After Five Years Of Losses, Tesco Calls A Stop To Fresh & Easy Growth Plans
The announcement from Britain was simple: Tesco Halts New Fresh & Easy Stores In The US, and to paraphrase another famous Brit with an American connection: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”: The move by chief executive Philip […]
What Do Bicycle Helmets And Organic Produce Have In Common?
A New York Times piece, To Encourage Biking, Cities Lose the Helmets, explains how a focus on the dangers of cycling can lead to negative outcomes, even though helmets really do protect against injuries: Then I did something extraordinary, something I’ve not done in a quarter-century of regular bike riding in the United States: I […]
Putting Mango Recall Into Perspective
Our piece, Without Clear Proof, Industry Suffers From Mango Recall And Is Left To Defend Itself, featured a letter from Dave Westendorf of Bay Area Produce, San Clemente, California. He is trying very hard to look at the Splendid mango situation and find solutions that might help the industry in the future. He was kind […]
Business Lessons From A Failed Grocery Store In Mendota, California
The New York Times ran a rather bizarre article about the closure of Mendota Grocery in Mendota, California, titled As Grocery Dies off, Down-and-Out Town Lives On, if Barely. The thesis of the article, written by Brooks Barnes, seems to be that things have gotten so terrible in this town that it could no longer […]
Unprecedented Panel Of Retailers Will Keynote General Session Of New York Produce Show And Conference
It was over two years ago that we began the establishment of a new industry institution with an announcement: New York, NY — The Eastern Produce Council and PRODUCE BUSINESS magazine announced today their collaboration to launch The New York Produce Show And Conference…. “New York City is the epicenter of the region that buys […]
The Florida Tomato Growers Are In The Right Legally, But More Than Tomato Production May Be At Stake In This Battle
Our piece — After 16 Years Of Compliance, Florida-Mexican Tomato ‘Suspension’ Agreement Gets Challenged By Florida Growers Claiming Dumping Is Occurring: Is This Just Rent-Seeking? — dealt with the efforts by the Florida tomato growers to overturn the suspension agreement that has governed the tomato trade between the US and Mexico since 1996. It is in […]
Waiting For Desperation? Is It Only Necessity That Can Prompt A PMA/United Merger?
We have written about relations between United and PMA for a long time. We also analyzed the recently collapsed talks. We started with an overview piece defining the issues related to a merger or combination of the two associations: PMA And United: To Merge Or Not To Merge? That Is The Question Then after the […]
Increasing Produce Consumption One “Hot Banana S’More” At A Time
An obvious hole in the produce industry’s public communications is that nobody has taken up the banner of promoting fresh produce based on anything other than its health-related qualities. We have never understood the point of transforming such wonderfully diverse and delicious products into medicine, and we would further say that the evidence is slim […]
Now Accepting Nominations For Joe Nucci Award For Product Innovation
It is now seven years, yet it is so real to this author that it feels like yesterday that Joe Nucci, the then President and CEO at Mann Packing and prospective Chairman of the Board of PMA, died while on vacation with his family and the Pundit’s family at The Animal Kingdom Lodge at the […]
Without Clear Proof, Industry Suffers From Mango Recall And Is Left To Defend Itself
We’ve heard from Dave Westendorf before: Pundit’s Mailbag — Produce Pricing Strategies… Does Stater Bros. Do It Better Than Safeway? Now he weighs on a subject he is, unfortunately, very close to: Some Thoughts on the Daniella Mango Recall I’m very close to Daniella mango recall situation as I sold the mangos to North American […]
