Inflationary concerns are an issue. The direction of the economy is being watched by pundits, economists and businesses throughout the country and the world.

The latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics revealed that the annual inflation rate in the United States accelerated to 8.6 percent in May of 2022, the highest since December of 1981. Energy prices rose 34.6 percent, while food costs climbed 10 percent, the first increase of 10 percent or more since March 1981. Big increases were seen in prices of meats, poultry, fish and eggs. However, the core inflation rate did slow for a

Inflationary pressures, ongoing COVID-19 worries, labor shortages and supply chain issues continue to dominate business discussions. How should produce companies react to these concerns when designing marketing plans or launching new products?

The Produce News empaneled a group of veteran ag marketing experts who were individually asked to provide written responses to a handful of questions concerning their expertise. This year’s participants were Melinda Goodman, president, FullTilt Marketing; Mary Coppola Heslep, senior vice president, Food, Ten Acre Marketing; Cindy Jewell, Jewell

As we forge ahead into the latter half of 2022, the buzz words surfacing with Healthy Family Project’s consumer audience are consistent around cost-savings, budget hacks, meal planning, food waste, trust, social impact and local grown. 

2022 has us all looking at new and creative ways to do business and has forced shoppers to look at new ways of shopping on a budget. Not unlike the past two years, but in a different context.

Budgeting and meal planning
While budgeting and meal planning have always been atop on Healthy Family Project’s followers list of topics of interest, these areas of

TOMRA Food’s integrated solutions automate the processing and packaging of blueberries to maximize efficiency in the packhouse and optimize the value of crops. Precise optical sorting and sizing of blueberries, using the KATO260, allows TOMRA’s customers to stream their products into various grades.

“This extracts premium value from the best fruit, ensures the highest quality across all grades, and creates value-added opportunities for lower grade berries,” said Joshua Miers-Jones, global category director of blueberries at TOMRA Food. “And by optimizing the return from the crop, this

Raley’s opened its newest Raley’s O-N-E Market in Roseville, CA, representing the fourth store under the new banner. Raley’s O-N-E Market offers a unique store experience centered around the brand acronym Organics, Nutrition and Education.

Raley’s O-N-E Market offers a highly curated assortment of better-for-you, natural, and organic options, alongside the most popular conventional products, to deliver healthy and convenient options at an affordable price.  

The Raley’s O-N-E Market concept is focused on making healthy shopping easy and approachable. With this in mind, throughout the store

When foodservice operations shut down in the spring of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, supermarkets experienced a big jump in sales with fresh produce a favored item among consumers. Are the numbers still up? Are other factors such as inflation and labor causing issues?

The Produce News asked several veteran retailers to answer a few questions about produce retailing in these times of continued COVID-19 concerns and rising costs. The following retailers responded to our inquiry: Vince Mastromauro Jr., produce director for Sunset Foods, based in Highland, IL; Mike Roberts, vice