Tampa, FL-based Sweetbay Supermarket said Jan. 16 that it will close about one-third of its 105 stores by mid-February. All the outlets earmarked for closure are designated as "underperforming" by Sweetbay's Belgian parent company Delhaize Group, and many face in-house competition from newer, bigger Sweetbay stores in the same neighborhoods.

Of the 35 stores to be closed, 18 are in Sweetbay's home territory of Tampa Bay. Some have leases coming up for renewal while others have been made obsolete by openings of new Sweetbay markets.

FirstFruits Marketing, the Yakima, WA-based marketer of the widely acclaimed Opal apple, has launched its 2013 campaign with a new website, in-store point-of-sales efforts and the announcement of a new charity initiative.

Through the cooperative efforts of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee (USA Onions) and Boise, ID-based St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, women in the Treasure Valley were given access to screening services at a mobile mammogram unit that visited various packing sheds in the onion-growing region.

The services were provided during December and were available to shed employees and members of the community. According to IEOOC Marketing Director Sherise Jones, the mobile unit spent a half day at participating sheds.

Demand for organic mushrooms is growing, according to Kevin Donovan, national sales manager for Phillips Mushroom Farms in Kennett Square, PA.

Mr. Donovan noted that new customers for organic mushrooms are emerging, and most of them are in the retail sector. He said that mainstream organic retailers as well as mainstream conventional retail customers have started to push more organic products in their stores.

Spice World Inc.’s organic version of its popular “Squeeze Garlic” product was a natural move for the Orlando, FL-based company.

Louis Hymel, director of purchasing and marketing for Spice World, said that the company has handled organic products for nearly a decade.

Plant City, FL-based Wish Farms has been known as an innovator for decades, even when it was Wishnatzki Farms, which was before a major rebranding effort created the more user-friendly label. Third-generation owner Gary Wishnatzki led that charge via a focus on marketing, but he also keeps an eye on the products that have increasingly made the label a consumer favorite.