With a history that dates back more than a century, the Idaho apple industry plays an important role in providing fruit to consumers throughout the country, and this year there are high hopes for another successful season.

The apple-growing region of Idaho occupies a relatively small area in the southwestern portion of the state, nestled in a valley between the Snake and Payette rivers. This region is especially well-suited for growing high-quality apples, owing to the volcanic soil, abundant water supply and microclimate.

It was anything but the dog days of August for the grocery industry. Buoyed by the back-to-school season, the online grocery market grew 8.7 percent compared to last year, generating $9.3 billion in sales for August 2023, according to the latest monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey. Pickup and Ship-to-Home were strong, while Delivery experienced a slowdown in order volume. Mass continued to attract many more customers than Supermarkets.

The International Fresh Produce Association is applauding Senator Sherrod Brown (OH) and Reps. David Valadao (CA-22) and Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) for introducing the Fresh Produce Procurement Reform Act. The legislation will give the U.S. Department of Agriculture  tools to diversify the produce supply chain that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks and other nonprofits that serve the nutrition insecure.

Each year the Society of American Florists honors the best in floral marketing with the coveted Marketer of the Year award. The award was revealed this morning at SAF's 29th Annual Innovation Breakfast at SAF Phoenix 2023.

Folks in Baltimore have sports on the mind as we head toward October. With the NFL’s Ravens coming off a playoff appearance, the team has sky-high expectations for 2023 and former MVP, quarterback Lamar Jackson is up for the task.

Then there’s MLB’s Baltimore Orioles, who have held first place in the tight AL East division for the better parts of two months and have a young core of all-start caliber players in Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez fighting for a World Series berth.

Hy-Vee Inc. will host its Best of Local Brands Summit in November to expand and enhance the product offerings at its more than 285 retail stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Since the Best of Local Brands summits began in early 2021, more than 125 new brands have been selected and are available to Hy-Vee customers.

This year, Hy-Vee continues to elevate its efforts of identifying suppliers with diverse backgrounds and encourages minority-owned and women-owned businesses to apply for the quarterly summits.