Archive For The “News” Category
LINCOLN PARK, MI. — Carrier Transicold of Detroit is commemorating 50 years of serving eastern Michigan’s transport refrigeration providers, those vital links of the “cold-chain” that safely deliver food and other refrigerated essentials to supermarkets, restaurants, food service operations and more.On Septrmber 16, the dealership celebrated its golden anniversary with customers
and employees at an open house at its facility located at 1180 John A Papalas Drive in
Lincoln Park. Carrier Transicold of Detroit is part of the North American dealer network
of Carrier Transicold, a leading provider of equipment and services for refrigerated
transport and cold chain visibility.
and employees at an open house at its facility located at 1180 John A Papalas Drive in
Lincoln Park. Carrier Transicold of Detroit is part of the North American dealer network
of Carrier Transicold, a leading provider of equipment and services for refrigerated
transport and cold chain visibility.
“Our dealership was built on the principles of respecting customers and providing
them exceptional service at a fair price,” said Mark Sparkman, president and owner of
the Carrier Transicold of Detroit, which was founded in 1967 by his father, Earl
Sparkman, and uncle, John Sparkman.
them exceptional service at a fair price,” said Mark Sparkman, president and owner of
the Carrier Transicold of Detroit, which was founded in 1967 by his father, Earl
Sparkman, and uncle, John Sparkman.
“We are incredibly proud that this formula has sustained us and helped us grow over five decades. Our founders, our loyal employees and our great customers deserve the credit for our continued success.”
Established as Transport Refrigeration Service by the now-retired Sparkman
brothers, the operation was among the earliest to join the Carrier Transicold North
America dealer network in the 1970s.
brothers, the operation was among the earliest to join the Carrier Transicold North
America dealer network in the 1970s.
“Carrier Transicold of Detroit is an important member of the Carrier Transicold
family and we are delighted they’ve achieved this half-century milestone,” said Tom
Ondo, vice president and general manager, Truck, Trailer, Rail Americas, Carrier
Transicold. “Mark Sparkman has been with the company for 37 of those 50 years, giving
him an exceptional understanding of all facets of the business, while establishing
outstanding relationships with his customers and team.”
Since 2006 Carrier Transicold of Detroit has operated out of its current 30,000
square-foot facility, where it sells, installs and services truck, trailer and shipping
container refrigeration units that help to preserve and protect perishable goods as they
move from farm to fork. The dealership has 28 employees, including 14 service
technicians, and it operates six mobile units enabling 24/7 emergency service.
Carrier Transicold of Detroit has been consistently recognized for outstanding
performance by Carrier Transicold, having been named Dealer of the Year five times and achieving Carrier Transicold’s NextLevel2 Platinum Award for customer satisfaction,
business investment, service proficiency, sales performance and growth every year
since the award was established.
As part of its community support initiatives, Carrier Transicold of Detroit is a participant in Carrier Transicold’s national program in support of the Feeding America® network, funded by a $150,000 grant from United Technologies Corporation. Through this program, Carrier Transicold of Detroit is installing transport refrigeration units on vehicles used by qualifying food bank operations serving the Detroit metropolitan area
A new production, storage and shipping for produce is coming to Burlington, WA. Meanwhile, shipments of the popular SweeTango apples are well under way.
by Bay Baby Produce Inc.
Burlington, WA – Bay Baby Produce Inc., a North American grower and leader in painted pumpkins, long stem ornamentals, and winter organic squash, has broken ground on their new state of the art facility.
After a long process of approvals, Bay Baby Produce Inc. broke ground on their new, state of the art, facility mid June. The new 55,000 square foot facility will offer expansive production, storage and shipping capabilities, as well as be home to their corporate office. The expanded space will allow for increased production capacity and will make it possible to meet the increased demand for Bay Baby Produce’s products in current and expanded markets. Their new facility is expected to be operational for their 2018 season.
About Bay Baby Produce Inc.
Bay Baby Produce, a woman-owned business for over 3o years, is located in the Skagit Valley, Burlington,WA. This area is one of the most fertile growing regions in North America. Our mission is to be a consistently reliable source for high quality painted pumpkins, long stem ornamentals, organic squash and value-added products grown on our farm. This new expansion will allow Bay Baby Produce to continue to grow well into the future.
SweeTango Apple Shipments
by Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative
WENATCHEE, WA – Harvest has begun for the 2017 crop of SweeTango apples. With orchards spread across prime apple-growing regions in Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Nova Scotia, Canada, timing of harvest varies by region, typically beginning in the West and concluding a few weeks later in Nova Scotia. The anticipated total crop is slightly larger than last season’s.
The West and Midwestern regions began picking on August 21, and the Eastern region will begin next week followed by Nova Scotia later in September.
The SweeTango season officially began as the apples first reach markets near Labor Day.
By Shenandoah Growers
ROCKINGHAM, Va. — Shenandoah Growers, Inc. (SGI), the leading grower and marketer of certified organic fresh herbs for retail in the U.S., announces the attainment of another milestone in the company’s drive to fundamentally change the way highly perishable produce is grown and distributed. Leveraging a proprietary combination of automated greenhouses and indoor LED vertical grow rooms to produce over 30 million certified organic plants per year, SGI brings a third indoor growing facility online. The new facility, located in Texas, is the latest component of SGI’s innovative hub-and-spoke farming and distribution system, and only the most recent step in the company’s three-year, multi-million-dollar nationwide expansion of indoor farming.
The company’s latest indoor growing facility takes its place in a system that is quickly scalable for market growth, allowing Shenandoah Growers to locally deliver certified organic superior flavor and shelf life at a fraction of the capital cost of other indoor farms.
“This indoor farm, and the two others in our system, are critical elements of how Shenandoah Growers is transforming the way perishable produce is grown and distributed,” said Timothy Heydon, CEO of Shenandoah Growers. “Shenandoah Growers focuses continually on innovation. With the integration of our modular indoor growing technology into our existing national footprint, we can grow amazing certified organic produce that delivers fresh flavor to consumers in a sustainable way, minimizing inputs of water, bio-media, land resources, and food miles. We are proud to be a part of transforming agriculture production and distribution for the future.”
Shenandoah Gowers’ Rockingham, Virginia farm complex serves as the eastern hub of a nationwide growing system. With a farming and supply chain platform spanning the country, the company’s unique indoor farms cover the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South Central markets. Shenandoah Growers continues the expansion of its farms, greenhouses and the implementation of an indoor farming hub and spoke system on the West Coast, with completion expected in 2018.
About Shenandoah Growers
Founded over 26 years ago and headquartered in Rockingham Virginia, Shenandoah Growers is a leading grower and marketer of fresh organic culinary herbs in the United States. The company’s mission is to bring fresh healthy flavor to food. Customer-driven with an expertise and passion for fresh flavor, the company has over 1,200 associates working across a nationally integrated platform of farms, production facilities and logistics operating in 11 states.
For more information, visit www.FreshHerbs.com
P
azazz apples shattered retail sales targets last winter, less than a year ahead of its nationwide 2018 roll out, according to Honeybear Brands. The variety, which debuted a month earlier than usual in December 2016, sold faster, in more markets and more retail stores than at any other time since its initial introduction.
“We’re looking at the sales numbers and receiving feedback from our retail partners as we speak,” Don Roper, Honeybear’s vice president of sales and marketing, said in a press release. “We’re thrilled. Pazazz did exactly what we designed the variety to do: offer a truly exceptional variety to help drive new revenue for retailers as well as provide an opportunity to extend their sales window of premium apple varieties well into the later winter months.”
Roper said it’s too early to put an exact number on final retail sales figures, but this year’s crop production was up nearly 400 percent over last year and is already sold out. Retailer feedback highlighted strong, repeat customer sales and a sharp rise in inquiries from new customers seeking out the variety by name.
“Pazazz has created a strong following among apple lovers,” Roper said in the release. “That’s an incredible development in just a few short years and an absolute win for retailers who are giving their customers another reason to get excited in the fresh produce aisle. It is a real testament to the unique eating experience of this apple and its flavor profile that has significantly raised the bar in the apple category.”
Thanks to increased production from planted acreage and the continued maturation of Pazazz orchards, the 2016-17 Pazazz crop debuted in many regions a month earlier than usual, arriving on store shelves in December 2016 and making an immediate impact on pre-holiday retail sales. In all, Pazazz was sold in more than 50 markets and 1,000 stores in January and February.
“We couldn’t be happier with the results we’ve seen from Pazazz,” Craig Clasen, group vice president of produce purchasing at Hy-Vee, said in the release. “For a new variety, it’s performing incredibly well across our more than 240 stores throughout the Midwest and it offers many of the things we try to bring our customers with every piece of produce that they purchase — excellence in quality, superior taste and freshness.”
From coast-to-coast apple growers are growing new apple varieties to increase sales.
For example there are New York apple growers looking to make a splash with the RubyFrost and SnapDragon varieties.
On the opposite side of the country there are growers and shippers pushing varieties for club stores such as Jazz and Envy.
The Honeycrisp is perhaps the best example of a meteoric rise in an apple variety, plus the initial success of the RubyFrost and Snap Dragon have been impressive.
While some of the new varieties have been seen as rising stars, the traditional favorites of consumers continue playing an important role such as in New York state with the world-famous mcintosh, as well as galas and empires.
While marketers heap praise on new varieties, not everyone is completely sold.
For example, Forrence Orchards Inc., of Peru, N.Y. has seen sales of its more traditional varieties such as McIntosh and Cortland adversely affected by the new varieties. At the same time Forrence Orchards also has invested in the Honeycrisp.
One of the more interesting aspects in all of these changes will be observing to see if consumers are willing to pay substantially higher prices for these new varieties which can easily be 50 percent or more. A generation ago the red delicious, golden delicious, golds and cortlands pretty much made up the choices in the apple section of local produce departments.
Planning Important
It is very costly to launch a new apple variety, including being labor intensive. The bottom line on whether it is worth the effort and cost ultimately depends on whether the consumer likes the product.
Even if the new variety proves popular with consumers, it also takes a lot of help from retailers through good placement in the produce department, promoting the product, and having reasonable pricing.
Stemilt Growers LLC of Wenatchee, WA offers its Piñata variety apple in bulk, organic bulk, 3-pound Lil Snapper conventional and organic kid-sized fruit and a value 5-pound pouch bag using an attractive display-ready carton. These efforts are backed by promotion with social media and in-store demonstrations.
Hess Bros. Fruit Co. of Leola, PA is launching a late season proprietary variety called Sweet Cheeks, expected to should be available at the end of January. The initial offering will only be a couple of truck loads.
by American Consolidation & Logistics
Miami, FL – A third Miami warehouse location for international produce importer, American Consolidation & Logistics (ACL) has been leased. The 93,799 sq. ft. facility located at 3200 NW 67th Avenue in the South Florida Logistics Center is one of the only controlled atmospheres for fumigation in the country. This multimillion-dollar deal gives ACL a prime location near Miami International Airport, where much of their imported produce arrives by plane.
The leasing project was handled by ComReal, led by Partner and Managing Member, Edward Redlich.
“Our new location near MIA is critical. We can provide our clients peace-of-mind by assuring that their produce is transported as quickly as possible to our specialty refrigeration units located inside our warehouse.” Said Jose Medina, CEO of American Consolidation and Logistics. “The quick work of finding this facility by Edward Redlich and his team of Chris Spear and Edison Vasquez was unbelievable. I’ve never worked with a Realtor more professional, diligent, and who conducts business with complete integrity like Ed does.”
In the Fall of 2016, Redlich and his team were retained by ACL to acquire a +/- 100,000 sq. ft. refrigerated warehouse facility. They began working on a comprehensive site selection of potential properties that would suit ACL’s needs including both existing warehouse buildings and vacant land for build-to-suit construction. The only building that already had the refrigeration systems installed and ready-to-go was Building #1 at South Florida Logistics Center, where ACL now operates. In addition to Miami International Airport, the property is also easily accessible to PortMiami via truck or railroad. American Consolidation & Logistics moved into their new warehouse on April 17, 2017. This is their third South Florida location along with their Opa-Locka headquarters and a warehouse in Pompano Beach.
ComReal Miami – Doral: The ComReal Industrial Team has been assisting companies with their South Florida real estate needs for over 30 years.
American Consolidation & Logistics: ACL specializes in handling imports of fresh fruits and vegetables, having a wealth of experience with produce.
By Hudson River Fruit Distributors
Hudson River Fruit Distributors is excited to announce its brand new, high graphic, apple display bin. The bin is the latest addition to Hudson River Fruits expanding packaging lineup that aims to utilize apples in many different ways, while bringing the farm fresh feel to your stores!
The bin displays a hi definition photo of one of the farms owned by Hudson River Fruit, and highlights the locally grown and family farmed aspects in the forefront. The side of the bin features a metal plaque “mounted” onto wooden planks, which contains a quote from co-founder and owner Harold Albinder, about the company, as well as, the history and tradition of Apples grown in New York State.
“We are very excited to launch this marketing tool to help our customers bring the farm to their stores this fall. The display bin can be used to display local loose apples, tote’s, poly bags or our 2LB Lil Chief bags.” Says Pat Ferrara, Sales Director at Hudson River Fruit Distributions, ” We are excited to share our story and products with customers at store level.”
About Hudson River Fruit
Hudson River Fruit is a 4th generation, family owned and operated apple grower, packer and shipper in New York. They have been in business for over 54 years and are widely recognized as an industry leading apple supplier. They grow over 21 different varieties and ship over 2 million boxes of fresh apples yearly.
Hudson River Fruit Distributors was established on July 12, 1963, by Isadore “Izzy” Albinder and his son Harold Albinder.
Izzy first entered the apple business back in 1932, after emmigrating from Russia. He saw an opportunity to broker apples, so he bought a pushcart and sold apples in the neighborhood streets of Brooklyn, New York. A time came that Izzy had trouble finding apples of high enough quality. He decided to venture up to the Hudson Valley, and began fostering relationships with apple growers, some of whom we still work with today
Organically grown table grape production continues to increase in popularity, according to growers in California who are experiencing significant increases in volume.
For example Anthony Vineyards of Bakersfield reports 80 percent of its San Joaquin Valley table grape crop now is organic, and is expected to eventually make up 100 percent of the company’s valley production. Anthony Vineyard began shipping organic grapes about 2005 after acquiring an organic ranch. The operation now has at least a dozen organic grape varieties.
Homegrown Organic Farms of Porterville is developing and growing its organic grape program. While the company grows and ships some traditional varieties it also handles new ones such as the as Ivory and Kelly. The newer varieties tend to size well and offer lots of crunch and flavor.
Top Brass Marketing Inc., of Bakersfield has about 15 percent of its grape acreage in organics with all of its varieties continuing to grow in popularity. experiencing double digit growth annually. Growing organically is a more complex process than growing conventionally, and yields typically are less, requiring growers to charge a premium for their fruit.
Farming operations each year seek to learn new ways of increasing yields and using new organic supplements to treat the fields for pests.
Sunview Marketing International of Delano is one of California’s largest grower-shippers of organic grapes, which are grown exclusively in the San Joaquin Valley. This seaon, the company is shipping Rosa Seedless, scarlet royal, Magenta, Timco and crimson red varieties and sugraone, Stella Bella, princess, Great Green, thompson and autumn king green varieties. There also are black grapes including summer royal and black seedless.
Environmental efforts that use less energy and often more cost efficient are common with organic growing. For example, Top Brass has five acres of solar panels to run its cold storage facilities and recently contracted to add Tesla batteries to enhance that renewable resource even more.
By The Mushroom Council
Sturgis, S.D. – The Mushroom Council took on a new frontier of burger lovers last week when it served The Blend to hundreds of bikers attending the 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
“It’s the best burger I’ve had all week,” was the familiar refrain offered up by bikers who stepped off Sturgis’ Main Street drag to sample a 70/30 meat-mushroom blend on August 10th, at a fundraiser for the Sturgis Museum and Hall of Fame. The event was hosted by Thunder Press magazine as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.
Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council, helped serve the blended burgers and interacted with attendees.
“I wanted to know first-hand how blended burgers would be accepted by meat eaters and burger fans who hold nothing back in their opinions,” said Minor. “It’s safe to say we’ve recruited hundreds of new Blenditarians – they gave it resounding accolades and came back for seconds. The event was an excellent demonstration of The Blend’s universal appeal.”
For recipes and inspiration, visit www.Blenditarian.com.
About The Mushroom Council
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.org.
International Paper’s North American Container business is putting Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other Peanuts characters on bulk bins.
Two product displays with the characters are available. Both are corrugated bulk bins, with one featuring Snoopy and watermelons and the other with Snoopy, Linus and Charlie Brown under the words “it’s the great pumpkin.”
“This powerful combination is a standout, drawing customer attention and increasing sales by making shopping a fun experience,” said Scott Dillon, director of marketing, said in a news release. “Peanuts has a multi-generational appeal, and this is a solid way to capture the consumer sentiment around this iconic brand.”
The bins are available at International Paper’s five bulk facilities.
Kroger, Fresh Encounters win Marsh stores at auction
Marsh Supermarkets, at one time a leading Midwest supermarket chain based in Indiana, has recently accepted bids at auction for 26 of its remaining 44 stores. The move follows the company’s closure of 19 locations and bankruptcy filing in May.
Cincinnati-based supermarket powerhouse Kroger will acquire 11 Marsh stores for $16 million, and Fresh Encounter Inc., based in Findlay, OH, will buy 15 Marsh locations for $8 million.
Kroger currently has 2,800 stores nationwide, while Fresh Encounter operates 21 stores under the Community Markets, Great Scott Community Markets, Sack ‘N Save Supermarket and Chief banners. Earlier this year, Fresh Encounter purchased Remke Markets’ 10 stores in the Cincinnati area.
The transactions are subject to bankruptcy court approval. One possible obstacle to the sale is an objection by CVS Health, which purchased the pharmacy accounts from Marsh in April. As part of the agreement, CVS stipulated that 37 stores where Marsh operated pharmacies could not operate as pharmacies for five years.
Kroger and Fresh Encounters have said in court documents that it would proceed with the acquisition only if the restriction is removed. Marsh has countered that the agreement only bars Marsh from operating pharmacies at the stores, and that the language is not enforceable under the bankruptcy code.
The sale of the remaining locations would bring to an end Marsh’s 86 years in business. Ermal Marsh opened the first Marsh store in 1931 in Muncie, IN. The company went public in 1953, when it operated 16 stores.