PHARR, TX - Another day, another concealed package of over $1 million dollars of narcotics found in a shipment of fresh produce. Last week, agents at the Pharr International Bridge U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office seized 151 pounds of cocaine in a seemingly innocent commercial shipment of mangos.

“Our officers have once again demonstrated great awareness and diligence with the interception of these... outstanding seizures of narcotics at our cargo facility,” shared Port Director Efrain Solis Jr., Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Balancing the trade facilitation aspect of cargo processing with an enforcement mindset is a function of CBP Field Operations that is accomplished on a daily basis.”

On the evening of May 17, a Customs and Border Protection agency press release explained that a 51-year-old man from Michoacán, Mexico arrived at the border hauling a commercial shipment of fresh mangos. Open inspection, a CBP officer discovered 60 packages of alleged cocaine, valued at nearly $1,165,000.

The man was subsequently arrested, and ultimately turned them over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents for further investigation.

This seizure comes almost exactly one month following the discovery of 107 pounds of methamphetamine in a mango shipment at Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. 

In a world where there will always be narcotics, and a world where there will always be fresh produce, you can be sure that AndNowUKnow will continue to unearth their inevitable illicit mixtures.

SALINAS, CA – Continuing its emphasis on fresh produce and the organic marketplace, Organic Produce Summit announced that Juicero CEO and Founder, Doug Evans, has been added as the final keynote speaker for this year’s upcoming event in Monterey, CA, from July 13-14. 

“A core passion and purpose of mine is to drive the demand for organic produce. It’s an honor to be part of this summit with so many esteemed farmers, packers, and industry experts,” said Evans. 

A long-time advocate of organics and raw food, Evans has served most recently as the Founder for Juicero, an at-home cold press juicing system. 

Along with Evans, the Organic Produce Summit stated in a press release that other presenters for the event are as follows: 

• Laura Batcha: President of the Organic Trade Association
• Chad Hagen: Vice President of Consumer Products, SunOpta
• Mark Bittman: Co-Founder of Purple Carrot, former New York Times columnist

As we previously reported, the day-and-a-half long event will mark the first occurrence of the organic fresh produce-centered celebration. The summit reported that exhibit space has already sold out, and confirmed that 45 different retail and buying organizations will attend.

The Organic Trade Association is in the process of finalizing a series of three educational seminar sessions featuring established industry educators and leaders as panelists. The association is planning a fourth session on the e-grocery and organic produce sector, with the following participants: 

• Tony Stallone: Vice President of Merchandising, Peapod
• Mike Buffington: IdeoClick
• Thaddeus Barsotti: Co-CEO, Farm Fresh to You
• Kevin Coupe, panel moderator: Founder, The Morning News Beat

The Organic Produce Summit is sponsored by Taylor Farms and Braga Fresh, and includes other major sponsors such as Tomorrow’s Organics, VBZ & Sons, Homegrown Organic Farms, Earthbound Farms, and Driscolls. 

To view a list of those attending the event, with coverage through the U.S. and Canada equaling over 23,000 stores, click here.

Stay up-to-the-minute with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report on the inaugural event, and other announcements in the organic produce sector.

Organic Produce Summit

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SuperValu has reportedly finished the amendment process for its $1.5 billion senior secured term loan agreement, possibly bringing it closer to the anticipated spin-off of its Save-A-Lot chain.

“We are pleased to have been able to work with our term loan lenders to execute this amendment,” Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko said in a press release. “The company now has the flexibility under its credit agreements to further explore the previously announced potential separation of Save-A-Lot into a stand-alone, publicly traded company.”

What the next step might be for the chain has been a subject of speculation since the company announced that it was exploring a potential separation of its Save-A-Lot segment last July, with rumors of either a sale or spin-off.

It is one of several avenues SuperValu looks to be exploring as it continues to make moves, with reports earlier this month of the possibility of the chain selling its Lucky’s Market banner to Kroger. 

In the event of a spin-off, the retailer stated that the amendment requires that Save-A-Lot issue a minimum of $400 million of long-term debt and that SuperValu’s term loan balance be reduced by a minimum of $350 million (including with the net cash proceeds of the Save-A-Lot debt issuance).

The loan’s maturity date is still March 21, 2019, with the interest rate margin having been increased above LIBOR from 3.50 percent to 4.50 percent, with the LIBOR floor remaining at 1.00 percent.

Additional details included:

• Increases in the SuperValu’s flexibility to execute certain sale and leaseback transactions, and acquisitions, under the term loan agreement
• Modification of certain covenants and other provisions in the term loan agreement
• The net cash proceeds from any future monetization of retained equity stake in the spin-off during a certain minimum time period could be required to be used to reduce the term loan balance

The retailer did not provide any information on a more solidified timeline of when, or if, it would pursue the spin-off. Keep checking in with AndNowUKnow as we continue to follow further developments in this and other moves in the retail market.

SuperValu Save-A-Lot

RIVERSIDE, CA – Polymer Logistics has announced a strategic hiring for the company, to spur upward growth and business possibilities. Industry veteran Fred Heptinstall will now serve as CEO of North American business for the company. 

“In the last two years, Polymer Logistics has introduced the wood grain RPC and expanded into new categories, and now is investing in two new state-of-the-art wash facilities to provide coverage throughout the continent,” said Heptinstall. “It’s a very exciting time to join the company and I’m looking forward to joining the team as CEO for the North America business.”

Heptinstall will add an affluence of executive domestic and international experience to the company through his past positions and contributions to the produce industry, said the company in a recent press release. Heptinstall’s new role with Polymer Logistics will become active on July 1, 2016, where he will report directly to company CEO Gideon Feiner.

"The RPC business in the United States is a very strategic part of Polymer Logistics and its growth plans over the next several years. The addition of Fred Heptinstall is another sign of our continued commitment to our growing business," stated Feiner.

Among Heptinstall’s relevant previous experience was his position as President of IFCO, a Brambles company. In this position with IFCO, Polymer stated that Heptinstall was credited with expanding the RPC industry in North America to become a recognizable packaging solution for the industry. 

Heptinstall currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United Fresh Produce Association, and is involved in industry organizations such as PMA, PBH, and OTA. 

Heptinstall’s past notable achievements are as follows: 

• Executive leadership positions at Chiquita Brands, and Mars Inc.
• Former Chairman of United Fresh Produce Association
• Former Chairman of International Banana Association
• Former Chairman of the Reusable Packaging Association: helped transition organization to full-time association in the industry.

"Fred is a strong and proven industry leader and an ideal fit to lead our business in North America. He will add tremendous value to our organization, customers and retail partners,” finished Feiner. 

AndNowUKnow will continue to have your leading industry announcements on company growth and executive shakeups as they are unveiled.

Polymer Logistics

CORAL GABLES, FL- It’s looking to be a great year for Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP) with recent recognition by Trade-Ideas LLC this week, which identified the company as a new lifetime high candidate. As reported by The Street, the stock as of Tuesday, had a price/earnings (PE) ratio of 26. As of that same day, there was one analyst that rated Fresh Del Monte Produce a buy, with no analysts rating it a sell. One analyst had rated it a hold. As of Friday, May 20, 2016, at 9:55 AM PST Fresh Del Monte Produce’s stock was up $0.35 to $51.37.

According to the report, shares were up 31.2% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday. Fresh Del Monte Produce’s average volume has been 200,600 shares per day during the past 30 days with a market cap of $2.6 billion. The company’s stock has a beta of 0.48 and a short float of 4.9% with 3.46 days to cover.

To read the full article on Fresh Del Monte Produce, please click here.

Trade Ideas prides itself as a leader in cutting edge, real-time scanning and alerting technology since 2002, according to the website. This company caters to investors, traders, and market professionals in more than 65 countries. Included in its program are next level analytics, strategy development and optimization, as well as decision support for equities, options, and derivatives.

Fresh Del Monte Produce has been rated by TheStreet Quant Ratings as buy with strengths noted in areas that include, “…revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance.”

The Street notes that in addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified FDP as such a stock due to these below factors when reported by the publication on May 17, 2016 11:34 AM EDT:

• FDP has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume - multiplied by share price) of $17.7 million.
• FDP has traded 176,130 shares (avergage shares traded per day).
• FDP is trading at a new lifetime high.

Congrats Fresh Del Monte Produce on this recent recognition with hopefully more to come as 2016 rolls on. 

Trade Ideas LLC Fresh Del Monte Produce

NEW YORK CITY, NY - D’Arrigo Brothers Co. of New York  is furthering its investment in the South Bronx area's future through its funding towards Hyde Leadership Charter School’s AP program. Some of the team recently toured the school to see firsthand the students’ impressive accomplishments.

“It is vital that the Bronx business community support the efforts of these educators to provide area students with an opportunity to succeed in school and to create the foundation that will allow these young men and women to achieve professional success that is, unfortunately, not available to so many Bronx youngsters,” Matthew D’Arrigo, Vice President of D’Arrigo Brothers, said in a press release.

According to the company, over 90% of the students who attend Hyde graduate each year compared to just 47% of the high school students attending other schools in the South Bronx.

“This is a great example of how a local company is giving back to the community by investing in our children,” said Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, Jr., who joined D’Arrigo representatives on the visit. “Students in the South Bronx deserve greater access to AP courses, as well as other educational opportunities, and I am pleased to know that D’Arrigo Brothers not only agree but have stepped up to provide solutions.”

The school’s administration credited much of the program’s robust offerings, such as this year’s first-time offering of AP Calculus, the ongoing support provided by D’Arrigo Brothers.

Considered an important aspect of Hyde’s Family-Based Character Education program, the AP courses the school said D’Arrigo is a vital supporter of prepares students to be successful in both college and in life.

D’Arrigo Brothers Co.

ROCHESTER, NY - Wegmans continues to eye growth as it pushes further towards overstepping the 100 mark for its storecount, with number 89 due to open Monday, May 22nd.

As we previously reported, the expanding retailer announced its intention for 13 new stores and remodels. Now more details for dates have emerged for seven of those stores, four of which will open this year, starting next week.

According to the company’s Here We Grow section on its website, the company’s newest location will be in Midlothian, VA.

The store, which marks number 89, will stand at 115,000-square-feet, employ 550 workers, and offer upwards of 60,000 products, 3,000 of which will be organic, according to a press release.

The next store, also in Virginia, is due to open on August 7th of this year. A detailed list of the shops, both announced and unannounced dates, can be seen below:

• Midlothian, VA - May 22, 2016
• Short Pump, VA - Aug 7, 2016
• Owings Mills, MD - Sept 18, 2016
• Charlottesville, VA - Nov 6, 2016
• Hanover Township, NJ - 2017
• Montvale, NJ - 2017
• Natick, MA - 2018
• Brooklyn, NY - TBA
• Chantilly, VA - TBA
• Lancaster, PA - TBA
• Marple, PA - TBA
• Medford, MA - TBA
• Tysons Corner, VA - TBA

The popularity of the chain has already one the new location nearly 24,000 club card signups before the doors have even opened, according to the retailer.

“The excitement of seeing customers walk into the store for the first time, smelling the bread baking and seeing the smiling employee faces ready to greet them, never gets old,” Store Manager Jerry Shelly said, according to the release. “We know that the customer experience, the product selection and the tools we provide to help shoppers prepare easy, healthy meals are truly unique to Wegmans and we’re excited to share our love of food with the Midlothian community.”

The new store will offer:

• Fresh produce
• Bakery
• Cheese shop
• Deli and charcuterie
• Meat and seafood
• A wine and beer shop
• Traditional grocery, dairy and frozen food offerings

Recently reported by Market Force Information as America’s favorite grocer, AndNowUKnow will continue to report progress in Wegmans’ strategic growth throughout 2016 and beyond.

Wegmans

HOLLYWOOD, CA - Groove-savvy Justin Timberlake is at it again, this time with a new music video that fans of both feet-tapping pop music and fresh produce alike will appreciate. 

Can’t Stop the Feeling is an original theme song for the upcoming DreamWorks musical comedy, Trolls. The video places Timberlake in a setting which we are all familiar with, both professionally and personally; a supermarket. 

Though the song begins with slow, finger-snapping grooves, Timberlake is soon shown wheeling a fruit and vegetable laden cart through a supermarket aisle, in tempo to the catchy upbeat mood of the song. 

Timberlake uses the supermarket setting to highlight the swelling hooks of the chorus as he rides a cart at whirlwind speeds through the produce aisles and store, capitalizing on a fantasy that we’ve all possessed at least once or twice since leaving our childhoods behind.

In a continued supermarket state-of-mind, the video frequently cuts to a jiving supermarket associate, Glen, who emphasizes his beat-possessed persona with his price-gun sidekick. The produce aisles really pop against Timberlake’s all-white ensemble, allowing the viewer to revel in the colors of pineapples, tomatoes, and bell peppers. 

Check out Justin Timberlake's smooth moves for yourself here, because none of us are really immune to a banana microphone.

SACRAMENTO, CA – After performing an independent review of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement’s (LGMA) food safety Guidelines, a panel of four experts have supported the program as a collection of the most current and best food safety practices. 

“With the many changes in the LGMA practices and the addition of the Produce Rule under FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act), the LGMA felt it was important that we seek an expert review of our Guidelines to ensure the LGMA remains a strong, preventative program that minimizes the risk of microbial contamination in the production and harvest of leafy greens,” said Scott Horsfall, President and CEO of the California LGMA. 

Panel members stated in a press release that the Guidelines offered the same level of protections as the federal law, but provided a more detailed and strict guidance in many areas.

“If a document is going to be utilized, it must be clear,” said Dr. Kali E. Kniel, one of the panelists. “The LGMA Guidelines includes terms already familiar to many growers like SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices) on which some growers have been trained for over 15 years.”

The review panel consisted of the following experts, chosen for their related experience:

• Dr. Robert Bracket: Vice President and Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology. Former Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition.
• Dr. Michele Jay-Russell: Project Director of the Western Center for Food Safety, University of California
• Dr. Kali E. Kniel: Professor of Microbial Food Safety, University of Delaware
• Dr. Manan Sharma: Research Microbiologist in the Environmental and Microbial Food Safety Laboratory with the Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 

“Perhaps the greatest strength of the LGMA program is the timely engagement of multi-disciplinary experts and extensive review of the scientific literature used to develop and update the Guidelines,” stated Dr. Russell. 

The panel met to review the most recent version of the 2015 Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens, between July and September, 2015. The panel was conducted by IDS Decision Sciences, and Western Growers. 

The panel also suggested certain modifications and updates to the Guidelines in accordance to new food safety findings. The Vice President of Strategic Planning, Science, and Technology at Western Growers, Hank Giclas, said that LGMA was pleased with the panel results and appreciative of their comments. 

“The LGMA Guidelines were designed so they can be updated whenever new research becomes available,” said Giclas. The Guidelines have been updated 12 times since LGMA was established in 2007.

A copy of the panel report is available here.

California LGMA

SALINAS, CA - In a move that will greatly increase company organization, Moxxy Marketing has added Laura Stenvick in the role of Director of Operations.

Now approaching nearly a decade of experience in maintaining and improving office efficiency, Stenvick will be responsible for the following at Moxxy:

• Day-to-day operations
• Workflow
• Management
• Accounting
• Human resources
• General office administration

  ---

Stenvick is using her expertise to increase Moxxy’s operational productivity by managing work flow for account services and production, overseeing human resources and business finances, and handling IT-related resources. With her abilities to organize and manage, Stenvick’s knowledge and skills have already benefited and helped grow the Moxxy team, the company said.

“With double-digit growth year-over-year for more than four years, our recent move into space three times larger, plus a few additional new positions being created and filled, this was the time to bring on a director of operations. Laura is the perfect person for this new position and for our lean, detail-oriented and fast-paced culture,” explained Karen Nardozza, Principal of Moxxy. “Laura’s business management expertise and her quick wit won us over immediately, and after being with us for just a short time she’s already made a difference—she is helping take this small agency of twelve to the next level.”

Before her new career at Moxxy, Stenvick spent eight years at the Monterey Peninsula Dental Group, working her way up from managing insurance and collections to her most recent role as Operations Director. As Operations Director, she was responsible for managing and supporting the doctors and staff, overseeing finances and human resources, and directing the facility as a whole.

Stenvick grew up in Monterey County and attended Pacific Grove High School, but didn’t come to realize her love for farming, nature, and animals until she and her husband, Brad Stenvick, bought 45-acres in Carmel Valley, the press release explained. Now, she is in charge of caring for 125 different animals, ranging from dogs and cats, to chickens and goats. During Stenvick’s free time, she said she breaks out her green thumb and works in the garden or tends to their land.

Moxxy Marketing