The International Fresh Produce Association’s Foodservice Conference is nearly here, and this year’s event will see a record number of buyers attending, a sign of the strong appetite for putting produce on the plate at all foodservice outlets.

MINNEAPOLIS — After a two-year hiatus as an in-person event due to the pandemic lockdown, United Natural Foods Inc. held its annual Conventional Expo July 19-21, here. The show connected nearly 2,700 retail customers with UNFI’s large network of suppliers and helped the independents to prepare for the upcoming holiday and spring selling seasons.

ProduceIQ invites the fresh produce community to support The Brighter Bites Foundation through the purchase of Farm Legend NFTs. Learn more about the collection at www.produceiq.com/nft. All of the proceeds will go to funding Brighter Bites in its mission to create healthy communities through access to fresh food.

Summer break is finally here for most of us! My daughter has finished up kindergarten and we are looking forward to several weeks of quality time at home together. My other three little ones and I have really missed her this year. She is excited and curious about cooking so I’m looking forward to connecting with her in the kitchen during the break. She loves to enjoy the food that she knows she made herself, which makes it so rewarding!

Retailer Giant Eagle is expanding its partnership with Flashfood, a digital marketplace that provides customers access to heavily discounted food nearing its best-by date, to all of its 173 corporate Giant Eagle and Giant Eagle Market District stores. Starting in Cleveland, the 140-store expansion will steadily roll out throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania and will be completed by the end of October.