Though they had a lot of cards stacked against them during the past 18 months because of the coronavirus, the California date industry reports a pretty good year and a strong indication that the 2021-22 season will be even better.

Publix Super Markets announced the promotion of John Goff to senior vice president of retail operations, effective Jan. 1, 2022. With Goff’s promotion, Regional Director Matt Crawley will be named Miami division vice president.

Goff began his career in 1991 as a front service clerk in Jacksonville, FL. He worked in various positions before being promoted to store manager in 2005. He was promoted to Jacksonville division district manager in 2010, Miami division regional director in 2014 and Miami division vice president in 2019.

Grimmway Farms' Sara Oliver has been promoted to chief people officer, a new position within the company’s executive leadership team. In this role, Oliver will be responsible for leading all aspects of human resources strategy and operations, and will oversee development of the company’s annual Environmental, Social and Governance report.

By meeting challenges of the past year head-on through flexibility and forging ahead into the 2021 Idaho potato season with an innovative and focused marketing strategy, the Idaho Potato Commission anticipates continued growth in retail and is hopeful for an uptick in foodservice.

POM Wonderful launched a social media cocktail contest dedicated to supporting local bars that were impacted by pandemic closures. The competition will put bartenders’ mixology skills to the test as they create cocktails using POM Wonderful 100 percent pomegranate juice. Five winners will each designate a deserving bar to receive a $10,000 cash prize and year’s supply of POM Juice.

With harvest in full swing throughout the four growing regions of the Pacific Northwest, the pear industry released the first official estimate of the 2021-22 fresh pear crop for Washington and Oregon: 16.1 million standard box equivalents, which is very close to the four-year average.