Calvin Tribiano, a veteran Oppy sales executive, died May 6 following a brief illness. He was 71.

Southeastern Grocers Inc., parent company and home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, unveiled its newest Winn-Dixie location in Viera, FL, last week. The Viera store opening is SEG’s latest expansion throughout the state of Florida, following the 2020 openings of eight new Winn-Dixie stores.

Back in early March, I had the opportunity to be a part of a United Fresh Brandstorm Panel with Ajit Saxena of Mucci Farms and Yolanda Owens of Forage + Black, both industry professionals highly passionate about cultivating empathy in produce and beyond. The panel was created to talk about empathy in business to consumer marketing. When we closed out the hour panel session, I sat feeling like that couldn’t be the end of that discussion. There was so much left to cover. There was more work that needed to be done within the produce industry.

What happens when you take a dash of delicious foods, add in a sprinkle of family fun and stir in a chance to teach kids about giving back? You get the recipe for a new interactive Walmart experience that aims to show kids that healthy food can be fun. The retailer, in collaboration with Partnership for a Healthier America and Higher Ground Productions, has launched The Hidden World of Waffles + Mochi, an interactive culinary adventure experience, to inspire families to cook up fresh, healthy foods just like Waffles and Mochi do on their Netflix show as part of the Pass the Love campaign.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, announced the election of two additional members to its board of directors: Lori Tauber Marcus and Kristin Colber-Baker.

Jim Leimkuhler’s produce career briefly began in Wisconsin potato fields, blossomed in an accounting office in Cincinnati and found its niche in the corner suite of Progressive Produce LLC in Los Angeles.  From those different perches he enjoyed a long career in the industry, excelling in many different areas and working with many different commodities. After 35 years in the business, he retired from Progressive on March 31, 2021.