FDA QUICKLY SETTLES WITH
DEL MONTE FRESH
Aggressive Strategy Vindicated
Will the FDA Change Its Approach?
As we were about to push the send button on this Pundit, we received big news from Del Monte Fresh Produce: Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. is pleased to communicate that we were able to reach an amicable resolution with the Food and Drug Administration (the ‘FDA’) resulting in the rescission of the import […]
Tesco’s Problems With Fresh & Easy Prompt A Question:
Why Is It So Hard For Retailers To Cross The Pond?
With all the problems that Tesco has had in making Fresh & Easy a success, and memories of the failure of Sainsbury’s when it bought Shaws, and Marks and Spencer when it bought Kings, one wonders why British retailers struggle so desperately in America. Andrea Felsted and Barney Jopson were thinking through this question and wrote […]
Grapes In A War Zone
“I’ve traveled to about sixty countries and 48 states, and eaten a ton of grapes along the way. Not a single grape from Sonoma to France to Italy can match the grapes in this area. These are, by far, without comparison, the best grapes I’ve had in the world. The texture of the skins and […]
What Business Are You In? A Lesson For Farmers From A New York City Real Estate Deal
Sometimes numbers can be very deceptive — especially if one tries to calculate comparative returns on investment on different asset classes over long periods of time. Even with the recent decline in real estate prices in many parts of the country, one still hears about people who bought property for a pittance a long time ago […]
Cornell Professors To Present At The New York Produce Show And Conference: New Ways of Thinking About Local: Can The East Coast Develop A Broccoli Industry?
At The New York Produce Show and Conference, one of the goals is to encourage greater interaction between the great centers of learning in the region and the produce industry. Our primary tool for doing this is a program by which we both bring students to the event so they can learn and gain exposure […]
Memo To Supermarket CEOs: Don’t Kill The Goose That Lays The Golden Egg… Overpricing All Produce Items To Support Cheap Banana Prices Is A Disaster Waiting To Happen
The produce industry is facing a serious threat — at the hands of top supermarket executives. CEOs are demanding that produce directors and VPs lower banana prices as a signal of overall price competitiveness for the store, but then expect the same directors and VPs to make up the margin on other produce items, this […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — A Kroger Exec Urges Pundit to “Get Real” In Analyzing Costco Decision To Decline Government Funds For Electric Charging Stations
Our piece, A Hat Tip To Costco… Lack of Usage Prompts Costco To Forgo Electric Car Chargers And It Helps Taxpayers By Resisting The Lure Of Free Government Money, got the goat of a very important person in the world of specialty cheese: Prevor, get real would you? If you had any real concern about […]
A Local Dilemma: What’s A Farmer To Do When Supermarkets Come Knocking?
A hat tip to John Vena, President of John Vena Inc. and board member of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, for sending along a piece about locally grown produce in the Philadelphia area: Picking Markets: Some Local Farmers Discover Hidden Costs of Selling Wholesale: You’re a produce farmer near Philadelphia. You don’t have Nebraska-size land, […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — What IFCO Was Told About Wal-Mart’s RPC Decision… And What Was Not Said
A prominent industry consultant had asked us to weigh in on the motivations behind Wal-Mart’s move away from RPCs, particularly as this move seemed inimical to proclamations Wal-Mart had made regarding sustainability. We answered in a piece titled, Pundit’s Mailbag — Wal-Mart’s RPC Decision Is Part Of Its Bargain-Hunting Produce Procurement Strategy, and that piece […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Del Monte Fresh’s Lawsuit Against FDA Draws Attention To Other Mistakes And Policy Flaws
Our piece Del Monte Fresh Stands Up To FDA’s Bullying Tactics brought this word of support from Guatemala: Exactly the same thing happened to raspberries from Guatemala a few years ago with the never-proven allegations of contamination with Cyclospora, and they totally killed this industry in the country. The pattern is the same against countries that […]
