UNITED STATES - Marketers everywhere could take a page out of Zack Brown's book, the Kickstarter wizard who turned a vision of a $10 potato-salad on the 4th of July into a $70,000+ fundraiser with over 5,000 online donors. How did he do it? Even Zack admitted on his page that, “Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet.” What did he do and more importantly what can we all learn from him?

Have realistic, reachable goals.

Zack was successful in part because he started small and didn't overreach. He knew he wanted some potato salad and he quickly calculated that it would take about $10 to make this possible. So that's what he asked for. Nothing flashy, nothing over-the-top, just a simple request for $10 to make his potato salad. You'll find that investors appreciate realistic, reachable goals when they're looking to put money into a project.

Be humble.

Zack could have tried to 'Wow' his readers. He could have broken out the ol' thesaurus and talked about how he wanted to engage in a gastronomical experiment of stupendous proportions, one which would revolutionize the culinary and potato cultivator industries for generations. He could have waxed on and on till he was blue in the face and his reader had long since stumbled wearily away. Instead he kept it simple. “Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet." Count the syllabuls in that sentence. Hint: There aren't a lot of them.

Successful communication skills are key to good marketing. A big part of this is making sure you don't let your language alienate your readership base. Before saying or writing something the first question you should ask yourself is, does this communicate my point the clearest? Or am I just trying to make myself sound smart?

Be sincere.

What you do find in Zack's Kickstarter however is sincerity and even some vulnerability. You find a man with a dream, a dream of potato salad, but also a man who acknowledges his own limitations in a tactful way. Zack admits to his prospective investors that, “It might not be that good. It's my first potato salad.” This admission successfully makes Zack and project relateable without compromising an investor's faith in his ability to follow through. The key is to be honest, but dedicated.

Express the benefits of investing clearly and concretely.

While some investments reward the investor with dividend payments, Zack's potato salad backers are rewarded with online “thank you's,” photos of the potato making process, and even potato salad themed haikus depending on the investment level. Regardless of what the reward is however, it is important that people feel a connection with their investment and the easiest way to do this is with some kind of positive reward system.

With such success behind him and more money pouring in every day, American potato growers can only look on and wonder if they'll be the lucky ones to provide the potatoes for the potato salad Zack has been dreaming of. 

If you'd like to donate to this great cause, then you can donate to Zack's Kickstarter here.

AndNowUKnow wishes Zack the best with his potato salad adventures. Here's to hoping he'll share!

CORAL GABLES, FL - With more consumers than ever looking for healthy and ready-to-eat meal options from retailers, Del Monte Fresh is stepping up with a major expansion of its Nature Made^TM brand which will now include a variety of new single-serve salad bowls and fresh fruit & protein snack packs.

“We are excited to launch our newest product line that will include salads and snack packs. Our focus is the on-the-go consumer seeking a convenient, healthy, and complete meal. Our new product range makes it easy to eat healthy, with delicious and nutritious salads made with premium quality ingredients complete with a fork, dressing, and even an after-meal breath mint. As one of the largest fresh cut suppliers, extending our product line to include salads and snacks for the on-the-go consumer was a logical move,” says Dennis Christou, Vice President of Marketing, North America for Del Monte.

The salad bowls will come in a variety of flavors such as Nature MadeTM Caesar Salad with White Chicken and Nature MadeTM Turkey and Bacon Cobb Salad. The fruit & protein snack packs will offer retails and consumers a similar range of fresh and healthy options. The Turkey and Swiss Snack Pack for example will feature red grapes, red apple slices, turkey slices, swiss cheese, and crackers. Another snack pack, the Sausage Links & Pancake Pack, comes with grapes, buttermilk pancakes, apples, turkey breakfast sausage, and syrup.

Del Monte Fresh is able to offer all of these new products thanks largely to a major expansion of its processing facilities in Dallas, Texas. In addition to its new Nature MadeTM products, the new facility will also allow Del Monte to offer more bagged, single-serve fruit and vegetable options which will appeal to a wide range of food providers, from traditional retailers to schools.

According to a press release, the new Nature MadeTM salad bowls and snack packs will initially only be avaliable in the South Central and Midwest regions of the United States. Plans are already in place however to expand the product release in the future.

Del Monte Fresh

WASHINGTON D.C. - United Fresh is looking to honor a member of the produce community at the 2014 Washington Conference with their preistigious Produce Industry Advocate of the Year Award. This honor is awarded to a United Fresh member each year which exemplifies United Fresh's commitment to pushing for progress in the industry through public policy advocacy and active involvement in produce industry policy initiatives.

If you would like to nominate a worthy company to be Produce Industry Advocate of the Year, you can download a nomination form from the event page on United Fresh's website. In order to be accepted, all nomination forms must be received by United Fresh by July 25th, 2014. 

Last year, United Fresh named Del Monte the winner of the award for its Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative.

United Fresh Produce Association President and CEO Tom Stenzel talked with pride during the awards ceremony about the extent of Del Monte's work. "They've donated more than 20 salad bars to schools, and are a leader in bringing fresh vending machines to schools, even when those vending machines carry other company's products," he said.

According to a press release, other winners of the Advocate of the Year award include Pro*Act, Sunkist Growers, and Tanimura & Antle.

United Fresh

LOS ANGELES, CA – Unified Grocers is welcoming two new additions; Vic Versino as Vice President of Logistics and former Chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA Brad Alford to its Board of Directors.

“Vic is an accomplished executive who brings a wealth of experience in food distribution.  Unified is extremely fortunate to have a man of Vic’s experience and caliber as a member of our officer team,” said Unified President and CEO Bob Ling.  “Logistics is a key part of our buisiness and vital to our growth plans.  I’m confident Vic will carry on the tremendous work John Wiedmann and his team have done to help drive sales and reduce expenses.”

Versino will oversee company-wide distribution, transportation and maintenance.  He will also develop logistics and distribution strategies to meet the needs of the members, according to a press release. Prior to this, Versino was Vice President of Logistics and Inventory at Redbox.

Brad Alford has been appointed as an independent, non-shareholder Director to Unified’s Board of Directors.

"We appreciate Brad's willingness to serve as a director and look forward to benefitting from his judgment and counsel," said Richard E. Goodspeed, Chairman of the Board of Unified. "He is an internationally renowned leader. His deep expertise in manufacturing and distribution with one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies will add a valuable perspective to our Board of Directors."

"We are pleased to welcome Brad to the board of directors," said Unified President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Ling. "His appointment reflects our confidence regarding the business prospects for independent retail grocers and our commitment to serving that market. We are all looking forward to working with Brad."

"I'm delighted to join the Unified board," said Alford. "The Company is clearly in growth mode and I'm looking forward to working with both the board and management to position Unified for continued success in the years to come."

During Alford's time as CEO, revenue grew from $7.5 billion in 2006 to $12.7 billion in 2012, according to a press release. Alford spend his career at Nestlé or at companies acquired by Nestlé.

Congratulations, Vic and Brad!

Unified Grocers 

LOS ANGELES, CA - Retailers and consumers looking to stock their produce aisles and pantries with fresh, high-quality pineapples this summer should be excited about 4Earth Farms' new lines of Organic and Conventional Golden Sweet Pineapples. In fact, 4Earth Farms is so confident in the quality and consistency of its new pineapples that it is backing its retail partners with a consumer money-back guarantee.

“We are confident in the quality of all our products we bring to market, and our 4Earth Farms Pineapples are no exception. Introducing this line with a flavor guarantee felt like a great way to share that high confidence with our customers and our commitment to consistenly delicious produce,” said Mark Munger, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at 4Earth Farms. 

This move might be unconventional, but it only serves to underscore how deeply 4Earth Farms' growers believe in their product.

“Guaranteeing customers will love the flavor of a produce item is not common practice in the our industry. Though a bit unconventional, this move is strongly indicative of our confidence in our Costa Rican pineapple groves,” says 4Earth Farms CEO, David Lake. “We have no doubts that our customers will find our 4Earth Farms Pineapples amazingly delicious!”

Munger went on to explain to its retailers that “in no way will they be burdened by our Guarantee Offer, 4Earth Farms will be taking care of all reimbursements directly to the consumer. This is just another way we are helping our retailers move product and keep their customers loyal and happy. This pineapple flavor guarantee is simply a natural extension of the quality standards we hold for every product offered here at 4Earth Farms.”

According to a press release, both 4Earth Farms' organic and conventional brands of pineapple will be immediately available for shipping to participating retailers.

4Earth Farms has been growing a wide range of both organic and conventional produce for over 20 years.

4Earth Farms

Apple has provided several ways to help save you time typing out text messages or e-mails. Sometimes however, these options aren’t always made clear or they’re hidden underneath a few layers of menu options. Check out our latest list of iPhone tips to master your keyboard!

Save time switching keyboards

If you find switching between symbols/numbers and letters a bit clumsy when typing a long message, try this. Just tap once on the .?123 or ABC button, and while keeping your finger held on the keyboard, slide your finger up to the key you want. After it’s been added and you release your finger, it’ll automatically switch back to the keyboard you were using.

Type faster with auto-capitalization

Rather than hitting the period button to do a full stop, just double tap the space bar. It’ll add a period, and auto-capitalize the next word to set you up for your next sentence. This setting is typically enabled by default, but if it’s not, go here:

Settings > General > Keyboard > Turn “Auto-Capitalization” on

Quickly type domain extensions

When you’re typing in a URL in Safari, your iPhone provides a way to quickly type out domain extensions like “.com” or “.net”. If you’re using iOS 7, hold down the period key and it’ll bring up a list of popular domain extensions. If you’re using an older OS version, hold down the “.com” key instead.

Insert special characters

Similarly, if you’re looking for special characters like accented characters or different currency symbols, just tap and hold down a key to see what other options you have for alternate characters. Try experimenting!  

Display character count

Here’s how to see how many characters are in your messages. This is especially useful if you use Twitter!

Settings > Messages > Toggle “Character Count” on

Shake away your mistakes

Instead of holding down the backspace key to delete those pesky typos, you can just give your iPhone a shake and you’ll get a notification asking if you want to “Undo Typing.”

Add additional keyboards

You can setup international keyboards on your iPhone as well if you want to communicate in different languages.

Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard

Just for fun, you can also add the Emoji keyboard to get new, more stylish emoticons!

Use keyboard shortcuts

You can create new shortcuts that will automatically expand into the word or phrase as you type. For example, typing “omw” in a message will automatically input “on my way” after you hit the space bar.

Settings > General > Keyboard > “Add New Shortcut…”

Type the phrase you want to use, and then the shortcut.  

Bonus: iPad Keyboard Tip

If you’re using an iPad, you might find it faster to type using two thumbs instead. Apple has provided a way to split your keyboard to accommodate you.

Tap and hold the keyboard button on the bottom right corner > Two options will appear: Undock and Split > Tap Split to use the split keyboard

Or, you can also split your keyboard by pulling it apart using two fingers, sliding each from the middle to either side.

If you’re an Android user, stay tuned. We’ve got more keyboard tips coming soon.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Pacific Organic Produce has hired industry veteran Allen Bernklau as its new Senior Commodity Development & Sales Specialist.

“We’re really excited to bring Allen onboard.  His vast experience working with organic growers will allow him to make an immediate impact on our company,” said Pacific Organic President, Greg Holzman.

For the past 11 years, he has led the sales team at Del Cabo in which time it developed into a premiere organic farm company, according to a press release.

Allen has over 30 years of experience in the industry. He has worked retail, wholesale, mail order, and directly with the growers.

While not at work, Allen enjoys cooking, hiking, running, music, traveling, playing with his new grandson, and living life to the fullest with his wife of 21 years. 

Congratulations, Allen!

Pacific Organic Produce

UNITED STATES - It’s been an interesting ride for investors as of late. With news of the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking a new record for the first time in its 118-year history before the July 4 holiday, analysts are finally seeing concrete proof that the U.S. economy is on the path of recovery. For some however, this milestone achievement might not move the needle in terms of consumer spending.

“It’s really hard to see in our business today … that it’s gotten any better,” said Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon in an interview with Reuters, suggesting that the spur in U.S. employment growth has failed to increase consumer spending so far. Last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that employment growth increased in June with an additional 288,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate neared a six-year low, according to NBC News. Subsequently, the Dow reached 17,000 for the first time ever.

“The headline jobs number and underlying data reinforce the fact that the domestic economy is thriving,” said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital, during the historic day, according to USA Today. “The markets will enjoy this data, which should push the broader averages to higher highs today.”

“People like to chase trends, and people are more likely to buy when they are thinking about the market than thinking about something else such as the World Cup,” said Odean, according to Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.  

For the week so far however, the Dow has lost 161.64 points, or 1 percent. On Tuesday, the Dow closed at $16,906.62. Check out how the Dow has been performing over a five day period...

"We've reached a point where it's not getting any better but it's not getting any worse - at least for the middle (class) and down," said Simon.

Though it appears that the domestic economy is starting to hit its stride, Simon says that the recovery is not giving ordinary consumers the confidence to increase spending. Wal-Mart is continuing to find ways to gain positive same-store sales and positive traffic in an increasingly competitive environment, but will these adjustments in strategy be enough to give the company a financial boost?

“We’ve reached a point where it’s not getting any better but it’s not getting any worse – at least for the middle (class) and down,” continued Simon, Reuters reports.

"They're adapting to what has been a difficult macroeconomic situation," explained Simon.

Shopping habits for lower- and middle-income consumers have changed, Simon suggests, which may “not be the best thing in the world for a retailer.” Back to school events and holidays like the Fourth of July had shoppers splurge on items, but pulling back in between.

“They’re adapting to what has been a difficult macroeconomic situation,” explained Simon.

It hasn't been difficult for Wal-Mart alone. June sales at Costco and Target stores open for at least a year also fell below expectations, according to Reuters.

While it remains to be seen if the Dow will make a rebound again, it looks like it’s going to be a tough fight all around to keep shoppers shopping. 

CASHMERE, WA – Crunch Pak is featuring multiple cuts and package sizes for its sliced apples at the PMA Foodservice conference expo in Monterey.

“Apples are a kitchen staple and our products eliminate the prep time for foodservice operators, which saves them time and money,” said Tony Freytag, Crunch Pak Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  “Crunch Pak sliced apples are the best choice for restaurants, schools – any large group that values freshness, flavor and convenience. These are the same quality apple slices we use in our gourmet party trays. Our apples are crisp, fresh and easy to use in salads, sandwiches, snacks and desserts.”

Crunch Pak will be offering sliced apples in 2-pound trays with a peel and reseal lid.  It will also sell a 1-pound bag to foodservice customers as well as 3-pound bags and mini 2-ounce bags in a 64-count carton, according to a press release.

Crunch Pak will have all of these items on display at the Foodservice Fresh Produce Exposition on Sunday, July 27 in booth #109.

Crunch Pak

WEST COAST, U.S. - Labor issues in California grew increasingly complicated over the course of the previous few days, with a set of the independent truck drivers who service the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach going on strike in protest of the actions of the trucking firms operating out of the ports. Although the number of strikers represent only a minority of the workforce which services the southwestern ports, any spread of the labor actions could have a dramatic effect on U.S. trade as the LA and Long Beach locations are key to America's import trade with Asia.

Looking to soothe worried onlookers, Port of Los Angeles spokesperson Phillip Sanfield said that the strikes would have a “minimal impact” on the Port's operations.

“There have been a handful of informational protesters at two Port of Los Angeles container terminals, but there has not been a disruption in cargo operations,” the port statement said. “Two cargo container terminals have elected to close their gates for reasons unrelated to the truck driver labor dispute. Ships continue to be worked at those terminals. Los Angeles Port Police continue to monitor activities at Port of Los Angeles container terminals.”

Reporting done by Roll Call suggested that a key player in this ongoing situation could be the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), who could face the tough decision of whether or not to honor the picket lines if the strike continues. According to ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees, that is “a hypothetical that I’m steering clear of for now...[we] will deal with this when and if it happens.”

As AndNowUKnow reported in an earlier article, the ILWU is currently in the midst of a labor dispute of its own. These workers have been engaged in talks with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) since their labor contract expired at the beginning of this month. Talks between the two parties seemed to have been going well, although there were still issues to settle before any agreement could be reached.

Due to an unrelated dispute between northwestern dock workers and the grain terminals in Vancouver and Portland however, these talks have had to be temporarily tabled. According to The Columbian, during the 3 days which the ILWU will need to settle the grain terminal dispute, the former contract between the PMA and the ILWU will be reinstated so as to keep America's western ports in service.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any updates on this ongoing situation.