The International Fresh Produce Association formed a new volunteer leadership council focused on controlled environment agriculture. The council will focus on opportunities available within the growing market and will be led by volunteer leader Abby Prior, chief commercial officer at Bright Farms, and IFPA staff liaison Vonnie Estes, vice president of Agfood Tech Innovation

"Controlled environment agriculture is not only a market with incredible business potential but also is a sustainable solution to meet the demand for fresh produce year-round," said Prior. "I'm looking forward to working

A panel of retail experts discussed how cutting technology is and will be driving produce sales both online and in the store in the coming years. The overarching theme of the International Fresh Produce Association virtual town hall held Wednesday, Aug. 31, was that technology is already significantly changing the world of retailing, but there are so many more advance coming down the road that will be game changing.

The panel was populated by Jonna Parker, principal at IRI Fresh Foods; Heather Paquette, vice president, Retail Innovation Center of Excellence at Retail Business Services, an

The Fresh Produce & Floral Council will hold the second annual FPFC Luau, A Mahalo Celebration, on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Newport Dunes in Newport Beach, CA. The family-friendly event will include appetizers, dinner, dessert, drinks, shaved ice, photobooth bus, games and a 45-minute show. Sponsorship and registration information is available at https://www.fpfc.org/event/luau-a-mahalo-celebration/.

At this point it seems almost inevitable. The United States is barreling toward a full-fledged recession.

With a recession comes consumers hunt for a cheaper way to eat, which can negatively impact produce sales.  According to ProduceIQ, however, record heat is causing some supply challenges and many commodity prices have remained elevated.

“This week, overall produce prices held steady over the previous week as key high-value commodities continued to soften, balancing increases in lower-value commodities such as tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, squash and cucumber markets,” said

With more shoppers opting to save time by ordering groceries online, Food Lion is excited to announce the expansion of its Food Lion To Go grocery pick up service to 15 more stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee, beginning Aug. 29. Food Lion is offering shoppers their first pickup for free.

The launch of this service comes just in time to make fall and holiday shopping even easier.

Customers can confirm availability and place orders through the Food Lion To Go website or the Food Lion To Go app. With just the click of a button, shoppers can place an order, pick up their groceries on

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a national coalition of more than 200 specialty crop organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products, has released its statement of principles for consideration of the 2023 Farm Bill.

The SCFBA was established to advocate for broad-based Farm Bill policy initiatives to address the unique needs of a diverse sector of the agricultural economy, known as specialty crops, and to address their overall competitiveness in the face of increasing imports and rising global pressures on American