While pockets of the nation were devastated by the late December cold front that enveloped much of the country and dipped into Mexico, it does not appear to have delivered a big blow to the supply-demand curve in terms of the fresh produce industry. At least that was the view from various industry members around the country.

Andrew Scott, director of marketing and business development for Nickey Gregory Co., a wholesaler in Atlanta, reported that the firm is currently sourcing most of its supplies from the deserts in the Southwest, the Northwest and Florida. “We really haven’t had any issues

Brighter Bites is partnering with Sunkist to help improve the health of students and families in the Bakersfield, CA, area.

Bakersfield serves as Brighter Bites’ third location in California, following Salinas (2021) and Los Angeles (2022). In early December Sunkist began providing monthly donations of citrus to the Brighter Bites Bakersfield locations, helping to provide families with weekly access to fresh produce at no cost.

“We are excited to grow our ongoing support of Brighter Bites’ mission by providing fresh, California-grown citrus to students across the Bakersfield community,” said

The recent winter storm has impacted much of the country produce supply. Areas such as Florida, which usually doesn’t have to deal with freezing temperatures, scrambled to protect crops.

“Florida strawberry growers worked through the holiday weekend to save their valuable fruit from Winter Storm Elliot. By dousing the fruit and delicate blossoms in water before the freeze, the growers can create an igloo-like effect, preserving the strawberries inside the ice,” said Mark Campbell, founder and CEO of ProduceIQ. He added that thanks to the diligent work of strawberry farmers in Florida, the

After the normal preholiday draw, produce markets should show signs of softening up. Hopefully with some warmer weather in the desert and Mexican growing areas, product will have a better chance of maturing.

January is usually the slowest month for sales following Christmas and New Year's. Even February feels a trickle of the sales struggle. That's because consumers experience the reality of credit card bills from their considerable holiday spending. This is when the product demand lightens up as shoppers make smaller purchases to pay those bills.

Product supplies should become more readily

United Natural Foods Inc.'s Warehouse to Wheels program has grown by more than 300 percent over the past two years and is now available to associates at a majority of UNFI’s 56 distribution centers. Originally developed at a single UNFI distribution center to help combat a driver shortage, today the program is offered to eligible distribution center associates interested in obtaining the training necessary to receive their Class A CDL license while being employed by UNFI.

Associates completing the 12-week program become full-time UNFI truck drivers with assigned routes and opportunities to

As part of the West Pak Cares committee community involvement program, West Pak Avocado of Murrieta, CA, donated a load of 134,500 avocados to Brighter Bites, a Houston-based nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families' hands. The organization has provided more than 50 million pounds of produce and hundreds of thousands of nutrition education materials to more than 500,000 individuals in Texas, California, Florida, New York and Washington, DC.

“Doing good is in our DNA,” said West Pak Avocado CEO Mario Pacheco. “As a produce company, we recognize that it is our