CORONA, CA - As the company’s organic sales continue to exceed expectations and it expands its organic acreage, Veg-Fresh Farms has hired industry veteran Kellie Weaver to join the National Sales Team for the Good Life Organic™ brand. 

Weaver joins the Veg-Fresh Farms family after an eight year tenure with Dulcinea. There she was tasked with tailoring marketing and sales programs to meet customer’s needs. Her other industry experience included a role at Ayco Farms, and an Agricultural Business Marketing degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She also is a graduate of PMA’s Career Pathways program and participated in the PMA Emerging Leaders Program in 2015.

Category Manager for Good Life Organic™, Anthony Innocenti, shared that Kellie is a welcome addition to the team, which has been working hard to keep up with the growing success of the program.  

“The overwhelming positive response we have seen from our new programs, label, and new packaging, has created the necessity for our team to expand,” Innocenti elaborated in a press release. “With the addition on our organic melon, citrus, pineapple, and grape programs we needed someone with Kellie’s sales expertise to present our customers with new items, new programs and fantastic promotional opportunities.” 

Dino Cancellieri, a Partner at Veg-Fresh Farms, had more to add about the company’s core philosophies of hiring the right person for the job. 

“At Veg-Fresh Farms we pride ourselves on our collaborative team approach, and how each person’s contribution supports our company’s goals and strategic plans, Cancellieri notes. “Coupled with her sales experience and knowledge, she is the right person to join our National Sales Team.”

This hire comes on the heels of the company’s success at the Organic Produce Summit in Monterey last month, which Cancellieri says further supports Veg-Fresh Farms’ expansion of Good Life Organic™ and its commitment to hire new talent.

Looking forward to seeing all the great work Kellie Weaver and Veg-Fresh will do together!

Veg-Fresh Farms

LEAMINGTON, ON - Zing! Healthy Foods™, an entity of Orangeline Farms™, is ready to ship their latest crop of Amazing European Runner Beans. The company was a pioneer in re-introducing these beans to North America in 2013. This year the demand for the beans, twice the length and size of a typical green bean, has been at an all-time high.

“Foodies can delight in these beans since they’re so versatile," mentions Jordan Kniaziew VP, Sales and Marketing for Zing! Healthy Foods™, according to a press release, “they always have a dedicated spot on my BBQ, and I cook them like I would asparagus. A coating of olive oil, lightly seasoned and dusted with some freshly grated parmesan.”

From seed to harvest, the bean stalks only take four weeks to grown over 12’ high, and are available almost year round from Zing! Healthy Foods™. “Our team is excited to get these to market and in homes while continuing the momentum we’ve had in North America,” commented Kniaziew.

The company stated that these beautiful beans pack an enormous amount of health benefits with an impressive list of nutrients. In a typical serving, there is 15% of the daily recommended fiber, making them a great alternative to fibrous smoothies and drinks.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for all the latest produce updates and market information.

Orangeline Farms

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – The strained working agreement between grocers in Southern California and its unionized workers may be coming to a close as sources are reporting that a tentative agreement was reached yesterday between the groups. 

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that according to United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 135, grocery workers and stores have reached a possible agreement that would prevent the strike of thousands of employees in the region. 

UFCW stated that the details of the contract would not be released until its members first get an opportunity to review the agreement, and then vote on its contents. Voting is to take place on Monday, August 8, 2016. 

The UFCW represents around 47,000 employees of Ralphs and Albertsons, which includes the Vons, Pavilions, and Safeway banners.

“This deal could not have happened without the strength and solidarity of our dedicated members,” wrote UFCW Local 135 in a Facebook post, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Ralphs Spokeswoman Kendra Doyel stated that the company had proposed pay increases and changes to pension and health care plans, although she did not expand on the included deal details. 

“We remain committed to finding solutions that will be good for our associates and keep Ralphs competitive in the market,” she wrote in an emailed statement, as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

As we previously reported, the union authorized a strike last month following prolonged negotiations and proposed terms that neither party could agree to. Workers were seeking fair scheduling practices, living wages, and pension and health care benefits. 

As more information unfolds, AndNowUKnow will provide the latest in potential strike or agreement-based news.

BURLINGTON, WA - Fall will be here before we know it, and with it comes crisp cold air, turning both leaves and pumpkins! From painted pumpkins to ornate ornamentals, Bay Baby Produce has it all.

For the company, fall is on the mind year-round as it browses Pinterest looking for what’s new and hot as the team re-creates the latest trends for those of us who may be a little less than crafty. 

Pumpkin harvest begins sooner than you think in mid-August, and will ship into stores from September through October. Carving pumpkins typically starts later in the fall, but at Bay Baby Produce the motto is “Save the pumpkin, spare the knife. Paint the pumpkin, give it life.”

How is this accomplished? Through its proprietary painting process that puts vibrant images such as faces, silhouettes and skulls on wee bee and pie-size pumpkins. These unique small pumpkins are perfect for shoppers to grab while back-to-school shopping.

Founder, Michele Youngquist, tells me,“It’s a great way to start your fall decorating. Perfect for your table, counter, porch, or desk.”

While pumpkins themselves are already aesthetically pleasing Bay Baby Produce’s painted pumpkins take the category to an entirely new level. The company’s painting and production process allows for consistent, top quality painted pumpkins. Michele’s advice to retailers, “Get your order in now to get on the production schedule. Having your store set early is a key to a successful fall pumpkin program.”

Bay Baby Produce believes that it’s essential to make decorating easy for the consumer. Its Mixed ½ Pallet Displays come with headers that show customers how to easily mix the long stem ornamentals with painted pumpkins for an eye catching centerpiece. Michele tells me, “What makes our Sparkler, Tiger, and Casper unique is the elegant long stem. When decorating, it adds texture and color.” The Long Stem Ornamental Trio, as coined by Michele, can be sold at the same price. This encourages customers to buy all three instead of just one.

With pumpkins on the brain, get a jump on Bay Baby Produce’s Fall program now, before the crop leaves you behind!

Bay Baby Produce

WENATCHEE, WA - Welcome to What's In Store.

Journey with us now to central Washington, where Stemilt Growers is now harvesting its Artisan Organics peaches and nectarines.

In season from mid-July to mid-September, 2016 marks the 8th year Stemilt’s entire crop of peaches and nectarines has been grown and certified organic. With the help of 4th generation family farmers, the Douglas family of Pasco, WA, Stemilt is joining natural farming practices with a great climate of warm days and cool nights to produce large, sweet, and juicy, organic peaches and nectarines that burst with flavor.

Carrying organic peaches and nectarines is a great way for retailers to differentiate themselves, and boost their stonefruit and organic categories during the last weeks of summer. To share the wonderful story of Artisan Organics peaches and nectarines with your shoppers, Stemilt has a variety of merchandising options available–from pop-up bins and grower story signage to recipes, digital assets, and more.

With organic being in high demand throughout the grocery store, especially in the produce aisles, now is the time to share the summer flavors of Stemilt’s Artisan Organics peaches and nectarines with your shoppers!

GRAND FORKS, ND - Black Gold Farms has kicked off the harvest of its red potatoes in Winamac, Indiana, just two miles south of Chicago.

The company is anticipating a strong yield with exceptional quality, stating that Mother Nature has “smiled on Indiana this summer.”

“We see the Indiana crop as the perfect fit to ensure that we have a year-round supply of Black Gold Farms grown quality red potatoes for our customers. The crop looks great, and we’re very excited to see this product on store shelves,” commented Nathan Libey, Winamac, IN, Farm Manager, in a recent press release.

With its focus turned exclusively to red potatoes for the fresh market, Black Gold Farms stated that it has customers anticipating Indiana-grown potatoes, including at least one retail chain who will be showcasing the company’s red potatoes with a locally-grown promotion.

Premier-quality Norland and Dark Red Norland varieties will be harvested from several hundred acres from the Winamac farm, expected to go from now until the end of August.

Black Gold Farms provides red potatoes grown on its own farms year-round, beginning in Texas, transitioning to North Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri, and then circles back to the Red River Valley in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Nielsen FreshFacts report red potato sales consistently outperforming in the overall fresh potato category, according to the company, providing retailers 60%+ price-per-pound higher than Russets.  

Continue to follow AndNowUKnow as we report on all transitions in the produce industry through the second half of 2016.

Black Gold Farms

CAMBRIDGE, MA – With many forms of technology now promising to help alleviate the ag and environmental concerns of modern day, engineers at Harvard have developed a swarm of robotic bees to potentially answer pollination and climate mapping issues. 

Inspired by the biology of an actual bee, researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Insitute have successfully created a series of independent flying RoboBees. These bee-like robots are only slightly larger than a penny, and are undergoing continuous development with end roles of ag and disaster relief in mind. 

The most astonishing accomplishment of the RoboBee is not in its ability to dive and swim in water, but rather to hover in air. These hovering capabilities, according to Tech Insider, are the feature which would allow the RoboBees to pollinate crops and remove the pressure of that role from the current, and dwindling, population of honey bees. 

The RoboBees achieve flight through artificial muscles that contract when voltage is applied through the bees its wired power source. Tech Insider reported that the bees are a major breakthrough in micro-areial vehicles, and other robotics which share its interests. 

In addition to pollination, Harvard engineers have listed other possible uses for the RoboBee as the following: 

• High-resolution weather and climate mapping
• Environmental monitoring
• Traffic monitoring
• Search and rescue missions, particularly after natural disasters
• Surveillance

The Wyss Institute stated that although the RoboBees could provide potential relief to the ag industry through artificial pollination, it would be a temporary solution for a preferred long-term natural solution, and requires the perfection of research that which could still be at least two decades away from completion.

To read more about the Wyss Institute's research and views on crop pollination, click here. Watch the video below to see the bee in action.

Could these RoboBees make an impact on the industry, and how soon will the industry be able to access the technology? AndNowUKnow will continue to update as the buzz unfolds.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Produce Mom® will be spotlighting fresh produce this weekend, just in time for the back-to-school lunch rush. Lori Taylor, Owner and Founder of The Produce Mom, has announced that she will headline cooking shows in Williams-Sonoma stores in the Midwest with the Power Up with Produce Tour.

“The Produce Mom was honored to be Chadwick Boyd’s guest for his Midwest stops on the national Entertaining with Vegetables tour at Williams-Sonoma during the spring 2016,” said Taylor, who will be hosting the tour this Saturday, August 6, according to a press release. “It is thrilling to be invited back to Williams-Sonoma as a headliner and showcase the many ways we can power up recipes with produce.”

The show will promote several of those in the industry, including:

• Sage Fruit’s Skinny Apple Turnover recipe
• Wada Farm’s Easy Baker™ and Microwave in Bag™ microwavable potatoes
• NatureFresh™ Farms’ new snacking tomato, TOMZ™

“The Produce Mom continues to provide Wada Farms with ways to connect with consumers and unique promotional opportunities. We are thrilled to have our potatoes and sweet potatoes included in the Power Up with Produce Tour at Williams-Sonoma,” Eric Beck, Director of Marketing at Wada Farms, stated.

Debuting in Cincinnati, OH, the live cooking show will look to target college-bound teenagers to bring them to produce departments or campus convenience stores.

“Because back-to-school coincides with Washington apple season, we are always looking for ways to promote our fruit to students and households,” Kaci Komstadius, Social Media Director at Sage Fruit, said. “This is one of Sage Fruit’s first opportunities to target college-bound students; the Skinny Apple Turnover recipe is ideal for dorm room cooking.”

Free and open to all consumers, the event kicks off at 1 p.m. EDT, with more details available here. For those who can’t make it, and want to see how The Produce Mom looks to inspire teens, they can go to The Produce Mom’s Facebook page and watch the livestream of the entire event.

The Produce Mom

PHOENIX, AZ -  After a second quarter of new stores in nine different states, Sprouts is continuing the push towards growth despite a deflationary retail environment, the company announced in its Q2 2016 this morning. With an already 243 stores in 13 states as of August 4, 2016, the company expects to open a total of 36 stores in 2016, representing a 17% increase in total store count.

“Sprouts’ healthy living for less business continues to resonate with customers as we grow coast to coast,” stated Amin Maredia, Chief Executive Officer of Sprouts. “Despite the deflationary environment, our team continues to produce solid comparable store sales growth through improved traffic of 3.5% and increased tonnage. We remain laser-focused on our strategic priorities to drive performance today while continuing to invest in team members, technology, and infrastructure for sustainable long-term growth.” 

Sprouts has been tracking growth for the past two years, announcing in 2014 its intention to add 1,200 new locations in the next decade or so. Just in June, Sprouts reaffirmed this intention with the announcement that it is to hire upwards of 2,500 employees.

When asked on a conference call with investors what the chain’s plan was if its markets continue to get more competitive in fresh pricing, Maredia explained, “Customers are demanding more fresh product today, so it doesn’t surprise us to see competitors be more promotional in these areas. It’s a pretty competitive environment, but as an organization, we’ve had long-standing pricing promotional strategies to work with this.”

Maredia noted that despite the competitive market, Sprouts has seen market share gains due to other retailers struggling to find their footing. “The share gain in our minds is coming from these softer players who are not investing and not looking to trends, etc.,” Maredia continued. “With the likes of Aldi coming into Southern California, we’ve been watching them very carefully. They now have 13 stores within 13 miles of our stores and we’ve not seen any material impact. We have good strategies to deal with these competitors.”

Along with the focus on competition and growth, the company announced the following other highlights in its Q2 report:

• Net sales of $1.0 billion; a 14% increase from the same period in 2015
• Comparable store sales growth of 4.1% and two-year comparable store sales growth of 8.9%
• Net income of $37 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.25
• Net income increased 19% from the same period in 2015, and 6% from adjusted net income
• Diluted earnings per share increased 25% from the same period in 2015, and 14% from adjusted diluted earnings per share

Will Sprouts continue on its plan for new stores despite the increase in competition? AndNowUKnow will keep on feeding you updates as they come. 

Sprouts Farmers Market

ROCHESTER, NY - Wegmans Food Markets may be making an even bigger splash in the increasingly competitive North Carolinian market soon—analysts suggest the retailer has been looking to go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s largest grocery chains.

Wegmans announced its first store in the state in January, marking Cary, North Carolina, just outside of Raleigh, as its location. Since then, the chain has filed paperwork to obtain a second store in that area, and is working to open new stores in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Brooklyn, New York.

As explained by Retail Analyst and Managing Director of the Strategic Resource Group, Burt Flickinger, to the Democrat & Chronicle, a strong entry into North Carolina is just the first step. The decision could also mean Wegmans may delve even further into the Southeast.

"There is still a huge opportunity," he told the source. "Wegmans could double the current size of its corporate sales just by filling out the region between Virginia, the Carolinas, into Tennessee and Georgia and north Florida."

Bankruptcies by companies like A&P and Fairway have opened the window for growth oppotunites in the region, and Wegmans has confirmed that it is "considering multiple sites" in the Raleigh-Durham area. So far, no other details have emerged, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.

"Until there are firm deals for each site, we are unable to share the locations or other details," Wegmans' VP of Media Relations, Jo Natale, shared in a statement. "North Carolina is seeing continued growth, and we have been able to identify multiple sites in the Raleigh/Durham area that met all of our criteria."

Wegmans is know throughout retail circles as a high-quality and high-quantity grocer, with some stores carrying as many as 70,000 items. Where it is weaker to competition is through its prices, Flickinger told the Democrat & Chronicle.

"If that model continues, then Wegmans will be more vulnerable to companies like Kroger and ShopRite," Flickinger continued. "When Wegmans goes toe-to-toe with Tops, or toe-to-toe with Price Chopper, or toe-to-toe with Stop and Shop in New England, Wegmans compares very favorably with very low prices."

Kroger currently operates 160 stores in the state, while competitor Publix has 14 stores presently, with 20 more on the way through 2017.

Is Wegmans ready to take on the area's retail giants? Find out with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report on the details.

Wegmans