As one of California’s largest Medjool and Deglet Noor date grower, SunDate controls all aspects of production, from pollination to harvest, from grading to packaging, and from sales to shipping.

This enables the Coachella, CA-based company to guarantee quality and supply, assuring that only the finest California dates carry the SunDate label, while providing customers with consistent supply all year long. 

Albert P. Keck II, president of Hadley Date Gardens Inc., will serve as the Western Growers chairman of the board of directors for a one-year term.

Keck, a third-generation Californian and farmer, is a lifelong native of the Coachella Valley. He is chairman of the California Date Administrative Committee and the California Date Commission. He was elected to the Western Growers board in 2015, and previously served as senior vice chairman.

Cherries aren’t just for summer. Reports suggest 2021-22 Chile cherry exports to the United States will see substantial growth, and for the first time will run more than 12 weeks, through February.

Andreas Economou of Tastyfrutti said 5-6 million boxes (25,000-30,000 tons) will be shipped to the U.S. market during the 2021-22 season.

Cherry pricing is anticipated to start out strong and stay steady until around Thanksgiving.

The Colombia Avocado Board is excited to reveal their new brand image as part of a new strategic plan to increase Colombian avocado imports to the U.S.  The initiative is focused on building B2B relationships with U.S. buyers and sharing information about Colombia avocados to highlight their strengths and their opportunity to help supplement the growing U.S. avocado market.

For Trucco, chestnuts are truly special. The company has imported and distributed Italian chestnuts throughout the U.S. for almost six decades. Its TruStar Italian Chestnuts from the Campania region are highly coveted and only available during the autumn, from October through December. The aroma of roasted chestnuts is, for many, the smell and flavor of the holiday season in the U.S.

Walmart announced that Gatik, an autonomous trucking company, is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart in Bentonville, AR, moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.

Gatik’s deployment with Walmart in the state represents one of the first times that an autonomous trucking company has removed the safety driver from a commercial delivery route on the middle mile anywhere in the world.