LOS ANGELES, CA - Back in August 2021, it was announced that Kroger teamed up with ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United to bring freshly prepared restaurant food to its locations. Now, it seems this dynamic partnership is coming to fruition, as Kroger banner Ralphs and Kitchen United MIX announced the opening of the first kitchen center in Los Angeles, California.

"When our customers think of food, they think of Kroger," said Dan De La Rosa, Group Vice President of Fresh Merchandising for Kroger. "The Kitchen United collaboration provides the fresh, on-demand meals our customers crave. It is one more innovative example of how Kroger is fulfilling its commitment to anything, anywhere, anytime."

The new launch allows customers to build freshly prepared, on-demand restaurant meals from any or all of the participating restaurants, according to a press release.

Customers can place an order digitally using Kitchen United's proprietary MIX platform via web, mobile, or an in-person ordering kiosk and choose to pick up their meal onsite or have it delivered.

"We couldn't be prouder that Kroger and Kitchen United chose to open the collaboration's first location in Ralphs," said Kendra Doyel, Vice President of Merchandising, Ralphs. "Our customers come to us to find the freshest food and to answer the all-important 'what's for dinner?' question. This collaboration provides our customers one more simple meal solution that they can pair with Ralphs' fresh products."

This restaurant kitchen is the first to open after Kroger and Kitchen United announced their national partnership back in August 2021. Additional locations in Texas are anticipated to open later in the month.

"We proudly operate successful ghost kitchens across the country and will apply that expertise to reimagine takeout and delivery within Kroger stores," said Michael Montagano, Chief Executive Officer of Kitchen United. "Our work together provides millions of Kroger customers access to their favorite restaurant cuisines in a convenient supermarket format, while providing Kitchen United and our restaurant partners a high-touch, interactive storefront. We are excited to bring this creative solution to the Westwood community."

The off-premise restaurant kitchen allows shoppers to mix and match their meals from multiple foodservice providers, including Fresh Brothers, Bushi by Jinya, Sajj Mediterranean, Doghaus, and more.

As the retailer wields this unique foodservice alliance to achieve further success in the grocery space, keep an eye out for the next report from AndNowUKnow.

Kroger Kitchen United

MISSION, TX - Us here in fresh produce know our ranks are filled with amazing people that help drive the industry forward on a daily basis. Shining a light on these impactful leaders, the Texas International Produce Association (TIPA) will be honoring some of them at this year’s Hall of Fame Banquet on January 24, 2022.

Established in 1988, the Texas Produce Hall of Fame has presented 150 living and posthumous awards as well as 24 Scott Toothaker Awards to those who have contributed a large part of their lives to the betterment of the industry. According to a press release, the Hall of Fame Banquet is held every other year by TIPA and provides a chance for industry members to pay homage to leaders and role models who have helped pave the way.

This year’s inductees are the Wiesehan Family, including John F, Raymond, Richard, Kenneth, George, John, and Roger. A posthumous award will also be given to Abel Salazar of Salazar Farms, and Scott Fletcher and Harold Wilkins will be honored as the 2022 recipients of the Scott Toothaker Award for their dedication and service as partners to the industry. This award was created in 1989 and is given to individuals not directly involved in production agriculture, but who have made great contributions regardless.

In addition to an awards ceremony, the banquet also serves as a fundraiser for the William E. Week Agricultural Scholarship. The scholarship was established to encourage future generations to pursue education in the field of specialty crop agriculture in order to carry on the hard work of past leaders.

Congratulations to this year’s honorees!

Texas International Produce Association

SANTA PAULA, CA - Global avocado purveyor and value-added fresh food provider Calavo Growers has announced a change to its Board of Directors. Board member Harold S. Edwards announced he has decided to retire from his position effective February 1, 2022.

Edwards has been with Calavo’s Board of Directors since 2006. The industry leader currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Limoneira Company. He has served as the CEO for the 123-year-old agricultural company since 2003 and held a Director position for Limoneira’s Board since 2009, according to his LinkedIn.

Noted in Calavo’s press release, Edwards has decided to step down to devote more time to his duties as Limoneira’s CEO.

“We appreciate Harold and his 16 years of service to Calavo and to the Board. His contributions have been invaluable,” said Calavo Chairman J. Link Leavens. “Harold’s retirement will bring the size of our board to 10 members, down from a high of 13, which is more in line with a company of our size.”

Calavo has undergone a few leadership changes over the past few months. In addition to promoting several new Vice Presidents of Sales and a Board of Directors appointment, the company tapped Brian W. Kocher as the incoming President and CEO. Kocher will step up to his new role on February 1.

Steve Hollister, Interim CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, expressed the relationship between the two companies will remain a fruitful one.

“Calavo’s relationship with Limoneira as one of our valued suppliers remains strong, and we look forward to our continued work with Harold in his capacity as Limoneira’s CEO,” commented Hollister.

Stay tuned as we keep an eye on the changing leaderships and appointments in all things fresh.

Calavo Growers

SALINAS, CA - Bringing you the latest market updates and useful retail strategies is what we at AndNowUKnow set out to do daily. As I looked to dissect the details of the current broccoli and cauliflower markets, I had a chance to speak to Greg Villalobos, Garrett Bernard, and Ray Cunanan, Sales Executives and Commodity Managers at Pacific International Marketing, who offered me some exclusive insights.

“We are currently growing broccoli in both Yuma and Scottsdale, Arizona,” Greg begins. “The quality has been excellent out of both areas with plentiful supplies. The warmer-than-normal temperature we have been experiencing in the desert since the end of November has brought the crop forward, creating a surplus.”

Retailers can optimize these volumes by placing broccoli on ads, highlighting the commodity in digital retail apps, or allowing retailer coupons. Pacific grows broccoli in multiple regions to provide a year-round program to meet its broccoli floret, bunch, and crown needs, which are all freshly packed for its retail, foodservice, and club store customers.

In addition to Yuma and Scottsdale, Pacific also grows broccoli in Santa Maria, California, which has recently seen pressures due to cold weather.

“Our Santa Maria, California, growing region is very short on supply,” Garrett points out to me, “as the recent rain coupled with cooler nights is causing decreased yields and availability.”

As Greg, Garrett, and I wrapped up the details of the company’s broccoli production, Ray Cunanan also provided me with an exclusive look at the current cauliflower market, also detailing tight supplies as a result of cooler weather.

“Early warm temperatures and some light rain brought cauliflower acreage forward,” Ray notes. “Supplies were heavy, as we harvested well before the scheduled harvest dates. As normal winter temperatures set in, the crops slowed down, leaving us with short supplies.”

Ray goes on to let me know that there have been good cauliflower supplies to date, but the industry could see some gaps in supplies if cold temperatures persist.

Pacific grows cauliflower in both Santa Maria, California, and the Arizona desert to hedge against inclement weather, and its cauliflower is also packed fresh for its retail and foodservice customers.

To keep reading pertinent crop updates from across the industry, keep clicking on AndNowUKnow.

Pacific International Marketing

SACRAMENTO, CA - Looking back over 2021, the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) can say that it made a huge impact in the lives of many veteran farmers throughout the industry. Now, with its focus on 2022, the coalition is setting an ambitious goal as its new funding cycle opens.

“Our sights are set high for 2022: we anticipate raising $500,000 to give out to this year’s class of Fellows,” said Rachel Petitt, Program Director. “We recognize this is a lofty goal, but we are really close, so it definitely feels achievable.”

In its 11^th year, the Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund has granted over $3.5 million in support to more than 800 military veterans pursuing careers in agriculture, according to a release. One of the FVC’s central programs helps beginning farmers and ranchers with one of the greatest challenges—accruing start-up capital.

“As FVC starts this next round of funding, the stories of 2021 are a wonderful reminder of the importance of our mission,” explained Executive Director Jeanette Lombardo. “These stories drive our efforts every day as we seek new funding and create programs to help our Farmer Veterans throughout the country.”

Over the past year, FVC awarded 138 farmer veterans with farming equipment through its Fellowship Fund small grant program. This included big ticket items such as greenhouses and grow tents, walk-in coolers and cold storage units, water filtrations, honey extractors, and milking systems.

“It was taking me four hours to fill up my 1,100-gallon leg tank, and now, with my Generac pump, I can fill the tank in about 15 minutes,” commented David Volkman, an Army veteran who served for nearly three decades before starting Ohio Valley Hops, and a recipient of one of the grants.

Now, FVC is welcoming the arrival of its next funding cycle, with applications having opened on January 3, and remaining open until February 14. To apply, click here.

Funding for the 2022 cycle is made possible by organizations including Wounded Warriors Project, Kubota, Tractor Supply Company, Homestead Implements, Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment, Vital Farms, Sugar Bottom Farm, Barreras Family Farm, and Northwest Farm Credit Services.

Cheers to FVC for continuing to make a difference in the lives of veterans in agriculture!

Farmer Veteran Coalition

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The fruits of Mother Nature are perfectly imperfect. Looking to champion this concept, Dan Park is stepping up to the plate for Imperfect Foods. He officially joined the team on January 3 as its new Chief Executive Officer.

“Imperfect Foods is changing the face of grocery delivery, and I’m excited to be an integral part of this next chapter of the business. We will focus on continually raising the bar of our customer experience while meeting our sustainability goals,” said Park of his new role. “There are certain aspects of the future that I’m concerned about, and as a part of the Imperfect Foods team, I look forward to playing an active role in improving our environment by being a good steward of our planet.”

Park joins Imperfect Foods after four years at BuildDirect Technologies, a Canadian-based online marketplace for building materials, where he was the CEO. He played a major role at BuildDirect as he took the company public and still remains a member of the Board.

According to the release, Park brings nearly three decades of experience building and leading world-class teams at top-tier, multi-billion dollar retail and technology companies, having previously worked at corporations including six years at Amazon and three years at Target.

“The perfect Imperfect CEO needs world-class e-commerce skills, deep operations experience, and a commitment to the brand’s mission,” said Adam Berger, Imperfect Foods’ Board Chair and Insight Partners’ Managing Director. “I first met Dan a year ago, and we have gotten to know each other. The role and timing lined up perfectly, and I’m thrilled to have him lead Imperfect Foods.”

Founded in 2015 with the mission of eliminating the 35 percent of food that ends up wasted in the United States each year and building a better food system, Imperfect Foods began by sourcing ugly and surplus produce that didn’t meet conventional grocery store standards, delivering it directly to customers’ doors. Since its founding, Imperfect Foods has saved over 150 million pounds of food from lesser outcomes and expanded its offerings into a suite of grocery products.

As noted in the release, Imperfect Foods is committed to becoming a net-zero organization by 2030 and was recently certified as a B Corp.

We can’t wait to see what Imperfect Foods accomplishes under the expert leadership of Dan Park.

Imperfect Foods

NEW YORK, NY - “Biology is our technology.” That is one of the first statements Eric Greifenberger, Upward Farms’ Vice President of Marketing and Sales, makes to me as we dive into an exploration of how the company has harnessed innovation to revitalize the indoor ag industry, bringing an exclusive benefit to both retailers and consumers.

“At Upward Farms, biology is our technology. We’ve reimagined the indoor agricultural process, combining vertical farming with aquaponics—a process that uses fish to fertilize crops in a complete ecosystem,” Eric explains. “Our aquaponic vertical farms are natural ecosystems that foster a healthy and powerful microbiome that eliminates the need for synthetic chemicals like pesticides, antibiotics, or fertilizers to deliver GMO-free plants and fish. This approach allows us to tackle the issues that have prevented vertical farms from achieving field-parity scale, eliminating crop disease, and achieving industry-leading yields.”

This unique process allows the supplier to bring a diverse lineup of microgreens to market, which currently includes the Mighty Microgreens Mix, featuring a bright and hearty mix of broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi, as well as the Spicy Microgreens Mix, which utilizes a mix of mustard, kohlrabi, and radish to create a sharp and spicy flavor.

“Our high-quality microgreens have a unique combination of three key benefits: they’re USDA Certified Organic, locally grown, and washed and ready-to-eat,” Eric explains. “Our microgreens are a differentiated offering, bringing better texture, vibrant colors, diverse flavors, and rich aromas to the consumer. Until today, microgreens have been primarily relegated to farmers markets given they cannot be grown outdoors on the broadacre, but as we scale indoors, we’ll grow and be able to offer an array of flavorful microgreens mixes to all food retailers. Our goal is to generate shopper excitement through a lineup of nutrient-dense and delicious microgreen mixes. We’re on a mission to reinvent the salad aisle.”

With such high quality and a host of alluring benefits, placing these microgreens in the produce department is a boon for sales, and Eric has even more tips in store for maximizing category success.

“The right assortment is critical when it comes to meeting a broad set of needs among the consumer base. Retailers need to balance items that are staples for most households with new, unique offerings that can bring added excitement to the category,” Eric explains. “Offering culinary-based meal solution ideas through shopper marketing tactics can also help educate and inspire them to use leafy greens in more interesting ways.”

As its ambitious strategies achieve rapid growth in the microgreens category, Upward Farms is continuing to fortify its brand and team up with its retail allies to strengthen the category at large.

“We will continue to drive the brand through the right support, future innovation, and by working closely with our retail partners like Whole Foods Market to identify the best ways to grow not only our brand but the category overall,” Eric concludes.

For the latest in industry innovation, keep clicking on AndNowUKnow.

Upward Farms

WEBSTER, TX - While thousands prepared to gather in Times Square for New York’s famous New Year’s celebration, another ball drop of sorts took place just days before. H-E-B further built out its Texas-based footprint by opening a new El Dorado store on December 29. This new 107,000 square foot store replaces the former Clear Lake Market H-E-B (El Camino Real) location.

“I look forward to serving the Clear Lake community and ensuring that our long-time customers from the previous store continue to enjoy the best of what H-E-B has to offer,” said Jim Doxakis, who was recently named the new store’s General Manager. The 15-year H-E-B team member is a 20-year area resident of the area as well.

Wielding in-store experiences, picking orders via Curbside, Home Delivery, and H-E-B Meal Simple options, the new H-E-B offers a range of possibilities to its shoppers. From grab-and-go salads to casseroles and entrees, customers can enjoy a restaurant-quality meal. The Curbside pickup service offers 26 parking spaces and is one of the largest Curbside facilities in the company.

From the fresh produce to the freezer section, shoppers will find more offerings with unsurpassed freshness, quality, and variety. Special features for the community, include:

• Large assortment of Texas-made products
• Fully stocked Healthy Living department featuring bulk foods, including nuts, grains, dried fruits, and snack mixes
• H-E-B Organics and H-E-B Select Ingredients, a line consisting of H-E-B brand products that excludes unwanted ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors
• Made in-store fresh-squeezed juices and freshly made guacamole
• Texas hospitality and knowledgeable service that’s second to none—provided by almost 500 local H-E-B Partners, many who transferred from the former El Camino location
• A metal shingle design that mimics the underside of the space shuttle in reference to the neighboring NASA facility
• A team of registered dietitians and culinary experts and Healthy Living product options to offer full-time onsite and telehealth nutrition services including counseling, diagnostics testing, dietitian-led shopping support, and meal planning services

According to a press release, in celebration of the grand opening, H-E-B will donate $5,000 to Hope Active, which provides relevant programs that reach and impact the most underserved subsectors of the community.

For more expansions across the retail sector, stick with us here at ANUK.

H-E-B

FRESNO, CA - Setting its sights on further expansion, the Trinity Fruit Company added a new member to its team to bolster these efforts. Jackie Nakashian, the company’s new Brand Manager, has a host of experience on her side to strengthen Trinity Fruit’s product portfolio and marketing innovations.

“I hope to accomplish increased brand awareness through engaging seasonal campaigns. I also hope to bring a fresh eye to the marketing department in the hopes that we can elevate year after year as a new team of three,” Jackie shared with me.

She will be working closely with Angela Hernandez, Director of Marketing, who also expressed her thoughts on the company’s latest addition.

“As Trinity Fruit Company continues to grow and add to our portfolio of products, we are happy to also grow our marketing team,” she told me. “Jackie will be a great addition to our mix, and we are thrilled to have her! In building Trinity’s internal marketing team, we’ve noticed a trend where others in the industry are following suit, and we take great pride in knowing that our presence is leading others to market their products. Having Jackie will allow us to continue to build on what we have started.”

In her new role, Jackie will wear many hats, including strategy development, planning seasonal campaigns, trade show management, and managing overall brand awareness for the many internal Trinity Fruit brands, such as The Fruitful Market, Farm2You, Juicy Gems, SweetHearts, Big Honeys, and Buddy’s.

“I was previously at a local marketing agency where I represented all of their ag clients and led their ag initiative to bring in more ag clients,” Jackie added, expounding upon her background. “I fell in love with the packaging and seasonal campaign side of ag marketing and knew I wanted to gain more experience and dive deeper at an ag company. Trinity Fruit is a very well established and respected company which provides lots of opportunities, especially for someone like me who is learning and growing in this industry.”

We extend our congratulations to Jackie on this new role. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Trinity Fruit Company!

Trinity Fruit Company