With criminal enterprise becoming increasingly sophisticated, companies are more vulnerable than ever to potentially crippling data breaches that can cause serious and costly disruptions to their businesses.

Luckily for organizations in the produce industry, ZAG Technical Services has the expertise to help prevent such breaches from happening, as well as to minimize damage if a breach does indeed occur.

Greg Gatzke, president of ZAG, based in San Jose, CA, said the company has approximately 135 employees and works primarily in the agriculture industry.

“Cyber security is a passion of mine

Cost of inputs, commodity pricing volatility and weather unpredictability limit the fresh produce sector as a vital industry for feeding a growing global population sustainably, according to a ProducePay survey that explored business stability for produce stakeholders in the United States and Latin America.

Highlights from the survey include:

• Commodity pricing volatility: Commodity pricing volatility, a top concern revealed by last year’s survey results, affects the greatest proportion of respondents (83 percent).
• Business stability: A majority of growers (52 percent), and 30 percent of

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

• Marchella of NY Inc., operating out of Oceanside, NY, for failing to pay a $103,509 award in favor of a New York seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Manashe Yukhananov was listed as the sole officer

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Pharr International Bridge seized $10.7 million in methamphetamine from a shipment of fresh Jalapeño peppers.  

On Oct. 14, officers encountered a tractor trailer arriving from Mexico. A CBP officer referred the vehicle for further inspection which included utilizing non-intrusive inspection equipment and screening by a canine team. Physical inspection of the shipment resulted in officers extracting 9,426 packages that filled 72 buckets for a total weight of 1,205.48 pounds of alleged methamphetamine concealed within the shipment.

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Procurant, a cloud-based software company transforming the retail food supply chain, announced the successful implementation of the Procurant One technology platform for perishables purchasing, produce inspections and source-to-pay order management at Schnuck Markets Inc.

“Perishable goods are critical to our success, and the complexity of our business requires systems that are aligned with our goal to nourish our customers' lives and work within a modern, fast-moving supply chain. From day one, Procurant has been a great partner and has worked closely with our team to bring this new system

Meijer is the first retailer nationwide to carry Earthbound Farm Organic Mini Peeled Carrots — packaged by Bolthouse Farms in compostable bags.

The partnership with Bolthouse Farms – one of the retailer's longest supplier relationships – reflects the company's preference for offering its customers more sustainable packaging options, said Ron Lovelace, director of produce for Meijer.

"The decisions we make today impact the world we live in, which is why we're committed to continual improvement through smart partnerships and innovations that benefit our customers and communities," Lovelace