The Produce Moms Podcast

"Apples are the number one fruit in American households. It is a go-to. It's something that even if it's not on your grocery list, you're buying it."

Lori Taylor (23:57-24:07)

The Produce Moms has proudly co-branded with Applewood Fresh not just because of their 20 incredible varieties of apples, but because of their dedication to sustainability, protecting the environment and educating the consumer produce mom everywhere. Brian Coates has been in the business for over 35 years and has been working with Applewood Fresh for the past three years at the beginning of the farm supply chain journey.

Brian first got his start working for Meijer on the retail side working as a bagger and pushing carts, eventually moving into the produce department to become a manager. Over time, he's bought almost every commodity there is, moving his way up to senior buyer and spending a decade focused on apples. He spent a couple of years as Director of Procurement for a Wholesale distributor in Michigan. This led him to the sales side of business with Applewood, first as a consultant and then to VP of Sales and Business Development, proudly supporting this third-generation owned business in their efforts to provide consumers fresh and new apple varieties.

How is Applewood Fresh supporting sustainability in America? Because the family owned orchards are in Michigan with growers around the state, their apples primarily travel through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas. This cuts down on pollution from shipping with less food miles and is cost effective because of how expensive the cost of freight is right now.

"We do a lot of things from the grower, to the packhouse, to shipping for sustainability efforts through recycling, composting, reducing and eliminating fertilizers, integrating pest management, and using trickle irrigation which is much better for cutting down water usage." Brian Coates (8:24-9:00)

Applewood Fresh also uses solar power on top of their packing facilities and eco-friendly packaging. Out of all the apple brands The Produce Moms works with, Applewood Fresh has the broadest profile in managed varieties aka branded apples in the state of Michigan. What kind of apples are we talking about? These are apples that have been bred through natural, cross-pollination methods through a deliberate effort from apple breeders who are taking key characteristics of different apple varieties that have exactly what both farmers and consumers want.

As Lori Taylor says, "an apple that is difficult for the farmer to grow is an apple that is inaccessible for the consumer. It can taste amazing, but if it's difficult to thrive on the farm, we're not going to be able to put it on the trucks and we're not going to be able to sell it at a price point that's sustainable."

Managed brands have extra marketing efforts behind them, have branded names, and have growers from multiple regions committed to farming that apple under the brand name, using the specific growing standards of each of the different varieties. It takes a lot of work from the growers that are willing to help and go through the trials to figure out what varieties are standing out in the different growing reasons

If you're from the midwest, you grew up going to apple orchards and drinking cider in fall until winter. After that, apples aren't as much of a top-of-mind purchase, but thanks to the emerging varieties, different kinds of apples are being harvested later and some even have a flavor profile that's much better after months of storing! This time of year is a great opportunity for consumers to try something different, like Applefresh's Kiku apple, which is one of the sweetest and juiciest apples around, or the Evercrisp or Kanzi.

"One of the things with COVID that you've seen change is that more and more consumers are looking for something they can get in and out of the store quickly, and that's maybe in a bag that they feel more comfortable with safety-wise." Brian Coates (24:59-25:16)

COVID has certainly changed things across the board for consumers, retailers, farmers and growers. Grocery stores have been dealing with labor and operation issues, and consumers want quick, easy, and safe options, which is why we've seen a shift in how apples are being sold. More and more retailers are offering apples in three or five pound bags rather than stacking individual apples on the shelf. There's also a big focus in retail right now to convey to the consumer what the flavor profile is of these new varieties and where the product comes from.

There's so many brilliant ways to enjoy apples and, aside from eating them as-is, Brian loves eating apples with wine and cheese. His daughter is a budding charcuterie connoisseur, so she's also started to include apples with her meats. A great apple pie is something Brian can't say no to and he encourages everyone to try some of the new, great flavors available with Applewood Fresh's varieties! If you see the Applewood Fresh and The Produce Mom's logo at your local retailer, know this is a great brand to support if you're focused on sustainability, and enjoying what's healthy for the environment and your family!

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"It sounds like a complicated technology advancement for grocery retail, but man is it going to make the lives of the consumer a lot easier."

Pamela Riemenschneider (14:06-14:16)

Pamela Riemenschneider is a catalyst for the produce industry. As one of our most top, celebrated trade journalists, she's constantly pushing industry leaders to think bigger, more innovative and identify opportunities to optimize and evolve how we get fresh produce into the hands of consumers like you. With Pamela's great foresight and pulse on what's to come, we're sharing with you the top five trends you can expect to see this year in grocery retail, restaurants and produce.

Across the board, Pamela predicts 2022 to be a year of evolution. From the way restaurants handle business, partnerships between kitchens and retailers, recycling initiatives and ready-to-go, convenient food options, we're going to continue to see an evolution in how we enjoy and shop for food altogether.

First, let's talk about restaurants. Thanks to the pandemic, restaurants have had to rethink how they provide an incredible experience and impeccable service. Some of the top restaurants in the country have found themselves competing with fast food or drive-through options. Why? As Pamela reminds us, we don't want to think about what to cook or what to order anymore. Also, the pandemic drove us to find convenient options that were ready-to-go and meals that are quick and easy, including ones you can eat on-the-spot in your car.

Restaurants were hurting during the pandemic have two options. One is to offer smaller menus or menus that focus on what they do best and shift to "reservation only" for diners. The other is to get their foot in the door with ghost kitchens and collaborative spaces that are making it easy to enjoy restaurant-quality meals at home.

Meal delivery and meal prep companies are going to continue to optimize. They've been slightly confusing and not very cost effective, which is why we've seen a dip in consumer interest from these companies, and a push towards grocery retailers providing their own ready-to-go or take-home meal kits.

"Here's my huge prediction that I feel I'm going to be super wrong or super right on it and it's reservations. I think they aren't going to be just a fine dining thing [anymore] and are going to be [used] by 'every day Joe' type of restaurants because they have constrained labor, hours and resources. If you want to have a great experience at a restaurant, you better plan to make a reservation." Pamela Riemenschneider (21:09-21:31)

The pandemic took everyone's attention away from our concerns about plastic. What was more important was figuring out and providing safe, effective ways to give consumers food while eliminating the risk of COVID-19 as much as possible. Now that we've accepted the "new normal", our focus on finding alternatives to plastic that are cost effective will return.

Even though packaging like raspberry clamshells have a recycle symbol on them, they're typically rejected by recyclers because they also have paper stickers on them that aren't recyclable. Some companies are working on getting new labels or switching to corrugated options (that are pricey, but work well). Pamela says we need to push municipal recyclers into making recycling easier or finding a way to accept things that we originally thought couldn't be recycled.

Another hot trend we'll continue to see this year is produce grown from indoor farms. Indoor farming creates a fresher product, oftentimes is grown closer to the grocery retailer it's sold at and uses less water. A ton of investment and financial backing is being poured into this industry innovation and, on top of it, indoor farming has created some incredible, custom produce we haven't seen before!

"If you don't have lettuce grown from an indoor farm in your store right now, it's only a matter of time before they take over a lot of the shelf." Pamela Riemenschneider (30:35-30:48)

It wouldn't be a top five trend list without calling on a produce item like mushrooms, which Pamela says are having a "glow up" right now! Mushrooms are being used in a lot of different ways you might have not heard of, like as a more cost effective alternative to scallops. There's even mushroom oatmeal at stores like Walmart, and shredded sriracha or barbeque flavored mushrooms you can eat on sandwiches! Mushroom jerky, mushroom chips… the list goes on and on with how creative we're getting with this versatile vegetable.

Keep your eyes peeled for how some of these trends are changing the way you feed your family and enjoy healthy, delicious produce! Be sure to check out Pamela's articles on current trends, future forecasts and more at www.producebluebook.com.

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"This is the company that really changed the access the rest of the United States had to get fresh, leafy greens."

Lori Taylor (5:28-5:35)

Even though Tanimura & Antle wasn't "officially" launched until 1982, the families that make up this incredible fresh produce team have a legacy that stems from 100 years of growing experience. The Tanimura family and Antle family lived 40 miles apart from each other, with the Tanimura family emigrating from Japan and the Antle family migrating to California from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl in the 1920's.

During World War Two, the Antle family agreed to watch over the Tanimura's land while some of the Tanimura family was placed in internment camps and two of the brothers fought in the war. When the war was over, the two families had an unmatched partnership and bond and decided to join forces; the Tanimuras growing the lettuce and the Antles marketing and selling it under their brand.

What started as a relationship between two families with a love for produce has now grown into a global company with 30,000 acres on the west coast, 7,000 employees annually, and sales across the Nation and internationally. Brian Antle, who got his start on the farm at the ripe age of 14 when he would get paid to move sprinkler pipes (a vital part of irrigation), jokes that "the plan was to get to 100,000 cases of produce a week." The company now sells almost 140,000 boxes a day and about 40 million cases a year!

Tanimura & Antle's core products are iceberg lettuce, romaine, red and green leaf, cauliflower, broccoli and celery. They also have organic produce, greenhouse grown produce, and an Artisan line of products that are uniquely branded for their different taste profiles, colors, qualities and crunchability. The Artisan family of specialty produce includes their Artisan Lettuce, Artisan Romaine, Artisan Sweet Gem, Artisan Baby Iceberg, Artisan Sweet Red Onions and Artisan Sweet Broccoli.

"They were the first company that put iceberg lettuce on a rail car on ice and shipped it from California to New York City and it arrived fresh. From there, as they say, the rest is history." Lori Taylor (5:45-5:56)

The cool thing about Tanimura & Antle is the many 'firsts' the company has ignited for the produce industry. Their family was the first to pack and wrap a head of lettuce in cellophane. They were also the first to use cardboard boxes and cool produce in vacuum cooling tubes prior to shipping, allowing the entire produce industry to move away from needing to ice everything and use rail cars.

Speaking of innovation, Tanimura & Antle even breeds their own seed genetics! The company can tailor their lettuce, to have a certain color, size or taste. They can also breed plants to become more resistant to certain disease or mildew pressures. Innovations in seed genetics ultimately allows Tanimura & Antle to harvest more product for consumption and decrease food waste at the field level. This is all done through natural plant breeding, none of these seeds are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Tanimura & Antle truly strives to find sustainability in every corner of their operations!

Another innovative practice of the company is the use of automated technology. Tanimura & Antle has a group of diversified businesses, one of those being Stout, a company focused on "smart farm equipment". With the cost and shortages of skilled agricultural labor, farmers are being challenged with doing more with less every day. Tanimura & Antle is investing in machines that can help supplement these labor shortages, such as machines that eliminate weeds in the field using artificial intelligence and computer vision systems. Machines like this will allow farmers to [AP1] utilize the employees in areas of agricultural production that cannot be automated, such as harvesting or operating these new machines. While this type of innovation can sometimes be viewed as eliminating jobs, they're not. Innovations like this allow farmers to supplement the shortages within their work force in order to continue to feed the world.

"The ground is the most valuable asset we have next to our employees. Without either one, there is no sustainability." Brian Antle (29:16-29:23)

One key to Tanimura & Antle's success is how much they value the ground they grow on. They're constantly rotating their crops and focus on keeping the ground healthy. Without healthy soil, they know they cannot grow a healthy crop.

Tanimura & Antle views their employees as their #1 asset. They ensure their employees are taken care of by providing things like a low cost employee housing complex, access to full health benefits, a matched 401k and one of the their proudest innovations, an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). They were one of the first major grower shippers to adopt an ESOP in the United States! In 2017, the Tanimura and Antle families made the decision to make their employees official business partners and sold a portion of the company to the employees, creating the ESOP. The ESOP allows employees to earn ownership stocks of the company through years of service and loyalty to the company.

When it comes to enjoying their produce, make sure to try one of their Artisan or Greenhouse Grown vegetables. You can find Tanimura & Antle in most major grocery retailers across North America, and if not, be sure to ask your local produce manager to put Tanimura & Antle's branded items on your grocery store shelf!

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"Every piece of the supply chain literally is being affected by inflation, from availability issues, to transportation, starting all the way down at the plant material and taking it all the way to the consumer."

Ryan Lockman (23:21-23:45)

In the ladder part of 2021, you've probably experienced several delays in packages or going shopping for items that weren't at your local retailer. It's clear that we're in a crisis with the supply chain and the issues we're seeing, especially when we shop for groceries. There's a rising cost of goods, inflation, lack of supply to meet demand, and a struggle to get U.S. grown products in front of consumers.

Lori joined Ryan Atwood, one of the owners of H&J Farms in Florida, a blueberry grower and packer, and Ryan Lockman, the Vice President of Sales and Procurement for North Bay Produce, a long-standing partner with The Produce Moms and marketer of fresh produce. Lockman manages relationships with large grocery retailers like Kroger, Aldi's and Meyer, and also distributes Atwood's blueberries under the North Bay brand.

Since Ryan Atwood is someone who's on the front lines and starting point of the produce supply chain, he's formed a strong opinion as to where the rising cost of goods originated from. Atwood thinks labor costs went up at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of people deciding to stay home and get out of their 9-5 workforce jobs. In order to attract employees and talent, companies have had to raise their wages (something H & J Farms has done).

"Growers haven't received the proper returns for a long time. I wholeheartedly think that our growers have needed higher returns or larger profit margins since I started The Produce Moms." Lori Taylor (13:15-13:34)

Ryan Atwood has experienced a firsthand result of inflation with fertilizer. Every year there's a fertilizer bid which, once the bid is received, it locks out the price for the entire year, however this year, Atwood was told fertilizer prices were only good for a mere 20 days. The fertilizer prices he was quoted in 2021 compared to 2020 completely doubled.

Ryan Lockwood also believes we're running into some very tough times because "the cost of growing fruit is increasing, but also on a daily basis the amount of mobile money the average retail consumer has to use on purchasing groceries is decreasing because of the rising cost of goods in retail."

Every item across the produce department is increasing in cost and the availability is decreasing for the consumer. Consumers still want to eat healthy and buy wisely, but farmers have no choice but to charge a higher price than what the produce item was in the field, which inevitably makes certain produce items unattractive to consumers, such as blueberries.

"When you look at what the price of gas costs and the price hikes we've seen in proteins… We haven't seen that kind of inflation with fresh produce yet, but even the small hike in price (which is inevitable and will continue) has put commodities within the grocery store and the produce department at risk." Ryan Lockman (19:18-19:49)

We aren't sure just yet how retailers and the supply chain are going to respond to the fact that the cost of producing and growing blueberries is rising and the result that creates when trickling down to the point of sale. There's a longer lead time for all things in the supply chain, from packaging, to cardboard, to the cost and availability of trucking, warehouse staff, and more. Ryan Lockman thinks lead times are higher than they've ever been in history.

This also affects our quality of food because when it finally hits the shelf it's a week older than it should be and also creates a delay in marketing plans for promotions and sales. Both Ryan's want consumers to understand this because it's important to know why you have to pay more for a superior product versus putting a subpar item on the shelf for a lesser price.

If you want to play your part in helping decrease our supply chain issues, support U.S. grown produce as much as possible. Relying on produce exports is creating a food security issue for our country and our American farmers and growers need your help.

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"That's our tagline: scratch-made quality with more convenience than a can."

Michelle Huff (22:11-22:17)

'Value added' is a pretty popular term in the produce industry. It's when someone takes a basic commodity, like a fruit or vegetable, and innovates the actual produce itself, its packaging, or turns it into something like a meal kit. But for some reason, no one has come up with a way to innovate beans, other than putting them in a can full of sodium and mystery ingredients.

Michelle Huff, who's husband owns a farm, was constantly asking herself, "what does my husband grow that I can add value to, is innovative, hasn't been done before yet checks the boxes of an actual, marketable product?"

Beans were the first thing that came to her mind, considering how time-consuming it can be to prepare them and if you don't plan ahead to soak them overnight, you're stuck using beans from a can. From 2011 to 2018, Michelle was wondering how she could take that same, incredible flavor profile you enjoy from scratch-made beans and provide it to consumers in an easy, ready made, and healthy package.

"One of the reasons I loved the product so much is they're better tasting than canned beans and they're a heck of a lot quicker than cooking them on my own. So often when I cook them on my own, they just get mushy and undercooked!" Lori Taylor (6:00-6:11)

Bare Beans is a completely naked bean with just two ingredients: beans and water. They're fully cooked, ready to eat and come in a convenient pouch. There isn't any liquid, either, so when you tear open the pouch, you can pour the beans out and pop them in your mouth as a snack, add them to a salad or add them to a delicious recipe!

Bare Beans come in four varieties: black beans, garbanzo beans, red beans and pinto beans, which are the top four varieties of beans consumers are most familiar with and are purchasing. Michelle sources 100% of the beans from her husband's farm and, as they grow, they plan to use small, local farmers in the area to make sure they keep utilizing the local economy and sourcing only the best beans.

Did you know that legumes, the category of produce beans fall under, are the only type of produce that technically are considered a vegetable and a protein? Bare Beans are a great, protein-packed snack to give to kids at sporting events or after school.

How do Michelle's beans go from the field into Bare Beans' cute pouches? The beans are planted in spring and harvested in fall. When it's time to harvest, they dry the plant out (quit irrigating), but make sure the moisture content of the beans isn't too high. Once harvested, the beans are taken to a local cleaning and milling facility where they go through a milling process and are then stored in bean boxes which are taken to Michelle's facility.

The beans are given another comb through to make sure no sediment, rocks or potentially harmful plant matter are in there, then soaked overnight and added to a big kettle the next day. The home cooking process is simulated as much as possible, just as beans have been prepared for decades. This is how the beans get their great, delicious flavor! The Bare Beans team then drains them, packages them, takes them through a food safety process, and packages them in cooler boxes to be sent to retailers and food service companies.

"I've got one customer that uses our beans religiously in their hummus! They love our garbanzo beans." Michelle Huff (15:28-15:36)

Michelle's favorite way to use Bare Beans is of course (being from Minnesota) a 'hot dish'! Michelle bakes Cream of Mushroom soup, fresh tomatoes and chopped onions, ground beef, taco seasoning, Bare Beans black and pinto beans in a casserole dish and tops it off with something crunchy, like those last crumbles of tortilla chips left at the bottom of the bag.

Bare Beans would also make for a great and easy way to make black bean burgers, hummus, chili, refried beans, tacos, salads and much more! Even if you put them in your crockpot before you go to work, they're still firm with a nice bite to them later in the day. They hold their structure and firmness, unlike a canned bean.

Ready to get your hands on some pouches of Bare Beans? Contact your local food service company and stay tuned by checking for updates on the Bare Beans website for local retailers who will carry these healthy, convenient snacks. You'll be supporting a woman-owned and Native American owned business, and providing your family with a healthy, protein-packed snack.

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"No one truly needs our groceries in 10 minutes, but we now have the ability to do it and we must embrace the technology and the business models because it's going to improve the quality of life for everyone."

Brittan Ladd (48:03-48:17)

You may remember Brittain Ladd from Episode 41, one of our top 20 most downloaded episodes of all time, or Episode 141 where he discussed Amazon divesting Whole Foods and predicted most of what we saw happen in the grocery industry this year. He's also been featured in Forbes and shares his expert insight regularly on CNBC. Now, Brittain's back with his predictions for grocery retail and how we shop as consumers in 2022!

Brittain, a former Marine turned research-obsessed rapid grocery retail consultant, started sharing his opinion in 2013, applying Game Theory to the grocery industry globally which led him to designing the Amazon Fresh stores being built today. After leaving Amazon, Brittain started his own company, working with Kroger and starting to get recognized in the media because of how accurate his predictions were.

Since Brittain is so spot on, he's got a lot to share with us about what we can expect in grocery retail and as consumers in 2022.

"As far as 2022… what's going to happen is there's going to be a mass acceleration of all things technology, whether it's artificial intelligence or whether it's robotics, companies are going to continue to invest in robotics and automation and software as much as they can." Brittain Ladd (8:29-8:48)

The goal for most companies will be to meet demand by leveraging automation. Since grocery retailers have already invested in a physical place to sell their groceries, they'll need to maintain the stores by either focusing on shipping and fulfillment or investing in smart carts (like the company Instacart recently acquired called Caper), which in the long term helps companies acquire better data to understand consumer behavior on a bigger scale.

Brittain likes to say "check-in is the new check out", meaning grocery retailers have no idea who is inside their stores until a customer checks out (hopefully) using a loyalty card or credit card that accesses the customer's name in the retailer's system. The current model is 'archaic', in Brittain's opinion, and he is urging retailers to hop on board with "walk out and go" technology.

The retailer can track someone's purchases and know which items they are most likely to purchase, allowing them to give specific discounts and introduce new products to personalize a customer's experience. This will generate more revenue for the store and it's a better shopping experience overall.

Something else Brittain has been predicting since 2019 is the move to virtual reality reach. Soon, instead of going to a website or a store, consumers will shop for groceries in the comfort of their own home in grocery stores that don't even exist because they are virtual!

"I keep saying to companies, whether you're a farmer, small business owner or a major corporation, you need to be asking yourself, 'what is our metaverse strategy? How do we market ourselves in the metaverse? How do we have a presence in the metaverse?" Brittain Ladd (14:38-14:52)

Another trend we're going to see grow is rapid grocery delivery, which has been happening in Europe and Russia where grocery companies are offering customers the ability to receive their products in 10-15 minutes. Brittain says that when we're given the choice we're always going to err on the side of getting things faster, so grocery retailers are going to have to make investments in technology and work with rapid grocery delivery companies or micro fulfillment centers where robotic systems are used to fulfill orders. If you live in cities like Los Angeles, you might have already seen some of the autonomous vehicles being used in bike lanes or sidewalks.

The concern for consumers with this is, of course, picking out fresh produce. Companies like Caper have smart carts that have a robotic arm extending from it and the ability to pick up even just a single blueberry at the time. The arm has a camera on it so you can watch from home and operate the arm yourself. It can even dictate how old the food is based on density or the date the food was put on the shelf, and detect things like bruises and wormholes.

Although the world and how we shop for groceries is changing rapidly, these technological changes will give us all a lot more time back in our day and improve our quality of life. Make sure to follow Brittain on Forbes or LinkedIn and listen to the full episode where he also discusses his 2022 predictions for mergers, acquisitions, inflation and more!

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"Food is culture. Food is what connects us all and food is a catalyst, a magnetic force for bringing people together to have the best day of their life."

Lori Taylor (17:31-17:44)

"I have so many, so many mixed emotions. My wish for everyone is peace and joy. I want to tell everyone that is part of our community at The Produce Moms that you've been a huge part of my inner peace, my professional joy and you've made me a better person because of my ability to connect with all of you, and my ability to meet so many fascinating, brilliant people that come on as is our guest." Lori Taylor (1:09-1:44)

Holidays are a great time to pause, reflect, and for Lori Taylor, The Produce Mom's founder, it's a time that reminds her how TPM began. Lori started The Produce Moms in 2012 when she was a marketing manager at a fruit company in Indianapolis and pitched the idea as a way to expand the marketing department. Lori received support from her employer to bring the idea to fruition. The Produce Moms blog kept growing and growing, and in 2015, her employer decided they were done with the blog, but gave Lori the opportunity to purchase it from them. From there, Lori's been off to the races with TPM and the mission we're on: to help you eat more fruits and vegetables in volume and variety, while bringing you closer to the farmers of our industry.

"That leap has brought me so much strength as a human being. I've evolved into a pretty self-confident woman. Trust me, I still have my moments, like all of us do… moments of self-doubt and insecurities that happen to all human beings, but really the journey has been very empowering and it's made me a smarter person. It's made me more of a worldly thinker. And most importantly, it's given me the great privilege, honor and blessing to help share my passion with others and help enrich your life and everyone's life who's part of this show." Lori Taylor (3:42-4:29)

For the next few weeks into the new year, Lori and The Produce Moms team is focused on family. Lori will be hanging out with family, watching Christmas movies, making chex mix, baking cookies and relaxing, while the rest of the team finds ways to fill their soul with peace and joy.

Lori's also focused on spending her time off learning about the big developments happening in the digital space (did anyone say metaverse?) and understanding what's available to help further TPM's mission to be a catalyst for supporting farmers and our industry's stakeholders in changing the grocery retail climate.

It wouldn't be a holiday season without plenty of delicious recipes! Lori's going to be cooking and baking a delicious, lemon cranberry almond bread she'll share with her boys' basketball team, a delicious capri pasta salad (using NatureSweet tomatoes, of course!), and food art like banana candles.

Next year, The Produce Moms is focused on continuing to grow their footprint. A huge accomplishment for TPM this year was going from a content marketing platform into a well established brand that's been featured on packages in actual grocery stores! TPM always wants to provide you with educational resources that connect you to and bring you closer to the farm, while inspiring you to eat a wider variety and amount of fruits and vegetables.

One way to do that is to check out our blog on how to request items at a grocery store. Whether you've learned about a new produce item on our podcast you've never heard of, you have a new year's goal to be healthier and change or lifestyle, or just want to try doing something special that requires an unique ingredient, this blog will show you exactly how to request those items at your local grocery store. Even if you think you'll never find it, remember that your local grocer doesn't want you shopping at their competitors! Sometimes it's as easy as telling the department manager or going online and making the request. The blog includes the top 25 grocers in the United States.

There's also a new area on our website called 'Produce', found under the Menu section, where we're teaching you how to select, store and serve the most popular produce department items.

In January, you can look forward to some incredible episodes with former guests like Brittain Ladd, who will be discussing the state of the grocery industry, and Pamela R. Schneider, agricultural journalist widely celebrated in the grocery industry space who will be discussing what hot, 22 produce department items all moms should add to their grocery list in 2022.

"We're really going to lean into the affordability of fresh produce and strategies that we can support you with to make sure that your food dollars are going as far as they can in the new year." Lori Taylor (10:56-11:08)

If you haven't already, make sure to check out our annual holiday gift guide at the top of our homepage (www.theproducemoms.com). It focuses on gifts that are homemade or are found in the produce department and bring you back to your home kitchen, budget-friendly gifts, and there's also a discount code for Fruitful Market.

Lastly, remember to put your phones down and enjoy time with your family. Be present and lean into the people that you love the most this holiday season. Enjoy your holiday traditions, make new memories, and take great pride in how much you have helped empower us all. See you in January!

How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"We all need to work together across the entire value chain, even as consumers, to make a difference to ensure that fruit and vegetable consumption really becomes a part of everyone's diet."

Kelly Bristow (39:39-40:00)

The UN declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables. With this declaration, the UN gifted Bayer with an invitation to raise awareness to the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption and the role it plays in human nutrition, food security, and health. Bayer wanted to take the year as a lens and bring together the important steps across the value chain all the way from seed to ultimately what ends up on consumer's plates. To help increase awareness, consumption, and even enhance flavor of fruits and vegetables.

Kelly Bristow is the Science and Nutrition Partnerships Manager at Bayer and mom to two young kids. She meets with outside organizations and stakeholders to bring together influential people to think globally about how we can impact fruit and vegetable consumption. Jenny Maloney is the Strategic Account Manager for the Americas for Bayer Vegetable Seeds all while being mom to three young girls. Jenny and Kelly, along with Lori, put together a virtual event called Beyond Farm to Table: A Seed's Journey to Your Plate. Bayer wanted to have a holistic look at the food chain, not only looking at it from a grower or retailer perspective, but also a consumer perspective. Bayer pulled together three leading experts in this space. Lori was there moderating the event. They also had David Bell, CMO at Long Vine Growing Company, Chad Street from the Albertson's Company, and Jana Parker from IRI Fresh. All of these different perspectives made for such a great, well-rounded, interactive event.

For Kelly, it was so great to get three different people in different parts of the value together and seeing their different perspectives. One really does play off the other. It's not often you get to see the whole process in one event. It was interesting to Kelly to hear from Jana about what are in shopper's carts. What produce are shoppers buying and what's accompanying it. It was great to hear that shoppers are buying an increased amount of produce and some ways to help improve that consumption even more.

For Jenny, it was interesting to hear David Bell talk about the journey of a tomato. Starting with seed selection, propagation, transferring to a grow house after eight weeks, How they're picked by hand then sorted for quality, and then sold to consumers. The other thing that stuck out was Long Vine Growing Company's Sustainability Program. One of their facilities is located adjacent to a natural gas power plant. They use energy from that plant to power their own greenhouse. Any water that isn't used by the pants is recirculated. Over 90% of their water is recycled. They are ultimately aiming to grow with care.

What Chad really highlighted was the thought and precision that goes into the placement of every piece of produce in the store. There's a whole team behind the scenes that makes it easy to shop for your produce. He was able to shed a lot of light on the behind the scenes work.

"The way we changed our shopping habits, the way we use produce differently, the way we bought produce differently. That all changed in 2020 and we're still sorting out what that's going to mean for the rest of 2021, 2022, and beyond." Jenny Maloney (33:50-34:07)

Taste, convenience, and price are big motivators for consumers buying produce, but seeing Jana's data to back this up was really eye-opening for Kelly. We see that people are cooking at home more than ever, but they're still looking for the convenience factor. Even though people are spending more time at home, they are still looking for their fruits and vegetables to be easy and quick to buy and make at home. It was interesting to see this data through the lens of the pandemic.

This International Year of Fruits and Vegetables really helped Bayer shine a spotlight on the importance of developmental goals and looking at giving greater visibility to small scale growers. They brought more awareness to food security, nutrition, and even looked at scalable production and consumption. Everyone across the entire value chain needs to work together, even as individual consumers, to make a difference and ensure that fruit and vegetable consumption really becomes a part of everyone's diet, promote healthy habits, and fight against hunger and malnutrition.

You can find the entire event on Seminis YouTube Channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYjV21I2Io

How to get involved:

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"If we want to continue to see truly organic, truly sustainable produce, we need to be willing to pay a fair price for it."

Daniella Velazquez De Leon (23:35-23:51)

Even pre-supply chain crisis, pre-pandemic, banana prices have been unfair and almost unethical. But especially in the past three years the organic banana industry has faced enormous cost pressure. Packing materials, cartons, pallets, etc. have risen close to 20%. Organic fertilizer has also increased significantly, and, of course, labor costs are rising year after year. All of these things factor into how bananas are priced, and yet, we aren't seeing the prices rise like the rest of the food industry. This episode discusses some of the problems organic banana companies are facing during this supply chain crisis.

Audee Rios is the Sales Director at Coliman Mexico. She's worked at the company for twelve years and develops sales plans and explores new markets for Mexican bananas. She's now mainly focused on organics and fair trade. Daniella Velazquez De Leon is a fourth generation organic banana grower and third generation of the largest family owned banana wholesaler in the USA, Organics Unlimited. She joined the family business officially four years ago and is now the General Manager. She, of course, wears many hats. Their main focus since day one has been organic bananas.

For Coliman and Organics Unlimited, the grand majority of their banana production comes from Mexico. In terms of getting their product to the States, that hasn't been too hard since they're able to use trucks instead of boats. But materials, fertilizers, everything that goes into aiding the production of those bananas - that's where the problem with the shipping containers comes in for them.

"The world's shipping container shortage and congestion at ports has caused a significant increase in the price of freight and ultimately the price of materials. So that's having a significant impact on the price of each box of bananas." Daniella Velazquez De Leon (10:11-10:32)

As organic production has become mainstream and has gained popularity, large multinational companies have penetrated the organic industry. This isn't all bad as it makes organic produce more widely available to consumers. But when we lose sight of the original mission behind the organic movement, that's where the problem begins. What happened with conventional bananas is now happening with organic bananas. There's been a control on the price in growing regions which are increasingly dependent on a small number of multinationals, which are forcing the price down in spite of increasing prices. Daniella's key message to consumers is to be conscious and try to learn about what's going on in the growing regions and who you are buying your produce from. Costs are going up so consumers should see the price of their produce go up as well. Rising costs WILL have an impact on the economic sustainability and competitiveness of the organic banana industry.

What Daniella has heard in the past is that retailers aren't willing to sell bananas at a higher price, and consumers aren't willing to pay more. Her response to that is that there simply will be no more production if they're consistently selling their product at a loss. Certifications come at a cost. Paying fair wages with benefits comes at a cost. Supporting these independent growers and these smaller wholesalers who are actually living their values ensures that we are still getting truly organic and sustainable produce. Consumers have to be willing to pay a fair price for what these growers are providing.

Even with the rise in prices, organic bananas are still one of the cheapest organic options you can buy. If you're seeing organic bananas being sold for less than a dollar, that farmer isn't getting paid fairly. Paying a higher price for organic bananas doesn't mean you're getting overcharged, it means you're ensuring the farmers and growers can survive.

You can find more information on both of these companies at their websites:

https://www.organicsunlimited.com/

https://www.coliman.com/Eng/Fruits

How to get involved:

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

"We never waver in what our message is. We only work with brands and we only convey a message that is sustainable, that is ethical, and that is healthy above all costs ."

Ashley Hawk (12:06-12:16)

The Produce Moms and "How Healthy Happens" have so much in common in terms of the message and the mission that they're trying to convey. It's kind of two-fold - increasing fruit and vegetable intake but also making sure that consumers have transparency and sustainability in all of our food systems that will see the next generation through.

From a young age, Ashley Hawk has been both behind and in front of the camera. The thing that clicked with her from day one was that if we could be transparent about everything, we'd eliminate half of the issues people face when it comes to starting out in a career. When companies are completely up front and "what you see is what you get," people trust them. She knew that would be her first step with "How Healthy Happens." And then came questions like, "How can we make media and entertainment relatable?", "How can we seem approachable?", and "How can we convey this sometimes dense and hard to understand information in a way that people everywhere will be able to access and understand it?" That's where the combination of nutrition and media was born.

Through "How Healthy Happens," Ashley wants to convey a message that nutrition is such a personal topic. It is one of those few things that affects every single aspect of a person's life. If consumers don't feel empowered about what their next meal is going to be, or what's in your kitchen, it can be really daunting and shut people off from even thinking about it. When Ashley gets clients that are overwhelmed at trying to decipher packaging, she first focuses on breaking things down to a personal level. From there they start to address the little changes that need to happen.

"When we educate the individual, it makes it that much easier for them to make the right choices for their body." Ashley Hawk (7:04-7:11)

The first episode of "How Healthy Happens" aired in October 2021. 2022 episodes will air starting in January. When they have a guest on the show Ashley likes to start out by asking "how did healthy happen for you?" By asking this question, not only do we find out about others' health and wellness journey, but also about game changers - things that are literally changing the landscape of the produce market.

"How Healthy Happens" works with a range of businesses from mom and pop companies, to small businesses, to big farms. They are grateful to be able to lend a voice to these manufacturers of all types of goods in the health and wellness industry. Seeing the whole farming process really filled Ashley with gratitude. We are so lucky as consumers that we have these farms that are working so hard to give us the freshest produce possible, so that we don't have to grow it all in our backyards.

How did healthy happen for Ashley? Exposure. In second grade Ashley's class saw firsthand how chickens came from eggs. Once the experiment was over, Ashley's teacher asked if anyone wanted to take the chick home. Ashley then took the chick home. Having this chicken, paired with a garden in her backyard, made Ashley realize she no longer wanted to eat meat. Ashley became a vegetarian. As she got older, people would ask her why she was a vegetarian. She would answer with "it just works for me." When she got even older, she started wondering WHY it worked for her. Thus, "How Healthy Happens" was born.

Ashley offers a few tips and tricks to the listeners and readers here at The Produce Moms. 1. Start by adding one serving of fruits or veggies to your day. After a week you'll start to feel better! Having the extra hydration, vitamins, minerals, and natural fibers and sugars help us to feel good and function at our best. 2. Drink more water. If you're reading this go and take a big drink now, while you're thinking about it. And 3. Sleep. It helps regulate your metabolism. Sometimes all you need is a nap that resets your attitude.

You can find "How Healthy Happens" on the Food Network, streaming on Roku TV, and some episodes are available on Youtube. You can find Ashley on Social Media @AshleyAnnHawk, @HowHealthyHappensTV, and https://www.ashleyhawkrd.com/.

How to get involved:

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
• Reach out to us - we'd love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!