Sainsbury’s Gains Ground On Tesco
Our extensive coverage of Tesco has mostly focused on its attempts to establish its American operation known as Fresh & Easy. Although the litany of problems Tesco has had in trying to establish this operation is long, we have been told, time and again by players in the British food retailing that we should never […]
Does COOL Achieve Its Purpose?
An industry luminary suggested we consider the following issue: The FDA has said it is going to begin surveillance to determine retail compliance for COOL, seven years after the legislation was enacted. Here’s my question: Is there any evidence COOL has done anything except add cost to the system? Are consumers now better informed? And […]
Legal Profession Starting
To Look Closer At Ocean Spray
As Theresa Nolan awaits a possible appeal from Ocean Spray’s attorneys on the latest award of $2 million, plus interest going back to 2003 and payment of legal fees, one of the more intriguing questions has been whether USDA will elect to start an investigation or, in fact, if it has already started such an […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Measuring Success Or Failure Of Generic Promotion
Our piece, Got Produce? Schnuck’s Mike O’Brien Tries To Add “Balance,” brought this commentary from a principal at a search firm focused on food, agribusiness and the life sciences: Regarding this quote from the letter Mike O’Brien submitted to the Perishable Pundit: “I don’t know for a fact whether PBH has impacted produce consumption because […]
Lessons From The Past…
Loss Of Theater In Stores
In our piece, Vendors Beware As Wal-Mart Alters Course On Procurement, we included a little story on how the Pundit learned about contracting in the produce industry: When the Pundit was cutting his eye teeth in the business, he was sent by the Pundit Poppa down to Puerto Rico to study under the tutelage of […]
FDA’s Pistachio ‘Warning’:
The Other Side Of The Story
Although our coverage of the recent issues with pistachios and salmonella has been extensive, we haven’t felt it necessary to mention every one of the now 664 recalls, though these continue to drip-in as various repackers continue to announce recalls. Then, for the first time in memory, we received a “warning” notice from the FDA […]
Publix Wins Sustainability Award
From PRODUCE BUSINESS Magazine
We recently had an opportunity to visit the Publix headquarters in Lakeland, Florida, and have a nice chat with Ed Crenshaw, the Chief Executive Officer of Publix, as well as the chain’s sustainability team. The occasion was the presentation of the 1st Annual PRODUCE BUSINESS Retail Sustainability Award. We’ve written quite extensively on sustainability and […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Setting Policy vs. Setting Incentives
We have run many pieces related to Wal-Mart. Recently one of the pieces drew on an anecdotal experience whereby a manager, in complete contravention to company policy, demanded that employees work off the clock. The piece brought this note: I am a regular reader and very pleased with the in depth analysis of the produce […]
Tesco’s ‘Poor Service’ Record
And Out-Of-Stocks
Our extensive coverage of Tesco’s Journey to America as Fresh & Easy brought this note from an American who spent a couple years in the United Kingdom: I have been following with mild amusement your series on Tesco, and thought I would take a moment to share my humble perspective. Having lived in Bristol, England, […]
Got Produce? Will Big And Small Producers Ever Agree On Generic Promotion?
Our analysis of the proposal for a National Fruit & Vegetable Research & Promotion Board brought this thoughtful commentary: I wanted to add my two cents regarding the issue of a possible generic promotion board for the produce industry. I write this as one who has worked for myriad commodity groups over a 20+ year […]
