EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – Supervalu has been making a wide range of efforts to improve its performance, as it is committed to invest in business growth and improve EBITDA. Financial news publication Seeking Alpha suggests that Supervalu holds a promising position among leading grocers with its dedicated efforts to grow in an already highly saturated U.S. supermarket industry.

For example, the company's promotional and sales programs successes and effective operations are continuously growing its sales base, Seeking Alpha reports. Efforts to grow Supervalu’s Save-A-Lot stores have been ongoing and are now showing signs of success.  The company reported +3.5% year-on-year growths in its Save-A-Lot sales.  So far Supervalu has added 40 new Save-A-Lot stores, and expects to open an additional 65 new stores in FY15.

Supervalu’s management is also optimistic about lowering its cost structure.  Many steps have been taken to get a leaner cost structure by the end of FY14.  The recent quarter’s 6.4% year-on-year decrease in SG&A expenses was achieved partly through its cost reduction initiatives, Seeking Alpha reports.

While the company’s recent quarter’s -0.6% year-on-year decline in supply chain revenue may affect revenues in the short term, Supervalu plans to invest in the supply chain segment to make it more efficient to help bolster it for long term success. 

With the company’s focused approach about cost reduction, margins are expected to scale up soon.  Its future earnings may also get a lift from investments in revenue generating business segments.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more updates on its progress.

Supervalu

IMMOKALEE, FL - Lipman is expanding its footprint with its latest acquisition of grower and distributor The Produce Exchange (TPE). With operations in Washington, California, and Arizona, TPE joins Lipman’s national network of farming, packing, processing, and repacking, according to a press release. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to welcome The Produce Exchange team to Lipman,” said Kent Shoemaker, Lipman CEO. “We are confident that their close-to-the-customer services, in addition to their West Coast supply in tomatoes and vegetables, will enhance Lipman’s ability to create more success with our customers.”

TPE brings unique varieties of fresh produce that will now be offered to Lipman customers year-round with four locations along the West Coast. Sam Jones, TPE’s President, will maintain his leadership role.

“Joining the Lipman family of companies is exciting for all of us at The Produce Exchange,” said Jones. “We look forward to using Lipman’s national farming and repacking network to give our customers access to the acre.”

Shoemaker concluded, “Lipman and The Produce Exchange have a lot in common and it is summed up best by TPE’s mission statement: The relentless creation of extraordinary successes together with our partners. Strategically, our values are in alignment, our facilities and farms complement one another, and our seasoned people together bring experience that will give our customers what they need to be successful.”

Congrats on the successful acquisition, Lipman!

Lipman

The Produce Exchange

WENATCHEE, WA - Welcome to What’s in Store. World Famous Cherries from Stemilt are in season now with harvest going on daily through September in Washington State. Stemilt cherries come straight from beautiful locales like Stemilt Hill in Wenatchee, WA where warm days and cool nighttime temperatures create the best environment for producing cherries with world famous qualities.

Stemilt and the Mathison family are celebrating the company’s 50th year anniversary in 2014. To mark the occasion, Stemilt is packing cherries in its classic white box with the company’s 50 year logo. Proper merchandising of cherries is key to any store’s success and Stemilt’s grower-centric pop-up display bins are a great way to bring cherries front and center in the produce department during key promotional periods that include the 4^th of July.

Stemilt’s golden Rainier cherries are fresh off the tree and ready for promotion just after July 1st, with big promotions centered on National Rainier Cherry Day on July 11th. Also in early July, Stemilt starts packing Kyle’s Pick cherries. Named after 4th generation cherry grower Kyle Mathison, this premium cherry program puts the best cherries in pouch bags with the Kyle’s Pick logo in order to entice shoppers throughout the month of July and into August. Kyle’s Pick cherries showcase the best varieties and largest size fruits that are full of dessert flavors.  

The second item in the Kyle’s Pick program series, Half Mile Closer to the Moon cherries, begins in mid-August when Stemilt cherries come from high-elevation orchards – like Mathison’s Amigos Orchards in Wenatchee, WA. Grown between 2,500 and 3,200 feet above sea level these cherries are literally cultivated a half mile closer to the moon.  Stemilt’s cherry season is off and running in Washington state. With a range of merchandising support to increase impulse purchases, cherries are sure to delight shoppers throughout the summer season.

Thank you for watching What's In Store.

Stemilt

SANTA MARIA, CA – Kalettes, a new kale and brussels sprout hybrid developed by Tozer Seeds, are coming to stores soon.  Its flavor is a fusion of sweet and nutty, combining the best traits of its parent vegetables.

Kalettes are not genetically modified and were developed by cross-pollination, according to a press release.  Tozer developed the kale-brussels sprout hybrid after more than a decade of research and is working with several cooperators to grow and market Kalettes. 

“We started selling seed in the U.S. in 2012 and quickly realized that this new vegetable was going to be a huge hit with consumers due to the popularity of both vegetables,” stated Kraig Kuykendall, sales manager of Tozer Seeds, U.S. “The idea behind gathering cooperators to market under the Kalettes brand was to give consumers a consistent name and brand identity to look for in the produce department.”

Plans for the U.S. launch include consumer media engagement and a strong social media presence.  The Kalettes website includes recipes and high quality photography, which will be expanded through the summer.

Kalettes

Tozer Seeds

TULARE, CA - Sundale Vineyards has completed a solar project to power its cold storage facility with assistance from the renewable energy investment tax credit (ITC). Work began on a 1.13-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic system at the vineyard in December of 2013.

This solar facility was built by Cenergy Power and is estimated to save Sundale $5.7 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years, the carbon equivalent of preserving 24,000 acres of forest and removing 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits.

“We’ve looked at solar for a very long time, but about five or six years ago, it didn’t make sense financially.  The prices have definitely come down,” said Todd Kinosian, Sundale Vineyards Owner. Sundale will receive the federal ITC for investing in the facility, which was another incentive for moving forward with the project.

Bill Pham, Cenergy Power’s CEO, said, “The investment tax credit played a significant role in this project because Sundale could effectively use 100 percent of the 30 percent ITC.  This fact, combined with Sundale’s strong financial performance, made the financing used for this project very cost-effective.”

Pham expects the solar system to produce 1.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy a year, which will offset 91% of Sundale’s electricity bill and deliver a simple payback of just four years, according to Novogradac.

“This solar project is a testament to our commitment to the environment and social responsibility,” said Kinosian.  “Sundale firmly believes that environmentally-conscious agriculture practices are vital to the sustainable growth of the industry.”

Pham added that the solar project should benefits Sundale in three main ways: reduced energy costs, advancement of the company’s environmental sustainability goals and improvement of its tax efficiency through the ITC.

Sundale Vineyards

Cenergy Power

MCLEAN, VA – Gladstone Land Corporation has acquired a 145-acre farm in Watsonville, California for $5.9 million. 

"We are pleased to add another first-rate farm in California to our portfolio and partner with the existing farmers on a long-term basis. Our objective is to be a strategic real estate partner for farmers so they can secure their land for the long haul," said Bill Frisbie, Director at the Company. "We now own 24 farms across the U.S. that produce a variety of high-value fruits and vegetables."

The property has been farmed for row crop fruits and vegetables for decades and comes with water on site, according to a press release. 

"We are excited when an opportunity arises to add prime strawberry land to our existing farmland in the Watsonville region, and we will always maximize our efforts in attempting to complete such deals.  We have great relationships with growers here, and we will always do what we can to provide our services to them in order to support a healthy industry," said Bill Reiman, Managing Director at the Company.

Gladstone Land invests in farmland located in major agricultural markets in the United States that it leases to corporate and independent farmers.  The Company currently owns 6,345 acres on 24 farms in 5 different states across the U.S., according to its website.

Through this acquisition, Gladstone has assumed a lease on the property with 28 months remaining with a large farming operation as the tenant.

Gladstone Land Corporation

NEW YORK, NY - Apax Partners is selling its majority ownership stake in Advantage Sales & Marketing (ASM) to private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) and CVC Capital Partners for more than $4 billion, according to sources close to Reuters. Since purchasing controlling stake in 2010, Apax has helped ASM achieve substantial growth organically and through strategic acquisitions.  

“Apax Partners have added tremendous value to ASM over the past three-and-a-half years,” said ASM CEO Tanya Domier. “This partnership has been a textbook example of how a private equity firm and a management team can create value together through collaborating on strategy, growth, and vision, and being willing to work hard to take a good company to great! We set out with a clear vision, worked hard together, and focused on accelerating growth, and that is exactly what we accomplished.”

The sale comes at a time when private equity firms are increasingly targeting companies that are expected to benefit from a recovery in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, according to Reuters.

ASM provides outsourced sales, marketing, and merchandising services to manufacturers, suppliers, and producers of consumer packaged goods in the U.S. The company serves groceries, drugstores, convenience stores, consumer electronics outlets, and sporting goods shops, according to Reuters. The company expects to achieve $1.6 billion in revenue in 2014.

“ASM is an exceptional company with an incredible track record, strong brand equity, and tremendous opportunities for growth,” said Jonathan Sokoloff, Managing Partner at LGP. “We are excited to partner with Tanya and the rest of ASM’s talented management team and look forward to supporting the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Christopher Stadler, Managing Partner at CVC, stated, “ASM has earned an exceptionally loyal and growing base of clients by continually finding new ways to help them win in the marketplace. We are delighted to have the rare opportunity to back a team that has accomplished so much, yet has many pathways to sustain significant future growth.”

Both LGC and CVC have worked together before to jointly acquire BJ’s Wholesale Club in 2011 for $2.8 billion.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.

Advantage Sales & Marketing

LEAMINGTON, ON - R.E.A.C.H. International kicked off its 8^th annual Greenhouse Competitions on June 13-14, crowning some of the industry’s Hottest Tomatoes, Coolest Cucumbers, and Perfect Peppers. Greenhouse industry growers, marketers, and suppliers from as far away as British Columbia entered 144 entries into the competitions, a new record. The unique competitions were presented in part this year by Red Sun Farms.

Westmoreland/TopLine Farms took home two top honors at the competition for its Mini Seedless Cucumbers – People’s Choice and Kid’s Choice for Coolest Cucumber.

“This is a great achievement and a testament to our growers,” said Jimmy Coppola, Account Manager/Marketing at Westmoreland Sales. “Being the largest mini seedless cucumber growers in North America, it is nice to be recognized in such a manner to win two awards for our mini seedless cucumbers. What is even better is that the two awards are People’s Choice and Kid’s Choice… The people (and kids for that matter) have spoken… TopLine Farms Mini Seedless Cucumbers are TOPS!”

Mucci Farms captured four of the top awards for its Rustico™ sweet long peppers (Best Specialty Long Pepper), Terreno™ naturally brown tomatoes (Best Beefsteak Tomato), Vero™ premium on the vine tomatoes (Best Cluster Tomato), and Sapori™ sweet cocktail tomatoes (Best Cocktail Tomato).

“Mucci Farms is proud to be recognized amongst many local growers,” said Emily Murracas, Marketing Coordinator at Mucci International Marketing. Our recent launch of the NEW MIDI Sized Cluster has proven to be most well received by our retailers and consumers alike. It comes as no surprise that we received top honors naming our Vero™ premium on the vine tomatoes Best Cluster Tomato. Our Sapori™ sweet cocktail tomatoes continue to be a favorite among tomato lovers, holding true to their name (‘flavor’ in Italian), capturing Best Cocktail Tomato.”

Orangeline Farms won two first place awards in the “Perfect Pepper” competition for its Zing! Orange (Best Specialty Mini Pepper) and Zing! Chili (Best Specialty Hot Pepper).

“These awards underscore our position as a premium grower,” said Jordan Kniaziew, President of Orangeline Farms Sales. “We like that both awards are in the ‘specialty’ category – they represent everything that we do and what we’re all about as a grower of exciting consumer friendly foods.”

Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET® won six awards for its Red Bell Pepper (People’s Choice), Chocolate Pepper (Best Specialty Bell Pepper), English Cucumber (Best English Seedless), “Zima” (Best Overall Tomato and Best Specialty Tomato), and “Romano” (Best Roma Tomato). For more on this story, click here!

Nature Fresh Farms received two awards for its Orange Bell Pepper, Best Overall Pepper and Best Orange Bell Pepper. For more on this story, click here!

Below is a list of all of the 2014 winners…

Perfect Pepper Competition:

Best Overall Pepper - Nature Fresh Farms – Orange Bell Pepper – Entry #13
People’s Choice - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - Red Bell Pepper – Entry # 46
Kids’ Choice - Pure Hothouse Foods – Orange Bell Pepper – Entry #106
Best Red Bell Pepper - Amco Produce – Entry # 2
Best Yellow Bell Pepper - Red Sun Farms – Entry # 4
Best Orange Bell Pepper - Nature Fresh Farms – Entry #13
Best Specialty Bell Pepper - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Chocolate Pepper” – Entry # 31
Best Specialty Mini Pepper - Orangeline Farms – “Zing! Orange” – Entry #102
Best Specialty Long Pepper - Mucci International / Mucci Pac –Entry # 12
Best Specialty Hot Pepper - Orangeline Farms – “Zing! Chili” – Entry # 71

Coolest Cucumber Competition:

Best Overall Cucumber - Pure Hothouse Foods – Mini Cucumber –Entry # 17
People’s Choice - Westmoreland/Topline Produce – Mini Cucumber – Entry # 75
Kids’ Choice - Westmoreland/Topline Produce – Mini Cucumber – Entry # 75
Best English Seedless - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® – Entry # 7
Best Mini Seedless - Pure Hothouse Foods –Entry # 17

Hottest Tomato Competition:

Best Overall Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Zima” Specialty – Entry # 100
People’s Choice - Lakeside Produce – “Solle” Bite Size Orange – Entry # 24
Kids’ Choice - Double Diamond Acres – “Pink Mambo” Bite Size – Entry #59
Best Beefsteak Tomato - Mucci International / Mucci Pac – “Terreno” - Entry # 27
Best Roma Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® – “Romano” - Entry # 101
Best Cluster Tomato - Mucci International / Mucci Pac –Entry # 94
Best Cocktail Tomato  - Mucci International / Mucci Pac - Entry # 107
Best Bite-Size Tomato - Del Fresco Produce - “Orange Bite Size”– Entry # 129
Best Specialty Tomato - Mastronardi Produce /SUNSET® - “Zima” – Entry # 100

Congratulations to all the winners!

Greenhouse Competitions

LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Frieda’s Specialty Produce did something extra to support the 2^nd annual Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival in its hometown of Los Alamitos, CA.  Aside from the company’s usual booth space featuring its specialty fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s also sponsored a new edible obstacle on the Sugartown Challenge 5K-ish Fun Run.

“We took our ‘Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You’ message to a different level and made our obstacle an edible one,” said Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s. “You have to eat a piece of scary fruit before you continue on your race! And our scary fruit of choice for the challenge was Starfruit.”

The station was managed by Jackie Caplan Wiggins, Vice President and COO of Frieda’s, who made sure the runners took at least one bite.

Frieda’s booth also featured “The Greatest Exotic Fruit & Vegetable Petting Zoo on Earth,” where everyone could learn about and get their hands on specialty items like Rambutan, Color Cauliflower, Purple Snow Peas and many more, according to a press release.

“There were about 300 participants in the challenge, and most came back to our booth after they completed the challenge to ask us about the fruit they just ate,” said Wiggins. “About half of the participants were children and teens, and they were very interested to check out our fruit and vegetable ‘petting zoo’ and see what other ‘weird’ things we had available.”

The Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival is a celebration of Los Alamitos’ founding and ties to sugar beet farming and production.

Frieda's

WENATCHEE, WA  and SHANGHAI, CHINA – Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, WA have joined Lantao of Shanghai, China to be the first to market 2014 crop year Bing Cherries from Washington State into mainland China.

Mike Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Stemilt, is confident that this year’s Washington State Cherry crop can meet the demand.  “Growing conditions have lined up perfectly for us,” said Taylor.  “Because the conditions are so favorable, we are shipping heavier in June than normally, and we will fill the demand that we were unable to fill from California.  The quality and size from Washington will meet the premium fruit requirements that the Chinese market demands.”

“Although Stemilt had the best California cherries in the Chinese market, the overall quality and volume from California this year has been inconsistent,” said John Wang, CEO of Lantao.  “The poorer quality cherries brought the whole market down and now the market is really ready to step in and buy some better quality fruit.  Being first to market will allow us fill that demand quickly.” 

Dave Martin, Export Sales Director and Bill Young, Export Account Manager for Stemilt Growers sees China as its most important cherry export market, according to a press release.  “We appreciate working with Lantao because they seem to grasp our ‘philosophy’ when it comes to openness, trust, honesty, commitment and the belief in the quality of our fruit,” said Martin.

Lantao is one of the largest importers of imported fruit into China with distribution centers in 7 Chinese cities.  

Stemilt