Demand exceeded supply for several vegetable commodities during the first week of June, but the protests and national unrest around the country could impact that by creating supply chain issues. At least that is the view of veteran Denny Donovan, sales manager of Fresh Kist Produce LLC, based in Santa Maria, CA.

“We could tell in the middle of May that we were going to run into some shortage situations this week,” he said. “Broccoli and cauliflower were short the week of June 1 and should remain short the week of June 8. There was enough iceberg lettuce for June 1, but we should be very short

Volm Cos. Inc. is enabling fresh produce growers and packers to meet retail demand for displaying products in sustainable packaging.

Marsha Verwiebe, director of marketing and communications for Volm, said a couple of new technologies are being used in trials, or are on their way to the marketplace. These sustainable packaging materials are derived from sugarcane and can be disposed by the consumer in recycle bins with recyclable plastics.

Currently in trials is a new sustainable mesh product created by JX Nippon ANCI Inc.

The product is CLAF-brand, with the trademark Bio Fabric, and is a

Instacart and C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. have partnered to offer e-commerce and same-day delivery solutions to more than 3,000 C&S independent grocery retailers across the U.S. The new partnership shows both companies’ continued commitment to supporting independent grocers across the country and the diverse communities these retailers serve.

“Connecting local grocers to their customers online is incredibly important to Instacart, and the need for this has never been greater than it is today,” said Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart. “It’s critical that families have access to

Sunrise Logistics has built a successful business on three pillars: people, process and technology. And those three pillars are the basis of a new customer portal the company is now rolling out.

Sunrise, located in Ephrata, PA, and a division of Four Seasons Produce, was established in 2006 and offers comprehensive managed transportation services, full truckloads, LTL, warehousing and quality control. But in order to offer more advanced services in line with the much larger logistics players, the company has made a significant investment toward a more functional, intuitive and user-friendly

IFCO Systems launched a new RPC Mini Series. The Mini Series RPCs are the smallest reusable containers on the market specifically designed for the transportation of fresh food. The size of the RPCs allows retailers, growers and suppliers to efficiently use the available space when transporting convenience food and fresh, pre-packed food for immediate consumption.

With the development of the new RPC Mini Series IFCO is responding to changing customer needs. More and more consumers are buying healthy snacks prepared for immediate consumption, such as sandwiches, ready-to-eat salads, carrot

FiveStar Gourmet Foods has been crafting delicious, fresh and healthy products since 1999, and for the past four years has operated a state-of-the-art East Coast processing facility in Naples, FL. The company didn’t fully realize until now what an important grassroots contribution it would make in the local community.

Working with the Feeding America food bank network, FiveStar, the maker of Simply Fresh branded products is now on the front lines distributing fresh and wholesome foods directly to the community as part of a massive USDA-funded program known as Farmers to Families. FiveStar