EDINBURG, TX - Produce enthusiast Trent Bishop is growing into his role as Vice President of Sales at J&D Produce. Previously Vice President of Sales and Sales Manager at Lone Star Citrus Growers, Bishop will join the Texas-based company in its endeavor to grow, pack, and ship products internationally.

“I have known Jimmy Bassetti for 25 years. I have watched from afar with great respect as he methodically built the Little Bear brand and HoneySweet label into the well-known and respected brands that they are today,” expressed Bishop. “J&D Produce is a world-class organization, and I could not be more proud to be a member of this amazing team. I look forward to helping lead the company forward by combining my experience and skill set with what is already an industry-leading staff, commitment to quality, and year-round supply of premium product.”

As reported previously by AndNowUKnow, Bishop leaves his former company with best regards and excitement as it continues to grow. Lone Star President, Jud Flowers, emphasized his pride in Bishop’s continuous journey in the produce industry.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring someone of Trent’s caliber and experience to help solidify J&D’s future plans for growth and success,” stated Jimmy Bassetti, President and CEO. “He personifies the Little Bear Brand; integrity, respect for people, dedication, passion, and hard work, Trent is all that and more. I look forward to his leadership and vision as part of the J&D family.”

J&D’s Little Bear Brand currently supplies HoneySweet® onions, greens, cabbage, and melons year-round, states a press release. With 25 years of sales and marketing experience, Bishop is expected to assist in the company’s plans for expansion moving forward.

“Over the last few years, we have done a tremendous amount of work in preparing our organization for sustained growth and success,” said Vice President of Operations, James Bassetti. “Trent is going to fill a critical role in those plans, refining processes and developing programs that fulfill our customers growing needs, now and into the future.”

ANUK waits with bated breath to see the new VP in action. Congratulations to Trent Bishop and J&D Produce!

J&D Produce

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - SpartanNash recently announced significant changes to its executive lineup. David Staples, President and CEO, put in his resignation; he will be leaving both the company and the Board. In his place, the Board of Directors has appointed its Chairman, Dennis Eidson, to the roles of Interim President and CEO, effective immediately. He will serve in these roles until the next CEO is identified.

“I am confident in the strength of our platform and look forward to working with our talented team to deliver improved performance,” said Eidson. “Our focus will be on enhancing our distribution business, driving operational execution and organizational development while positioning SpartanNash to achieve long-term profitable growth and improved value for shareholders. In order to provide transparency, we have elected to preview our second quarter financial results, as well as our current outlook for the balance of the year.”

According to a press release, Eidson previously served as SpartanNash’s CEO from 2008-2017. Throughout his 16-year career with the company, he has served as President, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising.

“The Board remains confident in the company’s strategic direction and its ability to generate top line growth; however, execution has fallen short of our expectations, and we believe that now is the time for a leadership change,” said Douglas Hacker, Lead Independent Director of the Board. “I want to thank Dennis for returning to the leadership position to guide the company’s efforts in revitalizing performance and maximizing long-term shareholder value.”

Hacker continued, extending his well wishes to David Staples.

“On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Dave for his contributions to SpartanNash throughout his tenure,” he stated. “Since joining the company in 2000, Dave has presided over numerous successful business initiatives and has been instrumental in driving SpartanNash’s growth. We wish him well in the future.”

In addition to these executive changes, SpartanNash noted that it would be ending its Fresh Kitchen Operations to improve earnings. Instead, it will be focusing on its produce distribution and Fresh Cut operations.

Stick with AndNowUKnow for the latest in what’s shaking up the produce sector.

SpartanNash

HARRISON, NY – Wegmans’ 102^nd store location—and the 48^th in New York State—is currently hiring and training over 500 new employees. The new employees will work at Wegmans’ upcoming Harrison, New York, location and will support the growth the grocer has been chasing after along the East Coast.

“We started our hiring as of April 1,” Matthew Dailor, Store Manager, said, according to the Daily Voice Plus. “The number is in flux. We’re trying to hire over 500 so we’re always looking for good people. Currently, our folks are training in our Montvale, New Jersey, location, which is some 30 minutes away.”

The Harrison location is still under construction, but is expected to amount to 121,000 square feet on a 20-acre site. Wegmans first bought the site a few years ago for $26.5 million. The new store is also expected to feature fun amenities like a made-to-go salad station and will carry 70,000 items by the time it opens in 2020.

“We’re on track for a spring 2020 opening. We’re currently working on our foundations,” Dailor continued. “There are a lot of things that can influence construction that are out of our control…We want to keep the opening date general for a little bit longer until we have a better idea of what that looks like.”

For more of the latest grocery retail news like this, keep checking back with AndNowUKnow.

Wegmans

KINGSVILLE, ONTARIO - We, at AndNowUKnow, love this time of year. With back-to-school promotions and excitement in the air, our team eagerly awaits as our friends in fresh produce gear up to bring their innovations and creations to market. One company continuing to make waves in the industry and helping kids gear up for the school year is SUNSET®. The company is showcasing its new line of lunchbox-worthy snacking vegetables: Sprinkles™, Tiny Mighty Tomatoes™, and Qukes™, Tiny Mighty Cucumbers™ as parents and kids plan their meals and snacking opportunities.

“Sprinkles and Qukes combine premium produce with convenience and are designed to meet growing consumer and retailer demand for exciting vegetable snacking solutions,” Paul Mastronardi, President and CEO, and the fourth-generation family member to lead Mastronardi Produce, shared.

Millennials are truly leading the way in vegetable consumption, according to a press release, and SUNSET’s new bite-sized creations tap into the consumer demand for flavor, unique offerings, and differentiation.

"Demand for these products has been tremendous," Paul continued. "Our first crop of Sprinkles is fully sold out and we have more acreage planned in order to meet the requests of our customers.”

So what is the 411 on these delicious and nutritious delights? Sprinkles are a unique multi-colored, micro-grape tomato offering that explodes with sweet flavor and are sold in a unique tomato-inspired packaging concept. Qukes, the new smaller-than-mini cucumbers, pack refreshing flavor and a surprising crunch, making them fun and easy to eat.

SUNSET always brings a strong thought-investment to its portfolio and believes the “cute-factor” will drive impulse purchases, while their quality, flavor, and on-trend positioning will support sustained growth. And these are not just for kiddos' lunches in the household. The Sprinkles package was designed to hold the perfect amount of tomatoes for a salad and is available to retailers with a custom clip-strip to hang in the salad section, helping to cue this incremental usage opportunity.

With the perfect serving sizes in mind, Sprinkles are available in a 3.5 ounce package, and Qukes come in two sizes: a 1 lb family-size clam and a 12-ounce Topseal tray.

While my back-to-school days have long since past, I'm of the school of thought that believes that what inspires kids, inspires the kiddo in all of us still.

SUNSET®

MISSION, TX - Lone Star Citrus Growers (LSCG) recently announced that its Vice President of Sales and Sales Manager, Trent Bishop, will be transitioning out of both of his roles. T.J. Flowers, current Vice President of Operations, will assume the position of interim Sales Manager and his official title will be Vice President of Operations and Sales, which will include acting as Sales Manager when the transition has concluded.

“I have enjoyed my time here at Lone Star Citrus, and I look forward to watching their future growth and continued success,” stated Bishop in a company press release.

T.J. Flowers is a founding member and partner of LSCG, bringing in 16 years of produce sales experience and 13 years of operational and production management experience to the position.

“Trent will be pursuing a new opportunity in produce, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Our friendship remains undiminished, and we’re thankful that he has been a part of the Lone Star story,” stated Jud Flowers, President.

T.J. Flowers is a graduate of Texas A&M University, a current member of the Texas International Produce Association (TIPA), the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), and the Texas Valley Citrus Committee. He has previously served eight years on the Texas Citrus Mutual board.

We wish Trent and T.J. all the best!

Lone Star Citrus Growers

UNITED STATES - Lidl is walking into Monday with a plan of action—a plan of action that includes opening up four additional locations as part of its East Coast expansion. While the retailer has had its eye on growing its store network across the Mid-Atlantic, Lidl has been paying especially close attention to its boots on the ground in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which is only emphasized more by its latest store opening announcement.

Last week, the retailer disclosed that four of the 25 stores it is opening by the spring of 2020 will in fact be welcoming in shoppers as early as this month! In York, Pennsylvania, Keystone State shoppers can celebrate the grand opening of a brand-new Lidl on August 21. In addition to York, Lidl is also opening a location in Royersford, Pennsylvania, on September 4—the Webb household will also be celebrating on that day, but for different reasons (Beyoncé’s birthday and the fourth official day in Kayla Webb’s birth month).

On top of Pennsylvania, Lidl is honing in on South Carolina and New Jersey. On September 12—another important day in the Webb household, as we Webbs must celebrate BTS’s Kim Namjoon’s birthday—new stores in Columbia, South Carolina, and Lacey, New Jersey, will open their doors to the public. Other states Lidl is planning on building its presence in in the coming months include Virginia, North Carolina, New York, and Maryland.

Since breaking into the United States market, Lidl has had its nose to the grindstone to keep up with a few of its competitors—namely that of fellow European discount grocer: Aldi. Over the years, Lidl has focused on growing organically and translating that shopping experience European shoppers know and love to its Stateside stores.

To stay ahead of the freshest industry news, stay right here with AndNowUKnow.

Lidl

WINTER HAVEN, FL and SANTIAGO, CHILE - In an effort to provide year-round berry supply for consumers, two companies are uniting in a new business venture. Florida’s Always Fresh Farms announced a new partnership with Chile’s Giddings Fruit S.A. to create an integrated 52-week supply proposition for the North American berry market.

“We are delighted to welcome Julio and the outstanding Giddings Fruit business into the Always Fresh family of growers,” commented Wayne Giddings, President of Always Fresh. “Sharing values from our individual farming communities, we identified we had much in common and quickly discovered mutual ambition to put this deal together. The fact we share the same family name...well, it had to be! We are also really excited to gain access to the Giddings breeding program for our existing grower base and the fruit from their new genetics has really impressed us. We are sure it’s going to be really appreciated and in demand with our customers and partner growers.”

Both companies value grower heritage, share family business ideals (and names it seems!), and have an uncompromising commitment to provide outstanding products, unrivalled customer service, and new variety innovation to the berry category.

According to the press release, Keith Mixon will be the CEO of the new partnership. His love for the berry industry is well documented with his 20-plus years with Sunnyridge Farm and Dole Berry Co, and has known both Giddings families for many years. Keith has been working with Always Fresh since September 2018 as Special Advisor and has been instrumental in developing the team and infrastructure during the latest period of significant growth. Matthew Giddings continues in his role as Chief Commercial Officer, and leads the sales and marketing team.

“In partnering with Always Fresh Farms, we anticipate significant expansion opportunities in the North American market," Julio Giddings, Founder and CEO of Giddings Fruit added. "We very much admire the Always Fresh commitment to their growers and to customer service. Now, with a trusted, collaborative partnership with Always Fresh, we are looking forward to working in a more direct relationship with the market and being part of their year-round program. The benefit of being part of an integrated relationship is that it shortens the communication chain on all the important issues of our business including quality, food safety, innovation.”

How will the two family businesses fare in the berry world now that they’ve joined forces? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Always Fresh Farms

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - After posting less-than-stellar results in its second quarterly report—an over $5 billion loss, to be exact—Uber is seeking out alternatives to bolster its profit margin. Where is it looking first? Grocery delivery, of course.

“There is a bit of an e-commerce ‘moment’ that is happening at a local level. That’s a lot of what we are investing behind here,” Jason Droege, Head of Uber Eats, told Financial Times.

With Uber Eats accounting for a 72 percent revenue gain year-over-year, it stands to reason that this division could be the saving grace of the ride-share company. According to the company’s financial report, in Q2 2019 alone, Uber Eats grew over 140 percent. Uber Eats restaurant selection also continued to improve, reaching 320,000 restaurant partners at the end of Q2 2019.

If Uber does go down this road, it will use its network of over 4 million drivers to tackle what it sees as a divide between Amazon-style warehouse delivery and more traditional grocery delivery services like Instacart and Ocado.

How will this strategy shape up for the company? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Uber

HOOD RIVER, OR - UNITEC recently teamed up with Diamond Fruit Growers to help the grower’s handling season be as smooth as possible. After implementing UNITEC’s technology in July of 2018, the Diamond Fruit Growers’ team has reported how much life the tech provider’s 18-lane line—equipped with Pears Sort 3 technology—brought to the grower’s final product coming out of the Hood River Valley, including high levels of qualitative homogeneity and quality consistency across the board.

“We have received many comments about the line and all have been positive. Other packing houses have come to tour the line and have expressed how efficient and smoothly it runs,” said David Garcia, President of the Oregon Packing House. “Retailers that have received our product have commented on our fruit quality and how very consistent it is. We have had several top retailers stop at our plant just to tour the line and have been very impressed with the operation.”

Around the same time that Diamond Fruit Growers decided to implement UNITEC’s technology, distrust toward pre-sorting lines was growing within the U.S. fruit and veg sector. According to a press release, U.S. Packing Houses handling pears have always preferred direct packaging lines, in the belief that pre-sorting lines lacked delicacy and therefore could damage the pears—but the choice of Diamond Fruit Growers to rely on UNITEC for a pre-sorting line for pears, and the surprising results it obtained, represented a real watershed compared to the past.

“A pear that starts with no skin damage when its run on the UNITEC line will end up with no markings after being ran across the line. This is what we were hoping for when we approached UNITEC about designing this line and they truly succeeded in building a line that will not mark up the pears,” Garcia continued.

The results Diamond Fruit Growers has obtained ultimately piqued the interest of other companies, including retailers and distributors. According to a UNITEC press release, all who came and feasted their eyes on the 18-lane line were in agreement that there was a noticeable difference in the levels of qualitative homogeneity and quality consistency. In fact, many reported that they have seen consumers and shoppers increase their purchase of Diamond Fruit Growers’ pears after the grower implemented the new technology.

The press release also noted that the UNITEC 18-lane line is one of the first pear handling lines in the United States that has brought a real turnaround, leading more packers to lean into pear handling lines. One of the distinctive features of the line is its gentle handling of pears. Another feature of note is the reliability of its quality selection, only made possible by the Pears Sort 3 system and its high resolution cameras, which was designed by Unisorting, a division of the UNITEC group. The cameras scan 360 degrees of each pear.

“We noticed, especially in our number one grade, that the end product was very consistent,” Garcia continued.

This technology has also helped Diamond Fruit Growers streamline its operations by making it possible to divide fruit into product classes characterized by an extremely high Coherent Quality, with each class having its own territorial or consumption destination.

“Our ability to process more bins in an hour increased,” Garcia added, noting an almost 100 percent increase in production efficiency and a significant reduction in labor costs. “Prior with two lines we were able to run 70-75 bins per hour. With the new line we ran 100- 140 bins per hour Prior years we had up to 75 employees per shift sorting. New line we had 12-15 sorters per shift.”

When Diamond Fruit Growers first proposed readapting its pre-existing pear line, UNITEC instantly took on the responsibility of designing and manufactguring a line dedicated exclusively to pears—making it one of the first in the world of its kind.

“When we first started looking at replacing our old lines, there were apple lines out there that were modified to run pears but they weren’t going to take us where we felt we needed to be for the future,” Garcia said. “That is where UNITEC came into play. UNITEC was able to show us through their designs and vision what a true pear line would look like. As we got further into working with UNITEC. we knew that this was the line to take us into the future.”

Garcia continued: “Another indication that we had made the right decision was at the end of the season everyone was looking forward to the next season with the new line because we think we have just begun to touch on how well this line can run pears!”

UNITEC’s partnership with Diamond Fruit Growers also expands its presence in the United States market—adding to its presence in Lodi, California, and Wenatchee, Washington.

For more fresh produce news like this, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.

UNITEC Diamond Fruit Growers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The art, the museums, farmers markets, and trolley carts always come to my mind when I think of San Francisco. Now, I think of Mollie Stone’s Markets, too. Recently, Mollie Stone’s announced that it will open up its 10th location in a former Lombardi Sports store in 2020, taking over the 43,900-square-foot site that has been vacant since 2014.

“The new location will be our fourth in San Francisco, and we are extremely excited to expand in the city by the bay,” Owner Mike Stone said in a news release. “We understand the passion and expectation in the neighborhood, and look forward to providing an outstanding place to shop.

Since 1986, Mollie Stone’s has been a purveyor in the Bay Area of local, natural, and gourmet products. With locations already in San Francisco’s Castro, Twin Peaks, and Pacific Heights neighborhoods as well as in Greenbrae, San Mateo, Sausalito, Palo Alto, Burlingame, and San Bruno, Mollie Stone’s is still not considered as a chain store.

“We’re a small player in a big ocean,” said Stone of the difference between his store and Whole Foods. “We’re community-minded and we service the local needs of the community. When you focus on that as opposed to global growth and numbers of stores, that makes a big difference.”

With headquarters in Mill Valley, Mollie Stone’s began its expansion into San Francisco in 1998 with its Pacific Heights location, where it still provides a shuttle bus for shoppers, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Following the lead of national supermarkets, the chain started offering grocery delivery in the city through Instacart in 2015.

For more retail news, keep reading ANUK.

Mollie Stone's Markets