“Wada said, ‘yes we can’,’’ declared Fran Torigian, vice president of sales and business development for Wada Farms’s Eastern Division, speaking on how the company, most known for onions and potatoes, found its way as a year-round supplier of watermelons. “Wada entered the picture a few years ago in the Carolinas, when a number of their sweet potato growers approached the group, wanting to use watermelons as the rotational crop,” said Torigian.

For food retailers, hiring temporary workers is nothing new; however, the practice is usually reserved for the busy holiday season.

As COVID-19 continues to force employees to call in sick, retailers are being forced to either alter how they do business or hire temporary workers to get everyday tasks completed — and it’s not just food retailers, it is companies up and down the supply chain.

The Texas International Produce Association announced Dave McGillivray as the 2022 Viva Fresh Expo keynote speaker at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, TX, April 21-23.

New York-based fresh produce importer and distributor Jac. Vandenberg Inc. has introduced a market-first in sustainable packaging for its Sunrays products.

More than 1,000 new ALDI stores have opened throughout America over the past decade. In keeping with its aggressive growth, ALDI plans to open approximately 150 new stores and remains on track to become the third-largest U.S. grocery retailer by store count by the end of this year.

As ALDI expands in the Southeast, the company will count Louisiana as its 38th state of operation when it welcomes shoppers to its Lafayette store on Feb. 10. ALDI plans to open two more Gulf Coast stores in early March, along with 20 additional stores throughout the region by year-end.

“We are currently in the heart of the Nogales deal,” said Katy Johnson, purchasing & marketing manager at Prime Time Produce, speaking of their Mexican pepper operation. Sourced primarily in Western Mexico, Johnson said, “our growing partners throughout Mexico have all been strategically chosen to eliminate the potential gaps that tend to occur as production transitions from one area to another.”