Pundit’s Mailbag — Job Well Done On COOL
The news that PMA and United worked cooperatively to bring about a reasonably successful conclusion to the COOL debate brought warmth to the heart of even this one-time stalwart COOL opponent: Kudos to United and PMA for a workable compromise solution to the COOL issue. No, I haven’t gone “soft” on COOL! What the proponents […]
‘More Matters’ — Not When Counting Calories
Fruits and Veggies — More Matters features this prominent line on its website: Fresh, Frozen, Canned, Dried or 100% Juice When it comes to good nutrition, all forms of fruits and vegetables matter. This seems to suggest an equivalency between the options. Yet 100% juice often provides very concentrated calories, and here is a study […]
Carrefour Judgment In India May Be A Good Sign For Wal-Mart
We’ve been discussing Wal-Mart’s efforts to move into India in many articles including here and here. Now comes a small bit of news that indicates India is really changing and Wal-Mart may be correct in its judgment about the direction of Indian society: Chennai-based furniture retailer restrained from using Carrefour name; High Court upholds French […]
COOL Compromise Shows Association Leadership But Battle Scars Remain
Country-of-origin labeling has long been a contentious issue in the produce trade. We still remember the phone call from a key retailer after the Pundit wrote a cover story in PRODUCE BUSINESS called Nothing Cool About It in which the retailer said he thought the issue was lost after the law passed in the dark […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Getting The Facts Straight On United’s Global Outreach
We’ve conducted long ranging discussions on the subject of a possible merger between PMA and United. When the associations confirmed that new talks were being conducted to explore a merger, we ran a substantial piece entitled, An Industry Discussion: Pros And Cons Of A PMA/United Merger, which attempted to analyze the basic issues at stake […]
Sainsbury Tries To ‘Make A Difference’ By Encouraging Summertime Family Meals
Last week, Sainsbury’s in the U.K. had a special “Make a Difference Day” that drew on research indicating that parents find it harder to give their children balanced meals during the summer break: SUMMERTIME TIPS THE BALANCE A new report out today from Sainsbury’s and Raisingkids.co.uk has revealed that it’s not only school that’s out […]
Wal-Mart Eyes India For Future Growth
Wal-Mart’s partner in India has set the opening of its first store for mid-2008, with 200 large stores in various formats to roll out by 2015. Expected annual sales in 2015 will be about $5 billion U.S. Wal-Mart desperately wants into the Indian retail scene as the country transitions to western-style stores. Wal-Mart expects western-style […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — PMA And United Need To Remain Separate
Our many discussions on the subject of the desirability and practicality of a merger between PMA and United came back into prominence lately when the associations confirmed that actual talks were going on to explore merger, cooperation or other forms of co-existence. As a service to the trade we ran a piece entitled An Industry […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — CPMA & PMA To Lead Industry Closer To Global Traceability
Few issues will wind up being more important to the produce trade than traceability, because nothing else holds the promise of containing food safety or food security issues so that the impact on the trade is minimized. As such, we have devoted substantial attention here at the Pundit to the issue, including pieces such as […]
Produce Notches Up On Farm Bill
Farm Bill to Push Fruit and Veggies is the headline — which means the produce industry did far better than expected in negotiations in the Ag Committee in the House of Representatives: WASHINGTON — Congress wants you — and your kids — to eat more fruit and vegetables. For the first time, substantial help for […]
