Willard (Bill) Bishop, died peacefully on Friday, March 25, surrounded by loved ones at the age of 80. Mr. Bishop's experience in the food retail business reaches from the earliest introduction of the UPC code to the online grocery revolution that was fast-tracked due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1970, Mr. Bishop moved to the Chicago area where he worked as vice president of research at the Supermarket Institute (now known as FMI – The Food Industry Association) for six years.

He started Willard Bishop Consulting in 1976, where he focused on a wide variety of projects spanning grocery

Ben B Schwartz & Sons announced that Jordan Grainger will be joining the company as vice president of sales and business development, effective April 4.

Grainger joins Ben B Schwartz & Sons from Castellini Co., where he finished an 11-year tenure as vice president of sales. Grainger will be bringing his wholesale distribution experience in 3PL logistics, shorts supply, program partnerships and repack (among other services) to Ben B Schwartz & Sons to help supercharge the company’s growth. He will be based out of Cincinnati, where he has developed deep customer relationships, with weekly

Each March, agricultural companies from around the world take a moment to give appreciation to their workforce in celebration of Farm Worker Awareness Week. For companies such as Divine Flavor and its parent company, Grupo Alta, this week is especially important as both companies put a huge emphasis on embracing their workforce with excellent social programs.

Grupo Alta, one of the largest grape growers in all of Mexico, has been producing for more than 30 years, and within that time, it became one of the first Fair Trade Certified farms in Mexico, helping generate more than $6.5 million in

To keep pace with the growth of fresh Hass avocados sales, the Hass Avocado Board has expanded its staff with four new additions. As research projects have nearly doubled in the past five years and promotion has been proven to play a fundamental role in expanding demand, the science-based expertise, marketing, and administrative support from these four hires will be instrumental in driving HAB’s vision to be America’s most popular and desired fruit by 2025.

“As HAB enters its 20th year, we have invested in developing our organizational structure,” said Emiliano Escobedo, executive director of

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association announced the participants for the 2022 Passion for Produce Program in Montreal. As an added value to membership, PFP was created by CPMA in 2010 to provide rising stars in the produce industry with the opportunity to accelerate their professional development through a unique mentoring experience at the Annual Convention and Trade Show.

“We are thrilled to have so many rising stars from some of the leading companies within our industry,” said Ron Lemaire, president of CPMA. “PFP provides mentoring and education in a fast-paced but fun setting where

Fresh Farms, a year-round grower, shipper and leader in table grape and vegetable distribution, has hired David Watson as its new senior vice president of sales and marketing. Watson will head the Arizona and California sales teams, leveraging his past experience to complement and improve sales strategies and current processes.

Watson brings more than 38 years of sales, sales management and marketing experience within the produce industry. His experience in the vegetable and deciduous categories at Chiquita Fresh and Del Monte will allow Fresh Farms to play a larger role in the table grape