Finished Product Testing Rewind
Although a lot of what we run here at the Pundit is fun or interesting, we also have the responsibility to lay out issues, sometimes weighty and technical, simply because they are important. An example of this type of piece was an extensive article we ran last week entitled A Closer Look At Finished Product […]
Import Safety Working Group Publishes Dubious Framework Pundit Text:
The President appointed a high level Interagency Working Group on Import Safety via an Executive Order on July 18. Although it established the issue as high priority, one would also be tempted to think it is a bit phony as one suspects — maybe even hopes — that the Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland […]
Can Organics Feed The Earth?
A hat tip to Lauri Raymond, Chief Visionary Office at Sisters & Brothers, Inc., which sells products that can be used as sauces, marinades and dressings. Back in June, we ran a piece that focused on a letter she sent us regarding organics. You can read the exchange here. A little while ago, she sent […]
EurepGAP Becomes GlobalGAP… When Will We Have AmeriGAP?
It wasn’t long ago that Robert Yudin of Fyffes Tropical Produce wrote us asking Why Don’t American Retailers Just Standardize On EurepGAP? It is a question bound to rise again with the news that EurepGAP is changing its name and title to GlobalGAP: Using its eighth annual conference being held in Thailand this week as […]
Dominick’s DiMatteo Family Closes Last Link To Chain
We received notice that the DiMatteo family, the founders of Chicago’s Dominick’s chain, had sold the real estate they had kept when the chain was sold: The founding family of Dominick’s Finer Foods, the DiMatteos, sold seven Chicago-area retail properties for about $75 million to investment advisory firm RREEF Real Estate. The portfolio totals almost […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Life Cycle Analysis Used For Marketing Purposes
Our piece, What Is ‘Life Cycle Analysis’? dealt with a topic that is all the rage, having studies done to scientifically determine the burden of a product or process on the environment. We had doubts about the reliability of all such studies, and those doubts brought us this stern letter: The LCA of canning vs. […]
PMA To Award Companies For
Best Packaging Innovations
What makes great packaging? The Pundit better figure it out fast as he was honored to be chosen as one of the judges for PMA’s first packaging award. In thinking about great packaging, we confess we are tempted to rely on Potter Stewart, who in an opinion written as a Justice of the Supreme Court […]
Diane Huntsinger-Carson
Fills Craig Carson’s United Seat On Its Board
When Craig Carson passed away in March, we knew from the notes we received what an exceptional man he was. We ran both In Memory Of Craig Carson and Craig Carson’s Life And Passions to include remembrances from Tony Freytag of Crunch Pak, Jim Allen, President of the New York Apple Association and Kevin Moffitt, […]
Meet United’s Executive Committee
As key decisions are likely to be made in the near future, especially on issues such as PMA/United Merger, the leadership group of the national trade associations is crucial. In general the boards of the associations depend heavily on the executive committees, and members place great weight on the recommendations of the association’s executive committees. […]
A Closer Look At
Finished Product Testing
Few issues are more contentious… or more important to the industry than finished product testing. In our piece, Church Brothers/True Leaf Recalls, Then ‘Unrecalls’ Spring Mix/Arugula After Testing Mishap, we urged the industry to cease its common practice of “test and release” and switch to a “test and hold” system. Here is how we put […]
