Pundit’s Mailbag —
Defending The Florida Tomato Industry
Our piece, Florida Tomato Growers Reject Penny-A-Pound Initiative At The Industry’s Peril, raised quite a controversy and we’ll be dealing with the issue in many pieces in the weeks and months ahead. Today we have received an important letter from an important man: I read your Perishable Pundit and your comments about the Florida Tomato […]
Photo Finish
A hat tip to Andy Hatch over at AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs of USDA for pointing out that we had some incorrect photos in our piece USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee To Meet In January. We fixed both errors as soon as we learned of them so they were only up for […]
PMA Leadership Symposium
Scholarships Announced
Back in November, we announced a scholarship program for retailers and foodservice executives to attend the upcoming PMA/PRODUCE BUSINESS/Cornell University Leadership Symposium in Dallas, Texas (January 16-18). The scholarship program was announced in our piece, Scholarships Offered To Attend PMA Leadership Symposium: This year, in order to encourage the participation of a diverse assortment of […]
A Closer Look At Retail
Safety Audits
When Western Growers Association issued an announcement challenging the Food Safety Leadership Council and its demands for different food safety standards, it also pointed something out: … the consortium has not provided the fresh produce industry with its own set of good handling practices that demonstrate that consortium members are properly handling fresh produce after […]
Will Tesco Keep Its Promises?
Our piece, Tesco Takes Heat For Not Supporting Underserved, pointed out that the Los Angeles Times has attacked Tesco for not fulfilling its promise to locate stores in the “food deserts” of Los Angeles — areas without supermarkets so that residents typically must pay the higher prices of local bodegas or convenience stores. The piece […]
Could Canadian Hort Council’s Food Safety Training Kit Be Applied To
US Growers?
A hat tip to Albert F. Chambers, President of Monachus Consulting, for passing on word that the Canadian Horticultural Council is now distributing a resource kit: Canadian Horticultural Council to Release On-farm Food Safety Training Kit for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Farmers The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC), a national, not-for-profit industry association, is set to […]
USDA Fruit And Vegetable Industry
Advisory Committee To Meet In January
We have many boards and committees in the produce industry, but few are as important as the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. This committee is crucial because it has the opportunity to make recommendations directly to the United States Secretary of Agriculture. This year, there was some controversy over the Committee as we […]
Farm Bill Passes Hurdle
But May Face Veto
The produce trade associations have been singing the praises of the new Farm Bill just passed by the United States Senate. United Fresh put it this way: United Fresh Produce Association commends the U.S. Senate for passing the Food, Energy & Security Act of 2007, the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill, which includes unprecedented […]
Tesco Observations From A Retail Pro
Our piece, Trip To Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Store Reveals The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, brought a response from one of America’s premier experts on produce retailing: I read with interest your article on your Fresh & Easy store visit. I have been monitoring that Eagle Rock store and several other Fresh & […]
Pundit’s Pulse Of The Industry —
Chiquita’s Tanios Viviani
Chiquita has had a tough year and has decided to reorganize. We’ve been talking to Tanios Viviani, who was President of Chiquita’s subsidiary company, Fresh Express, since the spinach crisis. He was the key man to decide that Fresh Express would not join the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and then the key man to […]
