On Nov. 11-12, Lipman Family Farms’ employees across the network gathered to participate in the second annual ‘Day of Good from the Ground Up®,’ joining forces to give back to the local communities where Lipman operates. The company-wide service days are a continued part of Lipman’s community-driven culture, reinforcing the company’s commitment to giving back in the areas where Lipman employees live and work. 

Natural Delights continues to lead the charge for Medjool date category growth with its new Trade Resources page, which provides easy access to category insights and an expanded library of marketing tools and resources for retailers.

Chilean cherries and blueberries are both looking very strong at the end of 2021, according to Karen Brux, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association.

In fact, the Chilean Blueberry Committee projects global export volumes of 117,000 tons, similar to the total exported the previous season.

“The season has just started, with 196,000 boxes (563 tons) shipped season to date to the U.S.,” Brux said. “We’ll be promoting from December through February.”

Rooting thousands of strawberry plants on elevated tables the first week of October, Oppy, under the Ocean Spray license, will launch the first-ever specialty berry pack in the Happy Berry label mid-December. The hydroponic tabletop strawberry concept was developed by New Wave Berry LLC which is a joint venture formed by grower, marketer and distributor Oppy, agricultural investment firm Farmers Gate and family-owned agribusiness Red Dog Management, which is growing the crop in Santa Maria, CA.

Homegrown Organic Farms unveiled its Buck Brand organic specialty citrus micro-brand. The new brand will add to the growing list of specialty micro-brands, like the recently announced Mammoth Kiwi program, and will further differentiate it in the organic marketplace.  

The Southeast Produce Council has unveiled a stellar panel of retail superheroes that completes the highly anticipated SEPC University Educational Session – Power of Produce 2022. The Food Industry Association’s Power of Produce report is to be exclusively revealed at Southern Exposure 2022 where the valuable insights coupled with the retail panel will be a universal hit.