Tesco ‘Pauses’ With
Fresh & Easy Expansion Plans
Fresh & Easy announced that it would be “pausing for breath” and it would stop store openings, other than a couple in Phoenix, for the next three months. This is surely a wise decision. As we have extensively reported, the more stores Tesco opens, the more money the company loses. Fresh & Easy tried to […]
Produce Food Safety
Discussion Set For April 4
Fortunately PMA was sharp enough to add a special food safety seminar to its agenda for its upcoming conference: PRODUCE FOOD SAFETY LEADERS FERNANDEZ, WHITAKER AND HORSFALL TO SPEAK APRIL 4 AT PMA’S CONSUMER TRENDS ’08 For the first time since they assumed their respective positions, three of the produce industry’s food safety leaders will […]
Pundit’s Mailbag —
More On Lousy Fruit:
Where’s The Management?
Our piece, Lousy Fruit Undermines Consumption, brought along this letter, evidence that the problem we identified is an international problem: The world is changing! We used to have a group of experts spread across the land who tasted the product if they knew there was opportunity or risk to build or lose sales on it. […]
Memo to Sir Terry Leahy:
King George III Lost the War;
America Is Independent Now
If you want to know why Tesco chose this moment to announce a “pause” in the roll-out of its Fresh & Easy operation, you can credit an exceptionally sharp British analyst on the European food retail team at Citi in London. His name is James Anstead. As if our substantial reporting on Tesco’s launch of […]
Letters From Warren
And Molina Ask For
Support And Patience
In addition to the public statements, incidents such as this “import alert” regarding entry of cantaloupe from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer, become deeply personal. Growers and receivers with relationships going back decades try desperately to navigate a situation neither controls. We’ve included public statements from various parties in our pieces, including FDA […]
FDA’s Strong Arm Tactics
Although most of the melons subject to the “import alert” regarding cantaloupes produced by Agropecuaria Montelibano are on the east coast and in the Midwest, the product is everywhere. Another recall was announced by a Los Angeles firm that is a subsidiary of Productos Agricolas Del Campo of Costa Rica: TROPIFRESH, INC. RECALLS WHOLE CANTALOUPE […]
Media Misinformation And
Confusion Over Cantaloupe ‘Alert’
Plenty of consumer media outlets wound up with egg on their faces when, as we mentioned in FDA Fumbles Again On Cantaloupe ‘Alert’, they started reporting a Dole recall that was actually done in 2007! To find out what actually happened we asked Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott to investigate: William (Bil) […]
Science Behind Cantaloupe ‘Alert’
When the FDA was unable to answer many questions regarding the science that surrounds this “import alert” and the general issue of salmonella and cantaloupes, it was suggested we talk to Professor Michael Doyle who has done some research in this area. We asked Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott to help us […]
Why The Delay?
One of the questions the FDA never answers is why it is so slow at getting information out. For example, T.M. Kovacevich in Philadelphia issued its own voluntary recall on March 25, 2008, and submitted its press release to the FDA at that time. Yet the FDA didn’t distribute it until March 27, 2008. Fortunately […]
President Of Honduras
Stands Up For Grower
When the history of this cantaloupe/salmonella/FDA alert situation is written, one of the true heroes will turn out to be the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. Under normal circumstances, the FDA would simply crush Agropecuaria Montelibano, the Honduran grower and packer implicated in this matter. In fact the more Agropecuaria Montelibano objected and proclaimed its […]
