by Kevin Payne | Apr 16, 2019 | Freshness Management
I came across an interesting article in Medium, The History of Packaged Salad in 5 Minutes. Many of us purchase packaged salad blends or salad kits on a regular basis. Statista says that, in 2016, Americans purchased $964 million in salad blends and $950 million in salad kits. If you factor in cole slaw and other prepared salads, the total comes to almost $3.7 billion! Americans love convenience! In fact, we’re now changing the face of convenience stores, long the bastion of junk food. Bucking past trends, produce sales in...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Apr 9, 2019 | Freshness Management
Do you have complete cold chain visibility for your fresh produce? Are you getting the freshest produce, or is your competitor down the street? Where do you rank? Why is it important? According to FMI’s Grocery Shopper Trends 2018, 80 percent of shoppers decide where to shop because of high quality fruits and vegetables. That’s the top reason people choose a grocery store. The question is, are they choosing your store or are they going to your competitor? Many retailers lack cold chain visibility and assume that the produce that...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Mar 12, 2019 | Freshness Management
Confusion about food labels and food waste continues among consumers. A recent article in Time Magazine Confused By Expiration Dates? You’re Not Alone. Here’s What They Really Mean again highlights the challenges consumers face in trying to make sense of when to eat – and when to toss – food. The Time article cites a study published in Waste Management and states: Many Americans wrongly believed that food product dates—often prefaced by “best by” or “sell by”—are federally regulated and indicate the point after which the food is no...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Jan 15, 2019 | Freshness Management
Here’s a food spoilage true story. Over the recent holiday break, I went to my local grocery store (who shall remain nameless) on a Wednesday and purchased a clam shell of name brand strawberries. As usual, they looked fine when I bought them. The next morning, less than 24 hours later, I took them out of my refrigerator and they looked like what you see in the photo above. Mushy. Fuzzy. Inedible. That morning, I took them back to the store and they offered to exchange them. I went to the produce department and looked for another...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Jan 8, 2019 | Freshness Management
Shelf-life variability of produce is a significant problem but one that many in the industry are unaware. It’s easy to assume that all pallets harvested from the same field on the same day will have the same amount of freshness or shelf-life. Unfortunately, that’s simply not true. There’s a lot of variability. A LOT. What are the five top causes of shelf-life variability of produce? Why do some fruits and vegetables spoil before we expect them to? What can we do to manage shelf-life and reduce the variability and premature spoilage...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Jan 2, 2019 | Freshness Management
What are key Fresh Food Industry Trends for 2019? Based on the current trajectory, what can we predict for the year ahead? If we thought the last two years in the fresh food industry were tumultuous, they may pale in comparison to 2019. Certainly, the last couple of months have been chaotic in terms of the stock market and various public policy initiatives and has led to talks of a recession, despite many healthy economic indicators. What does this mean for fresh food industry trends in 2019? Here are three trends or predictions...Continue Reading...
