The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on 10 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:

• Hialeah Tomatoes & Fresh Produce Inc., operating out of Miami, for failing to pay a $95,610 award in favor of a Florida seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Helen Oliveira and Jorge Gonzalez were listed as

The Kroger-Albertsons merger, first announced back in October of 2022, continues to get pushed back. The current roadblock is courtesy of the Colorado District Court and Denver District Court Judge Andrew J. Luxen, who granted a temporary injunction. An Aug. 12 hearing on the matter was cancelled as well.  

The delay is expected to last at least until a ruling is reached on a lawsuit that was filed to block the deal. The lawsuit, filed by The U.S. Federal Trade Commission in February, intended to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants, claimed that the merger would increase

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. has rolled out a new Fresh Promise to Loblaws, Independent, valu-mart and Zehrs locations. The program promises that if customers are not satisfied with produce purchased in store, it will be replaced and refunded, within seven days, no questions asked.

"We want customers to walk out of our stores every day feeling like they got the right value for them, and our stores across the province have doubled down on this commitment, with some exciting new programs,” said Frank Gambioli, president of Loblaw Super Market division. “We know how much freshness and quality plays into

JFE Franchising Inc. of Houston, TX, is recalling products because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

This recall is in connection to a previous recall released by Wiers Farm Inc. dated July 22. Products involved in this recall were packed July 6-19.

All items were sold in plastic clamshell containers and sold at select Kroger retail stores in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as Jay C Food retail stores

Frontier Produce, a produce distribution company based out of Oklahoma, joined FreshEdge, a family of best-in-class fresh food distribution companies backed by Wind Point Partners. Frontier operates out of three facilities, two in Tulsa, OK, and one in Oklahoma City. All together these facilities boast over 80,000 square feet of warehouse space.

FreshEdge now operates more than 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space across 35 facilities with a fleet of more than 1,100 trucks.

“Frontier Produce has established a solid reputation, and we are confident they will continue to build upon our

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has filed administrative complaints against Smile Onion 7 Inc. and Lakeside Produce Inc. for alleged violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

Smile Onion 7, operating from Maryland, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to 15 produce sellers in the amount of $1 million from October 2022 through December 2023.

Lakeside Produce, operating from Michigan, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to three produce sellers in the amount of $1.15 million August 2022 through January 2023.

Smile Onion 7 and Lakeside will each have an