LAKEWOOD, NY – As the seasons shift, with the first day of fall now officially behind us, consumers are truly wildin for all things pumpkin. As brands across the nation are looking to tap into this “golden” flavor trend, some are looking to take the distinctive pumpkin taste and use it for a more crafted piece; enter Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Pumking Ale. 

Now in its ninth year of production, the company stated that this complex ale truly stands up to the memorable pumpkin taste which grips consumers each season. In addition to the obvious use of pumpkin, the ale is cultivated by fermenting the gourd with ale yeast, two types of malt, and two types of hops.

With an ABV of 8.6%, this ale is packing more than just a punch of pumpkin in each bottle, with a malty taste of vanilla and spices for consumers to imbibe their way through any traditional holiday meal. And the smell? The company states on its website that the trend continues with hints of pie spices, a buttery crust, and roasted pecans. 

The brewing company has even seen such success with the product that it is now selling branded goblets for the brew, and will hold its first Pumking Fest–complete with beer floats, gourd bowling, and rum barrel-aged Pumking ale. Southern Tier begins brewing Pumking in July, further speaking to the success of this national craze. 

Would I try this pumpkin ale and experimentally throw some whipped cream on top, for good measure? Yes, I believe I would; though I can’t personally say whether a beer-infused whipped cream ‘stache would be the best part of the pumpkin spice trend to aim for.

WILMINGTON, MA – Robots are moving into retail packing. Target has decided to adopt automatons from robotics company Symbotic, LLC, for one of its biggest California distribution centers, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“What we’re doing with autonomous bots is not that dissimilar from what Google is doing with autonomous cars,” grocery giant and Symbotic Owner Rick Cohen told WSJ. “I think within five years, it’ll change distribution.”

The technology, WSJ reports, enables robots to move up and down aisles to stack and retrieve cases autonomously, allowing for Target to upgrade and save on costs.

“Target was going to have to build a new facility in California, which is horrendously expensive,” Larry Sweet, a Georgia Tech robotics professor and Symbotic’s Chief Technology Officer at the time of the Target project, told WSJ. Sweet explained that Target wanted to keep up with demand by expanding, but did not want to build a facility from the ground up. “They wanted that facility to handle more volume, but they couldn’t do it. Symbotic was able to put a system in the building that helped that.”

Symbotic’s robots can put any product in any spot on the racks and clock where they are, allowing for denser storage and branching out of the human need for packing conventionally so that we know where products are stored. The robots' software notes where each product is stored, constructing “perfect pallets” organized according to individual supermarkets’ floor plans.

With the ability to drop off and retrieve one case of products a minute, about five times as fast as a human on foot, measuring at 28 inches wide, the aisles the bots travel are only slightly wider than conventional warehouses.

Cohen’s vision of robots running warehouses, storing, handling, and hauling goods is one he is looking to bring to some of the U.S.’s biggest grocers and retailers, offering more control on labor, time, and real estate costs.

Not only is the executive carrying out the technology testing in his own practices as Owner of C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., but Walmart shared with WSJ that it, too, is testing Symbotic’s system for use in up to two of its large distribution centers, with interest in how the robots allow it to store more products in its warehouses. Walmart also has tested the use of drones in its warehouses, as well.

While the trend continues to rise more rapidly in Europe, stateside stores like Kroger and Meijer are dabbling in it with more possibly on the way. Could Cohen’s vision be the future of retail operations?

We at AndNowUKnow, who are constantly on the watch for both tech and retail trends alike, can’t wait to find out.

Target Symbotic

NEW YORK, NY - Now through October 13, moviegoers will have a good reason not to miss the previews. Screenvision Media’s “Reel Content” programming is launching “Reel Food,” an innovative new short series hosted by lifestyle expert Chadwick Boyd, as part of its Front + Center pre-show content before the feature film.

"I am thrilled to be part of a groundbreaking new venture to bring food, flavor, and fun to millions of movie lovers across the country," said Boyd, according to a press release. "As a film buff myself, it's really cool to be able to create and share recipes and kitchen tips inspired by current movies that entertain people before the show and motivate them to get into their kitchens at home," Boyd added.

In the Reel Food series, Boyd features "spicy and sweet" dishes inspired by the hottest upcoming films. The recipes are tailor-made for any level of home cook and appeal to food lovers of all ages. They are also customized depending on where moviegoers are located. For midwesterners, Boyd has a playful twist on deep dish pizza. Southerners get a creative shortcut for crispy, crunchy chicken tenders. Movie lovers out west are served up a simple and surprising update for #TacoTuesday. Northeasterners get a delicious game-changer for game day.

"We are always looking to enhance the moviegoing experience for our audience, and are excited to bring original food programming to the big screen. This is our first original lifestyle segment to roll-out under our new programming block called 'Reel Content', and Chadwick is the perfect person to kick things off for us," said John McCauley, Chief Strategic Development Officer of Screenvision Media, according to the release. "Given the exceptional popularity of food in pop culture today, it was a natural fit for us to create original programming around it for our pre-show, and we see plenty of opportunities for integration with national, regional, and local advertisers alike."

Movie fans can sign up on Boyd's Facebook Fan Page to get the recipes. Throughout the Reel Food run, he will host Facebook LIVE broadcasts each week to interact and engage with followers as well as share new tips and tricks to make the dishes shown on screen. To find a Screenvision Media theater and watch Reel Food, moviegoers and go to screenvisionmedia.com/find-theatre

TORONTO, ON - The magical land of Italian food known as Eataly is about to grace the foodie hub of Toronto for its debut in the Canadian market.

"Eataly Toronto will be spectacular. Firstly, the city of Toronto values high-quality food. And we do, too,” shared Eataly Founder Oscar Farinetti. “Secondly, this will be our first Canadian location, and with every first in a new market comes something full of excitement and adrenaline. Lastly, and above all, we are entering the market with people we fully trust and we share the same passions with. We can't wait to get to work and start this partnership!"

Planned for early 2019, the bustling marketplace filled with Italian-themed food stores and eateries will occupy 50,000-square-feet, and anchor the newly-renovated Manulife Centre in the heart of Toronto’s trendy Yorkville area.

Though it is an Italian company, Eataly has expanded in key metropolitan areas stateside since its introduction in 2010, having been popularized with the help of culinary giants like Mario Batali, Lidia and Joe Bastianich, and Adam and Alex Saper.

According to a press release, Eataly expects the new location to help continue to push the area as the ultimate destination for Toronto shoppers and food lovers.

Eataly is not a chain, it's a family, the company assures, with each location as distinct as the city and people who reside there.

Partnering with local experts, the Selfridges Group and Terroni Restaurants, for the Canadian location, the company announced that it plans to give the newest addition a distinctive look and experience for the Toronto crowd.

With the combined force of one of my favorite cities and my favorite places to stuff my face, there's no doubt this will be a winning combination.

Eataly

SOMERSET, ENGLAND – With an errant pluck, one man’s hard work and prospective giant vegetable profits have turned into several servings of a bitter cabbage confit. One English gardener was in fits after a careless chef chopped up part of his prized 84 lb cabbage, rendering its competition future useless. 

Dale Toten, head gardener at luxury hotel Ston Easton Park in Somerset, England, had been cultivating the plant since October of last year in order to enter it in an upcoming competition. Mere days beforehand, a chef from the hotel’s restaurant overstepped and chopped part of the plant to serve to guests. 

"They should all know [not to touch the giant vegetables]. Really it's just common sense. The staff who have been here a while know how things work but some are new and obviously don't know," Toten said according to the Telegraph. 

What ensued was an understandably emotional confrontation, as Toten tried to track down the accidental pillager. Normally, Toten stated that the hotel's chefs are aware that only the normal-sized veggies are to be plucked and chopped to serve to guests.

"I walked straight to the kitchen and looked in the fridge and there it was. I had hoped to enter it in the competition, but it probably won't happen now. It's a bit of a mess. My heart sank. But then I lost my temper at anyone who was there at the time. Some chefs bore the brunt of that. They were very sorry. But I have not forgiven them yet. They will be banned from the garden,” continued Toten, also lamenting the loss of his once sought after prize money.

Once the chef responsible for the blunder came forward, emotions cooled in the kitchen with the incident now becoming what is referred to in the back end of the Sorrel Restaurant as “cabbage-gate.”

The accidentally offending chef admitted that he didn’t understand why he couldn’t touch the larger cabbage, and was looking to save some time by taking chunks of the massive cabbage, rather than picking several smaller ones.

"The irony is that the leaves of the giant cabbage were really bitter and we had to work very hard with it to make it right. So it's not even like it was worth it," stated Sous Chef Aaron Marsh.

Senior staff members pledged that new employees would be shown what not to touch in the future, to avoid future mishaps. 

Is this the last giant vegetable fiasco in the near future? Most likely not. As harvests continue in the industry, and in the more niche realms of growing as well, AndNowUKnow will have the latest.

OXNARD, CA - Coming off a challenging season, the mango market could balance out in the coming weeks but continue to offer promotional volumes for consumption, according to Freska Produce.

“As Mexico finishes up in the next couple of weeks, we could possibly see the market stabilize slightly as we finish the month,” Sales Manager Tom Hall tells me. He adds, however, that Ecuador is already getting its own shipping season underway, so he does not expect a significant change overall as both Mexico and Brazil have seen double last year’s volumes.

“The season has been challenging,” he shares, explaining that Mother Nature has given growers an uphill battle. “From gaps early in the season to historic levels on volumes from Mexico, the pressure to move the volumes with the competitive forces this year have been daunting.”

Growers continue to be resilient, however, and with large Keitt’s finishing up in Mexico, Tom says a window of promotion is coming.

“We are finishing up the Mexican season with large Keitt’s and have a small window to promote those, and with Brazil in full swing and Ecuador on the horizon, there should be ample opportunities to promote in the foreseeable future,” Tom tells me.

So gear up those mango stands and cross promotional opportunities, from football mango salsas to snacks, which can be found here, and keep checking in with AndNowUKnow for all the latest fluctuations in this and other fresh produce markets.

Freska Produce

WILDER, KY – As demand across organic produce continues to grow, Castellini Company LLC is making strides to respond to the changing consumer buying behaviors. In the run up to PMA Fresh Summit 2016, the company is revealing its newly achieved Quality Assurance International (QAI) Organic Certification to pack organic red and yellow potatoes to complement Castellini's line of conventional potatoes. 

Sales Executive Dan Milheim joined me to discuss this newest endeavor and to share the vision behind this product launch and new standard of production. 

"The increased demand for organic produce is obvious, and organics are now part of the mainstream," Dan told me, as we discussed the segment's growth. "We are always looking for ways to fulfill the needs of our customers. Our new line of organic red and yellow potatoes will complete our current offerings, and is part of our strategy to be the 'One Source' in the industry."

When I asked Dan how organic overall fit into Castellini's business model, and how the company is looking to evolve, he tells that the team is continuously looking ahead and adapting to the changing demands of the marketplace. 

"Our business model allows us to create customized programs tailored to our customers’ needs, and offering organic potatoes is a part of that," he shared. 

Castellini will be packing at its facility in Wilder, KY, just across the river from downtown Cincinnati, OH.  Currently, the company has one packing line dedicated solely to organic potatoes.

Dan and I continued to talk about how this new certification helps to differentiate Castellini's program. Dan reflected again on the fact that Castellini develops customized potato programs to fit the specific needs of each customer. 

"We can offer a wide variety of product alternatives. Every customer has different strategies and goals for their own program. We are not at the mercy of a single crop and the quality it produces. Instead, we maintain the flexibility to 'follow the quality’ to various growing regions which offers flexibility to deal with some of Mother Nature’s curve balls. We have long-standing relationships and partnerships with some of the best growers in the world. Instead of offering only a few options, varieties, brands, and quality specifications, we have the ability to tailor each potato program to the specific needs of each customer," Dan offered.

The company also offers private-label, and next-day-delivery to almost anywhere east of the Mississippi River. 

"The addition of organic potatoes to our program is exciting," he said.

As the company continues to expand its opportunities, providing its customers even further options, stick with AndNowUKnow for the latest report.

Castellini Group of Companies

BENTONVILLE, AR – Walmart touted a significant spike in bonuses since implementing its $2.7 billion incentive plan to increase productivity and customer satisfaction, having awarded about $200 million in second-quarter bonuses to 932,000 hourly store employees, up from the 880,000 that received them this time last year.

In total, almost one million employees working at 99% of the retail giant’s 4,600 U.S. stores received cash quarterly bonuses of up to $500.

"The business plan is starting to work," Walmart’s Director of National Media Relations, Kory Lundberg, told CNN Money. "Customers are starting to notice a difference when they come into the stores to do shopping."

A reflection of the plan’s success could be Walmart’s 3% boost in U.S. sales, and its 12% jump in earnings per share from the same time last year. Dialing back to this time two years ago, 76% of stores were awarded bonuses for meeting targets, according to Lundberg.

The retailer has made several moves to increase customer service, including entry-level pay increments last February nationwide to $10.00 an hour, $2.75 an hour above the federal minimum wage.

The company has also been growing physically, having announced not one, but two large distribution centers, one in Florida and one in North Carolina, just this summer with plans for perishable groceries like produce, dairy, and meats.

AndNowUKnow will continue to report any and all key moves Walmart and other retailers make in the market.

Walmart

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Halfmoon Farms LLC satisfied a reparation order issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).

According to a recent USDA press release, Halfmoon Farms LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah, can continue operating in the produce industry upon applying for and being issued a PACA license. Bradley D. Andrus, Kevin D. Gulledge, Thomas E. Stewart, Janet S. Workman, and Jeffrey A. Zappitello were listed as members of the business and may now be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee.

Once a reparation order is fully satisfied and it is confirmed that there are not any outstanding unpaid awards, USDA lifts the employment restrictions of the previously named, responsibly connected individuals. USDA also requires any unlicensed company that fully satisfies all unpaid reparation awards to obtain a license if it continues to operate in the industry.

In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,700 PACA claims involving more than $66 million. Its experts also assisted more than 7,100 callers with issues valued at approximately $100 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.

Agricultural Marketing Service

SACRAMENTO, CA - Yesterday, AndNowUKnow pit the industry head to head with the launch of our very first timed Quiz Quix challenge, asking you to put names to the faces of some of the most notable marketers in the game. 

Of course, only one can come out on top, and our very first winner is Dan’l Mackey Almy, President and CEO of DMA Solutions.

Congratulations are in order for this industry marketer expert, but she wasn’t the only produce person who put impressive numbers on the board. Check out our top ten highest scores below to see if you made the cut! 

Didn’t get a chance to take our first ever quiz? Keep an eye out for the next opportunity in the days to come. Just sign in either via email or one of several social media accounts and you’ll be all ready to jump in the competition. 

Signing in will give us a token to verify you and allow us to put your name in the ranking. We do not share your social data or information beyond that which names you as a participant or winner in the quiz as we look to encourage some healthy, fun, informative competition within the industry.

If you missed the quiz and want to try your hand, click here, and keep following us as we continue to innovate and update our newest product. Game on!