USDA Explores Possible National Marketing Order For Leafy Greens… But Are We Ready?
Back in July we ran a piece entitled, Pundit’s Mailbag — National Marketing Orders And Agreements, in which we discussed differences between marketing agreements and marketing orders and the difference between both of these approaches and mandatory regulation. We reached out to USDA officials for additional information: Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott […]
Mastectomy Mistake Brings Up Spectre Of Labs Not Scrutinized
We ran two pieces, Why The Secrecy On Inspection Agency Lab Results? and Inspection Agencies Could Assist In Traceability, dealing with the way the Canadian Food Inspection Agency dealt with the testing it did in its investigation of Dole product that was eventually recalled. We criticized the CFIA for its secrecy: Logically, we would look […]
Single Step Award Honors Food Safety Heroes But Reminds Us There’s More To Do
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-Tzu, The Way of Lao-Tzu Chinese philosopher (604 BC — 531 BC) As the industry prepares to gather in Houston for PMA’s annual Fresh Summit, few issues resonate more loudly than food safety. There is, thankfully, no crisis at the moment and, indeed, the […]
Wal-Mart’s ASDA Serious About Sustainability
Wal-Mart is pretty hot on sustainability initiatives, but its UK subsidiary, ASDA, is really focused: ASDA CELEBRATES DOUBLE AWARDS SUCCESSSupermarket Wins Two PrestigiousEnvironmental Awards In One Week ASDA is today celebrating what was another golden night for the company after scooping the ‘Most Environmentally Friendly Retailer’ award at this year’s prestigious People in Retail Awards […]
United Fresh Offers
Crisis Training Course
If you read about the Peri & Sons Farms situation in horror, and break out in a cold sweat knowing your own organization isn’t properly prepared to deal with a recall or other crisis that requires dealing with the media, then, quick, call United Fresh. The association is offering Training for a Recall, Communicating Under […]
Peri & Sons Talks To Pundit About Ag Chemical Incident
One minute Peri & Sons Farms is celebrating its ability to grow 150 acres of different lettuces in Nevada’s Mason Valley. Next thing you know, the company — reported to be the largest white onion grower in the United States — suddenly finds itself the focus of news reports with headlines, such as Field Gas […]
Don’t Ignore Aldi
Sometimes the best way to understand what a chain is doing nationally is to identify the impact it is having locally. The Cincinnati Enquirer published an article entitled, Aldi’s Big Move: No-frills, Low-Price Stores Appeal to the Affluent, Too, which details how this deep discount chain is operating in Kroger’s hometown: In a grocery-store market […]
What Fuels Trend Toward
Convenience Store Concepts?
Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer after Wal-Mart, announced that it is launching a convenience store concept in Poland under a banner that translates as “5 Minutes.” Poland itself is a substantial market and so this could turn into a lucrative addition to Carrefour’s already substantial operations there. Just last month Carrefour announced the opening […]
Wall Street Over-Analyzes
Wal-Mart Woes
The Wall Street Journal ran a piece entitled Wal-Mart Era Wanes Amid Big Shifts in Retail. The piece is subtitled, Rivals find Strategies To Defeat Low Prices; World Has Changed. The thesis of the article: ‘The Wal-Mart era, the retailer’s time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close.’ The […]
The Art Of Focus Groups
Finished doing three focus groups in Houston and am gearing up to do some more in London. Moderating focus groups is something of an art. For the most part, we try to imitate the Jr. Pundits — age 4 and 5 — when moderating. The key is to have a kind of childlike curiosity and […]
