Super sweet claim leaves sour taste with some melon importers
In a recent press release about its new fresh-cut melon line, Fresh Express Inc. in Salinas, CA, claims that it uses Chilean fruit because it is "far sweeter than the cantaloupe or honeydew usually offered in the United States during the winter." That statement, and other language contained in the release, has left a sour taste in the mouths of a number of melon importers and marketers.
Bab? Farms and Phillip Moreland part ways
Santa Maria, CA-based Bab? Farms Inc. and Phillip Moreland, the company?s vice president of sales and marketing, have come to an amicable parting as of Feb. 1.
Greg Pedigo, president of Bab? Farms, told The Produce News Feb. 7, that he and Mr. Moreland mutually agreed to the split. "It wasn?t the right fit," Mr. Pedigo said. "I consider him a friend and would recommend him [for employment]."
Top management change has FDI going in a new direction
Mike Browne, president, CEO and founding partner of Fresh Directions International in Ventura, CA, is no longer part of the company?s management, but he retains his 25 percent interest in the business, according to Manuel Castillo Jr., the son of the majority partner who is "helping out through the transition? until a replacement is named.
New look at Walla Walla web site
The Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, headquartered in Walla Walla, WA, recently debuted a new-and-improved web site (www.sweetonion.org) that provides consumer information, links to shippers? web sites, a recipe database and a historical look at the region?s most famed onion.
According to Kathy Fry, director of marketing for the committee, the site not only looks different but it also "allows visitors to access information more easily."
CTFA renews contract with FreshLook Marketing Group
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL " FreshLook Marketing Group, a leading supplier of marketing research information to the perishables industry, announced that the California Tree Fruit Agreement in Reedley, CA, has renewed its contract and will continue to rely on FreshLook to provide detailed distribution, sales and pricing information on fresh peaches, plums and nectarines.
Frieda?s Inc. brings back Waterbabies for 2005
Los Alamitos, CA-based Frieda?s Inc. is bringing back its Waterbabies personal-sized watermelons.
Exclusively from Frieda?s, Waterbabies are grown in Panama. The company introduced Waterbabies to the industry last April.
The solid, bright-green, smooth-skin melons are round in shape and approximately eight inches in size. The melons are seedless and sweet with a high Brix content. Each melon is labeled with serving suggestions and a PLU number.
Last year the melons sold well at retail.
Florida on an aggressive campaign to spur movement of tomatoes
The Florida tomato industry has launched a campaign designed to reach consumers with the message that there is no shortage of tomatoes from the Sunshine State.
The effort includes participation from virtually every segment of the tomato industry " from suppliers to trade associations to the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and even to retailers.
Why people might think there is a shortage " and a subsequent increase in retail prices " is due to a chain of events that has occurred over the past six months.
Flowers an important growth area for Wal-Mart
?Two to three years ago, Wal-Mart executives decided they wanted to grow their cut-flower and bouquet business," said Jennifer Springer, merchandising manager for Wal-Mart?s national floral program.
The company recognized that the grocery portion of its chain was where the floral was best placed.
Wal-Mart placed its focus on cash-and-carry cut flowers, and set goals to deliver the best value to its customers with the highest-quality flowers at the best-possible price.
FPFC and United co-host food safety webcast
LA MIRADA, CA " Food safety took center stage during an ambitious webcast co-hosted by the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Fresh Produce & Floral Council, bridging the 3,000-mile gap between the headquarters of the two organizations.
The Feb. 2 bi-monthly membership luncheon meeting of the FPFC, held here at the Gateway Plaza Holiday Inn, provided a live audience for the webcast, which electronically brought together experts from various parts of the country.
New organization aims for solidarity among San Luis Valley potato growers
A fledgling growers? cooperative brought representation of more than 50 percent of the San Luis Valley?s potato acreage to its initial gathering Jan. 12, and the organization?s president said that by early February, he expected 70-75 percent of the acreage involved.
The purpose of United Fresh Potato Growers of Colorado Inc., which is similar to co-ops formed in Idaho and Oregon, is to bring solidarity to the area?s growers, according to the organization?s president, Center, CO-area grower Dave Warsh.