The Giumarra Cos. announced a joint project with Mountain View, CA-based startup Reliable Robotics Corporation to test shipments of produce utilizing autonomous aircraft technology developed by the latter company. The test flight program, created to help address supply chain and delivery challenges within the fresh produce industry, had its successful inaugural flight on Aug. 7.

In the spring, Volm Cos. Inc., indicated to The Produce News that it was matching consumer demand by supplying new types of packaging materials that are environmentally sustainable.

Then the gravity of the Coronavirus pandemic overtook the nation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on four produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

PMA Fresh Summit is going virtual and the team at Zespri has a savvy strategy in place to make the most of the experience.

Fruit World, a family-owned, flavor-focused grower-shipper of organic and conventional fruit, enters its 2020 citrus season with bold, new recyclable packaging and increased availability of 100-percent California-grown organic and conventional mandarins, along with organic oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and sweet limes.

Thanks to its ongoing commitment to reduce overall environmental impact, ALDI recently received the 2020 Green Power Leadership Award and a 2019 GreenChill Store Certification, as well as a Re-Certification Excellence Award for select stores, from the Environmental Protection Agency.