McDonald Of Taylor Farms Wins United’s Technical Award
At United’s FreshTech Conference in Palm Springs, United Fresh gave out its first version of a special award long given out at the IFPA convention before its merger with UFFVA: Drew McDonald of Taylor Farms Receives 2007 United Fresh Technical Award Honoree Gives Time and Technical Expertise to the Produce Industry Washington DC — Drew […]
Perchlorate Issue Is Percolating
As the industry focus shifts to United’s convention in Chicago, it is worth noting that United’s most valuable contribution to the industry is actually dealing with hundreds of issues that the average person in the trade barely hears about. One issue that has percolated for years is the issue of perchlorate. Perchlorate is commonly found […]
Irradiated Mangos Arrive From India
The New York Times ran a piece entitled A Luscious Taste and Aroma From India Arrives at Last, which reports that Alphonso and Kesar mangos from India — long spoken of almost reverently for their exceptional flavor — are now inching toward general availability in the U.S.: The first legal shipment of Indian mangoes to […]
Honoring Front Line Personnel Through Display Contests And Awards
One of the time-honored methods for attracting retail attention and boosting visibility and sales, especially during a slow time of the year, is the retail display contest. One of the biggest around is hosted each year by the Idaho Potato Commission. Now the winner’s are in: 2000 RETAILERS GET CREATIVE FOR CHANCE TO WIN A […]
Kroger’s CEO Says Combo Stores
Are Best Response To Tesco Threat
David Dillon, Chairman & CEO of The Kroger Co., along with Kroger’s Senior Vice President & CFO Michael Schlotman, gave a presentation at the Tenth Annual Retail Conference sponsored by Lehman Brothers. Always an interesting presentation and, particularly, the Pundit found intriguing Mr. Dillon’s response to a question about Tesco’s new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Translation Way Cool!
Our piece New Translation Capabilities explained that in order to serve our growing international readership, we have added translation capabilities to the Pundit: Simply click on the appropriate national flag in the box to the left of this column, and you can translate the Perishable Pundit into Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, Portuguese or […]
Ahold Sells U.S. Foodservice
In the category of news that is hardly new, Ahold has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell U.S. Foodservice to a private equity consortium. This sale has been expected since an accounting scandal surfaced at U.S. Foodservice in 2003. The investment bankers gave details of the sale as follows: CLAYTON, DUBILIER & […]
Chiquita Changes Plans In Chile
One of the reasons the Pundit’s family decided to sell its produce business was because our large importing business, which traditionally had operated on a straight commission business model, was becoming difficult to sustain. Large companies started entering markets such as Chile and either leased or bought the production land or offered large minimum guarantees […]
PBH Sets Policy On ‘Cross-Branding’
This memo was sent out to the trustees of the Produce for Better Health Foundation: To: PBH Board of Trustees Based on my message to you last week regarding PBH & Imagination Farms, I indicated I would share the PBH executive committee’s policy decision that will provide guidance for future PBH “cross-branding” possibilities. The policy […]
United Meets With Challenges Ahead
As the industry prepares to assemble in Chicago for the upcoming United Fresh Produce Association trade show, the last one to be regularly located in Chicago, United Fresh announced its new board of directors: United Fresh Announces 2007 Board Officers and Members Emanuel Lazopoulos to Assume Chairmanship; Tom Lovelace Nominated to Serve as Chairman-Elect Washington, […]
