Square Roots and Gordon Food Service held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kenosha, WI, to celebrate their largest indoor farm built to date, taking another step in their shared journey to build indoor farms together across the continent — ultimately enabling locally grown food at a global scale.

Regional General Manager Hans Hansen and Square Roots Co-Founder and CEO
Tobias Peggs celebrate the new Square Roots indoor farm in Kenosha, WI." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e4522500-336f-49d0-9cd3-a21f082435f1" height="386" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled-6_0.jpg" width="568">

“Our new farm in Kenosha, built with our strategic partner Gordon Food Service, is our largest and most advanced farm yet. Together, we can deliver high-quality, pesticide-free, fresh produce to local customers, all year round, often within hours of being harvested,” said Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO

The Southeast Produce Council held its annual summer board meeting Aug. 9-11 at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, NC. Attendees enjoyed a tour of the famous Biltmore Estate to commemorate the occasion prior to their series of meetings.

The SEPC board of directors, board of governors and staff discussed several strategic goals and tactics during the two-day event, including final preparations for the upcoming Southern Innovations conference scheduled to take place Sept. 22-24 in Nashville, TN.

“It was a special board meeting in Asheville," said SEPC Chairman Raina Nelson of Westfalia

The heat wave has broken for much of the country; however, the effects continue to play out. According to Mark Campbell, founder and CEO of ProduceIQ, the heat waves across the West Coast have caused various crops to ripen rapidly. Take strawberries for example: earlier in the season weather created an increased supply and prices plummeted. Now, the reported output in California is near historic lows.

“It would not be unreasonable for strawberry markets to be extremely tight for quite a few weeks,” said Campbell.

Asparagus supply is also expected to be light for the foreseeable future.

Two of the top high-volume categories are grapes and melons. Advertising and promoting both will boost your produce sales tremendously along with some substantial gross profit. This is the best time of the season to set up some nice attractive California grape displays as well as large mixed melon presentations.

Grapes: There is an excellent supply of grape volume now available out of the Central Valley of California. Demand is moderate on a steady market. Perfect time to run those promotional ads.

Cantaloupes: Good volume and ample supply is now available from California. The market is

When federal workplace safety inspectors visited three Dollar General stores in Georgia earlier this year, they found exit routes obstructed, boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely and electrical panels hard to access, violations often cited at Dollar General locations.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed more than $6.5 million in penalties after 78 inspections at Dollar General locations nationwide, including more than $450,000 in penalties as a result of three inspections in Georgia, since 2017. OSHA inspectors frequently find unsafe

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on Ayar Produce NY Inc., J&J Distributing Co. and R&S Export & Import Inc. for violating the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include barring the businesses and the principal operators from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

Ayar Produce, based in Brooklyn, NY, failed to pay $720,226 to 14 sellers for produce that was purchased, received and accepted in interstate and foreign commerce from February 2020 to September 2020. This is in violation of the PACA. Ayar