Produce Business October 2008
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inside... PUNDIT LOOKS AT TRACEABILITY •FITNESS CONNECTION •WAL-MART PRICING REPORT •WHOLESALE BRANDING •SWEET POTATOES •PECANS CONSUMER PACKAGING •WEST MEXICAN PRODUCE •FLORIDA FALL VEGETABLES •RED RIVER VALLEY POTATOES •APPLES •SAN LUIS VALLEY POTATOES •SALAD DRESSING ORGANIC CONSUMER OUTREACH •BROCCOLI •SALAD TRENDS •THEME PARK PRODUCE •FUEL COSTS HIT THE FLORAL BUSINESS •POLITICAL PRODUCE OCT. 2008 • VOL. 24 • NO. 10 • $9.90 MARKETING • MERCHANDISING • MANAGEMENT • PROCUREMENT Post-Recession Survival Guide Strategies to take advantage of the changing economic picture. Reader Service # 126 OCT. 2008 • VOL. 24 • NO. 10 107 FEATURES POLITICIANS CALL ON PRODUCE INDUSTRY................................24 COVER STORY Democratic convention’s Lean ’N Green initiative boon to local organic produce growers. CONNECTING TO CONSUMERS THROUGH FITNESS .................................60 POST-RECESSION Retailers reach out to health-minded consumers SURVIVAL GUIDE .................30 by linking fresh produce to physical activities. Strategies to take advantage of the changing economic picture. WHOLESALER BRANDS...........................................................78 Private labels and branded items offered by local wholesalers allow retailers to differentiate themselves while offering consistent quality and value. SALAD DRESSING GIVES PRODUCE SALES EXTRA KICK .........................92 COMMENTARY Retailers are taking advantage of new trends catering to health-conscious consumers and those with exotic taste. THE FRUITS OF THOUGHT Despair Overstated? ...................14 PACKAGING BRINGS MORE THAN SURFACE-LEVEL QUALITY ...................98 Current and future packaging technology promises a spectrum VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY of important benefits to retailers, consumers and the environment. Recession-Proof Your Floral Business ...196 NOGALES MAJOR PLAYER IN WEST MEXICAN PRODUCE ......................107 RETAIL PERSPECTIVE Nogales serves as an important gatekeeper for fresh Trusting Locally Grown ................202 West Mexican fruits and vegetables entering the United States. VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY FLORIDA VEGETABLE SALES HEAT UP THE INDUSTRY .........................116 Wrestling With From October through May, the Sunshine State Food Safety’s Legal Solutions ..........204 serves as a staple supplier of fresh produce to the nation. EUROPEAN MARKET Economic Pressures Affect CSR ........206 IN THIS ISSUE SPECIAL NOTE .....................10 By James Prevor PASSING THE BATON ............201 By James Prevor 60 150 DEPARTMENTS MERCHANDISING REVIEWS: 10 Ways To Put More Crunch In Apple Sales ............................................150 Attract consumers to the apple category by highlighting bold tastes, incomparable selection and plentiful usages. Take A Fresh Look At Broccoli ..........................................................166 Turn up the excitement for this underestimated veggie by using innovative marketing and merchandising techniques. 98 Five Ways To Drive Sweet Potato Sales..................................................172 Retailers have a wide variety of options for boosting year-round consumption of sweet potatoes. Change Service requested: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PRODUCE BUSINESS, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425. PRODUCE BUSINESS (ISSN 0886-5663) is published monthly for $58.40 per year by Phoenix Media Network, Inc., P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425. AUGUST 2008 • PRODUCE BUSINESS 3 OCT. 2008 • VOL. 24 • NO. 10 176 IN EVERY ISSUE DEPARTMENTS THE QUIZ ............................6 ORGANIC MARKETING: Organics Are On The Rise ..............................................................140 WASHINGTON GRAPEVINE ........8 Retailers are going above and beyond traditional marketing techniques to attract the attention of organic consumers. RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES ........12 FRESH CUT MARKETING: COMMENTS AND ANALYSIS ......13 Packaged Salads Expand Offerings .....................................................176 FGive consumers freshm nutritious and convenient PRODUCE WATCH .................16 options for creating an array of appealing salads. FLORAL WATCH ..................195 FOODSERVICE MARKETING: Theme Parks Serving Up Fresh Produce .................................................184 INFORMATION SHOWCASE .....208 Fresh fruits and vegetables are scoring big points with theme park visitors looking for healthful alternatives to french fries and soda. BLAST FROM THE PAST .........210 DRIED FRUIT AND NUTS: Pecans Rise To The Occasion ...........................................................192 Consumers are finding creative usages for these healthful and tasty nuts. SPECIAL FEATURES FLORAL AND FOLIAGE MARKETING: Fuel Costs Hit The Floral Business.......................................................197 FROM THE PAGES OF THE The foliage and cut-flower industry copes with rising fuel costs PERISHABLE PUNDIT through packaging innovations and short-term strategies. Though Traceability Initiative Is A Big Win, Weak Links Still Exist .......26 WAL-MART PRICING STUDY ROUND XVIII In Orlando, Wal-Mart Easily Leads The Way On Prices ....................68 140 197 SPECIAL REPORTS IN THE FIELD: Red River Valley Potatoes ................................................................124 Deep-red skins, superior quality and delectable taste puts Red River Valley potatoes on the map and in the spotlight. San Luis Valley Pushes Potatoes...........................................................132 Southwestern Colorado region offers ideal conditions for profitable potato crop. 210 124 184 Change Service requested: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PRODUCE BUSINESS, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425. PRODUCE BUSINESS (ISSN 0886-5663) is published monthly for $58.40 per year by Phoenix Media Network, Inc., P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425. 4 PRODUCE BUSINESS • OCTOBER 2008 Reader Service # 119 PRODUCE QUIZ OCT. 2008 • VOL. 24 • NO.10 THIS MONTH’S WINNER: Mark Luchak In 1985, Mark Luchak joined Rice Epi- President & Editor-in-Chief •JAMES E. PREVOR Vice President, Produce and curean Markets, a Houston, TX-based chain [email protected] Floral Operations with five stores, as a produce manager. He is Publishing Director •KENNETH L. WHITACRE Rice Epicurean Markets now the vice president of produce and floral [email protected] Houston, TX operations. The produce veteran with 18 Managing Editor •JAN FIALKOW years experience says his day-to-day respon- [email protected] sibilities include writing ads, merchandising Special Projects Editor •MIRA SLOTT SPONSORED BY and organizing promotions. “It’s kind of 100 [email protected] percent operations,” he explains. Assistant Editor •AMY SHANNON Mark enjoys the seasonality of working in [email protected] How To Win the produce and floral business. “It’s exciting Circulation Manager •KELLY ROSKIN To win the PRODUCE BUSINESS Quiz, the first how it changes every day. I love it when we [email protected] thing you have to do is enter. The rules are get into each of the seasons, especially our simple: Read through the articles and locally grown produce, such as Texas peach- Executive Assistant •FRAN GRUSKIN advertisements in this issue to find the es and homegrown tomatoes.” [email protected] answers. Fill in the blanks corresponding APRODUCE BUSINESS reader for 18 years, European Bureau Chief •ROBERT ZWARTKRUIS to the questions below, and either cut along Mark uses the magazine as a one-stop [email protected] the dotted line or photocopy the page, and send your answers along with a business resource for a plethora of industry informa- Production Director • DIANA LEVINE [email protected] card or company letterhead to the address tion. “You can gain so much insight into the listed on the coupon. The winner will be industry while peering into other people’s Production Leader • JACKIE TUCKER chosen by drawing from the responses ideas. I actually just like looking through it. I Production Department received before the publication of our save some of the copies and refer back to FREDDY PULIDO December issue of PRODUCE BUSINESS. The them to refresh my memory.” JOANNA ARMSTRONG winner must agree to submit a color photo As the winner of the PRODUCE BUSINESS MATT WINANS to be published in that issue. Quiz, Mark wins an integrated GPS receiver. Trade Show Coordinator •JACKIE LOMONTE [email protected] WIN A GOLF SET Get your golf game on track with a 12-piece, right-handed set of graphite clubs. Ideal for Contributing Editors MEREDITH AUERBACH,CAROL BAREUTHER, beginners, the set comes in a deluxe stand bag and includes an oversized Titanium DUANE CRAIG,FRITZ ESKER,PETER LAVERY, Matrix driver, a hybrid iron and an alignment-style putter. JACQUELINE ROSS LIEBERMAN,LISA LIEBERMAN, K.O. MORGAN,JODEAN ROBBINS,BARBARA ROBISON, LISA SOCARRAS,TRISHA WOOLDRIDGE,JON VANZILE QUESTIONS FOR THE OCTOBER ISSUE Advertising 1) What is the toll-free number for Flexstar Packaging? ___________________________________ ERIC NIEMAN,ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER [email protected] ____________________________________________________________________________________ JENNIFER JORDAN [email protected] 2) What is the fax number for Joseph Fierman & Son?____________________________________ SANDY LEE [email protected] ____________________________________________________________________________________ BILL MARTIN [email protected] 3) Where is Curry & Co. located?