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FPFC introduces new officers during annual dinner-dance

Nearly 600 members of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council and friends met at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa Jan. 15 for the group?s annual dinner-dance. The event was the forum used to introduce Pat McDowell of Perimeter Sales & Merchandising as chairman of the board for 2005. Joining Mr. McDowell as officers for this year are Chairman-elect Jack Gyben of Progressive Produce, Treasurer Raul Gallegos of Bristol Farms and immediate past Chairman Roger Schroeder of Stater Bros. Markets. Linda Stine continues to serve as chief staff officer and president. Also on the board for 2005

Keynote speakers are announced for IFPA exposition

The International Fresh-cut Produce Association has announced the addition of two nationally recognized business motivators " a best-selling author and a comedic entertainer " to headline the ExecTrends sessions at its upcoming Fresh-Cut Expo 2005, set for April 14-16 in Phoenix. The addition of Larry Winget, author of The Wall Street Journal?s number one best-seller Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life, and comedian and motivational speaker Frank Miles should inspire attendees with straight-talk business advice at the organization?s annual conference and

Tsunami victims to receive shelf-stable tofu donation

Feed the Children, a nonprofit humanitarian relief organization, recently received a large donation of shelf-stable "Mori-Nu? tofu from Morinaga Nutritional Foods in Torrance, CA, for tsunami relief in Southeast Asia. Susan Bucher, director of marketing for Morinaga Nutritional Foods, said that the pallets of aseptically packaged, protein-rich silken tofu will be distributed to victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia. ?We feel fortunate that our long-life aseptic packaging allows us to send protein-rich food to the victims of this tragedy," she said. ?With 25 years

NewStar promotes value-added broccoli

SALINAS, CA " NewStar Fresh Foods LLC, based here, began shipping two-crown broccoli the week of Jan. 10. The company introduced the two-crown broccoli at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit 2004 in Anaheim, CA, in October. The rollout follows the company?s introduction of a three-crown broccoli in August. John Killeen, NewStar?s vice president of sales and marketing, said that the broccoli packs tie in nicely with the company?s push toward iceless products. If the company can be retailer- and consumer-friendly, NewStar will be at the forefront of supply, he said. ?This ties in with

Fair Trade bananas from Colombia enter U.S. market

OAKLAND, CA " Bananas, the most popular produce item in the United States, have a new player on the scene: Fair Trade-certified bananas from Uniban, a Colombia-based grower association. The bananas are coming in through Turbana Corp., Uniban?s U.S. marketing arm based in Coral Gables, FL. The first shipments came in to the United States the week of Jan. 10. Uniban attained Fair Trade certification through TransFair USA, a non-profit organization based here. TransFair is the only independent third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade certification is a

D.J. Forry sales manager leaves to start new marketing company

Cary Crum, sales manager at D.J. Forry Co. in Reedley, CA, has announced that he is leaving Forry to start his own marketing company, Green Tree International Inc., in partnership with John Rast, owner of Rast Produce Co. Inc. in Visalia, CA. The new company will be located in Visalia and will focus initially on developing marketing contracts with table grape growers in California and on building a year-round table grape program that includes imported product from Mexico, Chile and possibly Peru, Mr. Crum said. ?I am proud of the role that the Forry family has allowed me to play in building D
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Albertsons announced a major milestone in its digital transformation journey — the launch of the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, an industry-leading web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalized. 

As the industry leans into agentic commerce, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant moves beyond search to execute complex end‑to‑end grocery tasks helping customers complete shopping, from recipe to cart, in minutes. Building on the success of the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is a customer-friendly conversational experience powered by many collaborative agents, now available on all Albertsons Cos. banner websites as Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI and more.

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