VALENCIA, CA - Sunkist Growers, the ever-evolving citrus provider, is adding new talent to its pool of team members, recently announcing it’s hiring of Matt Shekoyan to serve as Vice President of Strategy for Sunkist and its sister co-op, Fruit Growers Supply (FGS). A citrus-industry veteran, Shekoyan will work closely with Sunkist and FGS to enrich and bring new life to the companies’ strategic direction.

“I’m thrilled to join the Sunkist/FGS team,” Shekoyan commented. “We have a strong global brand, a talented team, and some of the best assets within the ag space. I’m looking forward to building upon our proud legacy and achieving even greater success for our stakeholders.”

Sunkist is eager to add Shekoyan and his 20 years of diverse leadership experience to the team. Shekoyan spent much of his career with The Wonderful Company, where he served in several operational and executive capacities in the U.S. and abroad, including Chief Financial Officer of Wonderful Citrus.

“We’re excited to welcome Matt to the team,” said Jim Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer at Sunkist Growers and FGS, in a press release. “This is a new position within our two cooperatives, and it was created to help us deliver on our commitment to our growers, employees, customers, and consumers. I am looking forward to his contributions in keeping Sunkist the citrus leader and industry innovator for many more generations to come.”

Raised in the Central Valley, Shekoyan comes from a family of citrus, grape, and almond growers who have farmed in the region for more than 75 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Stanford University. Shekoyan currently lives in Los Angeles, but in the past he lived predominantly in the San Joaquin Valley, lived and worked several years in Mexico, where he promoted California agricultural exports. He recently spent two years with his family in Valencia, Spain, where he further developed his global perspectives about the agricultural industry.

“Matt has seen the citrus industry grow, evolve, and redefine itself,” Phillips concluded. “He has a deep understanding of this sector of agriculture, and his knowledge paired with his long history and passion for all things citrus is what we call a triple threat.”

Congratulations to Matt on the new role, from all of us at AndNowUKnow.

Sunkist Growers Fruit Growers Supply

VANCOUVER, CANADA - Recently, Oppy announced that it will be welcoming a new member to its leadership roster. Steve Roosdahl has moved up through the IT department to his new role as Vice President of Operations. Roosdahl has spent the last 24 years with Oppy successively moving through the leadership team under the wing of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Doug Grant.

“I have been fortunate enough to be a part of Oppy and the challenging environment of produce over the last two decades. Through our focus on culture, systems, and teamwork, I look forward to the future and supporting growth in my new role,” Roosdahl commented.

Roosdahl first started off as an application developer in the IT department and has been moving through management positions since then, adding responsibilities in transportation, manufacturing, quality control and operations, warehouse and inventory administration, and most recently, sustainability, food safety, and government relations and facilities. Sounds like Roosdahl has been quite the busy bee!

“Steve is very well suited for this promotion to senior management,” Grant said in the press release. “He has a strategic mindset while being adept to the finest level of detail, something that makes him unique for management. Steve is going to play a big role in Oppy’s continued success.”

But it all goes back to his first leadership role as one of the original developers of Oppy’s state-of-the-art supply chain software years ago that put Roosdahl on Grant’s radar.

“Here he gained a deep understanding of our business, which is where I sense he picked up his aptitude for strategy and how to be on the leading edge at all levels,” Grant added.

Another initiative Roosdahl has been on the forefront of is Oppy Transport, the company’s 3PL service, which he actually wrote his thesis on when he received his MBA in 2016 from Athabasca University. Grant recalls working with Roosdahl to implement that very paper.

Not only has Roosdahl made significant contributions to the industry, he also has spent many years chairing the Produce Traceability Initiative’s implementation committee, CPMA Council of Food Processing and Consumer Products (CTAC), and in his current CPMA director role.

Congratulations to Steve Roosdahl for the next phase in his journey! Keep with ANUK as we cover more produce news to come.

Oppy

EMERYVILLE, CA - During a conference call detailing its third quarter financial results, Grocery Outlet revealed a new executive addition to its team, one that will lead the charge of a new growth front. Heather Mayo has been appointed as the discount grocer's Executive Vice President, Operations and Merchandising, East.

Throughout her career, Mayo has proven herself a valued leader. She most recently was Boxed’s Chief Merchandising Officer and has also worked with Walmart’s Sam's Club division as its SVP of Operations.

“Heather brings 23 years of experience in the retail club channel and will lead our efforts to expand our existing Mid-Atlantic store base and future expansion. We look forward to leveraging her operational and merchandising expertise as we develop our long-term plans for this market,” MacGregor Read, Vice Chairman, stated.

In this new role, Mayo is expected to lead the expansion of the grocer’s operations in Pennsylvania, hoping to make this region a new hotbed of activity.

Read clarified this further in the call, noting that “[We’re] really turning our attention to opening more stores in the Mid-Atlantic and certainly, hiring Heather is a great first step in that direction. We fully intend her to continue to build the infrastructure to support a higher growth rate as time goes on. But again, not to repeat myself, but we really believe in sort of this crawl-walk-run approach. You'll see us open a few stores in 2020 in that region, and then continue to build from there.”

As Grocery Outlet continues to chase after new markets and expansion, where will it set its sights next? AndNowUKnow will continue to deliver the latest in all retail news.

Grocery Outlet

PHILADELPHIA, PA - The end of 2019 means more than just the beginning of a new decade. Some see it as the closing of a chapter, while others look to the new year as a chance to open a new book altogether. In the case of John Vena Inc., both are true. The close of 2019 marks the end of the company’s year-long celebration of a full century in business. The specialty produce wholesaler, distributor, and importer has been celebrating its 100^th anniversary with a series of launches and events to commemorate its heritage and usher in the next era of excellence in produce distribution.

“So why are we here, in this place?” began President John Vena III, the grandson of the company’s founder, during his remarks at the event. “Many know that this used to be a famous seafood restaurant, Old Original Bookbinders, which had roots back to 1898. Had you walked out the front door in 1919 you would have been right where John Vena Inc. began at 151 Dock Street. That was the heart of the Philadelphia produce world. Hallowed ground for old-time produce people like me.”

Earlier this year, the company launched a refreshed brand with a new logo, the new official nickname “JVI”, and a reinvigorated mission statement. The newly-articulated mission honors the legacy of the Vena family while embracing the fresh energy that its team brings to the table: working together to make the business of food more interesting, exciting, and fun. On Saturday, November 4 over 120 JVI team members, friends, and family gathered at The Olde Bar in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia to officially celebrate the milestone.

The ties between the Vena family and the location of the party go even deeper. As Mr. Vena revealed, “My grandfather, our founder, owned the building on the corner of 2nd and Walnut, where some of you stand now. It was a gun shop in the early days of Philadelphia, but he later sold it to the family that owned Bookbinders next door. And now it has been transformed into this venue.”

On the menu were a selection of hors d'oeuvres, salads, and gourmet sliders that featured ingredients from many of JIV’s partner suppliers, including WestPak Avocado, Purple Pride, Babé Farms, B&W Growers, and Fresh Origins. Bar offerings included a refreshing blood orange spritzer with fresh turmeric and mint.

“We’re wholesalers, repackers, importers, service providers—what can we do to put all that experience and knowledge together to continue to make the business of food even more interesting, exciting, and fun?” concluded Vena. “That’s the question I ask myself, and we must ask ourselves, every day as we begin our next 100 years.”

Vena addressed the crowd in his closing remarks, assuring them that despite a rich, 100-year history, he is looking in one direction only: ahead. Congratulations to John Vena Inc. on ringing in 100 years!

John Vena Inc.

BOISE, ID - In the meal kit sector, Plated has long been a question mark for its parent company Albertsons. Earlier this year, the meal kits were taken off of Albertsons store shelves, which was then followed by staff cuts. Now, it appears the retailer has a new strategy to keep Plated competitive in the market. This week, Albertsons announced it is rebranding Plated from a dinner-based subscription solution to a comprehensive in-house culinary brand.

“Our vision for Plated includes an expanded set of products that goes far beyond a dinner-based solution and into a comprehensive in-house culinary brand,” said Geoff White, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer. “With a broader scope of offerings, we see Plated solving customer demands around convenience, lifestyle, and cooking experience, while adding yet another layer of interest to our in-store journey.”

As a result of the shift, Albertsons began phasing out Plated’s subscription service, which will officially end this month (November). Instead, the new culinary brand will join the grocer’s lineup of private label products under its Own Brands—who’s team will manage the expansion of Plated into a holistic home meal solution. According to a press release, this decision was made in part because of Own Brands’ status as an important source of growth and innovation for Albertsons. The retailer also conducted extensive testing of the meal kits’ in-store performance in its Northern California Safeway stores.

“Plated’s brand appeals to our most loyal and highest value customers, especially those that skew toward convenient, fresh, and organic products,” continued White.

As part of the new Plated strategy, Albertsons plans to bolster the brand with new product offerings in 2020.

Albertsons first acquired Plated in 2017.

Will this unique strategy help Albertsons deliver a differentiated in-store experience? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Albertsons

SANDPOINT, ID - As a trade news writer, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the new and exciting innovations coming down the pipeline. Litehouse, however, is making it easy for us to remember a majority of what’s fresh to the scene this season by unleashing new lines, products, and flavors under its brand. While at PMA Fresh Summit, we got the lowdown on all that Litehouse has up its sleeve to meet consumer demand this holiday season and beyond from its Senior Brand Manager herself, Camille Balfanz.

“This year, we’re launching five flavors of Greek yogurt smoothies,” Camille began to tell us. “It’s a new category to Litehouse. They have no artificial preservatives or dyes. They’re in a convenient 8.5 oz container with one serving in that container, which makes it easy for people on-the-go. And we’re able to pack 13 grams of protein in each container because we’re using that Greek yogurt base.”

With five new flavors to choose from, as a consumer, I couldn’t imagine choosing just one to put in my grocery cart. Camille, however, revealed that her favorite is Peach Mango, which gives me a flavor to start with on my next grocery trip.

Since this is Litehouse we’re talking about, Camille also disclosed the latest details on the brand’s new salad dressing flavors: Dill Ranch and Avocado Ranch. Both are available in Litehouse’s iconic 20 oz squeeze bottle. Camille noted that this line is up almost 50 percent year-over-year, leading the company to be excited to launch some new additions soon.

In addition to all of those flavors, Litehouse is adding a new apple flavor to its apple cider line.

“We’re partnering with Cosmic Crisp, the new apple that is coming out of Washington State. This year, we have Cosmic Crisp Apple Cider that we’re excited about and that’s launching in December,” Camille explained. “We already have a Honey Crisp and a Gala apple cider, and those have been really successful. We’re excited to try the Cosmic Crisp.”

Check out our exclusive interview with Camille above to find out more about Litehouse and its portfolio of new products.

Litehouse

THE NETHERLANDS - The Halloween season may be over, but the mischief it inspires lingers as authorities in The Netherlands made it known of not one, but two banana-related busts in the days leading up to last month’s holiday. A total of 1,550 kilograms of cocaine were confiscated in the incidents, according to NL Times; one shipment of Ecuadorian bananas on October 16th of 800 kilos and one on October 31st of 750 kilos.

The local estimated street value for these shipments, combined or separate, was not included in the report, and while both originated in Ecuador and were intended for the city of Vlissingen, authorities did not say if the two shipments were connected.

The latter container of bananas was destined for a company that the Prosecutor said, “had nothing to do with the smuggling." The Prosecutor did not say if the same company was intended for both shipments, but did assure the public that, in both instances, authorities do not believe the destination companies were involved in drug trafficking.

The contraband was discovered with canine assistance, as well as scanning. While the drugs in each instance were destroyed, no arrests were made in either case.

Nonetheless, these busts are invaluable in not just keeping these substances off the street, but hopefully discouraging smugglers from using precious perishable cargo from our industry to do their dirty work. How’s that for one more trick-or-treat?

IRVINE, CA - Good morning, AndNowUKnow readers!

Today, I am bringing you some of the category and weather news from around the industry. Check back twice weekly to see the latest around all growing regions.

LOOK FOR GEORGIA AND WEST FLORIDA FALL SEASON TO END TONIGHT

Freezing temperatures tonight and tomorrow in the southern Georgia and northern Florida growing regions should pretty much bring an end to any production still coming from these areas.

Expect the minimum temperatures in the region to be around 32° tonight and 34° on Wednesday night.

Minimum temperatures on Thursday will rise back into the 40°s where they will remain through next Tuesday, but by then the damage will be done.

Per USDA, the following items are still being harvested in the areas; green beans, corn, cukes, bell peppers, eggplant, squash, and tomatoes.

It has been a good run for Georgia growers with production numbers higher year over year on green beans (50 percent higher this year), bell peppers, and squash. Eggplant, cukes, and corn have about the same production numbers as last year. We now turn our attention to southern Florida and Mexico as their seasons come online for these commodities.

NORTHEASTERN MEXICO TOMATO GROWING REGIONS WILL ALSO SEE COLD TEMPERATURES

The northeastern high plateau region of Mexico will also see cold temperatures tonight and Wednesday with a chance of rain, which will negatively impact the remaining crop.

This region of Mexico, which includes production areas of “La Laguna” Torreón, Durango, and San Luis Potosí, will see minimum temperatures in the lower 40°s tonight and tomorrow, with a 50 percent chance of rain today.

These locations are pretty much done shipping for the season with only a handful of growers still sending small quantities of tomatoes to McAllen. However, this cold weather should slow them down even further.

HURRICANE CENTRAL

With less than 20 days left to go in the 2019 hurricane season, there are no potential storms on the horizon in the Atlantic Ocean or Pacific.

This year, the Atlantic saw a small uptick in tropical storms compared to 2018, but fewer actual hurricanes. So far this season, there have been 17 tropical storms with six becoming hurricanes. 2018 had only 15 total storms, but eight formed into hurricanes.

The Pacific Ocean this year was much calmer than 2018. This year saw a total of 18 tropical storms, with eight of them turning into hurricanes. In 2018, there were 23 total tropical storms with 13 hurricanes.

Thank you as always for your support. We will be back later this week with another report.

Weathermelon

UNITED KINGDOM - There’s no rest for grocery retailers, particularly if you’re German discount retailer Lidl. In its quest to push forward growth on all fronts, the grocery chain has unveiled plans to open another 230 stores by 2023, The Times reported. This massive expansion will bring Lidl’s total store count in the United Kingdom to 1,000.

According to the news source, Lidl UK’s CEO Christian Hartnagel confirmed the chain’s plan, which ramps up a previous one that outlined the opening of 50 to 60 new stores a year. While more stores mean more business, industry experts agree that Lidl has chosen to roll out a whopping 230 new stores in order to put the pressure on its biggest competitors in the UK—namely Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons.

Since the beginning of fall, Lidl has been preparing for heightened growth in the UK. In October, the grocer made a couple of strategic moves that now seem to connect the dots to its latest expansion announcement. Specifically, Lidl opened its largest distribution center in Great Britain and committed to a $19 billion agreement with its British suppliers—both of which help stabilize, optimize, and expand its supplier and store network.

Is Lidl eyeing the U.S. market for more growth as well? AndNowUKnow will continue to report on every change of the tide in the grocery retail sector.

Lidl

TAMPA, FL - A struggle not often spoken of in our industry’s quest to be sustainable is the possible apprehensions of "reusing." While ecologically sound, sanitation and food safety are always top of mind, and how clean can you really get something? According to the latest news from the IFCO team, very.

“The research and results from IFCO‘s ongoing testing should provide peace of mind to growers and retailers, who can continue to use IFCO RPCs knowing that our containers remain safe, efficient, and sustainable packaging for tomatoes and other fresh food items,” said Dan Martin, President of IFCO North America. “Food safety is our top priority because nothing else we do is possible without it.”

The company hosted an independent laboratory, which tested and certified that its cleaning, wash, and sanitation process removes or deactivates damaging pathogens like viruses and bacteria from its Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs).

“IFCO has a strong commitment to food safety, and we are confident about the effectiveness of our sanitation process. That is why we are open and transparent about our protocols, testing methods, and results,” Martin stated.

Proven to remove contaminants and either remove or inactivate both human and plant pathogens (viruses and bacteria), IFCO’s state-of-the art RPC cleaning, wash, and sanitation process is constantly verified by ongoing in-house testing. According to a press release, the company performed additional challenge studies to reassure its customers after the discovery of the Tobamovirus - Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV).

Eurofins BioDiagnostics, an independent, certified laboratory, came in to validate IFCO’s washing and sanitation process’ effectiveness against ToBRFV, with results showing the wash systems employed by IFCO effectively remove and/or inactivate the virus.

IFCO said that it continuously monitors the wash and sanitizing process through it’s SmartGuardian™ software, which monitors and records critical sanitation parameters. The system issues alerts if parameters fall below or rise above warning levels and, if necessary, will shut down processing until the system is running properly again.

Parameters this evaluates include:

• Water pressure
• Water temperature
• Sanitizer concentration
• Detergent concentration

As a culture driven by continuous improvement, the company consistently looks to bolster its food safety systems, such as performing verification testing of IFCO RPCs, including surveillance testing for ToBRFV in multiple markets to ensure the RPC sanitation process is working effectively.

IFCO reports that more than one billion RPCs are used each year to safely transport fresh food from farms and processing facilities to retail locations. Throughout that network, the company said that RPCs have never been cited as the cause of a foodborne incident. As it and other partners in the produce industry continue to strive to strengthen the supply chain, AndNowUKnow will report the latest.

IFCO