Big Y is looking to lend local growers a hand in the form of grant money. Growers in western Massachusetts are invited to apply for Local Farmer Awards of up to $2,500. These awards are for capital and infrastructure improvement projects related to planting, growing, harvesting and processing that will help farms compete in the marketplace.

The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, in partnership with Big Y, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture and other funders, is entering the 10th year of the awards program that has helped more than 260 farmers carry out a total of 572

A coalition of non-profit industry and non-governmental organizations announced the formation of the Alliance for Sustainable Packaging for Foods. 

The ASPF brings together a diverse group of global stakeholders to engage with regulators and governments around the world to encourage the adoption of a holistic and harmonized approach to food packaging regulation in order to achieve environmental sustainability without compromising on food safety and public health, and without increasing the environmental footprint of the food supply chain. The alliance prioritizes engagement with  the on-going

KESI Management has joined FreshEdge, a family of best-in-class fresh food distribution companies. Founded in 2018 by Austin Kirtley and Mehrdad Erfan, KESI Management’s solutions cover a wide range of areas, including operations, management, logistics and finance, addressing various touchpoints and levels within the industry.

FreshEdge and KESI Management have been collaborating over the last four years, with KESI’s team of industry experts helping to identify, implement and sustain operational, supply chain and engineering initiatives across multiple FreshEdge companies. Its extensive

Calavo Growers, a global avocado-industry leader and provider of convenient, ready-to-eat fresh food, is exploring a sale of its fresh-cut business to F&S Fresh Foods for approximately $100 million.

“Since I returned to Calavo as CEO in March, we have renewed our focus on our core avocado and guacamole businesses to maximize profitability, and I am pleased with the progress we have made,” said Lee E. Cole, president and CEO of Calavo. "To dedicate more focus to our core and to maximize shareholder value, we have been exploring strategic alternatives for our fresh-cut business, previously

The Kroger-Albertsons merger, which was first announced in October 2022, looks like it will be in in the works a bit longer before a conclusion is reached. The two companies remain in active and ongoing dialogue with the Federal Trade Commission and individual state attorneys general regarding the proposed merger and divestiture plan, though Washington's attorney general filed a lawsuit earlier this week to block the proposed merger.

Bob Ferguson, Washington's attorney general, asserts that the merger will severely limit shopping options for consumers and eliminate vital competition that

Equitable Food Initiative, the capacity-building and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer groups, expanded its certification offerings, reducing the burden growers face by allowing for a customized audit approach.

EFI has been certifying farms to its rigorous social responsibility, food-safety and integrated pest management standards for nearly a decade and was proud to earn recognition from the Global Food Safety Initiative in 2022. EFI will continue to offer the one-stop audit for these three sets of standards but will now also offer