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Rainstorms disrupt planting and harvesting in Southern California and Arizona

A series of storms during the last week of December and the first week of January dumped abnormally high amounts of rainfall across Southern California and into Arizona, disrupting planting and harvesting operations in several strawberry- and vegetable-growing districts. The widespread storm systems drenched most of California and brought much-needed snow-pack to the Sierra Mountains, which will help fill reservoirs used for irrigation. But in Southern California, where the winter-spring strawberry season was just getting underway in Oxnard and Orange County, the rain caused harvest delays and

Northern Plains Potato Growers Assn. to boost recognition; new marketing plan in the works

The Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, under the marketing direction of Ted Kreis, who started in August 2004 as marketing director, is looking to form a stronger brand identity. To attract consumers, the association has created two new store-level promotions to catch the consumer?s eye before the potato-buying decision has been made. The first of these two promotions is a shopping cart ad placed on the cart displaying the healthy potato message and specific Red River Valley branding. ?This idea will be tested in a local chain here to see the response,? said association President

Seald Sweet International: Name change highlights new global strategy

?We are turning the page in preparation for the future," stated David Mixon, senior vice president of Seald Sweet International LLC. "The addition of the word "International? to our name is to project to the trade and to the public what is now factual: we are a fully integrated and global organization." Seald Sweet?s name change was announced in late December. Although the company was recognized as an international rather than a regional company in past years, recent major changes within the firm have given it a steadfast foothold in its global strategies. In early December, the firm announced

"UglyRipe" tomato petition denied

The Florida Tomato Committee once again denied a petition that would have allowed interstate shipments of heirloom tomatoes that failed to meet the minimum quality standards established for Florida tomatoes. Santa Sweet Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia and a subsidiary of the well known Philadelphia wholesaler and tomato distributor Procacci Bros. Sales Corp., had filed a petition for a "certificate of privilege" from the FTC on Nov. 10. Santa Sweet developed and is the sole grower and shipper of its proprietary "UglyRipe tomatoes. In the petition, it asked the committee to basically

Growers Express reorganizes sales department

SALINAS, CA " To better facilitate fulfilling customers? needs, Growers Express has reorganized its sales organization into two departments: Sales & Marketing and Product Management. Reporting to Vice President of Sales & Marketing Woody Johnson will be Gary Andreasian, Merritt Bruce and Michele McNeece in the newly created positions of account managers, where they will work with current customers and identify and target potential customers. Mr. Bruce and Ms. McNeece will concentrate on domestic accounts, while Mr. Andreasian will focus on Asia-international customers. Debbie Schweiger will

Getting out the crystal ball: A glimpse into the future of floral

It's that time of the year when the fortune tellers of floriculture are asked to give their predictions for our industry's future. Surely, many of them must be scratching their heads about what to write about. Of course, accuracy is not normally a problem. Does anyone else save articles predicting what we will be like in five years? In fairness, with the dynamic and rapid economic changes happening, it's difficult to predict what floriculture will be like in one year, let alone five or 10 years. But suddenly my crystal ball has become quite clear and I can see the future with complete
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Without being creative and different, a company cannot compete and survive in the business world today.

What’s new and unique about your company? What new marketing programs, products or merchandising methods has your company introduced in the past year? Is it being creative enough to attract customers and retain them? If nothing is different or innovative, it could be in for some difficult and troublesome days ahead.

Whether you are a grower, packer, shipper or retailer, you should always be different. Everyone is competing for a chunk of the consumers’ dollar, and consumers are often attracted to diverse and unique. 

sdfSadly, there are certain management leaders who are against anything new presented by an employee and never praise their work. Then there is the boss who takes credit for a new, creative idea an employee submits. That’s unprofessional egotistic management behavior. 

Many of us have gone through these experiences with “creativity killers” at one time or another. It’s discouraging and makes a person never want to present another idea. This is dangerous as companies need to keep moving forward in a fiercely competitive environment.

One of the excuses in shooting down new ideas is to blame it on the company budget. The ever-popular phrase, “It will cost too much, our budget won’t allow it,” has probably killed more good innovative ideas than we could possibly ever imagine.

I can still remember a unique maneuver our president once carried out at a managers meeting. He had a huge sign posted on the meeting room wall that stated, “Get Rid of the T.” Nobody could define what that meant until he stepped up to the podium. He repeated the words, “Get rid of the T by stop saying you can’t. Start saying you can.” 

That word “can’t” is very dangerous. It will wipe out all enthusiasm in people and crush their constructive motivational ideas instantly. You’ve heard it many times, “We can’t afford it, it can’t be done, we can’t get approval for it, we can’t phase it in, we can’t take the chance.”

If the only word company executives know is “can’t,” they may as well close shop and turn out the lights for good. “Can’t” will kill a business every time.

Management should take advantage of innovative ideas. There are many employees who have opinions from actual work experiences that can help companies, but they feel they will be ridiculed if they submit any. Therefore, all creative ideas become locked inside of them. It’s micromanaging the employees rather than building a foundation for the team.

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