I work with a notebook, a mechanical pencil, so I can erase if I need to. And I work with a phone, so I put everything into a text, and I send that text out of what’s available to each one of the nonprofits that we work with that day.”

Lazar works with nearly 20 nonprofits from food pantries to cooking kitchens to home delivery to get a variety of fresh produce to people in need.

“All of this has to take place and finish up, pick up by 8:30 in the morning, because the market closes, the merchants close their doors,” she says. “We can’t leave anything on the docks. So, between 6 and 8 or 8:30 — that’s the whole operation of everything in the morning. It happens pretty rapid fire.”

The SF Market, which serves as a kind of connector between rural and urban California, supplies San Franciso’s diverse population with some 180 types of produce a year.

Lasar says part of the beauty of The SF Market’s food recovery program is that its merchants donate “just about anything that you could find in the produce business anywhere.” Case in point: this beautiful purple cauliflower perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday.

(Photo by Jennifer Strailey)

“We do have all the typical commodities, but we also have a huge variety of what you might call specialty items,” Lasar says. “We have every kind of Asian green that you can imagine. And then we also have daikon and ginger and green garlic, onions and garlic chives and regular garlic and every kind of herb you could think of. And this time of year, we’re starting to get local citrus — different kinds of mandarins and other kinds of oranges, lemons, limes, pomelos and blood oranges.”

The donation of specialty, seasonal produce has tremendous value to The SF Market’s food redistribution partners who serve ethnically and culturally diverse populations, Janis says.

“We have found that our community partners really value this variety because they’re able to have product that they typically couldn’t have for their meals or for their boxes or for their pantries,” he says. “It’s become a really important part of their programs, which is very humbling for us and our merchants.”

The SF Market’s food recovery program is so popular, Lasar says there’s a waiting list of community organizations hoping to receive fresh produce.

“The demand is definitely up,” Lasar says. “It’s certainly up from COVID days, people think things must have gotten better since then, absolutely not. The demand is increasing — ever increasing.”

St. Louis Distributors Gear Up for Holiday Demand

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:42:47 GMT

Produce distributors in the St. Louis market offer hundreds of items and are already preparing to take on some traditional holiday favorites.

Vaccaro & Sons

Business was healthy at Vaccaro & Sons Produce on the St. Louis Produce Market Inc. in early November, “but it’s flattening out, just like it normally does at this time of the year,” says Dale Vaccaro, general manager. He was hopeful sales would experience a bump for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

Vaccaro & Sons stocks about 300 items at this time of year, but tomatoes are the firm’s bestsellers.

The company has 25 to 30 different kinds of tomatoes, Vaccaro says, including romas, brown tomatoes, Sapori, Campari and Flavor Bombs.

“Romas are the most economical tomato there is,” he says. “They’re versatile, and you can use the whole tomato.”

Midwest Best

St. Louis-based Midwest Best Produce Co. Inc. has brought back its Mighty

Melon watermelon label and added a unique touch to its fall pumpkin program.

The company has long shipped watermelons under its Midwest Best label, says Edin Saric, owner and president, but this year the firm reinstated the Mighty Melon label it used about eight years ago.

“We wanted to add a second label to our watermelon line — something that stood out and attracted consumers’ attention, other than just our company logo,” he says.

“We ultimately would like to push the Mighty Melon label as our go-to label” and eventually use the label for other items the company offers, he says.

The company has no plans to discontinue the Midwest Best label, however.

The firm sources watermelons from seven U.S. states from April to October and from Mexico during the fall and winter.

Midwest Best also expanded its fall heirloom and white pumpkin program.

“People are buying pumpkins of different colors or shapes to make more creative displays for their homes,” Saric says.

St. Louis-based Midwest Best Produce Inc. sources watermelons from seven U.S. states and Mexico at various times of the year, says Edin Saric, owner and president. The company has brought back its Mighty Melon label for melons and may later extend it to some other commodities, Saric says.

(Photo courtesy of Midwest Best Produce Inc.)

Midstate Produce

Midstate Produce Co. Inc. on the St. Louis market has undergone a warehouse expansion project, says Joe Sanders, owner and president.

“We took 5,000 square feet of old, original units that were inefficient, tore them down and reconfigured the space,” he says.

The new cooler can store any kind of produce at 42°F.

The project will allow for more space and efficiency and help ensure the cold chain is properly maintained, he says.

Midstate Produce ships a full line of products, which includes salads, lettuces and tomatoes.

As fall progresses, offerings will include items like hard and soft squash, cabbage and potatoes. For Thanksgiving and the holidays, sweetpotatoes, celery, cranberries and seasonal citrus are set to take center stage.

The company brokers organic produce but does not store it in-house.

“There’s a need [for organic], but not a big need,” Sanders says.

He adds that he’s thought about acquiring certification to store organic produce at the facility and that might happen in the upcoming year.

Place of Origin

Although Vaccaro & Sons Produce still had some local products, like cabbage, kale and spinach in early November, supplies will dwindle after the first freeze, most likely by late November, Vaccaro says.

Midstate Produce tries to procure local items like potatoes, onions, greens, cabbages squash and pumpkins during the fall, Sanders says.

“Over the winter, we try to keep that going as long as we can,” he says.

The company sources product during this time of year from growing areas in Arizona, California, Florida, the Northeast, the Northwest and Canada, Sanders says.

Midwest Best sources tomatoes from Florida; beans and corn from Georgia; apples from southern Illinois; and vegetables like lettuce, cauliflower and celery from California, Saric says.

That program was scheduled to move Arizona for the winter shortly.

Oppy Bolsters Service Capabilities with New Calgary Facility

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 19:39:08 GMT

Vancouver, B.C.-based Oppy says it has expanded its capabilities and strengthened its commitment to Western Canada with a new office and warehouse facility in south Calgary. The grower, marketer and distributor of fresh produce says this addition will bolster its service capabilities across Canada’s Prairies.

“We identified a unique opportunity in this market to grow as a service provider focusing on distribution in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba,” says Stewart Lapage, vice president of supply chain and logistics with Oppy.

Oppy says this new location is double the size of its previous Calgary facility and is in response to its continued business growth and increasing demand for value-added logistic solutions. The company says it wants to increase its distribution in the Prairies by more than 200%, through both volume growth in its core categories as well as an increase in its specialty services offerings to its logistics customers.

This new office and warehouse facility features state-of-the-art packing lines, bagging equipment and specialized ripening and grading technologies to support a wide range of produce. Oppy says its new coolers, racking and floor plans allow for greater operational efficiencies.

And while Oppy says it packs and inventories hundreds of different products at the Calgary location, it sees the most growth in its kiwifruit, citrus and avocado categories.

As a cold service and value-added hub, the company says this Calgary location will serve Alberta as well as Western Canada for Oppy.

“It was the natural progression for our business,” Lapage says. “With Oppy recently integrating Dole Diversified North America into its business, we have access to expanded supply lines that will be a perfect fit for our customers here in Western Canada.”

The facility also features LED lighting for energy efficiency, EV chargers in parking lots, motion-controlled lighting to help support Oppy’s broader sustainability and innovation goals, with the capacity to invest in future automation technologies as well.

The company says it has added nearly a half a dozen new team members in Calgary and will add six more roles in the future as it scales its logistics and third-party service offerings. Oppy says this new Calgary location also supports the growth of its Oppy Transport, which has expanded to meet a growing demand for storage and distribution services.

“This space is a physical expression of our promise to grow in step with the Prairies and invest in long-term partnerships across the region,” says John Anderson, chairman, CEO and managing partner of Oppy. “Oppy is committed to evolving with our customers’ needs and finding new ways to deliver excellence across the supply chain.”

Weather Dominates in California’s Winter Desert Vegetables

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 23:34:41 GMT

The “cool” in “cool-season crops” means something different when it comes to California’s deserts in winter.

For example, winter highs average 69°F to 80°F from December through March in the Palm Desert of southeastern California. Lows average 45°F to 54°F during the same time. In the more arid southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley, winter highs usually average 60°F to 71°F and winter lows average 41°F to 46°F.

Garret Powell, general manager of sales at Peter Rabbit Farms, likens California’s deserts in winter to summers for most of the rest of the country’s farming regions.

“Sunny days and cool nights create an ideal growing region for wintertime,” he says.

Speaking specifically of the Coachella Valley, where Peter Rabbit has been a seasonal grower of bell peppers, leafy greens, and eggplant for 75 years now, Powell adds that there is little rain and ample available water in the form of reliable aquifers.

“It means that we’re able to grow all sorts of vegetables here,” he says.

Steve Adlesh, director of sales and marketing of Beachside Produce, describes California winter desert growing as an essential element for any company that wants to provide vegetables to customers year-round. Powell similarly describes the time and place as the natural transition point for growers and distributors that grow in Mexico and South America in early spring and elsewhere in the U.S. in summer.

For cool-season vegetable crops like broccoli, cauliflower, celery, Brussels sprouts, cilantro and kale, the unique winter climate of California’s deserts is beneficial, Adlesh adds.

“Those have to be in a climate where you’re not going to have much rain, and in the desert region, there’s really little to no rain during December, January and February,” he says.

Weather is Everything in the Desert

Despite being essential to a year-round vegetable strategy, winter growing in California’s deserts comes with potentially unexpected weather-related challenges.

“The thing we worry about in the desert are the freezes and freezing temperatures,” Adlesh explains. “It can get into the 20s when you get into late November to late December.”

While most cool-season crops can tolerate a freeze, it results in logistical difficulties.

“[A freeze] curtails the harvest because you have to let the produce, especially the lettuces, thaw out before you can harvest them, or you damage the tissue, and it’s just no good for the customer,” Adlesh says. “If you have ice in the morning and you can’t start harvesting until 11, obviously the production is going to decline and there’s going to be a lack of supply. So that can be a deal breaker if we have a really cold, cold winter.”

However, this winter looks like it will potentially be warmer than usual. In early October, the National Weather Service announced a weak La Niña condition , which usually means drier and warmer winters for Southern California, had been confirmed. At the end of October, it projected higher-than-average temperatures will likely exist for the area through the end of January.

This fits with what Peter Rabbit Farms has experienced in the Coachella Valley, according to Powell.

“This is a peculiar fall, we’ve had about 12 [degrees] to 15 degrees of higher-than-average temperatures for the last two weeks,” Powell reported during the first week of November. “This season has been getting much warmer temperatures than average. So, it’s really brought all the crops forward a little bit. I think this year we started our red peppers maybe 15 days earlier than normal.”

Desert Weather Giveth and It Taketh Away

What the weather does in the desert can have outsized impacts on winter vegetable markets.

For example, Powell explained that while Peter Rabbit Farms was able to start its fall bell peppers early and get good color on them earlier; so too were all the other fall and early-winter pepper growers in the desert.

“The guys in Central California were allowed to keep going, and it has created a pepper market where you have a lot of suppliers that are either ending their season and then you have a lot of suppliers who are now starting earlier and getting started,” Powell says. “So, there’s been high availability of peppers out there, and that’s the challenge.”

The inverse is also true.

“Right now, the markets are so high due to Mother Nature,” says Adlesh, speaking of the hail that hit some greens-growing regions. “It’s crazy. There’s lettuce, $40, $50; romaine, $40, $50; green leaf, $40, $50. That’s because of what Mother Nature threw at us here about a month ago.”

While the success of all agriculture rests on the whims of weather, Adlesh says that is especially true in the California deserts in winter given the extremes in play and what that weather can mean for markets.

“It’s hard to make money in the desert, period. We go down there to keep our customers in supply year-round, but it’s a huge risk for all the shippers that do year-round programs,” he explains. “You just plan what you need for your contract and, outside of that, don’t take any chances, because if the if the weather is nice all winter and the supplies are heavy, it can be an absolute nightmare.”

Different Sort of ‘Winter’ Desert Vegetable

While sweetpotatoes aren’t grown in California’s deserts in the winter, with harvest usually wrapping up at the end of October, they are in highest demand during winter holiday meals and are grown in California’s deserts. These deserts are uniquely well suited to sweetpotatoes’ growing needs, according to Jeremy Fookes, director of sales at AV Thomas Produce.

Fookes explains that the massive day-to-night temperature swings, sometimes as much as 40 degrees to 50 degrees, common in California’s deserts are essential to sweetpotatoes’ ability to develop the best flavor. The nature of the desert soil is also important, he adds, describing a small patch of California’s Central Valley between southern Stanislaus County down through northern Merced County as perfect “for producing good looking sweet potatoes.”

“The soft, sandy soil allows for the shape of the potatoes to develop the clean look to them that makes for high-quality, aesthetically pleasing potatoes,” he says. “There are certain regions throughout the country or even the world that produce good quality wines. Well, it’s the same thing with sweetpotatoes and a lot of other crops.”

APHIS Expands California Mediterranean Fruit Fly Quarantine

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:42:41 GMT

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) expanded the Santa Clara Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata; Medfly) quarantine in California. The quarantine for this pest includes portions of Alameda and Santa Clara counties; however, this action only expands portions in Santa Clara County.

On Oct. 30, APHIS and CDFA expanded the Santa Clara Medfly quarantine in response to confirmed detections on Oct. 21 of two wild mated female Medflies from a trap in a fig tree located on a residential property in the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County.

APHIS and CDFA say this action expanded the quarantine by less than one square mile and did not include any additional commercial agriculture.

On Nov. 3, APHIS and CDFA added seven additional square miles to the Santa Clara Medfly quarantine due to confirmed detections on Oct. 24 of one wild unmated female from a trap in a fig tree and one mated female Medfly from a trap in a persimmon tree. Both trees were located on residental property in the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County. APHIS and CDFA say this expanded quarantine does not include any additional commercial agriculture acreage.

The agencies say the amended quarantine encompasses 205 square miles with 47 acres of commercial agriculture, including grape, olive, orange, pepper, stone fruit and tomato.

APHIS says it has applied safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of Medfly to non-infested areas of the U.S., as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS says it is working with CDFA and the Agricultural Commissioners of Alameda and Santa Clara counties to respond to these detections following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.

APHIS says its Exotic Fruit Flies website contains descriptions and maps of all current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas. APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.

Kennedy Says U.S. to Announce New Dietary Guidelines in December

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 19:18:48 GMT

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will release new dietary guidelines in December aimed at reducing high rates of obesity and changing the country’s food culture, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday, Nov. 6.

“We’re about to release dietary guidelines that are going to change the food culture in this country,” Kennedy told reporters during an event in the Oval Office, where Trump announced a deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut the price of weight loss drugs. “We’re releasing those in December.”

Kennedy says the new guidelines would change the kind of food served to military service members and children in schools, but gave no details on the new recommendations.

“If we want to solve the chronic disease crisis, we have to tackle obesity,” Kennedy says. “Obesity is the No. 1 driver of chronic disease.”

Fifty percent of the adult U.S. population is obese or overweight, Kennedy says, adding that it’s driving costs up for diabetes care and cardiac diseases.

The updated U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which influence school lunches, medical advice and nutrition standards, have been anticipated since summer. The new guidelines are expected to address saturated fat, found mainly in meat and certain oils, and ultra-processed food, along with modified suggestions related to dairy consumption, sources familiar with the process told Reuters in June.

The Department of Health and Human Services and USDA publish the guidelines jointly every five years.

The current dietary guidelines recommend limiting saturated fat to less than 10% of total calories consumed daily, and do not address ultra-processed food. The definition of ultra-processed food is hotly debated by the food industry, while the report describes it as industrially manufactured products.

The guidelines recommend limiting consumption of alcoholic beverages to one drink a day for women and two for men, or not drinking.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Billions in the Balance: Are You Entitled to a Tariff Refund?

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:04:37 GMT

Nov. 5 marked the beginning of oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Trump administration tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Did Trump have the authority to impose tariffs under IEEPA?

It’s been the source of a major legal battle in the lower courts, including the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the federal courts, which have already ruled that Trump’s use of IEEPA this year has exceeded the authority granted by the statute. The Trump administration has appealed this ruling, saying that striking these tariffs could undermine diplomacy and national security.

Should the Supreme Court ultimately rule those tariffs invalid, U.S. produce importers who have paid IEEPA-related tariffs could potentially be granted refunds.

Tariff revenue increased over 200% in the U.S. from January to July, generating over $100 billion in revenue for the U.S. federal government, just from the baseline tariffs that began in April, says International Fresh Produce Association Vice President of U.S. Government Relations Rebeckah Freeman Adcock.

Based on those figures, estimates suggest the U.S. could owe $750 billion to $1 trillion in potential refunds, says Adcock, adding that depending on the outcome of the case, federal revenue would fall by about $2.2 trillion through fiscal year 2035, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The question of tariffs is critical to the fresh produce industry for many reasons, but this case also raises larger legal questions in the U.S., especially the question on whether the court will apply the major questions doctrine that limits executive action not clearly authorized and enumerated by Congress, she says.

Adcock says justices will be considering three key issues in the case:

Does IEEPA give the president the authority to impose tariffs?
Does using that emergency power to manage trade constitute an overreach?
How broadly should courts interpret the executive authority under the major questions doctrine?

The outcome will have significant implications not just for tariffs, says Adcock, but also for the future of U.S. trade policy and for the distinction between presidential power and the other branches of government.

What We Know from Day 1

Jonathan Stoel is co-director of the Washington, D.C.-based global law firm Hogan Lovells’ international trade practice that employs a team of professionals around the world that he says work 24/7 on trade issues.

Stoel’s colleagues, present at the oral arguments on Nov. 5, say while President Donald Trump was absent from the proceedings, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. trade representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer all attended and sat in the front row.

“The administration was certainly conveying how important it believes this case is to them on a variety of grounds,” says Stoel. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a case where you’ve had three cabinet officers in the court. Usually, the administration is solely represented by the solicitor general.

“I also think the president has been very clear in his tweets and elsewhere that the tariffs are fundamental to his economic policy and that, in his view, they are necessary for a host of reasons — not only to reduce the trade deficit, for example but also because of the administration’s ongoing negotiations with other countries,” he adds.

A centerpiece of Trump’s trade agenda since Jan. 20, IEEPA tariffs were first applied to Canada, Mexico and China, including Hong Kong, under the “fentanyl tariffs,” he says. These tariffs affected more than 40% of U.S. trade.

On “Liberation Day,” or April 2, Trump announced IEEPA tariffs, or “reciprocal tariffs,” that affected all U.S. imports from around the world.

Third and most recently, says Stoel, the president assigned special IEEPA tariffs to imports from Brazil, a result of ongoing diplomatic strains between the South American country and the U.S.

Two of those types of tariffs — the reciprocal tariffs — and the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, are at stake in the Supreme Court argument that began Nov. 5, he says.

Path to Pursuing Refunds

Interestingly, during the Nov. 5 Supreme Court oral arguments, there was almost no discussion about how refunds would or would not work, says Stoel, who spoke with The Packer that day.

“I don’t think the Supreme Court gave us any guidance today, nor should we expect that in the Supreme Court’s decision that they’re going to give us guidance about how specific companies should seek a refund,” he says.

If the Supreme Court invalidates the IEEPA tariffs, the key issue for all importers to consider is whether their entries have liquidated or settled under U.S. law, which typically provides 314 days for entries to liquidate, says Stoel.

Why does that matter? Once liquidation happens, there are far less opportunities for refunds, he says.

“So, it’s important that you’re working with your customs brokers and your attorneys and keep an eye on when your entries are going to liquidate,” he says.

Stoel says if an entry is going to liquidate, meaning the time for liquidation is drawing close, he advises importers ask Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide an extension of liquidation. U.S. law, specifically, customs regulation, provides that customs can extend liquidation one year at a time for up to three years, he says.

The goal of extending liquidation is to preserve all of your options as an importer and make sure that you’re able to obtain a refund on all the entries that have been made subject to the tariffs, he says.

“One of the goals of keeping the entry from liquidating is that, if the entries have not liquidated, you should be working with your customs broker to file a post summary correction, or PSC,” says Stoel. “This can be done with simply one piece of paper with your broker. Once filed, the government can be asked to both liquidate the entry and refund the tariff that was collected.

“If CBP grants an extension of liquidation and the entries remain unliquidated at the time the Supreme Court issues a decision invalidating the IEEPA tariffs, the importer should be able to file a PSC to revise the entry and seek a tariff refund,” adds Stoel. “A PSC must be filed with respect to each entry and must be filed at least 15 days before liquidation.”

Depending on how long the tariffs have been collected, importers may also be eligible for interest in addition to the tariffs they paid, he says.

And if an importer’s entry is liquated anyway, “don’t panic,” says Stoel. “There should be alternatives available to you. If CBP liquidates an entry, you have 180 days after liquidation to file a protest with customs and ask the government to refund tariffs paid.” Stoel says even if the government denies a protest, importers should still be able to appeal that denial to the U.S. Court of International Trade.

“The third option, depending on the Supreme Court decision, is that it may be necessary to file affirmative litigation, most likely in the Court of International Trade,” says Stoel, adding that the purpose of the litigation is twofold: “One, you’re asking the court to protect your entries and not let them liquidate, so that you preserve all of your options to obtain a tariff refund. The second is that we don’t know if the Supreme Court will decide if the litigations already ongoing will apply to everyone, meaning to all importers, or if they only apply to the specific plaintiffs that are before the court.”

If the courts decide they don’t apply to everyone, then it may be necessary to file your own litigation in order to preserve your rights, with respect to both entries you made in the past and those entries in the future, he says.

“Lastly, all of this takes time and takes care,” says Stoel. “Don’t panic doesn’t mean don’t do anything.”

Preparation is Key to a Refund

Stoel says there are three things for produce importers hoping to secure a tariff refund to keep in mind:

Don’t panic. Importers have 314 days from the date of entry before entries are liquidated or finally settled under U.S. law.
A decision is expected by the Supreme Court relatively soon (either later this month or after the holidays), which will provide clarity and ease the uncertainty that has surrounded tariffs this year.
Preparation is critical. As the industry awaits the Supreme Court’s decision, importers need to assess their legal and tactical options. “It’s important to gather your documentation, identify relevant entries and work with your customs brokers and lawyers, as well as your advisers at IFPA, to make sure that you’re ready, so that if, and when, the time comes to secure refunds, you’re not left behind.”

Tariffs ‘Likely to Remain a Fixture of U.S. Trade Policy’

It’s important to keep in mind, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the use of IEEPA for imposing tariffs, tariffs are going to remain a central part of Trump’s economic agenda, says Alexis Taylor, IFPA chief global policy officer.

Taylor says the key tariff takeaway is this: Even if the Supreme Court finds IEEPA tariffs cannot be used to impose tariffs, the president still retains multiple legal pathways to shape trade policy with tariffs, and they’re likely to remain a fixture of U.S. trade policy for the foreseeable future.

First RNA-Based Treatment Launched for Varroa Mites

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:31:23 GMT

A new RNA-based treatment from GreenLight Biosciences to combat varroa mites shows great promise for promoting hive health and preventing widespread mite outbreaks.

This new treatment, Norroa, uses the active ingredient vadescana, which uses RNA interference to stop the mites from reproducing. It is part of the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee’s (IRAC) Group 35.

Varroa mites, which can double its population every 30 days, have developed resistance to many chemical treatments, GreenLight Biosciences says. And data from the Honey Bee Health Coalition shows that between June 2024 and March 2025, beekeepers reported losing 1.7 million colonies, with an average loss of 62%. Varroa mites not only weaken the bee once attached they also transmit several viruses.

Mark Singleton, chief commercial officer and general manager of plant health for GreenLight Biosciences, the developer of this new treatment, says RNA is the foundation of everything and this new product is a natural and sustainable way to control mites in beehives.

“What’s very clear in the U.S. and around the world is that the existing solutions are not working as well as they used to,” Singleton says. “And that’s bad for a whole number of reasons. First of all, if you stick with the label, you get poorer control, and the bees get sicker. If you use higher use rates and you use them for longer periods, then you start to leave residues in honey. You can damage bees; you can damage the bee health by overexposure to these materials, and it’s a vicious cycle. So a new technology was needed.”

Singleton says GreenLight Biosciences acquired the solution from a company that was unable to reproduce the active ingredient economically, so GreenLight unlocked how to make the formulation and tweaked the dose to make the product successful.

“Every other treatment that is out there right now primarily controls the varroa mite after it’s latched onto the bee,” he says. “When it’s latched onto the bee, it’s already given its presence of a bunch of viruses, and it’s weakened it dramatically.”

Singleton says beekeepers place a satchel of Norroa in a hive, and the worker bees mix it in with the brood food.

“It’s deposited in the cell where the larvae are going to be, and where the foundress might go to lay her egg,” he says. “It’s actually the hatched egg of the varroa mite that actually eats the RNA, and it stops it from growing and latching onto the bee. We’re now preventing that latching on, and therefore the virus transmission.”

He says in GreenLight’s research, hives using Norroa have a 50% reduction in colony loss for up to 18 weeks. But Singleton says this needs to be used as a preventative, not a curative treatment for bees already infected with varroa mites.

“This best use is as your preventative, apply it when mite levels are low, and it’ll keep your mite levels,” he says. “And that population management is, it’s powerful because we’re stopping it before they cycle.”

GreenLight Biosciences says Norroa will be available for sale exclusively through Mann Lake Ltd. and its authorized dealer network. And Singleton says he hopes to see different iterations of Norroa in the coming years for all beekeepers.

“We need to get this product and make it available for everybody who wants to make that choice to prevent varroa mite populations in their hive, regardless of whether they are a commercial keeper with millions and millions of bees or just hobbyists,” he says.

Norroa also recently received California registration use, so growers in the Golden State can also use this product.

“The beauty of RNA is it’s fairly selective for the target,” he says. “We know that not only have we got something here that helps bees. We knew we had this technology that was good for growers, good for the environment, good for consumers to protect crops. It does that in part by not harming pollinators.”

Altar Produce to Debut New Corporate Image at IFPA Show

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 15:30:53 GMT

Altar Produce says it plans to unveil a new corporate image during the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce and Floral Show, set for Oct. 16-18 in Anaheim, Calif.

The company says it will strengthen its core message with the slogan “We Are The Grower,” which it says reaffirms its commitment to quality, innovation and trust it has built with clients worldwide.

The grower-marketer of fresh asparagus and vegetables plans to showcase its full portfolio and highlight its growth across North America, Canada, Europe and Asia.

Altar Produce says it plans three activations at its booth No. C-1873:

Altar Coffee Bar, a hospitality experience that the company says has become a tradition.
Mobile charging stations, an exclusive service for visitors and buyers.
The launch of new Altar Produce mascots, with claw machines and plush figures that Altar Produce says will reinforce its renewed identity.

The company says it will also be present in the Mexico Pavilion in Hall D-575, which reinforces Mexico’s role as a strategic supplier for the international market.

“With this new image, we want to convey what has always defined us: we are integrated growers, close to the land and to our customers,” says Manuel Ochoa, marketing manager for Altar Produce.

Bova Fresh Talks CREO Capital Partners Deal

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 19:13:41 GMT

Bova Fresh, of Boca Raton, Fla., recently sold to CREO Capital Partners , a Miami-based private equity firm that focuses on food, logistics and consumer investments.

Bob Wilhelm and Steve San Filippo founded Bova Fresh, which serves more than 250 retail and foodservice customers nationwide. Both Wilhelm and San Filippo will retain a stake in the business and lead daily operations.

“We just want to let the retailers know that we’ll continue to work hard and grow and procure the freshest fruit and vegetables for the best price possible with timely deliveries,” San Filippo told The Packer. “Really, nothing’s changed there. We’re going to continue to work hard and continue to grow and offer more items to the retailers as well.”

San Filippo says Bova Fresh will continue to focus on its core items, including strawberries, avocados, raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, pineapples and tropicals to both chain stores and foodservice. He says this deal helps the company with capital needed to grow and expand.

“It allows companies like us to raise capital for capital expenditures and to increase our acreage our strawberry farms in Florida,” he says. “We went from like 200 acres to over 350 acres now in Florida for the strawberry season this year coming up.”

He also says there’s some synergies with Bova Fresh’s Peruvian avocado pulp, that’s sold into Europe and CREO’s Insignia International, which sells Yucatan Guacamole into Mexico. San Filippo says he sees an opportunity to work together and to have some of the products available in the U.S.

San Filippo says that being a part of a vertically integrated platform such as CREO Capital Partners helps ensure food safety, transparency and efficiency as well as mitigating risks.

Robert Reavis, director at ButcherJoseph, which advised Bova Fresh in the deal, says Bova Fresh’s unique offering is the ability to connect with a significant number of growers in multiple countries to help fulfill large orders. Reavis also says that CREO’s portfolio contains a large number of end users of produce, so this deal will hopefully create some synergies in both production, customer base and sourcing of inputs.

“What Bova adds to that equation is that with the supply chain logistics disruption we’ve seen over the last year or so, or the last nine months or so, having a broad and diversified group of producers that you can go to in order to fulfill demand on the part of grocery store chains or restaurants is extremely valuable, especially when they’re diversified across different countries,” Reavis says. “What Steve and Bob and Bova Fresh were able to deliver to CREO’s platform was an extremely diversified supply base to go along with their very high-quality customer base. And that’s the sort of flexibility that private equity I think is looking for as they respond to the ongoing trends within the industry.”

San Bernardino, Riverside Counties Under Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:29:16 GMT

Although the California Department of Food and Agriculture has eradicated the oriental fruit fly in Orange County , it has placed portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties under quarantine due to multiple detections of the invasive species.

CDFA says detections in and around the cities of Ontario and Jurupa Valley resulted in a quarantine zone covering 131 square miles — 57 square miles in Riverside County and 74 square miles in San Bernardino County. The quarantine is bordered on the north by Highway 210, on the south by Norco, on the west by Ontario, and on the east by Rubidoux.

The new quarantine map may be found online at cdfa.ca.gov/plant/off/regulation.html

The oriental fruit fly can target more than 230 different fruits, vegetables and other plants. It threatens the state’s pome and stone fruit, citrus, dates, avocados, tomatoes and peppers, the CDFA says. Female fruit flies lay eggs inside the fruit, which hatch into maggots that tunnel through the flesh of the fruit.

Ag officials use male attractants as part of an integrated pest management strategy to eradicate this invasive species. CDFA says this approach has eliminated dozens of fruit fly infestations in the state. Workers apply a small amount of fruit fly attractant mixed with a small dose of a spinosad, an organic pesticide, approximately 8' to 10' off the ground on trees near the street and on similar surfaces. Male fruit flies are attracted to the mixture and perish after consuming it. CDFA says it deploys the male attractant technique over an area that extends 1.5 miles from each site where oriental fruit flies have been found in traps.

The agency says the majority of fruit flies and other invasive species are found in urban and suburban communities and the most common pathway for these pests to enter the state is through “hitchhiking” on fruits or vegetables brought back illegally by travelers returning from infested regions or in packages of home-grown produce sent from other countries in the mail.

The oriental fruit fly is widespread throughout much of the mainland of southern Asia and neighboring islands, including Sri Lanka and Taiwan and has invaded Africa and Hawaii.

CDFA encourages residents in the quarantine area not to move homegrown fruits and vegetables from their property and to dispose of any produce by double-bagging and placing the discarded produce in regular trash, not green waste receptacles.