Nothing about recent history has been orderly, but the way people buy and prepare produce at home is a mixed bag.

A salad mix is actually a pretty good analogy for today’s market. On one hand, there is a blend of fresh, high-quality produce offered in a value-added and often premium format. On the other hand, there is an element of convenience, with pre-cut and pre-mixed ingredients, ripe for customization.

As people cooked and prepared meals at home much more over the past year, there was a definite balance between enthusiasm and fatigue. Consumers explored foods — including fresh produce —

As the industry anticipates the return and revitalization of Canada’s primary produce event in its new form, leading grower, marketer and distributor of fresh produce Oppy added Canadian category development to the role of one of its most valued veterans.

Having spent the last 13 years building Oppy’s North American greenhouse business within the sector’s complex and highly competitive space, a few short months ago Aaron Quon stepped into his new role as executive director of greenhouse and Canadian category development. Continuing to guide the greenhouse team, Quon’s added responsibility is

Mountain View Fruit Sales & Cold Storage has named three additional National Account Executives: Brian Polson, Carlos Acuña and Ryan Easter.

“We are excited and energized by the creativity, vision and passion Brian, Carlos, and Ryan bring to our team as we continue to grow,” said Pat Steider, president of Mountain View Fruit Sales. “Their knowledge of business development, data analysis, logistics, retail, and merchandising will be incredibly valuable to both our customers and our growers.”

Polson was raised on a family farm in Kansas, where he gained an early understanding of the direct

Sunkist Growers recently debuted Family Segments, a new three-part series on YouTube. Hosted by chef influencers in Canada, the at-home cooking tutorials give viewers an intimate window into how families connect with one another over conversations, culture and citrus.

The first YouTube segment, featuring Vijaya Selvaraju and her mom, Meena, first aired March 11, followed by Devan Rajkumar and his mom, Bhano, April 7; the third and final segment will air on Sunkist’s YouTube channel and on Instagram April 27 featuring Craig Wong and his mom, Shirley. During each unscripted episode, the chefs

Hot off the heels of United Fresh’s BrandStorm, there’s a renewed buzz around sustainability. For the produce industry, this isn’t a new topic. We’ve been pounding the pavement and leading the charge on everything from drip irrigation to more eco-friendly packaging.

Last March, we saw so many of our efforts come to a screeching halt. Suddenly, consumers who were calling for less plastic and packaging started calling for more. Less hands, less germs. It seems like all our progress was for nothing.

As things start to return to “normal” conversations around sustainability are growing. I can’t

The idea of helping fight food insecurity has been instilled in Leslie Gordon since she was a child.

“I was meant to be in food-banking,” she said. “My grandfather’s name was Norman Goldberg, and he used to tell us stories that sometimes when he was younger, the only thing he would have to eat in a day was an apple that he would pick from a neighboring farmer’s tree. So, he knew what it was to be hungry.”

Her grandfather grew up in Rockland, NY, and later in life was “lucky economically,” and quietly but intentionally, made sure that people had what they needed when it came to food.

Durin