The Fresh Produce & Floral Council will hold a holiday charity reception Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 4-7 p.m. at the Sheraton Cerritos in Cerritos, CA.

Proceeds from the reception, including admission and raffle prize proceeds, will benefit Caterina’s Club of Orange County, which provides access to nutritional food, stable housing and job training for youth.

According to FPFC President Bob Lanter, the reception represents a pivot from the traditional luncheon and will feature a combination of heavy hors d’oeuvres, live holiday jazz music and networking opportunities in a warm and engaging

Albertsons Cos. Inc. announced that effective Oct. 24, the board of directors has elected Jim Donald as the sole independent chair of the board.

Also, effective Oct. 24, the board appointed Stephen Feinberg to the Board for the term expiring at the company’s 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. designated Feinberg to the board in accordance with the Stockholders Agreement dated June 25, 2020, by and among the company and Cerberus, after Chan Galbato stepped down from the board on Oct. 22, 2024. Mr. Galbato was previously designated to the board in 2021 by

The education festival at the recently held IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show highlighted so many worthwhile areas of the produce world. In my humble opinion, among the most important was Feeding Those in Need: Innovative Partnerships in Global Food Distribution — and not to preach, but feeding those in need is a mantra that should be adopted by everybody within the produce industry.

The 30-minute session was hosted by Sherri Atwell, commodity director of produce for Feeding America and featured panelists Brian Greene, president and CEO of the Houston Food Bank and board member of Global

The U.S. Department of Agriculture filed an administrative complaint against Berry People LLC for alleged violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. The company, operating from California, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to 19 produce sellers in the amount of $3.52 million from December 2022 through August 2023.

Berry People LLC will have an opportunity to request a hearing. Should USDA find that the company committed repeated and flagrant violations, it would be barred from the produce industry as a licensee for three years, or two years with the posting of a USDA

Flashfood released Flashfood 3.0, a redesigned app featuring a fresh interface with shopping features built to make it faster to find, shop and compare great Flashfood deals. The new app offers a smoother experience every step of the way — from creating an account to browsing specific items at local stores — making it easier than ever to save money on fresh groceries.

This is the company’s largest app release to-date and drastically transforms the usability and visuals of the marketplace. New features include:

• A Refreshed Onboarding Process: Delivers a more user-friendly and brand-aligned

Metro Inc. announced the inauguration of its automated distribution center for fresh products in Toronto, which marks the completion of a nearly billion-dollar investment in the modernization of its supply chain.

With the new Toronto Fresh distribution center now fully in operation, the final milestone of Metro’s seven-year modernization project has been reached. Initiated in 2017, the project has included investments in a new automated fresh and frozen distribution center in Terrebonne, QC, that opened in 2023, the expansion of the fresh produce distribution centre in Laval, QC, and the