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Drew Schwartzhoff, Director of Marketing at Robinson Fresh®, joins AndNowUKnow to discuss what this new unified brand will bring to the industry. The launch of Robinson Fresh unifies the C.H. Robinson, FoodSource, Rosemont Farms, and Timco Worldwide entities under a new identity. Drew tells us that Robinson Fresh’s main goal is to drive understanding and awareness of the company’s broad portfolio, which includes exclusive licensed, proprietary, and private label brands. Check out our interview with Drew to learn more about the development of Robinson Fresh…

Robinson Fresh

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CALIFORNIA - Fortunately for California’s Central Valley citrus industry, it appears now that that the damage incurred from the severe freeze in December may not have had the devastating impact that was originally anticipated.  Based on early reports from growers and agricultural officials in February, a 40% loss was expected for the Mandarin crop, while the more cold tolerant navel variety was anticipated to have a 30% loss.

For more information on the February predictions, check out our previous article by clicking here.

“As the season progressed into the Spring, it became increasingly obvious that we were not going to see the damage we had originally anticipated,” says Citrus Mutual President Joel Nelsen. “While this is good news overall, there was definitely some damage out there, particularly in Kern County where a significant portion of the California Mandarin crop is produced.”

Back in December, a hard freeze hit the California citrus crops with almost a dozen days of freezing temperatures falling well below the critical 28 degree mark. For a more detailed look at the freeze, check out our previous article by clicking here.

California Citrus Mutual credits the advances in freeze protection technologies such as wind machines and real-time weather monitoring capabilities for minimizing the impact of the freeze to the citrus crop.

The navel harvest was originally thought to be shortened considerably because of the freeze, but while the crop was smaller than forecasted, packing houses were still packing them until about three weeks ago.  That is better than last year at the same time.  Mandarins were better than expected as well, and with only 40% harvested so far, it is too early to tell on Valencias.

With the season coming to a close, it is evident now that the overall damage will be far less than predicted, however, an exact percentage will not be known until the season completely wraps up later this month. 

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IRWINDALE, CA – Ready Pac Foods, Inc. sponsored a symposium hosted by The United Vegetable Growers Cooperative on the sustainability of organic spinach.  The event spotlighted the threat of Downy Mildew to organic spinach to help raise awareness in the industry.

The invasion of Downy Mildew has stopped growers from meeting consumer need this season despite overplanting by 10-30%, according to a press release.  Currently, organic spinach yields are down 50% with predictions that the situation will worsen.

Even with fungicides available to treat Downy Mildew for conventional spinach, there is no known solution for the organic spinach.  The mildew on one leaf of spinach can yield 10,000 spores that become airborne and spread to nearby crops.  It is increasing in some of the largest growing regions in the U.S., including the Salinas Valley in California and Yuma, Arizona, according to a press release.

Panelists at the symposium warn that options to treat Downy Mildew on organic spinach are limited and will take time. 

To counter the spread in the short term, growers can increase the acreage used for their spinach crops to prevent spreading.  Unfortunately, it can take 3 years to have new organic ground certified.  Possibly the best long-term option would be to find new resistant seeds, but that can take over a decade.

Overall, the symposium concluded that current conditions will likely continue, and solutions cannot come quickly enough.

In efforts to keep consumers safe and well-informed, Ready Pac is eager to continue its work with The United Vegetable Growers Cooperative and its efforts to raise awareness and help end this spinach threat.

Ready Pac

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PLEASANTON, CA - If Safeway has it its way, we could be seeing a billion dollar sale in the next coming months. The Financial Times revealed that Safeway executives had hired Eastdil Secured to round up prospective buyers for its shopping center development business, which acquires land on which to build retail shopping centers in which Safeway acts as the anchor tenant. The price? $1 billion.

A sale of this magnitude would fit into the overall economic strategy Safeway has employed since finalizing its acquisition by Albertsons earlier this year for $9 billion.

Last month when Safeway successfully negotiated a $5 billion deal in which it turned over control of its Canadian chain of stores to Sobey's, Safeway CEO Robert Edwards revealed in a press release that he thought that the revenue generated by this sale would allow Safeway to pay down its debts and improve the general outlook of its balance sheets as it approached its merger with Albertsons.

"The substantial cash proceeds from this transaction will allow us to create value for Safeway stakeholders and contribute to the growth of the ongoing business," said Edwards.

One can only assume that this latest move was driven by similar motivations.

Sources who spoke with the Financial Times also suggested that Safeway would be seeking out buyers for its Mexican business operations in the near future.

Between the two of them Safeway and Albertsons control a total of 2,300 grocery stores. Once their partnership finalizes, Cerberus, the private equity investor which owns Albertsons, will have command of the 3rd largest grocery store chain in the United States.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any updates in this developing story.

Safeway 

Albertsons

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SALINAS, CA - Coastline is giving itself a makeover this summer and will be moving forward with a new company name: Coastline Family Farms. Coastline Family Farms drew from both a proud heritage and the promise of a bright future for inspiration for its rebranding, one complete with a new logo to match. Company President Steve Henderson wants buyers to rest assured, however, that although Coastline's name and logo are new, its commitment to its land, its partners, and its crops remains unchanged.

"...we are proud of our commitment to the land, our people and our products," Henderson said. "We want to let our customers and consumers know of our culture and our quality. We have talked with our employees and with consumers, to get their input and thoughts on our new name. And now it is time to share how strongly we feel about the integrity of our company and our products.”

Coastline is also very proud of its new logo, a simple but modern leaf design with the company's initials, CFF, incorporated within the leaf.

“This clean and modern logo reflects our new positioning in the marketplace, building on our past and demonstrating our vision for our company and our products in the future,” says Vice President, Phil Adrian.

According to a press release, Coastline plans to introduce a number of new product areas and sustainability initiatives under the new Coastline Family Farms brand. They will also be ramping up efforts to refine and enhance their quality assurance efforts and innovation programs.

Coastline has been working as a successful year-round produce supplier since 1991.

Coastline Family Farms

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WATSONVILLE, CA - California Giant Berry Farms is looking forward to a strong summer blueberry season across the Pacific Northwest.  With good weather leading up to harvest season, the company is expecting excellent quality, flavor and good volume.

“This is far and away the most exciting and nerve-racking time of the year, the start of our Summer blueberry season in the Pacific Northwest,” said Evan Pence, General Manager for North America Blueberries at California Giant.

Check out a quick sneak peek of California Giant's Canadian blueberry fields in the video below.

Currently, some of the fruit in Oregon is peaking to meet demand, and harvesting in that region will continue through July.  The company expects the season to extend well into September to meet customer demand.

California Giant started its harvest season in Canada this past weekend. 

California Giant Berry Farms

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SUNSET® Girl Milla Mastronardi is here to talk about SUNSET’s new cocktail tomato, Y.E.L.O.™! Non-GMO Verified and boasting nearly 50% more Vitamin C than regular tomatoes, Y.E.L.O. helps bring the brightness of sunshine to any meal. Look for Y.E.L.O. in the company’s new Top Seal packaging, which uses 20% less plastic than ordinary clamshells. Check out this short video to get an inside look at this new tomato and packaging from Mastronardi and SUNSET!

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Filmed and produced by: Nick Brokalakis

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LONE STAR, TX - It seems that Wal-Mart is on the move again, having announced in the last few days that it plans on expanding its footprint in the Lone Star State with three new additions to its line of Wal-Mart Express stores in the towns of Naples, Tatum, and Lone Star. These new Wal-Mart locations bring with them the promise of new purchasing options and job opportunities for the members of these relatively small American towns.

The residents of Lone Star in particular are excited about the proposed expansion and what the 12,000 square foot Express store could do for the town's 1,600 current residents.

“We’re excited,” City Secretary Ruth Nash told the Lone Star newspaper.

While she did acknowledge the increased competition the warehouse giant would bring with it, she remained firm in her belief the net result would be good for Lone Star. “We’re just such a small little town that the new jobs that would be coming to staff the store and the additional sales tax revenue and property tax revenue — we think it will draw enough business into our town that it will more than offset what might happen to the other stores.”

Tatum Mayor Phil Cory added, “From a community standpoint, I’ve always believed competition is good at least." He did note, however, that the plans for the new Wal-Mart were still in the early preliminary stages.

This latest building project is just a part of an overall larger plan by Wal-Mart to expand its Express store line by 300 locations during 2014, according to reporters at Omaha.

“These smaller-format stores are the result of us listening to our customers,” said Wal-Mart spokesperson Betsy Harden. “They are telling us they want new ways to shop.”

Wal-Mart's line of smaller Express stores focus largely on groceries and general merchandise with some stores also featuring a gas station. According to a news release by the National Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing, the average Express location is roughly 15,000 square feet although West Texas locations look to be closer to a 11,000-12,000 square foot range.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any further updates on Wal-Mart and its plans for expansion.  

Wal-Mart

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JAPAN - Isn’t it about time that fruits become a form of currency in Japan? The latest extraordinary item to go on auction is none other than Japan’s Ruby Roman grapes, otherwise known as one of the world’s most expensive fruits.

Late last week, we reported that high demand for California grapes kept prices above average, but those estimates are pint-sized if you ask Japanese auctioneers. A single Ruby Roman grape can easily cost someone well over a hundred dollars. On Saturday, a wedding hall operator in Ishikawa won a bunch of thirty fresh Ruby Roman grapes, each costing about $180 a pop for a grand total of a whopping $5,400, according to The Japan Times. If you happen to have a wealthy relative living in Japan, send some extras my way!     

“I was surprised to see a higher price than I had originally imagined, but I would like bridal couples to savor them and have a special memory,” public broadcaster NHK reported the hall owner as saying.

The bunch weighed about 800 grams (28 ounces) total, with individual grapes sizing up to around 1.2 inches in diameter.

Having now been in the market for about six years, these top notch grapes have made quite a name for themselves in Japan. According to Wall Street Journal, a grape can only be called a Ruby Roman if it weighs at least 20 grams, exceeds 18% in sugar content, and its coloring resembles a cherry tomato-red hue. That’s just one class of Ruby Roman, however. The “premium class” Ruby Roman grapes must weigh at least 30 grams, with the bunch overall weighing a minimum 700 grams.

If there are people out there willing to buy grapes and other luxurious fruit in Japan for such extravagant prices, I gotta get in this business already! 

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PELION, SC – WP Rawl is welcoming back Marshall Sherman as the company’s newest Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance. He was formerly the company’s General Manager from 2001 to 2008.

“I am very excited to return to WP Rawl,” said Marshall. “Part of what drew me back to the company was the phenomenal growth they have experienced since I left in 2008. Returning has felt like finding my family again. The Rawl family are great people to work for and this next opportunity is not only exciting professionally; it feels like coming home.”

In his new role, Marshall will be responsible for directing and implementing all food safety and quality programs company-wide to include field operations, plant operations, and external vendors, according to a press release.

“Bringing Marshall back as Director of Food Safety is a huge bonus for us,” said Ashley Rawl, Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Product Development at WP Rawl. “He did an outstanding job for us as General Manager, and we have no less of an expectation for his new role. We are delighted that he was ready to come back to South Carolina and rejoin the team.”

Prior to his return at WP Rawl, Marshall was the Director of Operations at a Jacksonville, Florida-based produce distribution facility where he made progress in reducing transportation and labor costs. Before that, he was the General Manager for an Oxnard, California-based farming operation where he worked on everything from marketing and sales to farming and facility operations all while improving sales year over year.

Congrats on your return to WP Rawl, Marshall!

WP Rawl