QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA - A technology five years in the making is looking to render tractors and sprayers useless, while bringing SciFi to the agricultural practice instead.

Founder of SwarmFarm Robotics Andrew Bate is seeking to have a swarm of robots spray over fields like bees in a hive, avoiding collision and adding the next chapter to agricultural cutting-edge technology.

"This is industry changing,” Bate said about technology’s role in ag, according to an ABC News report. “We aren't automating stuff, we are creating robotics systems, and it's a whole new playing field that we are moving onto.”

Last week, about 300 people joined Bate and some of SwarmFarm to watch the launch of the robotic sprayers at a farm located in Emerald, Queensland.

"We are doing world-first stuff here," Bate said, adding that the company’s work with robotics has drawn numerous scientists and engineers to the region, bringing with them a different scheme to rural culture.

"It's bringing diversity into rural towns, it's bringing exciting new minds into agriculture," Bate told ABC.

Will SwarmFarm’s robotic colony make it across the oceans to influence our own farms and fields? Keep checking in with AndNowUKnow as we continue to follow new technologies looking to influence our industry.

SwarmFarm Robotics

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA – In concordance with its 40 years of business, Allen Lund Company (ALC) is celebrating the achievement through 40 different events and charity commitments throughout the year.

"I am proud to work with all of our ALC employees, especially in efforts to better our communities. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their generosity towards others,” said Allen Lund, President and CEO, in a press release.

ALC’s 40 Acts of Kindness pledge, which began in February of this year, originated with a Build A Bike event in San Diego, California, in partnership with Team Bonding to benefit the Boys and Girls Club. The company said that it expects each of its 30 locations to participate in the planned events and acts throughout 2016.

In its most anticipated event, ALC has issued a company-wide challenge for all employees to walk or run a total of 40,000 miles by Memorial Day.

"As the Allen Lund Company celebrates our 40 years in business, we have launched our largest community service project. Kind deeds come from a desire to give back, generated by a core response deep within all of us,” stated Kenny Lund, VP of Support Operations, in the release.

ALC will partner with The Independence Fund to reach its mobility goal. Once the goal is reached, ALC will spend $16,000 to provide a disabled veteran with a track chair and trailer.

To complete their pledge, the company provided the following list of planned events, some of which are already underway:

• $10,000.00 donation to Cardinal’s Awards in Los Angeles
• Advancing ALC’s 12 year long investment in inner-city tuitions, by continuing to donate to the Catholic Education Foundation throughout 2016
• Team booked for ALC’s annual participation in American Cancer Society's Foothills Relay for Life
• Continued work-study partnership between ALC headquarters and Verbum Dei High School
• Sixth year working with Chamber of Commerce and City of La Cañada Flintridge to drive local Summer Intern Program, this year with students from La Cañada High School
• Feeding the homeless through corporate partnership with Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Cardinal Manning Center 

"I can't tell you how proud I am of our management team and employees for taking on this feat on a national scale. I've always said that people are our product and we have the best people," continued Allen.

Keep up-to-date with ALC’s commitment as we continue to follow its progress throughout this 40th year.

Allen Lund Company

BELLINGHAM, WA - It's official—Bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross in Delaware has given the OK on Albertsons’ bid to absorb the remnants of Haggen for $106 million.

Announced earlier this month, Albertsons’ deal will not abolish the Haggen brand in its entirety. Of the 29 stores to be purchased by the retailer, 15 in Washington will still carry the Haggen banner, according to the Seattle Times. The last 14, which were for the most part stores that Haggen originally acquired from Albertsons or Safeway stores, will become Albertsons once again.

“We are excited about the opportunity to have the backing of Albertsons and look forward to be part of the Albertsons grocery family,” John Clougher, CEO of Haggen, said in a prior press release. “Haggen has been a part of the Pacific Northwest and the Bellingham community for more than eight decades and we will continue the traditions of operating great Haggen stores focused on community involvement, fresh northwest products and great service.”

Following the court's decision, Albertsons Spokesman Brian Dowling provided the Bellingham Herald with a written statement explaining that the company is pleased with the court approval, adding that the company expects to close on the deal in the next several weeks. Haggen officials have yet to comment as of the time of writing this.

The deal also extends to offering employment to essentially all Haggen workers at these soon-to-be-acquired “core stores.”

“With the sale of these 29 stores to Albertsons, we are optimistic that everyone who works within them will finally be able to have the certainty and stability that they deserve,” UFCW issued in its own statement.

While there may be no more news coming from Haggen any time soon, you can count on AndNowUKnow to update with all the latest industry happenings.

Albertsons Haggen

KINGSVILLE, ON - Mastronardi announced the opening of its brand new 187,000-square-foot distribution center this week, located in Laredo, Texas.

“This full-scale distribution facility will carry the SUNSET® catalog of products, giving our southern customers quick access to the most flavorful produce,” CEO Paul Mastronardi shared in a press release.

Along with the convenient location, the new facility includes a refrigerated warehouse and 130 loading docks.

Being located in Texas will advance quality control and expedite border crossing, allowing the company to respond to customers’ needs faster.

“Customer service is our number one priority,” Kevin Safrance, COO at Mastronardi Produce, said in the release. “When exploring options to enhance our logistics program and increase efficiencies, Laredo was the perfect fit.”

Contact the Mastronardi team at [email protected] to learn more about Laredo, and keep checking in with AndNowUKnow for further developments with this newest facility and beyond.

Mastronardi Produce

WATSONVILLE, CA – California Giant has announced a streamlined renovation to the cooling system at its Watsonville facility, just in time for the 2016 berry season.

The company’s new west cooling facility received a modern cooling tower and condenser system, costing more than $200,000, as part of the company’s investment to sustainable and environmental responsibility, it said.

“The staff is really excited about the ability to use these new improvements to save energy and be more efficient,” Cindy Jewell, VP of Marketing for California Giant, tells me, adding that there is more growth in sustainability on the way for other company facilities.

“We definitely want to continue to improve our operations to be more environmentally aware. We also have a facility in Santa Maria and we are looking to see how we can improve technologies and efficiencies there as well.”

California Giant credited technological advances in a press release for its ability to now increase cooling fruit loads while decreasing the time and energy used. The company says that its new cooling tower consists of four independent and auto-adjusting fans, which is a big shift from its previous singular unit.

The 35,000-square-foot facility in Watsonville installed the new system this week, with final installation expected to be complete within the next week. The original unit, first installed in 1988 and weighing over 50,000 pounds, was removed by crane and transported to a recycling facility.

California Giant said it expects the new system to decrease cooling time by 20 minutes and use energy only based on the needs of each cooling load, making its upcoming season much more energy efficient.

Find out more about California Giant and its berry facilities at www.calgiant.com, and keep checking back with AndNowUKnow for more in industry technologies.

California Giant Berry Farms

PHARR, TX - London Fruit, the South Texas-based provider of tropical fruit from Mexico is gearing up for the rapidly approaching Viva Fresh Produce Expo, and is excited to showcase a new look for its boxes to the floor at booth #93.

“London Fruit was the first company to get on board with Viva Fresh,” explains Kalani Jaime, Project Manager at London Fruit. “We were there right out of the gate, and being able to exhibit at a Southwest-based show while showcasing our products that are grown 100% in Mexico is a huge bonus for us.”

At the show, London Fruit will be showcasing its new, two-layer “place pack” lime boxes, featuring the company’s newly updated look. Starting with just the company’s limes, Jaime tells me the London Fruit will expand the new look to it’s packaging boxes across all of its categories.

Along with the company's year-round lime and avocado programs, the company also provides a seasonal Mexican mango program. Jerry Garcia Sr. says while this year's mango crop has shown lessened supplies industry-wide, London Fruit is optimistic about its position in the market. 

“Although this year’s mango season has shown limited supply, London Fruit’s ability to maintain a strong market share is due to our long-term relationship with our mango producers in Mexico,” added Garcia.

“We invite our friends, our current customers, and new visitors alike to check in with London Fruit and see all of our quality products first-hand,” concluded Jaime.

See for yourself this weekend at London Fruit’s booth #93!

London Fruit

DALLAS & AUSTIN, TX - Still not convinced by all the hype on online ordering and grocery pick up? It seems like Kroger is, at least. By the end of the year, Kroger expects to expand its “ClickList” online ordering and pickup service to around 20 of its locations in North Texas, mainly in the Dallas and Houston areas.

Starting this summer, shoppers will be able to choose from nearly 40,000 items in the store and pick them up without ever going inside, explains Dana Zurcher, Kroger’s Dallas division President. This decision, of course, is a natural progression of the growing trend in online grocery shopping, particularly in the North Texas region.

“Kroger’s decision is not a defensive move, it’s understanding that the shopper expects you to do business this way,” Craig Rosenblum, Senior Director at research firm Willard Bishop Inmar shared with the Dallas Morning News. “While it may be small, e-commerce will continue to be an important part of every retail business.”

Currently about 8 to 10 percent of its business, Kroger says, Rosenblum expects the e-commerce sector of the business to double over the next three to five years, and reach up to 20 percent. According to the Dallas Morning News, Rosenblum  says the main two demographics of services like ClickList are “soccer mom” types who don’t want have to drag their kids into the store, and the elderly who would prefer to have another person do their shopping for them.

Other recent online grocery expansions into the Dallas-Austin region include:

• Walmart expanding online grocery ordering and curbside pickup service to Dallas-Fort Worth at eight of its stores.
• Shipt, a Birmingham-based online grocery service expanded to Dallas in June.
• H-E-B is currently testing curbside service in Houston. 
• H-E-B partnering with Instacart in Austin and Houston.

While Kroger hasn’t yet released the list of regional stores that will be equipped for ClickList, the Kroger Marketplace that opened last Friday in Prosper, TX, will be one of them, Zurcher says.

“We’re still selecting the stores and trying to pick the ones where more customers are apt to use it,” added Zurcher. “Plus physically, with new stores it’s easy to incorporate it, but with existing stores we have to think about whether we can add it.”

There’s no doubt that retailers will continue to expand their reach for online grocery shopping, so stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more.

Kroger