Saving Tuna
I have a pal in the industry who has built an incredible company from scratch. He is young, ambitious, smart and will be a force in this business in years to come. He also has a very refined palate. We go to lunch a couple of times a week and he asks the sushi place […]
Spinach Recall Reveals Serious
Industry Problems
Another food safety outbreak is not shocking to anyone who knows the facts. When many in the produce industry were busy celebrating that the much vaunted Dateline NBC piece hadn’t caused a collapse in sales, I warned in an exchange with Bryan Silbermann of the Produce Marketing Association that this wasn’t over and we had […]
Vendor Managed Replenishment
vs. Global Procurement
There is a battle at the heart of perishable food procurement today and it is a war between two business models. Call it vendor-managed replenishment versus global procurement. Basically, the Wal-Mart model has been built around vendors taking responsibility for one product category. But the issue goes far beyond Wal-Mart. While in South Africa, I […]
Newfound Niche At Supervalu’s Sunflower
Retailers are increasingly looking for new concepts that can help them find a niche in America’s increasingly crowded retail marketplace. PRODUCE BUSINESS dealt with the issue here. Supervalu is a leader in this effort, and one of its concepts, Sunflower Market, is expanding by opening three stores in Columbus. Sunflower explains its concept as such: […]
Best Wishes To United Fresh Produce Association
The United Fresh Produce Association now exists, a consequence of the merger of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the International Fresh-cut Produce Association. It is a nostalgic moment for me. My family was a member of United for generations and for decades my grandfather, Harry Prevor, was chairman of an association that […]
Port Danger
Now that the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has passed, it is wise to review our security precautions. And one area experts agree is very vulnerable is our ports. The National Center for Policy Analysis has issued a report that it headlines: Danger Abides at Los Angeles’ Ports. This is the real societal danger. […]
US Beef Exports Broaden
Following the resumption of US beef exports to Japan which we reported on here, South Korea is now also opening its market to US beef. In the meantime, the US Meat Export Federation is working hard to promote US beef in Japan where Costco is often the only place consumers can find US beef. But […]
Is Wal-Mart’s Scratch Bakery Idea Scaleable?
One interesting point regarding Wal-Mart’s announcement that they were intending to segment their stores is one of the examples they gave: In Houston, one store is adopting a Hispanic identity, in part by offering more Hispanic grocery products, a fresh-from-scratch bakery and selling 300 to 500 breakfast tacos a day. The results relative to other […]
The Science Of Mandarins And Organic Milk
It is hard to know what to make of all the research being done related to food. The BBC reports that eating Mandarins may cut the risk of liver cancer. Though one study was just a survey, another studied only 30 people with viral hepatitis who had a daily drink containing carotenoids and mandarin juice. […]
Minimum Wage Shake Down
When the Maryland legislature passed a measure, overriding the Governor’s veto, to require Wal-Mart to spend a certain set amount of money on health care, I attacked the measure in a column I wrote for PRODUCE BUSINESS. Now Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago has vetoed a city ordinance that would increase the minimum wage for […]
