by Kevin Payne | May 22, 2018 | Freshness Management
When it comes to the freshness of bagged salads, vegetables or meal kits, you need to ask, “What’s in the bag?” Many bagged salads or meal packages will have a “Use By” date but these dates are only guidelines and aren’t reliable or accurate. Why? Not all product harvested on the same day – even from the same field – will have the same freshness or remaining shelf-life. Variations in harvest conditions and processing can cause significant differences in shelf-life meaning the “Use By” date is only an estimate and can vary from the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 15, 2018 | Freshness Management
Have you had the experience where a friend (or child) comes to you in a panic with a problem and asks for your help and immediately jumps to the end of the story? Our typical response is “Wait, let’s start at the beginning” because we require the details of what happened to understand what is causing the problem before we can help them solve it. The problem of shrink or waste in the fresh food supply chain is similar. You need to start at the beginning of the supply chain to understand when and where the cause of shrink – when food...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 8, 2018 | Freshness Management, Supply Chain
Have you ever shown up at a busy restaurant just as a table becomes available? Or perhaps you raced to a store to get an item that’s in high demand and discovered that you are the lucky individual to get the last one on the shelf? When these things happen, I say to my wife “Timing is everything!” Timing is everything when it comes to food freshness too. All produce has a definable shelf-life, or “freshness capacity,” which varies based on harvest quality and conditions, and product temperature. The timing becomes critical from the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 1, 2018 | Freshness Management
May is National Salad Month. Sure, it’s not as exciting as the opening of baseball season, but it’s still worth celebrating, whether you prefer Cobb Salad, Caesar Salad or just some simple mixed greens. On average, Americans eat about 30 pounds of lettuce per year – but it’s not always easy to get the recommended amount of leafy greens. As such, bagged salads have become increasingly popular due to the convenience and available varieties. They’re a great option, but unlike uncut lettuce, bagged lettuce doesn’t last as long in your...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Apr 24, 2018 | Freshness Management, Supply Chain
When it comes to the growers and suppliers in fresh food supply chain, how many of us really understand what it takes to provide the fresh fruits and vegetables that we buy at our local grocery store? Perspectives from Western Growers Last week I was at the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT) in Salinas, California and had the chance to meet with Dennis Donohue, the WGCIT’s Consulting Director. While I’m perhaps more in-tune with the produce industry than your average American, speaking with Dennis...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | Apr 17, 2018 | Freshness Management
When my kids were young, each night at bedtime I’d read them two or three books. One of their favorites was “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Maybe you’ve read it to your children or grandchildren. It details how poor Alexander’s day starts off bad (gum in his hair when he wakes up) and just gets worse. I’ll bet each of us has had at least one of those days. I wonder if that’s how grocery retailers feel these days. It seems almost daily we see stories in the news or trade press about a new challenge...Continue Reading...
