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Red Sun Farms, Heritable Agriculture and CIV partner to accelerate indoor strawberry innovation

Red Sun Farms, Heritable Agriculture and Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti announced significant progress in their collaborative effort to develop leading indoor-grown strawberries at the Vineland Research Station facility. The partnership combines CIV’s expertise in strawberry genetics and germplasm, Heritable Agriculture’s AI-driven breeding models and Red Sun Farms’ indoor growing capabilities to advance how premium strawberries are bred and produced. By using AI simulations to predict crop performance, the partnership is streamlining breeding timelines and optimizing key traits for greenhouse

Get ahead in 2026: Natural Grocers shares key trends for living well

Natural Grocers has released its Top Trends for 2026. Now in its 10th year, the forecast outlines emerging practices and products expected to influence four core categories: health and wellness, body care and beauty, food and beverage and ecologically thoughtful living. Guided by insights from the company’s Nutrition Education team — including registered dietitians, nutrition therapists and certified natural foods chefs — along with Natural Grocers’ marketing and analytics professionals, the 2026 predictions combine research, consumer behavior and hands-on expertise. The result is a practical

Schnucks expands farmer’s market concept, building on local produce partnership

Schnuck Markets Inc., in partnership with Foodshed.io, is expanding its farm-direct-to-store program, increasing the number and variety of farms supplying its locations to boost freshness and flavor for customers. The pilot program launched in fall 2024 with one farm supplying multiple Schnucks stores across the St. Louis region. After its success, Schnucks expanded the initiative in 2025 to include more farmers and additional store locations. “This program is a natural next step in our mission to strengthen our local food economy and provide our customers with the freshest possible products,”

Salix Fruits builds on citrus leadership and logistics agility to drive growth in 2026

Salix Fruits, a leading global importer and exporter of fresh fruit, has released its annual review highlighting its strongest-performing categories in 2025, key logistics developments and strategic priorities for 2026. The company said citrus—particularly lemons and easy peelers—along with apples and pears led performance across core markets in 2025. Growth was supported by an increase in program business with retailers and foodservice operators, a more efficient mix of Southern and Northern Hemisphere supply, standardized quality specifications with growers and packers and a disciplined

Bimi Baby Broccoli celebrates street food culture at Museum of Food & Drink’s Street Food City exhibition

Bimi Baby Broccoli, a global sponsor of the World Food Photography Awards, will be featured at the Museum of Food and Drink’s upcoming exhibition Street Food City, opening to the public Dec. 6 at MOFAD’s DUMBO location at 55 Water St. The exhibition will be open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets are available here. Street Food City highlights the entrepreneurs, recipes and cultural traditions that shape New York’s diverse street food scene. As part of the exhibition, MOFAD will present a curated selection of images from the World Food Photography Awards, showcasing street

Mission Produce appoints Douglas Stone to board of directors

Mission Produce Inc. has appointed Douglas M. Stone to its board of directors as an independent Class I director, with a term set to expire at the company’s 2027 annual meeting of stockholders. With the appointment, the board has expanded from 10 to 11 members. Stone also has been named to the compensation committee, effective Nov. 26, 2025. As part of the change, Bruce C. Taylor will step down from the committee. Stone brings decades of leadership experience in the agribusiness sector. He most recently served as president of AgriBusiness at J.R. Simplot Co. from June 2018 through December
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River Ranch Fresh Foods LLC in Salinas, CA, announced the appointment of Mike Alliman to the position of chief financial officer.

Mr. Alliman will be responsible for all accounting and finance activities of the company, including grower accounting, payables, receivables and financial reporting.

A certified public accountant who holds a master of accountancy with an emphasis in cost accounting, Mr. Alliman reports directly to Jim Lucas, CEO and president.

Mr. Alliman brings a wealth of comprehensive, industry-related experience in various operational and finance positions. Most recently, he was vice president of operations for FreshPoint in Denver. Prior to that, he had been vice president and general manager of Red?s Markets in Orlando, FL; vice president of value-added operations for Fresh Choice in Salinas; and president of Custom Cuts in Milwaukee.

?We are extremely pleased to bring someone with 20-plus years of produce, finance and operational experience to River Ranch," said Mr. Lucas. "He will be a tremendous asset to our company and management team."

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