With Jan. 25, 2015 representing WP Rawl’s 90th anniversary, the company is commemorating by hosting a reception for the produce industry at the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure event in February.

Ashley Rawl, vice president of sales, marketing and product development, and a third-generation family member of the Pelion, SC-based company, said everyone at the company is excited to share the celebration for Southern Exposure guests and colleagues at Booth No. 921.

Pacific Northwest grocery chain Haggen has begun the process of acquiring 146 stores as part of the divestment process brought about by the Federal Trade Commission’s review of the Albertsons LLC and Safeway merger. 

With this acquisition, Haggen will expand from 18 stores with 16 pharmacies to 164 stores with 106 pharmacies; from 2,000 employees to more than 10,000 employees; and from a Pacific Northwest company with locations in Oregon and Washington to a major regional grocery chain with locations in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona.

Frontera Produce Ltd., the Primus Group and The Kroger Co. have settled the vast majority of claims that arose from the 2011 Listeria outbreak from tainted cantaloupe that killed 33 and sickened about 120 people.

Attorney Bill Marler of Marler Clark in Seattle said the outbreak resulted in the filing of lawsuits on behalf of 66 people. With this latest settlement, filed in a Louisiana court the second week in February, he said all but one of the cases has been settled.

With 408 stores in operation, Whole Foods plans to cross the 500-store mark by 2017, and Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer, expressed confidence in the chain tripling its store base over the long term. This news comes on the heels of a strong first quarter, with sales up to $4.7 billion, more than a 10 percent increase.

NOGALES, AZ — Lance Jungmeyer speaks without hesitation when asked about his highest professional priority.

“Social responsibility,” said Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. “We want to help our members understand how to communicate the things they are already doing” to benefit their farm workers in a socially-responsible manner.

Jungmeyer noted that December’s Los Angeles Times four-piece exposé “added pressure to show what you’re doing for your employees.”

NOGALES, AZ — A four-part Los Angeles Times exposé in December ripped Mexican produce growers and their distributors in Nogales.

The report included photos and video of very bad field worker living conditions. The fact that the reporter did not include the countless socially responsible growers and distributor-partners raised the question of the reporter’s motives.

Nogales distributors by and large felt burned by the LA Times.