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4 days ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
By Craig Levitt April 24, 2025 The South Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Eastern Produce Council hosted a night at the driving range at TopGolf in Edison, NJ, on April 22. The event marked the 53rd year of the SCDA and EPC relationship. Prior to tee off, Michael Cranford of the SCDA, along with members of the South Carolina contingent, promoted the crops the state offers, which include peaches, watermelon and specialty crops.
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3 weeks ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
By Craig Levitt April 4, 2025 Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, and as we all know, without guacamole (and tequila, but that’s another story), Cinco de Mayo becomes just May 5. Mexico is the main supplier of avocados the United States: between 80 and 88 percent of the non-domestic avocado supply, depending on who you ask. No matter how the on-again, off-again, on-again tariff drama continues play out, Mexico will surely remain the main supplier of avocados the United States.
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1 month ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
It was a record-breaking month for online grocery sales. According to the most recent Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey, the online grocery segment jumped 31 percent versus last year, ending February 2025 with $10.3 billion in monthly sales, and more than 80 million households placed one or more eGrocery orders during the month.
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1 month ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
Artificial Intelligence has infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives. It has become unavoidable. It won’t be long before we bow down to our AI overlords. Until that time eventually arrives, it would behoove retailers to best take advantage of the AI currently available — and logically, many, if not most, are.
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2 months ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
Back in the day, a visit to Wawa or 7 Eleven meant buying a bag of chips, a candy bar, soda or sports drink. Never would we think about buying actual food. Today, the Wawas and 7 Elevens of the word, convenience stores or c-stores, are intensifying their focus on foodservice offerings to drive foot traffic, in-store sales growth and frequency of repeat visits.
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2 months ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
The new year brought improved sales for the online grocery market. January 2025 ended with $10 billion in monthly sales, a 16.6 percent increase over January 2024 according to the most recent Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey, sponsored by Mercatus. Not only were January 2025 sales stronger than last year, it was also the sixth consecutive month of eGrocery sales above $9.5 billion, fueled in large part by the broad and deep discounts on membership and/or subscription programs.
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2 months ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
One of the highlights of the recently concluded FMI Midwinter Executive Conference was the release of the Digital Engagement Transforms Grocery Shopping report — released jointly by FMI—The Food Industry Association and NielsenIQ. Among the reports most interesting findings, more than 90 percent of shoppers participate in both online and in-store shopping.
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2 months ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
By Craig Levitt January 31, 2025 Inflation is simply a fact of life. Prices for everything inherently go up. While people can get by without certain things in their lives, food is not one of them. What has become tricky is that while food prices go up, the average household income has remained relatively stagnant. New research by price-tracking website PriceListo, revealed that Americans spent a significantly larger portion of their income on groceries in 2024 than 10 years ago.
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2 months ago | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
By Craig Levitt January 29, 2025 Costco’s approach to sustainability is holistic and integrated throughout the company based upon three fundamental company foundations. First, Costco’s code of ethics provides the core operating tenet of doing the right thing and helps focus sustainability solutions to be operationally viable and fulfill its obligations to their shareholders, employees, members, suppliers and the communities they serve while obeying the law.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
theproducenews.com | Craig Levitt
With a new year comes a bit of trepidation for retailers, especially this year. Consumers are prepared to tighten their belts — and their wallets — when it comes to spending. So, what does that mean for the long-term success for retailers? According to Coresight Research, a research and advisory firm specializing in retail and technology, U.S. store closures totaled 7,325 in 2024. The firm expects that to increase in 2025 to approximately 15,000.
