WASHINGTON, D.C. - Two PACA violators in California have been restricted from operating in the produce industry, according to a USDA press release.

Golden State Food Packaging Inc., a Ventura, CA based company, failed to pay a $41,003 award in favor of a California seller. Olvin J. Servellon was listed as an Officer, Director, and major stockholder of the business. Humberto Nateras, another principle of Golden State Food Packaging Inc., is challenging his responsibly-connected-status in this case.

Terra Produce LLC, a Los Angeles, CA based company, failed to pay an $18,901 award in favor of a Washington seller. Daniel Garcia was listed as the sole member and major stockholder of the business.

In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 4,600 claims under the PACA involving more than $87 million. Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or major stockholders may not be employed or affiliated with any PACA licensee without the approval of the USDA. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA.

USDA

CHELSEA, Mass. — October 1, 2014 — State Garden Inc., a leading supplier of organic and conventional tender leaf greens, spinach and celery hearts, announced today that it recently launched a new line of conventional cooking greens under its Simple Beginnings label. The packaged cooking greens are offered in 9-ounce bags in three different varieties: Baby Kale, Baby Spinach, and Sauté Blend.

Simple Beginnings Cooking Greens are now available and ready to ship for this year’s cooking greens season.

“We are pleased to add the cooking greens line to our Simple Beginnings brand,” said Stephen Noll, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at State Garden. “We currently offer a 12-ounce Simple Beginnings Savoy Spinach bag as part of the cooking greens segment, and with these additions, we know we have complemented our offerings to meet consumers’ needs. The cooking greens segment has become one of the fastest growing categories on the produce wall and we anticipate even greater growth during the fall and winter seasons.”

Simple Beginnings’ 9-ounce bags of Baby Kale, Baby Spinach, and Sauté Blend cooking greens are sold pre-washed and ready to cook. Every item is produced and packaged abiding by State Garden’s strict quality and food safety standards.

“At State Garden, we continually update our product lines to reflect the latest consumer trends,” said Noll. “Our goal is to always provide fresh, value-added choices that the consumer is looking to purchase.”

State Garden launched the Simple Beginnings brand in October 2013, a line of high quality conventional produce with a focus on making fresh, wholesome eating more accessible.

For more information about carrying Simple Beginnings Cooking Greens or to learn about all of State Garden’s fresh produce offerings, visit www.stategarden.com.

About State Garden

State Garden Inc. is located in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and has been in the produce business for more than 75 years. The company is a leading supplier of organic and conventional tender leaf greens, spinach, celery hearts and squash. The company sells under the Olivia’s Organics, Simple Beginnings and Northeast Fresh labels. State Garden only sources produce that is grown in the USA and harvested in the best conditions throughout the calendar year. For more information, visitwww.stategarden.com.

About Simple Beginnings

Simple Beginnings is a State Garden brand offering a variety of fresh, high quality conventional produce items. Launched in October 2013, the Simple Beginnings line includes triple washed tender leaf salads, cooking greens, cut squash and celery hearts. The brand is focused on making wholesome produce simple and accessible to all. For more information, visit www.simplebeginningsproduce.com.

This text was copied verbatim from a press release. 

State Garden

KINGSVILLE, ON - SUNSET® Produce is going pink once again this month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  In partnership with Pink Ribbon Produce, SUNSET is launching its Campari® brand cocktail tomato packs with pink ribbons on specially printed labels to help bring awareness to breast cancer and support research and education.  

“We started working with Pink Ribbon Produce shortly after they were established,” said CEO Paul Mastronardi. “Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, so this is a cause that’s very close to the SUNSET family and we’re proud to continue supporting.”

SUNSET’s contribution to the Pink Ribbon program has since passed a milestone. To date, the company has donated over $100,000 to the program and was also previously awarded at Fresh Summit for its ongoing support, according to a press release. Mastronardi noted that this partnership with Pink Ribbon “helps to educate consumers both in stores and online that healthy habits can reduce the risk of disease.”

Tina Harder, Pink Ribbon Produce Program Manager praised SUNSET for its continued dedication to the cause. “We’re proud to have them on board and applaud their efforts in support of this program,” she said. “They have gone above and beyond with us in the fight against breast cancer.”

Be sure to catch SUNSET’s Pink Ribbon Retailer Appreciation Ceremony at booth #4228 at Fresh Summit this month! 

SUNSET Produce

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation is expanding its tropical and ethnic produce program and launching a new “Feliz™” premium brand of items.

With this expansion, the company’s operations now include a strategic sourcing office located in Miami, Florida, according to a press release.  Javier Alvarado will head the new office.  Alvarado has 25 years of experience in tropical and ethnic produce and has a relationship with a network of growers throughout Central America, South America and other tropical growing regions.

Alvarado will also work closely with Procacci’s Philadelphia-based sales team of Mike Barber and Luis De Vore, according to a press release.  Barber has over 30 years of experience in the procurement and sales of tropical produce, and De Vore is a recent graduate of the Sustainable Business MBA program at Marylhurst University with 13 years of QC experience.

With this new expansion in place, Procacci Brothers will also be launching Feliz™, its new premium tropical and ethnic produce brand.

De Vore explained that all of the Feliz items will feature distinctive Feliz PLU stickers, which have been designed to show a smiling face with the word “Feliz” making up the eyes of the face.

“That is what we believe our brand will come to mean to our customers.  When they’re in the produce department they will see 'Feliz' and experience happiness and peace of mind in knowing that they are purchasing delicious, responsibly-sourced products that they can count on being available, week-after-week,” De Vore said.

The new Feliz brand will include tropical and ethnic items like green plantains, avocados, calabaza, malanga, chayote, yuca, ñame, and many others.

Procacci Brothers

SALINAS, CA - Green Giant™ Fresh's delicious-looking Cauliflower and Avocado Croquette with Avocado and Honey Dijon Aiolis has been named a top 10 finalist in the PMA Fresh Summit Sensory Experience Contest.

“We are thrilled to be one of the 10 finalists being sampled by the judges at Fresh Summit,” shared Jennifer Fancher, Director of Marketing at Green Giant™ Fresh. “Year after year we challenge ourselves to be on trend with consumer preferences and the current food marketing movement. Opportunities like this contest reinforce our efforts to elevate Green Giant™ Fresh as an innovative brand. We are always looking for new ways to revitalize traditional categories and make vegetables fun to eat!”

I can certainly see why Green Giant™ Fresh's entry fought its way into the home stretch of this competition. Those images are enough to make you regret that meal time is still a few too many hours away.

According to a press release, PMA Fresh Summit invites companies to showcase their products through an innovative recipe that is critiqued by key buyers, industry experts, local kids and Fresh Summit attendees at the convention. The “Buyers’ Choice” and “Kids’ Choice” winners are selected based on taste, touch, smell, and overall experience.

Congratulations on making the top 10, Green Giant™ Fresh. Good luck the rest of the way!

Green Giant™ Fresh

AUSTIN, TX – A new Whole Foods pilot program is cutting produce prices in its Austin stores.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the retailer has cut prices on all produce products in its five Austin stores.  That is approximately 400 items.  Executives tell the Statesman that the company also plans deeper discounts in about a dozen special deals each week.

This price cut comes after Whole Foods’ announcement that it will be adopting a customer loyalty rewards program by the end of 2015, a move that surprised many with the retailer’s three decade resistance to adopting such a program.

Bloomberg suggested that rising competition from other retailers like Wal-Mart and Kroger, which are increasing their natural foods categories, has pushed Whole Foods to look at new strategies.

The Austin Business Journal reports that this move is part of an investor-driven emphasis to find ways to boost same-store sales, which have been slipping.

Whole Foods’ stock saw a large decline in the past year, falling from a high of $64.47 on November 6, 2013 down to a low of $36 per share in July, according to the Journal.  As of today at 12:36 p.m. Eastern Time, the stock is at $37.87 per share.

If this new pilot program is successful, it could eventually be expanded to other stores in the chain.  Only time will tell if these new strategies will be successful, but I will definitely be keeping a close eye on this retailer.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for future updates on Whole Foods and the retail industry as a whole.

Whole Foods

MCLEAN, VA – Gladstone Land Corporation has acquired 808 acres of land with 590 farmable acres and an onsite cooling-distribution facility in Manatee County, Florida from Wish Farms for $13.8 million.

"We are privileged to partner with such an esteemed grower and add another large fruit and vegetable farm to our portfolio," said Bill Frisbie, Managing Director at the Company.  "This property has been farmed for many years by Wish Farms and has a good water supply in place.  We now own 29 farms across the U.S. that produce a variety of high-value fruits and vegetables."

Wishnatzki, Inc., a leading grower and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables, currently farms the land, so Gladstone Land and Wish Farms have entered into a 10-year lease with two 5-year renewal options, according to a press release.

"Wish Farms is excited to partner with Gladstone Land on a long-term basis for this property. This transaction frees up capital that we can deploy into our farming and marketing operations to continue growing our business," said Gary Wishnatzki, Owner of Wish Farms. "Gladstone Land has strong roots in fruit and vegetable farming, making them a great resource for our real estate needs." 

This is the latest in a string of acquisitions for Gladstone.  In August, we reported that the company acquired five farms in California and Florida totaling 3,522 acres for $45 million.

Gladstone Land Corporation currently owns 29 farms, comprised of 7,641 acres in 5 different states across the U.S., valued at approximately $158 million.

Wish Farms

Gladstone Land Corporation

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - GS1 US is uniting suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, solution providers and industry associations under a new Retail Grocery Initiative designed to facilitate supply chain collaboration and the implementation of GS1 Standards to uniquely identify products around the globe. AndNowUKnow recently talked to Angela Fernandez, Vice President of Retail Grocery and Foodservice, on how the industry is evolving and reacting to new changes.

“I always describe GS1 Standards as something we all use every day and don't even know it - the barcode is scanned five billion times a day around the globe,” shared Fernandez. “GS1 offices are in 110 countries, working every day to apply the global standards to the local environments they serve. Twenty-five industries use the global supply chain standards and the retail grocery was the first to pioneer the barcode and the efficiencies of GS1 Standards. Today, the GS1 US Retail Grocery Initiative is composed of retailers, suppliers and other industry stakeholders who have joined together to identify emerging industry challenges and further drive supply chain efficiencies. Members have had the opportunity to provide their thought, leadership and expertise to shape the future of the industry, and we’re now starting to address a few critical industry issues.”

What issues are at the forefront of the Initiative’s agenda?

• Expanded Product Information: GS1 US recognizes that consumers are demanding more information than ever about food specifications such as whether the item is organic or GMO-free and is helping the industry better share this information.
• Supply Chain Visibility: Where did the product come from? Where is it going? Was this product created in a sustainable process? Retailers and their trading partners want answers to these questions in order to both streamline operations and answer the questions of consumers who are increasingly interested in the place of origin for their favorite products.
• Operational Efficiency: How to leverage the information in barcodes to lower the total delivery costs of their goods and increase efficiency at all levels of the supply chain.

GS1 US is currently working closely with executives to further build the Retail Grocery Initiative and drive an efficient, holistic industry approach to these challenges. GS1 US will begin to work on these issues with the industry in October.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more information on GS1 and the global retail industry.

GS1 US

LOS ALAMITOS, CA - Frieda’s Specialty Produce is bringing jackfruit, the world’s largest tree fruit, to PMA Fresh Summit attendees this month. Visitors at Frieda’s booth #2830 can sample the fruit and take on the company’s challenge to “Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You.”

“Jackfruit is a definite showstopper of tropical fruits,” said Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s. “It has the impressive size, a unique fragrance that reminds you of Juicy Fruit® gum, and these succulent pods of sweet, yellow flesh that taste like all of your favorite tropical fruits in one perfect bite.”

This seemingly “scary-looking fruit” has a distinct flavor profile that includes hints of mango, banana, and melon when eaten fresh. As the fruit ripens, the exterior turns yellow and becomes fragrant. NPR called jackfruit “the ginormous fruit to feed the world” for its versatility, according to a press release. The seeds are also edible if boiled or roasted.

Frieda's will display other “scary fruits,” like Organic Finger Limes, Buddha’s Hands, Kiwano®, Cherimoya, Mandarinquats, and Mangosteens at its booth as well.

Frieda’s Specialty Produce 

Welcome to What's In Store. Bay Baby Produce is gearing up for the Fall season this year with their new Grab N' Go Paint kits! These paint kits make the perfect addition to any pumpkin painting party. Each kit has four festive colors that kids are sure to love, a paint brush and six mini pumpkins.

Home spun family fun, moms and dads will love these kits, too. What could be a better way to spend quality time with your kids than over pumpkin painting?

Bay Baby is also encouraging moms to bring pumpkin painting into their classrooms! Teachers love this because it makes a great lesson in art, history, nutrition, and science. Plus, they are the perfect size to bring home in their backpacks.

Bay Baby Produce also has an expansive line of Autumn designs including their unique long stem ornamental pumpkin line. Moms can check out different ideas for decorating by visiting Bay Baby Produce’s Pinterest Boards! You can also buy some of these great products online at baybabyproduce.com!

Since starting out over 20 years ago, Bay Baby Produce has vastly expanded its operations. Its major boom was in 2002 with its signature Pumpkin Patch Pal line. To learn more about the Pals' unique personalities, visit pumpkinpatchpals.com! Now selling in Canadian, Asian, and Mexican markets, the Pals are worldwide. Thanks for watching What's In Store.

Bay Baby Produce