Building A Better Understanding
Of Salmonella In Pistachios
In the course of our coverage of the Salmonella/pistachio recall, we’ve confirmed what we have found in previous outbreaks: The FDA has no one with deep expertise in these commodities. Sometimes the failure shows up in terms of not understanding the industry and distribution systems; sometimes it shows up in terms of not really understanding […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Improving Buyer Oversight And Responsibility
In recent days we have focused much attention on the issue of audits. We’ve run pieces such as Lessons From The Peanut Salmonella Outbreak: Audit System Broken and Pundit’s Mailbag — Audit Disconnect, and we’ve also published — in the Star Tribune under the title, Who’s Guarding Our Commerce — a more general thought piece, […]
Insights On The Alfalfa Sprout Advisory
The FDA has issued a consumer advisory not to eat alfalfa sprouts. United Fresh also issued a statement urging sprout growers to follow good food safety practices. We turned to frequent Pundit correspondent Bob Sanderson to see if we can find a solution to this long running food safety issue with sprouts. We asked Pundit […]
Ounce Of Swine Flu Prevention
Is Worth A Pound Of Cure
As you know, the Swine Flu is a threat and influenza should always be taken seriously. Pandemics kill, often in the millions. Unfortunately, there is not much one can really do to avoid getting the flu. The government is recommending avoiding “non-essential” trips to Mexico and avoiding contact with sick people. Get enough sleep, eat, […]
Costco’s Heather Shavey And Frieda’s Karen Caplan Honored At United Fresh
This year’s Women in Produce event at the United Fresh convention honored Costco’s Heather Shavey. Heather is a veteran, having joined Costco when it had only seven stores. After a quarter century of continuity, she has become one of the most powerful women in produce. Yet interesting enough Heather is quite representative of what we […]
Sun World’s Al Vangelos
Is ‘Man For All Seasons’
In Las Vegas at the United Fresh Convention, The Packer, a trade newspaper for the produce industry, presented its “Man For All Seasons” award this year, honoring a person for achievements that transcend the more typical “Man of the Year” designation. The honoree was Al Vangelos, the CEO at Sun World, and we were tickled […]
Growers Express Takes Control
Of Green Giant Licensing Rights
Sometimes a corporate announcement raises issues of broader industry significance. So it may be with this pronouncement made at the United Fresh convention: THE SHOLL GROUP II ANNOUNCES SALE OF LICENSING RIGHTS OF GREEN GIANT FRESH BUSINESS TO GROWERS EXPRESS, LLC The Sholl Group II to Focus on Green Giant Fresh Value-Added Products The Sholl […]
Observations From Las Vegas:
United Fresh Builds Momentum
After several years in alliance with FMI and other trade shows, United Fresh held its first solo show in six years. Although the presence of all the other shows added size and variety, this iteration of the United convention had its own charms as it was more a true gathering of the produce family without […]
United Fresh/Bayer CropScience
Launch Global Sustainability Center
Here at the Pundit, we’ve been focused on sustainability for some time, including giving a presentation on sustainability at last year’s United convention in Las Vegas. So it was near and dear to the heart to learn at this year’s United Convention about a new industry resource: United Fresh Research & Education Foundation Establishes Center […]
Tesco’s US Losses ‘Unnerving’
Our extensive analysis of Tesco’s journey to America continues as Tesco just announced its earnings, which included horrific results related to Fresh & Easy. J.P. Morgan in London summed the matter up this way: The scale of the losses in the US is rather unnerving: $133m on sales of $212m in 2H08/9 after losing $118m […]
