Walmart announced plans to acquire Foodmaestro, a Toronto-based digital start-up that will offer customers more choice, transparency and personalized content when they shop online.

Foodmaestro is a data platform serving retailers and consumer package goods companies across Europe and North America with strong capability to turn substantial amounts of data into usable attributes. The platform delivers transparency and rich digital experiences for customers focused on health and diet and offers customized content activation, such as meal planning.

The integration is part of enhancing Walmart

Big Y, one of New England’s largest independently owned supermarket chains, is improving its fleet logistics with new trailers equipped with Carrier Transicold X4 7300 refrigeration units and the eSolutions platform for remote monitoring and control. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corp., a leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.

Big Y has initiated replacement of two thirds of its 70 refrigerated trailers through Ryder System Inc., with Carrier Transicold of Southern New England providing the refrigeration units

By sharing best practices across all of Ahold Delhaize brands, the company looks for divisions to support each other to keep ahead of the competition. One example is the successful implementation of a pilot program that sees the positive effects of dry misting on fresh produce.

Inspired by the morning mist that hangs over crop fields, engineers sought to replicate this natural occurrence and managed to develop a dry misting system. The system is equipped with ultrasonic technology to make the finest mist from the purest filtered water. As the mist floats out of the humidifier through a

FreshEdge, a family of produce and specialty food companies backed by Rotunda Capital Partners, acquired Monteverde’s, a fresh produce distributor located near Pittsburgh. Monteverde’s operates out of a 61,500-square-foot facility.

The addition expands FreshEdge’s footprint farther into the eastern United States and provides space and logistical support to better serve its increasing customer base. Monteverde’s joins a growing alliance that includes Piazza Produce & Specialty Foods, Indianapolis Fruit, Get Fresh Produce, McCartney Produce, Leonardo’s Produce, Valley Produce, Vine Line, Garden

Brothers International Food LLC, based in Rochester, NY, acquired Dennick FruitSource, based in Tampa, FL. The combination of Brothers and Dennick will allow these two leading B2B ingredients companies to significantly expand and diversify their combined customer base and global supplier network.

The companies operate very similar business models, as value-added suppliers of tropical fruit juices, concentrates and purees to global CPG companies.  With minimal current overlap between each company’s customers and suppliers, this transaction allows for significant growth potential through

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on two produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the principal operators of the businesses from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

• Produce Depot USA