Last year’s domestic apple crop is a tale of two seasons as weather conditions in major growing regions dictated significantly different results for orchards in the Northwest and Northeast.

The extreme heat in late summer and overall challenging weather conditions in Washington caused a significant 20 percent drop in volume to a 100 million case crop. This shortfall created supply challenges for retailers who typically rely heavily on fruit from the country’s largest apple growing region.

Ramadan, which begins Wednesday, March 22, and runs through Friday, April 21, is an important holiday for Muslims around the world and Natural Delights is preparing to ship premium Medjool dates to retailers across North America. 

“Natural Delights sales continue to grow each Ramadan,” said Bridgette Weber, trade marketing manager for Natural Delights. “Muslim shoppers purchase large quantities of dates for themselves and as gifts for family and friends.

Apeel Sciences announced the promotion of Ryan Fink to senior vice president of the Americas and the appointment of Marius du Plessis as chief commercial officer in EMEA to lead priority business initiatives in their respective markets. Du Plessis and Fink will leverage their extensive produce supply chain experience to strengthen Apeel’s core commercial business, improving supply network value and expanding market growth in Europe and The Americas. 

ORLANDO, FL — The Southeast Produce Council held its 2023 Southern Exposure conference and trade show March 2-4, here. The event was successful on all fronts. Retailers, attendees and exhibitors were in full force at educational and social events as well as on the show floor, where the hustle and bustle lasted from the ribbon-cutting until the closing bell.

Double Date Packing supports stores in merchandising high-quality dates to shoppers through innovative packaging options and in-store materials. “Dates are becoming very popular,” said Hope Barbee, vice president of sales for the Coachella, CA-based company. “On Instagram and Facebook, they are trending and showing different ways to eat them. We want to give consumers convenient ways to get their dates.”

The Southeast Produce Council kicked off a morning of educational sessions with “The Prime Directive: Food Waste & Nutrition Insecurity.” Hosting the conversation was moderator Pete Pearson, global initiative lead of food circulatory at the World Wildlife Fund, who set an important tone for the morning reminding the audience that an estimated 30-40 percent of food goes to waste and represents the largest category of material placed in landfills.