PORTERVILLE, CA - As 2014 comes to a close, Homegrown Organic Farms is reflecting on another successful year of expansion and evolution, while also looking ahead to a promising 2015.

“As a company dedicated to organic produce we are one of the few growers able to provide a one-stop-organic-shop all year round. From blueberries and stonefruit in the summer, to specialty fall fruit and citrus in the winter, we always have something to offer for any retailers looking to grow in the organic category,” Cherie France, Homegrown’s Marketing Manager, tells me.

2014 has marked a bustling year for Homegrown, full of countless growth opportunities for both new and existing customers, growers, and products. The company continues to see an increase in excitement and commitment from retailer partners looking to enhance their organic programs.

“Over the next 18 months we have significant growth slated for the organic citrus category with new grower partnerships, and newly converted organic acreage. We hope to feature the most complete full-line organic citrus program in the U.S.,” Cherie notes. “Homegrown remains committed to our customers and our growers and hope to better serve both, through the anticipated growth along with everything that 2015 has in store.”

The beginning of December marked a great start to Homegrown’s full citrus offerings for the 2014/2015 winter season to further complement the growing momentum of organic produce.

Current production includes Organic Navels, Cara Caras, Lemons, Grapefruit, Pummelos, Clementines, and Limes (imported from Mexico under its Bella Terra Organics label). The company will begin its W. Murcotts in February and Gold Nuggets in March.

The company is looking forward to another bright year as one of the organic industry’s leading fresh fruit growers and marketers.

Homegrown Organic Farms

MIAMI, FL – Since its launch, ONE. The Better Banana Company has obtained distribution in several different regions including the West Coast, the Gulf Region and the Mid Atlantic.

As we previously reported, ONE BANANA is the latest venture from AgroAmerica. It is currently the only family-owned, vertically-integrated, from farm-to-store, banana company doing business in the United States where consumers are able to see bananas branded with the same company that farmed them, transported them to retailers and marketed them.

Through AgroAmerica, ONE BANANA has helped over 60,000 people in 60 different communities in Guatemala, according to a press release. The company has done this through a variety of efforts including:

• Offering 9 onsite medical clinics, staffed by full-time nurses 
• Partnering with the University of Colorado and investing $2 million to build and manage a Human Development Center that offers maternity services, general medical services, pediatric and dental care, and aims to serve 5,000 families and 30,000 rural people within Guatemala
• Offering its own private school for the employees' children
• In partnership with USAID, donating 700 water filters to local communities within Guatemala since August
• Launching its Happy Families Program (a food and security parent training program created to reduce infant mortality and malnutrition) which has helped over 12,000 people 
• Paying its employees a living wage and setting its own minimum salary as a company, which is higher than the minimum wage set by the government
• Donating over 375,000 bananas in 2014 to children in rural Guatemalan schools
• Creating the Local Coordinator for Disaster Reduction to support local communities in disaster preparedness 

Starting in January 2015, AgroAmerica will begin a formal partnership with Water and Sanitation Health, a non-profit that helps bring clean drinking water to communities in Guatemala. Also in 2015, the company will be implementing a healthy school snack program for children.

It is always great to see companies in our industry going the extra mile to improve the lives of others. Great job, AgroAmerica!

ONE BANANA

AgroAmerica

IMMOKALEE, FL - Lipman Produce is showing its support for family literacy this holiday season with a $10,000 donation to the Collier County Housing Authority’s Family Literacy Academy of Immokalee.

As Lipman explained, the company has a particular interest in youth education, having donated more than $150,000 to educational and life-bettering causes over the past two years. In August alone, Lipman distributed 1,400 backpacks full of school supplies to Immokalee children.

Managed by Jump Start, the Family Literacy Academy of Immokalee provides full-service family literacy programs to Immokalee families with children through age five. Classes are structured to involve the whole family and include:

• Preschool instruction and educational play (age: 0 to 5)
• Classes in English as a second language
• Reading and parenting classes for adults

Great work this holiday season, Lipman Produce!

Lipman Produce

HOUSTON, TX - While Sysco and US Foods are hard at work to gain regulatory approval from the FTC for their proposed $3.5 billion merger agreement, analysts are beginning to voice concerns that the gap between the two parties may be too large to bridge.

As the only two companies with national distribution services to hospitals, restaurants and schools, Sysco and US Foods have proposed selling assets to Performance Food Group (PFG) in order to alleviate monopolistic concerns. Analysts quoted in Reuters point out, however, that PFG lacks a strong presence in the western United States, the home of many of the distribution centers Sysco and US Foods are looking to sell.

Andre Barlow of Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC shares that product avaliability may also be a concern. Sysco and US Foods both offer over 350,000 different products for sale. PFG only offers 150,000. 

"That seems like a big discrepancy," he said. "If you want to restore that lost competition, you want someone to also provide those SKUs."

"They [the FTC] will take this seriously," agreed Carl Hittinger, an antitrust expert with Baker Hostetler.

Bob Goldin, EVP of the consulting firm Technomic, cautions not to count PFG out too quicky, however.

"If it's an available item, a powerful enough customer can pull the product through the system,” he explained to Reuters. “It's all about leverage."

Sysco and US Foods' latest offer would involve the sale of $5 billion worth of assets. Whether this will be enough will be up to the FTC to decide. To keep up to date with the latest, make sure you stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.

Sysco

US Foods

Performance Food Group

LOS ANGELES, CA – Federal mediators have offered to assist in negotiations to resolve the labor dispute between longshoremen and shipping lines that has disrupted movement of goods through West Coast ports.

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service announced yesterday that it would reach out promptly to both sides. No scheduled talks were immediately announced.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) asked for the mediators to help in negotiations after seven months of contract gridlock.

A spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) stated that its negotiators have not requested federal mediation, according to KPCC. At this stage, without an agreement from both sides, federal mediation cannot begin.

This news of potential federal mediation comes after U.S. Senators from California, Oregon and Washington urged leaders from the ILUW and the PMA to continue to work together toward a fair and amicable settlement.

The dockworkers have currently been working without a contract since July, while management and the union have been throwing public accusations at each other.

For now, it is unclear when talks, with the help of the mediators, will take place. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to follow this ongoing situation.

PELION, SC - WP Rawl is taking the holidays to heart this season with a generous donation of fresh produce to Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, SC. Last week, the company donated 500 mixed gift boxes of fresh produce to Harvest Hope which included apples, oranges, regular and sweet potatoes, celery & onion mix, collards, butternut squash, cabbage, squash, and zucchini, according to a press release.

This is just one of many ways that WP Rawl has helped Harvest Hope throughout the year. Last summer for example, the grower hosted the Katie’s Krops Camp at its headquarters, which included a service project at the food bank. The campers built a raised bed-vegetable garden with 12 beds and various types of vegetables per bed to serve as a sustainable source of fresh produce for Harvest Hope.

“As a family and as a company, it is important to us to share with our global and local communities,” said Ashley Rawl, Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Product Development at WP Rawl. “It is so satisfying to see that the Harvest Hope staff and volunteers have enjoyed maintaining the raised beds that the Katie’s Krops campers built this summer and we are happy to continue to help them in various ways throughout the year.”

Harvest Hope CEO Denise Holland showed her appreciation for the benevolence WP Rawl has shown the food bank this year. “This donation of packed fruits and vegetables for our clients during the Christmas season is such a thoughtful and generous gift; these boxes will be used throughout our Emergency Food Pantries and Mobile Food Pantries. Having fresh fruit and vegetables is very important to our clients at this time of year and some have little to no access to it otherwise. I am so thankful for the support from WP Rawl for their help in providing delicious, fresh produce to struggling families in our community.”

We’d like to thank WP Rawl for helping increase fresh produce consumption during the holidays and throughout the year.

WP Rawl

SALINAS, CA - Mann Packing is debuting a new packaging line for its vegetable trays this holiday season, complete with seasonal Winter graphics.

Available in both 18-ounce and 40-ounce sizes in the United States and Canada, the trays will be marketed through February. According to Mann's, they are poised to offer incremental sales for retailers and a tempting offer for consumers looking to entertain during the holiday season.

Also released this holiday season is the latest edition of Mann's popular Girlfriends Guide for Moms electronic brochure. Available for download on the company's website, Facebook page and Twitter account, the publication is an important part of Mann's “Moms Helping Moms” initiative.

“The Holiday Guide was created to provide moms with fun, festive healthy recipes and entertaining ideas in one printable brochure so they can serve a great meal and enjoy the holidays at the same time,” said Gina Nucci, Director of Healthy Culinary Innovation. “Knowing how easy it is to get caught up in the chaos of the season, we’ve put together some easy holiday recipes that everyone will love.”

“Bon appétit and happy holidays busy moms,” Nucci added. “We’ll get through this holiday season together and create some beautiful memories along the way.”

The holiday inspired recipes in the publication feature Mann's pre-packaged, ready-to-eat/use premium fresh vegetables, including:

• Butternut squash
• Broccolini®
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli Cole Slaw

Great work this holiday season, Mann Packing!

Mann Packing 

MEXICO - With the departure of former CEO Scot Rank, Wal-Mart de México's Chairman of the Board, Enrique Ostalé, is preparing to assume a new mixed role as both Chairman and CEO, according to a press release.

“Mexico and Central America is a priority market for Wal-Mart,” said David Cheesewright, President and CEO of Wal-Mart International and Wal-Mart de México and Centroamérica Board Member. “Enrique has excellent global experience within the retail industry and will drive growth opportunities throughout the region, both in stores and through our growing e-commerce business. He is a strong leader, and his cross functional experience will ensure that we remain well positioned to serve the 2 billion customers that count on Wal-Mex every year. The dual role of CEO for both Wal-Mex and Wal-Mart Latin America will give Enrique the unique ability to leverage our expertise and capability across nine markets, taking advantage of the growth opportunities that the whole region has to offer.”

The longtime Wal-Mart executive, who also serves as CEO for Wal-Mart Latin America, is expected to provide some much needed stability for the retailer after setbacks involving a string of bribery allegations, high-level executive departures, and the loss of Rank. It is worth noting that Antonio Ocaranza, a Spokesman for Wal-Mart de México, has gone on the record saying that Rank’s resignation from his position as CEO and, more recently, from the Board position he held for 14 years was unrelated to the ongoing bribery investigations.

“We appreciate the leadership role that Scot played in the Wal-Mex business for 14 years and wish him success in his new endeavors,” added Ostalé.

Ostalé first joined Wal-Mart in 2009 after the retailer's takeover of D&S (present-day Wal-Mart Chile) where he had held several positions in merchandising, operations and finance stretching back to 1989. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Chilean retailer and later as President and CEO of Wal-Mart Chile from 2006 until March 1, 2013, when he was appointed President and CEO for Latin America. 

According to the New York Times, Ostalé is expected to begin his new role on January 1st, 2015. Whether he will be able to turn around division's recent poor economic performance, including a 8% fall in profit during Q3, remains to be seen. Wal-Mart, however, appears to be confident that they have the right man for the mission in Ostalé. Stay tuned.

Wal-Mart 

FRANCE & IRELAND - Chili lovers' ears perked up when reports began to emerge last week stating that a shipment of fresh peppers had triggered a fire alarm on an Air France jumbo jet, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Ireland.

Rest assured, no damage to the plane, pilots, or passengers occurred during the course of this surprising produce story. It did leave officials with a puzzle to sort out over the ensuing hours, however. How had peppers brought a several ton jumbo jet to the ground?

It turns out that condensation was the culprit.

“Have you ever put your vegetables in the refrigerator in a plastic bag, with no air whatsoever, and seen how they sweat?” explained Paul Hayes, a safety expert at Ascend Ltd. This condensation built to high enough levels to trigger the fire alarm which eventually brought the plane to the ground.

Talk about a wild produce ride! 

UNITED STATES - The Dow Jones and S&P 500 hit historic highs on Tuesday, giving those in the produce industry much to celebrate.

As of 12:37 PM ET, the Dow is up 0.5% to 18,049, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2% to 2,083.

According to USA Today, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace since 2003 in the third quarter on stronger consumer and business spending. Subsequently, the final estimate of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5% in the three months ended September 30, easily beating the previous estimate of 3.9%. Consumer spending similarly rose by 3.2%, higher than the 2.2% previously estimated.

On hearing this news, analysts and investors were elated by the strong boost in GDP and consumer spending.

“That is a solid number, that is really what you want to see, you want to see it in demand,” Jack Ablin, Chief Investment Officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago, told Reuters. “That is a huge plus, a five handle on GDP is astounding to me, but I’m not going to turn it away – Merry Christmas.”

Scott Keifer, Global Investment Specialist at JP Morgan Private Bank in Orange County, CA, agreed, telling Reuters, “You are going to see the consumer spending number continue to inch up and get better and better as we continue on in this expansion.”

The dollar also hit an 8-year high following the revised GDP report. According to Reuters, the dollar index was trading up 0.36% at 90.093 .DXY, its highest since April 2006. Importers in the industry will have the advantage of trading behind the backing of a stronger dollar.  

Can we expect to see further gains heading into the new year? Reuters anticipates trading volume to be light due to the Christmas holiday, which could increase volatility. Regardless, today’s record highs are sure to spread some cheer this week.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track the Dow.