by Kevin Payne | Sep 25, 2018 | Freshness Management
The Game of Life, created by Milton Bradley, is intended to be a fun way to mimic life – you’re born, you decide to pursue a college degree or go directly to work, you get married, have kids, lose your job, lose a turn. It’s a race to the finish, but life often has its delays along the way. This process through the life-cycle is similar for fresh produce. In “The Game of Shelf-Life,” produce such as strawberries or lettuce is harvested, field-packed, rushed to the pack house, pre-cooled, warehoused, shipped in a...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Sep 18, 2018 | Operational Efficiency
Have you ever walked out to your yard and seen a long line of trucks with your produce waiting…in the hot sun? How is this impacting your post-harvest operational efficiency? You might find yourself asking, like the 1974 song by Ace, “How long has this been going on?” Whether you’re a grower, shipper or processor, managing costs is usually top of mind, especially when your biggest costs are labor and equipment. How can you make sure you’re efficiently utilizing both in your operations? What if your already limited labor resources...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Sep 11, 2018 | Sustainability
Did you know that perishable food waste contributes eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions? When we think of fresh food waste and sustainability, oftentimes commentary about the issue focuses on food that is not being used to feed the hungry or wasted food taking up space in landfills. But what happens to waste once it’s in the landfill? Perishable food waste produces greenhouse gases…a lot of greenhouse gases. The Impact of Fresh Food Waste A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, The Climate Impact of the Food in the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Sep 4, 2018 | Good Causes
It’s National Family Meals Month! How many meals do you eat at home with your family on any given week? When I was a kid, pretty much every dinner was spent with my entire family. My mom always made sure we had a variety of fresh foods to eat including lean meats, veggies, pasta and often fresh strawberries (with vanilla ice cream, of course) for dessert. However, these images of classic Americana are now increasingly rare. Between parents working long hours, kids having baseball or soccer practices and games, plus dance and...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Aug 28, 2018 | Food Delivery
Have you had problems with food service delivery? The restaurant business is changing and is vastly different than it was only a few years ago. Like perhaps many of you, I worked my way through college as a waiter. On the best days, working in a restaurant is chaotic but restaurants today are nothing like when I was in college. Nowadays, there’s a lot more going on. Today’s Food Service Delivery Challenges Today’s restaurants have to deal with a variety of new challenges when it comes to food service delivery – challenges that...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Aug 21, 2018 | Supply Chain
What does Charles Darwin have in common with the fresh food industry? Boiling down evolutionary theory to its basics, those that adapt survive. Those that don’t, well…. In a new white paper from Transworld Data, Mary Shacklett references the tale of three companies, Netflix, Blockbuster and Red Box, who have all taken different approaches to the entertainment content market. Not much more than a decade ago, Blockbuster dominated the movie and media content market, having over 9,000 stores at its peak. Meanwhile, Netflix a small DVD...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Aug 14, 2018 | Sustainability
Food sustainability goals are something we all need to think about. My family was among the first to recycle cans (back before you got paid for doing that) and we did a lot of paper drives when I was in Cub Scouts. Having grown up as an environmentalist, and even taking environmental studies courses in college, it’s great to see the topic of sustainability discussed in both corporate America and the general public. The Three E’s of Sustainability When discussing the viability of food sustainability goals, there’s often talk of the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Aug 7, 2018 | Digital Transformation, Freshness Management
Is it finally time for digital transformation technology to come to the world of food and agriculture? E-commerce? It’s been around for years and most of us don’t think twice about buying something online from Amazon or Target. For many of us it’s a part of our daily activity but, in the grocery industry, maybe not so much. Is it Time for Tech? A recent blog by the Food Marketing Institute’s Doug Baker, Vice President of Industry Relations, Private Brands and Technology, raises the question of whether technology is finally going to...Continue Reading...
by Peter Mehring | Aug 1, 2018 | Company News
One-third, or over $85 Billion, of fresh food is wasted each year in the US. Zest Labs is dedicated to helping reduce the massive post-harvest fresh food waste through prevention by proactively managing the fresh food supply chain. Retailers experience roughly 15 percent shrink in produce, primarily due to premature spoilage. Aside from the profound impact on the environment and sustainability, this is a huge hit to retail grocers’ product margins. In 2011 we started developing Zest Fresh, the industry’s first proactive solution for...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Jul 24, 2018 | Retail Grocery
Are you loyal to a particular grocery store? What are you loyal to? I’ve been a loyal Oakland A’s fan since I was a young boy back in 1968. Since then, there’s only been one year where I didn’t make the hour-long drive to their ballpark to see a game and I now go to Spring Training every year. Most of us are loyal to a team, a cause, our friends. Many of us can also call out our favorite stores we regularly shop at. What makes us loyal to a particular grocery store? Grocery Store Loyalty A recent article in Food Dive references a...Continue Reading...
