Whole Foods Market announced the recipients of its annual Supplier All-Star Awards, recognizing 15 brands — including Ciruli Brothers — that raise the industry bar for quality, innovation, value and social responsibility, and are aligned with Whole Foods Market’s Core Values, such as caring for local communities and practicing win-win partnerships.

This year’s recipients, who are being honored for their contributions throughout 2022, include brands ranging from two to 28 years on Whole Foods Market’s shelves. The awards, now in their 11th year, were previously called Supplier of the Year

United Natural Foods Inc. is consolidating from four operating regions to three, now called East, Central and West. In total, the company will eliminate approximately 150 roles as part of this restructuring effort, primarily in management or supervisory positions.

In March, UNFI named Erin Horvath as chief operating officer and Louis Martin as president of wholesale to better align leadership teams and resources to drive the company’s customer-centric strategy and its four transformation initiatives, which aim to improve efficiency and enhance the customer and supplier experience. This

Hy-Vee Inc. has opened its new, totally reimagined grocery store in Nebraska. The 135,000-square-foot store in Gretna, Hy-Vee’s largest store, is accompanied by a 6,300-square-foot Aisles Online grocery delivery and pickup service and a 4,250-square-foot Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience store adjacent to the grocery store.

Hy-Vee invested more than $37 million in the community to build, furnish and stock the grocery store. The new Gretna Hy-Vee created more than 628 local jobs, including 128 full-time positions.

The innovative store offers a new dining experience for customers with a large

Recently issued reports from the Food & Drug Administration failed to identify sources of pathogen-related foodborne illness outbreaks, yet the investigative methodology and report conclusions yield important information for growers and packers. In a report titled “Factors Potentially Contributing to the Contamination of Cantaloupe” and without evidence of a source of contamination or a problem, the FDA nonetheless published 10 recommendation and requirements for growers of melons and similar produce commodities.

“The FDA is not embracing the spirit and intent of the Food Safety Modernization

Since the warmer summer weather is here, it’s time once again to fire up that grill for some of your favorite charred and smoky flavored vegetables. You can grill almost any vegetable. You can also add garlic, olive oil or even some herbs like rosemary, oregano or basil leaves.

Set up a nice “grilling section” in your produce department for the summer. Promote several items in a nice attractive part of your weekly ad flyer. It’s all incremental sales.

Here are some vegetables that are available now for that grilling section:

Red and Yellow Potatoes: Transition from storage to California

AeroFarms expanded retail availability of its award-winning microgreens at both Walmart and Stop & Shop across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, respectively. This announcement comes just about a week after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

At the time of its bankruptcy filing, the company said it was looking to have limited disruptions to its on-going core business operations.

The company has also entered into an agreement with an existing group of AeroFarms investors to provide $10 million in debtor-in-possession financing, as part of a larger round of financing that