WENATCHEE, WA – Columbia Marketing International (CMI) declared July the month of jumbo cherries and is setting up retail programs to make sure that its retail customers have adequate supplies in stores to cover demand. 

CMI is giving its customers a high-graphic instant cherry display, which ships with two boxes of red or Rainier cherries, according to a press release.  The display can be assembled in less than 30 seconds.  Check out the video below to see how easy it is to setup the display.

CMI also announced that the Pacific Northwest’s cherries are sizing larger than past years and have sugar levels at the top of the charts.

“We have an incredible opportunity with this year’s Northwest cherry crop.  After a low cherry production out of California this season, consumers are hungry for cherries.  With our estimated 22 million box crop out of the Northwest this year, consumers can expect great eating cherries, with larger than normal sizing,” said Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing at CMI.

The warm sunny days and cool nights have created optimal growing conditions for the crop this season, leading to high sugar development and great flavor.

CMI

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The Delhaize Group has announced the appointment of Kevin Holt as the new CEO for Delhaize America and member of the Delhaize Group Executive Committee. The former President of Retail Operations at Supervalu will take over Delhaize U.S. operations effective July 7, 2014.

"I am very pleased to have Kevin join our team," said Frans Muller, President and CEO of Delhaize Group. "Kevin brings both deep industry experience as well as a comprehensive customer orientation that will help our U.S. operations to continue to implement our existing strategy and build on the strong momentum of recent quarters. I am looking forward to working with him."

"I am excited about the opportunity to lead Delhaize America and work with Frans, the Delhaize America team and my colleagues in the Group Executive Committee," said Mr. Holt. He added, "I look forward to reinforcing and executing the strategy and continuing to focus on our customers as I see tremendous opportunity in the business."

Kevin Holt is an industry veteran with over 20 years of retail leadership experience in operations, strategy, and information technology. He began his career working for NCR where he spent nine years before being hired by Meijer. At Meijer he worked in a variety of positions ranging from Executive Vice President of Retail Operations to Senior Vice President of Information Technology/Services and Strategic Planning. He then moved on to work for the Sears Holding Company before being hired by Supervalu 3 years later.

Mr. Holt received his B.S. in Business Economics from Ferris State University, according to a press release.

Congratulations on the new position Mr. Holt!

Delhaize

WASHINGTON - The Organic Trade Association's findings in its US Families' Organic Attitudes & Beliefs 2014 Tracking Study suggest that health and organic food is becoming increasingly synonymous for American consumers with young children.

The 2014 Tracking Study which surveyed more than 1,200 households in the United States with at least one child under the age of 18, found that eight out of ten American families have purchased organic products at least once in the past two years. Almost half of those families who purchased organic products, cited their children's health as the major impetus behind the decision.

“My children influence my purchase of organic food, because I want them to be as healthy as they can be,” commented one of the parents who participated in the survey. “I am responsible for providing my children with all their food since they cannot buy it. I choose healthy and organic foods and they enjoy whatever I give to them. Win-win!” said another parent.

Furthermore in a recent press release, the OTA reveals that 90% of surveyed parents reported that they at least “sometimes” chose organic products for their young children, with almost 25% testifying that they “always” chose organic. Similarly the OTA study found that 74% of daycares across America now feature organic options for the children in their care. Of those surveyed only 19% reported never buying organic, an 11% decline from 5 years ago.

An even deeper commitment to buying organic was found among parents shopping for baby food. Over 33% of these parents said they “always” shopped organic.

“Choosing organic foods is increasingly a large part of how families are trying to take better care of themselves and the planet,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of OTA. “The proportion of families who say they never buy organic food has been on a steady decline for the past five years, and those who are choosing organic are buying more.”

These findings are further proof of the increasing importance of the organic food industry to the modern consumer. An earlier study by the OTA showed that sales of organic products reached a record high of 35.1 billion in sales in 2013. The OTA doesn't expect growth to stop there however, predicting a 12% or higher increase in sales during 2014.

TEWKSBURY, MA - The Market Basket Board of Directors has recently retaliated against Arthur T. Demoulas and two other executives, firing all three from the company. Lowell Sun reports that Bill Marsden, Market Basket’s Operations Director, and Joseph Rockwell, Vice President of Grocery Sales and Merchandising were the two other executives that have been let go.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – TOMRA Sorting Solutions US Food division opened a new state-of-the-art facility in West Sacramento, CA on Wednesday.

“With extra space and better facilities, including test, demonstration and development areas, the new West Sacramento site will enable our US team to concentrate on developing solutions for the food industry in the region. The new premises will enable them to better serve their growing customer base in terms of sales and service,” said Ashley Hunter, Sr. Vice-President and Head of TOMRA Sorting Food.

The new site is 60,000 square feet and has state-of-the-art sorting solutions centers, where customers can see live demonstrations of TOMRA’s sorting, peeling and process analytics systems, according to a press release.

“TOMRA’s sorting solutions centers provide the ultimate experience and peace-of-mind for customers, who can stage trials using their own produce, and reflect the fact that their needs are becoming ever-more complex. The centers will also enable us to capitalize fully on our significant investment in research and development,” Hunter added.

The new location also features a cold room in its test and demonstration area to test individually quick frozen (IQF) products with TOMRA’s new Blizzard sorter.

The opening of the new facility follows the successful relocation of TOMRA’s facility in Dublin, Ireland.

TOMRA

VERO BEACH, FL - Seald Sweet is pushing their summer citrus program with a new line-up of sweet mandarin oranges: Mandarina's™. This new brand of oranges take its name from a sweet, little girl character named 'Mandarina' intended to personify the sweetness of the orange.

“The varieties which are specifically selected to be packed in the Mandarina’s™ brand packaging are the best of the mandarin category,” says Mayda Sotomayor, Seald Sweet’s CEO. “It is our commitment to retailers and consumers that only the best, juiciest and sweetest varieties are packed in this brand. We consider Mandarina’s™ to be the ‘crème de le crème’ of easy-peelers.” 

Through bright colors on the packaging, an endearingly sweet mascot in Mandarina and kid-friendly graphics which decorate the packaging, Seald Sweet is striving to give candy-like appeal to Mandarina's™ through visual marketing.

“As part of the industry initiative to improve the health and well-being of our nation’s children, we want to appeal to young consumers with this brand,” says Kim Flores, Seald Sweet’s Director of Marketing. “Mandarina personifies sweetness, and helps emphasize smart snacking solutions with children.”

Seald Sweet’s Mandarina’s™ sweet mandarins will be available for purchase from August through October, with conventional clementines coming to stores June through August. Seald Sweet’s Summer Citrus line-up also features navel oranges, Minneola Tangelos, and Cara Cara (red) oranges.

YAKIMA, WA - Domex Superfresh Growers is expecting a large harvest this summer and is already communicating with retailers about market strategies for when their crop comes to market. Domex expects that August and September will be a perfect time to promote Washington apples and is eager to get a head start on the planning process.

Official estimates on the size of this year's harvest will not be available until August 11, but a Domex press release took care to note how “trees around the state are covered in an abundance of apples.” Early expectations have this year's harvest being similar in size to that of last year's, although this year's crop is expected to be ready for picking about 5 days earlier than 2013's. An early crop will allow promotable quantities of Gala apples to be ready for retailers to market by mid-August.

Two other 'critical areas' Domex recommends retailers focus on in marketing are the strong marks for shape, size, and eating quality this year's apples will possess due to a warm spring promoting healthy cell division, as well as an expected delay in apples coming out of the Eastern U.S. because of a cool spring.

Apples make up a very large share of national fruit sales, representing 10.5% of 2013's total fruit sales during the 3rd fiscal quarter, according to a press release quoting Nielsen data. This number actually rose to 19.6% in Q4. Of all apples Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, and Honeycrisp make up the bulk of grocery sales, comprising 76% of dollar sales in 2013, a number up 11.3% from the previous year.

Congratulations Domex on a strong harvest!

COMMERCE, CA - Smart & Final sent waves through Wall Street Friday with its announcement of plans to file for an IPO. With 195 warehouse stores operating out of California, Arizona, and Nevada in addition to 52 Cash & Carry locations, Smart & Final intends to use the funds raised through its public offering to repay debt obligations and expand the Smart & Final Extra format, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The much larger Extra format stores have “typically resulted in significant increases in comparable-store sales and gross margin,” according to company executives who spoke with the Journal.

In order to file, Smart & Final says it could raise up to $100 million, although that number could change as they move closer to the offering date. So far the exact date of the IPO has not been released to the public, but the initial filing does list Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays Capital as underwriters. Initial plans have 'SFS' as the stock symbol Smart & Final will be trading under.

In its overview of the company last December, Moody's Investors Service was quoted as saying Smart & Final “continues to demonstrate its ability to compete effectively and maintain margins in a tough economic and competitive business environment,” although it did criticize its “weak” credit metrics.

According to StreetInsider.com, Smart & Final has enjoyed comparable store sales growth in 24 of the last 25 years, with 4.2% comparable store sales growth in 2014's most recent fiscal quarter. It had 4.0% comparable store sales growth with $3.2 billion in sales during 2013's fiscal year, a 5.5% increase in sales from 2012.

Good luck to Smart & Final as it moves closer to its IPO.

Smart & Final

EXETER, CA - Kelly Brothers, Inc. has launched Goldies™ Sweet Costa Rican Pineapples, its newest trademarked brand. The company has recently completed packing in Costa Rica and has plans to distribute to retailers this summer.

"We did the trademark because growers like that we are building a new, fun brand and marketing program in the U.S. We are building a more customized program for the growers. We are selling whole pineapples to processors now and have plans for retail distribution this summer,” Patrick A. Kelly, President of Kelly Brothers, told AndNowUKnow.

Goldies are grown in Costa Rica year-round on farms from Sarapiqui to San Jose, according to a press release.  Its flavor profile is fresh, sweet and has a small part of acid that identifies Costa Rica's premium fruit.

Kelly Brothers hope to add new life in a produce category item that should be fun.  “When you think of pineapple you think of the tropics, sun and surf.  Just having a great time and just loving life,” Kelly added, and Goldies’ logo was designed to reflect that. “Our new label and box will bring color and excitement to any pineapple display.”

Kelly Brothers will be at the Fresno Food Expo on July 24, 2014 to display its new box designs and some other fun facts about picking pineapples.

Kelly Brothers

Chelan Fresh is providing a more convenient way to enjoy cherries with its Cup O’ Cherries offering. The two-compartment lid now allows consumers to appreciate these healthy stem-free dark, sweet variety of cherries with just one hand. Simply tilt the cup back, take a cherry, and discard the seeds in a specialized compartment on the side of the lid. This helpful packaging makes it easier to bring cherries in the car with no mess. This dark sweet variety comes in an 11 and a half row size and are seasonally grown during the last three of weeks of July and the first week of August in Washington state. Try this unique, on-the-go cherry eating experience. If you’d like to see your product in this video segment, please send samples to 2020 L Street, Suite 320, Sacramento, CA 95811.