The Eastern Cantaloupe Growers Association, a leading food safety and advocacy group for Eastern cantaloupe growers, has teamed up with key food influencers to highlight the difference between cantaloupes grown during the balmy summers in the South and Midwest and those in the West.

United Natural Foods Inc. announced the appointment of J. Alexander (Sandy) Miller Douglas to the role of CEO and a member of its board of directors effective Aug. 9. Douglas is a proven, customer-focused, strategic leader who brings a broad background and expertise in distribution, sales, marketing, and e-commerce as the company’s new CEO. He was selected after an extensive search to replace Steven Spinner, who earlier announced his retirement as CEO and who will concurrently retire from the board, both effective Aug. 9.

The latest Grower Spotlight from Eagle Eye Produce features Randy Bowns, an onion grower in eastern Oregon. Bowns is a recent addition to Eagle Eye's onion program with the newly formed partnership between it and Central Produce Distribution Inc. 

Next Big Thing, a 60-member cooperative of commercial family growers, spread from Nova Scotia to Washington state, grows and markets managed varieties of apples, beginning with SweeTango.

Developed by the University of Minnesota and first introduced in 2009, the SweeTango is a premium apple variety that combines the Honeycrisp and Zestar! apple varieties.

The Chilean Kiwifruit season is in full swing with export projections of 145,000 tons. Chile has shipped 76 percent of that (110,624 tons of kiwifruit worldwide) through Week 29.  North America is Chile’s second-largest export market, and demand has been consistently strong throughout the season.  Volume to North America has increased by 20 percent from 2020, with 19,439 tons shipped through Week 29.  

The new Schnucks Fresh store in Jasper, IN, will open to customers Aug. 18. A new format for Schnucks, the leased 18,000-square-foot store will include a heavy focus on fresh departments such as produce, meat, seafood, deli and bakery.