On the surface, produce sales appear to continue thriving as the pandemic is about to enter its third year; however, a deeper dive paints a bit of a different picture. According to IRI and 210 Analytics, January dollar sales have surpassed previous records set in 2020 and 2021. Those sales, however, were boosted by inflation as volume sales declined compared to last year.

The consumer price index increased 7.5 percent for the 12 months ending January 2022, the highest increase in 40 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The risk in the current levels of inflation is volume

A community being served by a Roche Bros. doesn’t just have a clean, friendly place to shop. The Roche Bros. philosophy has always been to become entrenched in the communities it calls home.

Since the company’s inception in 1952, Roche Bros. could always be counted on to provide more than just goods and services to its neighbors. For example, in the very beginning, when cash was sparse Roche Bros. would provide a meat slicer for a church social. When cash flow improved the company was just as generous with its money as it was with its time and services.

As the busines grew, so did Roche

Sachem Head Capital Management LP, which owns a 8.7 percent stake — approximately $700 million — in U.S. Foods, has nominated seven directors in an attempt to seek control of US Foods Holding Corp.'s 10-member board.

Sachem Head said it is looking to wrest control of the company to improve profitability. "A new culture of accountability is required at US Foods, and we believe that change must start in the boardroom," said Scott Ferguson, Sachem Head’s principal.

US Foods countered that it has demonstrated an ability to create sustainable value for shareholders and pointed to continued

ProducePay, an agriculture marketplace dedicated to providing trade protection, capital and market insights for members of the produce supply chain, launched Quick-Pay+, a new financing option that allows growers to improve their yield and cash flow, while connecting them with pre-vetted buyers. Through this solution, the company aims to boost the fresh produce market — since growers will be able to receive up to 96 percent of their shipment's value 24 hours after the buyer confirms its reception.

With Quick-Pay+ growers can increase their yield, and buyers will have the possibility to expand

Tom Murray was 16 years old when his professional life started to take shape. He began with Roche Bros. as a part-time employee at the Natick, MA, location with no intention of working in the produce department.

“I was picked out of a lineup with three other guys. They threw us into the produce department,” said Murray, who 48 years later is now director of produce for Mansfield, MA-based Roche Bros.

For the next 11 years, Murray worked his way up the ranks, serving as full-time produce clerk, assistant manager and produce manager in nearly all of the existing Roche Bros. at the time. In

The U.S. online grocery market generated $8.5 billion in sales and accounted for nearly 12 percent of total grocery spending during January, according to the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey fielded Jan. 29-30.

Total January sales were down 8 percent versus the prior year with mixed results across the three receiving methods (pickup, delivery, and ship-to-home). Only pickup made sales gains, growing almost 2 percent to $4 billion. Delivery contracted 7 percent to $3 billion and ship-to-home sales plummeted 30 percent to $1.5 billion, driving nearly two-thirds of the total