The Produce Moms Podcast

"The Big Honey Dekopons are the best eating piece of citrus on the market."Jeri Elsasser (21:21-21:24)

A super sweet, easy to peel, gorgeous, delicious piece of fruit that gives you your daily dose of recommended Vitamin C? Yes please! There's a lot to love about Trinity Fruit Company's Big Honey Dekopon mandarins.

From conventional or organic stone fruit and pomegranates to citrus varieties like the dekopon mandarin, Trinity Fruit Company farms 18,000 acres of fruit year round in the central valley of California. One of the Produce Mom's top items to try in 2021 is Trinity's Big Honey Dekopon mandarins which are a Japanese-native hybrid mandarin. These delicious fruits are much larger than normal mandarins, about the size of a softball, and are easy to peel, seedless and very sweet.

"It's super sweet and in my opinion, the best tasting piece of citrus, you can have all year long." Angela Hernandez (6:25-6:34)

Not only are Big Honey Dekopons humongous, they're super easy to peel just by sticking your finger through the top knot of the peel. Angela loves to eat one after her workout as a light dinner, pair it with chocolate, or place it on salads. The Produce Moms just released a delicious recipe of overnight oats with pomegranates and Dekopons too!

Confused on the difference between a Big Honey and a Dekopon? Dekopons are the variety name of this type of fruit and Big Honey is the brand name of Trinity Fruit Company's Dekopon mandarins. It's the same correlation as Nike is to "shoes". If someone asks you your favorite type of shoe and you say Nike, that's your favorite brand of shoe. If you say sneaker, that's your favorite type, or varietal, of shoe.

When the pandemic hit and Angela Hernandez was visiting friends in Los Angeles, she saw the huge lines of customers standing outside of farmer's markets and wanted to come up with a way to help. Driving home, she got the idea for a produce subscription box and, after talking it over with Jeri and Trinity Fruit Company's president David White, they decided to create The Fruitful Market.

It was through many FaceTime calls, research and long hours that they were able to launch The Fruitful Market last November, right before the holidays. First, they did a test run sending fruit boxes as gifts to David and Lisa White's close friends and family, and they loved it. Next, the team opened up offering fruit boxes to the public and have had orders every single week since then. One of the benefits of the Fruitful Market is they offer fresh fruit all season long with all different types of fruit, giving customers access to new fruits they may have never tried before and helping them experiment in the kitchen with healthy, vibrant flavors.

There are three different box options. The Fruitful Market offers a season's harvest box as a one-time shipment, which is usually an assortment of the season's best available fruit items. A season's harvest box subscription is also an option, which is a monthly delivery to your doorstep of the best items Trinity has available. Best of all, if you're particular about the type of fruit you want in your box, you can customize to have one type of fruit or a specific variety in your box!

"The Fruitful Market box is just the beginning of something greater and it's offering fresh fruits to anybody's doorstep." Angela Hernandez (15:07-15:19)

Right now, The Fruitful Market is shipping citrus fruit. Their season's harvest box has a compilation of hand picked blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, navels, different mandarin varieties, lemons, Minneola tangelos, and much more! Next month, they'll be debuting their Gold Nugget mandarin, so order your box now to taste what this new fruit has in store!

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!

"Make no mistake. COVID-19 changed everything for the grocery industry."Brittain Ladd (5:51-5:55)

Our former guest Brittain Ladd from Episode 41, one of our top 20 most downloaded episodes of all time, joins The Produce Moms again to talk about the current state of retail and the exciting innovations we're seeing with micro fulfillment centers.

Brittain is one of the most well-loved leaders in the produce industry and his insight into what changes we'll see in the produce and grocery retail industries is phenomenal. A former US Marine, Brittain has traveled the world designing retail logistics and supply chain programs, strategies, theories and instigating innovations that are life changing. He was even the first person to recommend Amazon acquire Whole Foods, among many other accomplishments!

Before COVID-19 happened, online sales was only about 3% of a grocery retailer's business. Brittain predicted this would jump to about 15-20% by 2025 and emphasized the important role companies like Instacart would play in this, but he wasn't taken seriously. Fast forward to COVID-19 hitting and online sales, in some cases, turning into about 50% of a grocery retailer's business. Now grocery stores are looking to micro fulfillment centers to help serve their customers closer and in a safe manner.

"Micro fulfillment is nothing more than robotic solutions that can fulfill online orders and other retail products." Brittain Ladd (7:45-7:55)

Micro what? If you're having a hard time understanding what micro fulfillment is, Brittain gives a great example of a rubik's cube. Imagine a rubik's cube was 22,000 square feet and each cube holds inventory. On top of the rubik's cube are robots that can move forwards and backwards, left to right, with the ability to pull cubes in and out of their spots. That's kind of how a micro fulfillment automation store operates.

Don't worry, your fresh produce isn't being handled by robots. Micro fulfillment centers hold products that require "ambient air" (aka no refrigeration or freezing) and are found in the center aisle of your grocery store. If a customer orders groceries from a retailer that uses micro fulfillment centers, the fulfillment center will provide any boxed or "center aisle" products, while the grocery store will pick out the chilled or fresh products, which is about 15% of what a customer typically orders.

"That's how you make sure as a grocery retailer that, even though you're using automation to fulfill orders, you never ever fail to realize that quality and freshness are absolutely the main thing you have to maintain when it comes to fresh products," says Brittain.

On average, retailers lose $25 for every online grocery order which is why more and more of them are looking to create their own micro fulfillment centers directly on site rather than working with a third party. Brittain has a big vision for the future of grocery retail that allows micro fulfillment centers to be next to a store and retailers can open up their store to allow for more fresh produce, meat, milk, eggs, dairy, better selections for cheeses and areas for cafes, seeing brick-and-mortar grocery retailers becoming a haven and playground for people who love fresh produce. This is something that Amazon is currently building with their new Amazon Fresh grocery stores.

What about Instacart? Brittain foresees Instacart opening about 100 more micro fulfillment centers by the end of 2022, and by 2025 making their own deliveries for their own customers with their own grocery brand. He also predicts convenient stores starting to provide more and more fresh produce, dairy and meat products because, again, with COVID-19, they're realizing they have customers looking to them to fulfill a need that's outside of soda and bags of chips.

"Any time you can fulfill faster and closer to customers, you're keeping your fresh produce that much more fresh." Brittain Ladd (25:30-25:37)

The incredible thing about Brittain's insight and this episode is learning how technology, automation and robotics is helping companies come together to provide fresher produce to consumers. These innovations are helping farmers and the fresh produce industry we love, while creating fast, efficient, safe and healthy ways to provide consumers the freshest meat, dairy and produce possible.

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 want that same kind of transparency and confidence in our food supply chain to know that we can bring home products to our families that are healthy and safe."

Karen Long (13:52-14:13)

Did you know that 93% of all food purchases in the United States come from women? And the one thing women want more than anything right now with their food and produce purchases is transparency.

iFood Decision Sciences was born in the food safety space from a Consulting group that was at the front and center of the infamous spinach e. Coli outbreak in 2006. One of the biggest and scariest markers of food security in our time, the Consulting group was at the forefront, determined to figure out a way to make it easy and accessible for produce companies to collect and store food safety data and mitigate risks. iFood Decision Sciences was officially formed in 2013 to provide the tech to these companies and make food safety happen. Since then, iFood DS has been extremely focused on providing service to growers, packers, processors or anyone who's at the beginning of the supply chain a way to focus on food safety in their supply.

2020 was a remarkable year for iFood DS with their acquisition of a company called Harvestmark, another company at the forefront of the 2006 e. Coli outbreak who worked with the Produce Association to define the standards for food safety across the board. A leader in traceability and quality, the only thing Harvestmark has been missing is the transparency component that iFood DS can provide through technology.

How does it work? iFood DS's technology can combine even the most granular detail in food safety data - from how the farmer is running his operations to whether a production is sustainable to the date and time a piece of produce was packaged - providing consumers with traceability and transparency that gives you the confidence you want in your produce.

"Now more than ever we still want to know where ingredients were grown, where were they raised, how they were produced, whether or not it was ethical, if the farming operation was sustainable… we want that confidence and we want to feel secure in that the food we bring home to our babies will pose zero risk to them." Karen Long (15:53-16:09)

Gone are the days where a label that says "sourced in Mexico" or "grown in Montana" will cut it with consumers. It's not that growers don't want to share the amount of transparency consumers want, it just hasn't been possible without the right technological solutions. There are plenty of farmers out there still operating with a clipboard, pen and paper, and storing data in binders. If another food safety recall happens, it's going to be a lot harder for that farmer to provide their data when it hasn't been produced in real-time and it's not technologically available to all parties.

Studies show that 37% of consumers would completely switch to another brand if the brand had more transparent information. Another study shows that 86% of millennial moms (who make up over 25% of the purchasing power in produce) would be willing to spend more money on a brand that has more transparent information than competitors.

Complete transparency offers retailers and growers a competitive edge that will win over the hearts of a now very discerning audience. Using technology like iFood DS helps farmers continuously improve their farming operation and build a brand. Any successful business owner knows you have to be continuously focused on making improvements through processes and operations, which in turn helps reduce costs and increase revenues… and that usually translates into lower produce prices!

Knowing what we know about studies and consumers willing to pay more or switch brands altogether who offer more transparency than their competitors, it's obvious why using tech that provides real-time data that can be accessed by consumers anytime is important for farmers, growers, shippers, packers and distributors in the produce supply chain to utilize. This helps them establish themselves as a brand and ensure the consumer connects with them deeper. When a consumer feels trusting and bonded to a brand right off the bat, revenue will be increased and you're more likely to get feedback from them that's valuable to create improvements.

"It is very important that the farmers make the investments in technology and that our industry continues to strive to provide farmers with access to these powerful technologies so their stories are never lost. We can't rely on packaging alone. We have to lean into technology." - Lori Taylor (31:36-31:55)

How can consumers access real-time data from the produce they're buying? Any brand utilizing iFood DS will have a QR code on its produce item. The amazing thing is that QR code is connected to data specific to that one item! When you scan the QR code, you'll access information like growing and production details and small, little details from the beginning of the supply chain all the way to the produce item in your hands. You can also leave feedback to the manufacturer either thanking them or asking them for more information.

The technology is readily available for the transparent answers we want as moms and produce buyers.

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 have a health crisis, a social crisis, an economic crisis and a climate crisis all coming together at the same time."Derk Hendriksen (9:15-9:20)

From the Netherlands to Belgium, France then all across America, Derk Hendriksen has had an exciting career that now fuels his passion for sustainability and social enterprise. Now, as co-CEO of Treasure8, Derk is helping achieve the one thing we all desire: a healthier planet where nutritious food is available to everyone at an affordable price.

Derk started his career working in marketing for Coca-Cola until 2018 when he decided to try something different. He started Hendriksen Ventures with a focus on helping large and small organizations and startups drive purpose-driven growth. Familiar with Simen Sinek or Larry Fink? Both were inspirations for Hendriksen to help companies be successful with a focus on a just cause.

Although Derk was accused of "committing career suicide" when moving into sustainability, Derk's work with EKOCENTER™ (part of The Coca-Cola Company) is what really lit his passion for sustainability and social enterprise. EKOCENTER™ is, as Derk describes them, a "downtown in a box" that brings clean water, electricity, connectivity and WiFi services to disadvantaged communities and empowers the women in the community to run them.

Soon after, Derk met Timothy Childs (who's also the founder of TCHO Chocolate) who was looking for someone to help run his company, Treasure8, a technology and partnership platform on a mission to create nutrition security around the world.

"It's about healthier people, healthier planet, healthier performance, healthier profit." Derk Hendriksen (15:43-15:48)

What does deploying nutrition for humanity even mean? Well, Treasure8 is using their platform to meet four, major nutrition security objectives. Those objectives are: enabling technology-driven food production, reducing food loss and waste, meeting food safety and nutrition standards, and reducing food risks and crises.

How does Treasure8 do this? Timothy has acquired an exclusive license to technology from the USDA called SAUNA™, a dehydration technology that maximizes underlying nutrition when dehydrating fresh produce. It can be used in conjunction with other dehydration technologies, like freeze drying or hot and cold air. SAUNA™ provides more nutrition and more flavor while being less harmful to the environment.

With their groundbreaking approach to creating a healthy, sustainable planet where nutrient-dense food is available to all, Treasure8 has trademarked the term Resource Revolution®.

Treasure8 approaches the food system from a regenerative lens. Have you ever heard the term "value chain"? Instead, Treasure8 looks at things as a "value circle", so they can always help their mission, help their partners, and help the ecosystem, while being regenerative.

There are five steps to Treasure8's Resource Revolution®:

• (Re) Source produce in a sustainable manner while looking at ways to make the post-harvest or post-production a nutrition resource
• (Re) Form the process by using SAUNA-grade dehydration which maintains nutritional density and furthers Treasure8's mission of providing nutrition to everyone in the world at an affordable price
• (Re) Deploy by generating scale through CPG companies, producers and larger businesses that can help bring nutrition to people that need it
• (Re) Fuel Treasure8's production process by reducing their carbon footprint and using biomass to generate fuel
• (Re) Charge the ecosystem by using microbes to improve soil health and increase yield quantity

"We're about innovation and technology. Mariani is about sourcing, manufacturing and selling. So both parties have what the other doesn't." Derk Hendriksen (20:18-20:24)

Treasure8 has now partnered with the Mariani Packing Company, the largest, independently family-owned, dried fruit business who's been operating since 1906! Mariani Packing Company sources, dries and manufactures their own produce, selling their own brand and ingredients. They have a very strong, operational platform, which is exactly what Treasure8 needs in a partner. The best part about Mariani's dried food is they use absolutely nothing to process the dehydrated produce!

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! It doesn't matter what socio-economic status, what type of food access you have, every single person is united by food."

Lori Taylor (16:29-16:41)

Imagine waking up each morning in early 1900s New York City, driving your horse and wagon to the local farm, filling it with fruits and vegetables, and staying out all day until you've sold all of your produce.

That was the start of S. Katzman Produce, which is now a 120 year old, fourth-generation owned, produce wholesaler and distributor with 375 employees and over 2,000 items they sell. Talk about a progression! Stefanie Katzman, the Executive Vice President of S. Katzman Produce, shared with us the story of her great grandfather's humble beginnings and how they progressed to selling fruit and vegetables out of his wagon, to moving their location to Hunts Point in the Bronx, to adding specialty items to their product line, to becoming the produce industry icon they are today.

"We want to figure out, as the customer's needs change, how we can adapt and fulfill those needs. You don't want to tell them, 'no, do things our way', we want to be progressive. We want to get out there and find the next best thing." - Stefanie Katzman (8:33-8:46)

Stefanie accredits much of their growth to the produce industry's growth as a whole. Can you think back to what your grocery store shopping experience was like in 1995 compared to now? Luckily, most suburban and metropolitan areas around the US have access to an incredible variety of produce year-round. That wasn't always the case. Also, as our lifestyles have changed from having family dinners every night around the table, to being more fast paced and on-the-go, the produce industry has adapted.

For example, in 2004 S. Katzman Produce started doing deliveries to their customers free of charge. Katzman works with a lot of smaller supermarkets around the New York area where, oftentimes, the owner does everything themselves. They'll come to S. Katzman's location late at night, do their shopping for the next day, drive back to the store, stock their shelves, and work the register without any sleep. It was that same mentality and quick ability to adapt that helped S. Katzman Produce stay successful when COVID-19 first hit.

Katzman and her team immediately provided employees with training videos, made sure they were following the CDC guidelines, offered employees protective equipment, and increased cleaning crews to two to three times a day. It was essential to keep her employees safe, but also their wholesalers, distributors and customers.

What's just as important to S. Katzman Produce is being able to help people and children who can't help themselves, and making a difference in children's lives while they're still young.

1. Katzman Produce has partnered with Dream Charter School at their location in Harlem and the Bronx to donate food weekly and help ensure children are fed healthy food at a young age. When COVID-19 hit, impressively, Dream set up a distribution system within a few weeks and Katzman started donating even larger amounts of produce each week to provide fresh, healthy produce for Dream's children and their entire families.

"If you can instill these good habits and good behaviors in children when they're young, you're going to create healthy people when they're older. You're going to create people who have a taste for these fruits and vegetables, so being able to get to them is very important." - Stefanie Katzman (13:07-13:20)

These children and their families are getting exposed to foods they might not have ever seen or heard of before, while (hopefully) acquiring a taste for healthy food at a young age to create lasting results. The feedback Katzman has gotten is incredible! Even during a pandemic, families are reporting that they are losing weight and enjoying the best health of their life because of this.

Stefanie's also passionate about the wide variety of items they offer and how many new products there are! New varieties of old products, new packaging, never-seen-before products, and even the science of extending shelf life keeps the produce industry and life at S. Katzman's always exciting.

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's really profound to think potatoes are everywhere. The boys in my family say, 'it's the perfect vegetable mom!'

It's all my boys want to eat."

Lori Taylor (2:48-3:00)

Wada Farms was established in 1943 by Frank Wada, an immigrant from Japan who migrated to the United States in 1922. Frank started out in San Clemente, California, but when World War II hit and many Japanese were being moved to internment camps, Frank moved west to Idaho where he grew his first crop of Idaho potatoes on 160 acres of rented land.

That was in 1943, where as today in 2021, Wada Farms grows on nearly 30,000 acres of farmland with 10,000 acres being dedicated for potatoes. Even cooler, they ship to all 50 states and even some exports while Brian, Frank's grandson is now the CEO of the company. Kevin Stanger, President of Wada Farms Marketing Group has been able to see first hand the farm grow from a small operation to almost 500 workers in the farm and warehouse during harvest season!

"A potato has more potassium per serving than a banana. A potato has 45% of our daily needs of Vitamin C. Potatoes are a great source of Vitamin B6. They have antioxidants in them, which most people don't know about!" Kevin Stanger (23:26-23:46)

Wada Farms first and foremost grows plenty of those Idaho russet potatoes we all love, but they've seen great growth in the colored and organic varieties they sell too. Reds, yellows, fingerlings, organic varieties and even "chippers" (potatoes specifically grown for restaurants and bars to make fresh cut fries and potato chips) are all grown at Wada.

Wondering why it's so easy to find potatoes year round? Most of Wada's potato varieties are planted from April to mid-May. They grow during summer and are harvested in late August through the first or second week of October. Depending on the type of potato depends on where in the country they're grown. As you know, russets are famous for being grown in Idaho, whereas red and yellow potatoes are sometimes grown in different states.

"When anyone is buying a russet potato from winter, spring and into early summer, those generally are potatoes that have been put in large storage facilities where they are cooled. Temperatures are brought down to put them in a dormant state. There's a lot of humidity pumped through the storages to keep them cold, crisp and fresh, and then they are brought out, washed, graded, and sent to retailers throughout the year." Kevin Stanger (10:56-11:27)

As long as they're stored in a cool and dark enough environment, potatoes can last weeks! Colored potatoes don't have as long of a storage life and are usually supplied throughout the country until late spring to early summer. Each of Wada's storage facilities holds an average of 7.5 million pounds of potatoes… and Wada has 50 of these storage facilities! That's an average of 375 million pounds of potatoes that are supplied each year across America. Wow!

The perfect way to store potatoes is in a setting where the temperature is in the high 40s and also has high humidity. That's a little bit difficult in most people's homes, so the best place to keep them is somewhere dark and cool like a basement or a garage. This will make them last for weeks! Kevin wouldn't recommend storing them in the refrigerator because it turns the starches sugary.

"Here's the other strategy folks. Just eat them quickly and it won't matter [how you store them]!" Lori Taylor (21:24-21:28)

If you find a green potato at the supermarket, don't worry! It's just from too much lighting. Cut the green part off and your potato is still just as healthy and edible. Make sure to buy firm and solid potatoes. Interestingly enough, those potatoes you see with sprouts on them are the ones growers like Wada use to plant back in the ground and grow new crops!

Potatoes are a highly versatile, delicious and nutritious food your family can enjoy year round. They're filled with good (yes, good!) sources of carbohydrates, are certified heart healthy from the American Heart Institute, gluten free, cholesterol free, and high in potassium! Visit the Wada Farms website or scroll through our many recipes to find easy, healthy, family-friendly recipes for any season.

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!

"The fact that the peak MandaRosa season is right around Valentine's Day and we have it the whole month of February really makes it a great item for marketing in the produce department."

Kim Flores (7:37-7:50)

Have you ever heard of a MandaRosa? This captivating, beautiful, red-flesh mandarin was partially named by The Produce Moms community!

Kim Flores, who was previously on our Thanksgiving special, came aboard the Pro Citrus Network a few years ago as they started to expand their Eastern division. PCN is a grower, shipper, importer and exporter of the citrus category specializing in providing retailers across North America with high quality citrus year round. Yes, PCN is probably to thank for your beautiful, Christmas clementines or those oranges keeping you healthy during winter!

Kim and PCN engaged The Produce Moms during the MandaRosa product launch to help find the right name for this delicious fruit. MandaRosa was the overwhelming favorite! But what is it exactly? The MandaRosa is a specialty citrus fruit that is naturally cultivated from a blood orange and a clementine (it's varietal name is a Manda Red Variety). PCN, who's niche is with specialty citrus like kumquats, sweet limes or blood oranges, was approached by a grower a few years ago who wanted to see if they could bring it to market.

"I'll never forget that day out in the groves with him cutting open that first beautiful piece of fruit which was unlike any mandarin I had ever seen." Kim Flores (6:40-6:45)

This beautiful fruit has an exterior similar to a mandarin, but when you cut into it, it's as red as a glass of wine. When PCN brought the MandaRosa to market in January 2020, they created a special, natural-looking type of crafts bag for the product packaging and found the fruit was quite a hit considering its peak season is around Valentine's day.

The fruit is grown in the central valley of California and you'll find the internal color varies and changes as the fruit matures. Some of the fruits that are harvested earlier will not be as pigmented when you cut into them, but as the season goes on, the interior color gets deeper and richer.

Sometimes the fruit has an ombre effect and even looks like a tequila sunrise! Its pigmentation is the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

An interesting fact about the pigmentation is that it's caused by anthocyanins, which are the same antioxidants that cause blood oranges to have their deep, rich color. Anthocyanins are the most powerful antioxidants in nature! They're found in blackberries, blueberries and pomegranates. Their health benefits are innumerable, like lowering blood pressure and diabetes. Anthocyanins are so powerful they're considered a "super antioxidant".

Bonus: research shows that anthocyanins are natural fat blockers. Who doesn't want that!?

"These MandaRosas have an incredible flavor, they're absolutely gorgeous, they're easy to peel, they're seedless… what's not to love here!?" Lori Taylor (15:43-15:50)

MandaRosa's taste is similar to a tangerine. The earlier fruit has a tartness to it, and as the season goes on they get sweeter and sweeter. Unlike the tangerine, the fruit is also seedless, giving you that same, great flavor without the seeds. A great way to eat them, especially for Valentine's Day, is to dip them in chocolate and sprinkle coconut or nuts on top. Another favorite of Kim's is a "MandaRosa mimosa". Remember, these delicious fruits are hyper seasonal, so when you see them at your local retailer, grab some before they disappear at the beginning of March!

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!

"The sustainable side is here to stay."

Jeff Watkin (23:18-23:19)

You might immediately think packaging for produce is a bad thing, but companies like Sev-Rend are manufacturing tags, labels and bags for produce that are environmentally sustainable and biodegradable.

Jeff Watkin has been the Director of Marketing at Sev-Rend, a printing and converting manufacturer specializing in packaging for the produce industry. Jeff originally got his start in the retail side of produce and moved to the production and manufacturing side when he came aboard with the Sev-Rend family. Originally, Sev-Rend was the manufacturer of tags, labels and nettings for produce, like you'd see containing a bag of onions or potatoes.

The overarching important part of packaging is profitability. Now, as a consumer, you probably think negatively about packaging when it comes to the environment, and then when the topic of profitability comes into play, you're even more disappointed in the conversation. However, when it comes to packaging, you have to remember all the important facts it communicates to a shipper, retailer and consumer. For example, the recipes and nutritional facts you see on produce labels or the ability for you to decipher between an organic avocado and a conventional one.

Sev-Rend is passionate about creating sustainable packaging and very conscious of their manufacturing practices. Going back to profitability, this is key when it comes to making the world and our food supply system more sustainable. Why? If growers don't have strong returns, they can't invest in the things we know are important, such as improving practices for carbon neutrality, providing equitable treatment for all team members, and other critical areas for investing in sustainable practices.

"We have come up with a solution that we feel passionately may be a game changer for this." Jeff Watkin (16:50-16:54)

Sev-Rend makes sure their practices are as sustainable as possible with a state of the art electrical and waste system, and using water based inks for printing. They're also very focused on educating the consumer on how to recycle and reduce properly along with continuing research and development on product packaging. They don't want to put a bandaid on issues, but rather find solutions that can be taken to a global scale long-term.

The company is in the midst of launching "Bio-Able Solutions" a line of products that lets current plastic structures fully degrade in almost any environment. Most importantly, it leaves behind NO microplastics!

Soon, this will become commercially available and already is FDA certified and Prop-67 compliant. With this type of plastic, if it ended up in a landfill, for example, the plastic would completely degrade in a 24 month long period… much shorter compared to the years it normally takes for plastics to break down. On top of that, if a product is already on the shelf for four months before the packaging is thrown out, the biodegrading process has already started, shortening that timeline.

Unfortunately due to COVID-19, we've seen a huge surge in packaging demand on the retail side of the produce industry over the past 8-10 months. Consumers are shopping less, however when they hit the store they're buying more. Especially with our health concerns, there is even more of a stigma than usual against loose produce, meaning more shoppers are buying two, three or five pound bags of apples, oranges and other produce, which means more packaging.

"We recognize and understand it is a problem and we need to help and aid in the solution." Jeff Watkin (20:06-20:10)

Sev-Rend is working hard with the other partners they work with to create packaging for produce companies. If packaging is going to be completely sustainable and able to break down in that 24 month period, everything on the package needs to use Bio-Able Solutions products. No one can control how anyone disposes of plastic waste, but by creating this new solution for biodegradable plastic and educating as much as possible, Sev-Rend is establishing a huge impact on sustainability long-term.

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 you employ a mom, we need your flexibility and understanding right now."Lori Taylor (13:15-13:20)

2020 was an incredible year for us all filled with challenge, pain, community and change that no one could have expected. If anyone had it difficult, it was moms like you, struggling to maintain your work hours or pivoting your career entirely, working tirelessly to keep up with your family and children's needs while yours go to the wayside, and attempting to navigate an entirely unexpected pandemic we've never been prepared for.

The Produce Moms brought together six, powerful, triumphant moms to discuss the changes and challenges they've had to endure during the pandemic and why the produce industry needs to now, more than ever, help us do the most important job there is in the world.

"The produce industry has to care about consumers and better plan how to market to an increasingly busy home base of digitally savvy shoppers, especially in metropolitan areas." - Allie Coombs (33:58-34:08)

Allie Coombs is the Project Coordinator at Moxxy Marketing and mom to a five year old and a three year old, one of whom is taking kindergarten online. Even though there aren't a lot of moms at Moxxy Marketing, understanding how to better support moms as an employer and as a marketing agency for agricultural companies has been their primary topic of discussion. It's so important for produce companies to not appear tone deaf in their marketing and communication to the moms that are so vital to their business. Moms are shopping more and more online and virtually, so bettering that experience for them, showcasing produce more often as opposed to processed goods, and giving them an experience that's stress-free is what we need most.

Considering we're here in 2021 with a fresh start to a hopefully much better year, Allie hopes we can all just be nice to each other and have a really great year!

"I feel like I have become their counselor, their coach, their friend, because they are not having any of those interactions outside of the house." - LeAnne Ruzzamenti (36:27-36:33)

LeAnne Ruzzamenti is the Director of Marketing Communications for the Equitable Food Initiative and mom of two kids both in school virtually full time. Growing up on an apple farm in New York, LeAnne's mom was the one that kept everything going no matter what, so she put the same pressure on herself to keep up amidst everything changing. But the one thing LeAnne brings up that we can all relate to is how emotionally draining this year has been.

Instead of trying to keep up with the same level of workload or the same hours, LeAnne reminds us that the conversation we have needs to be around what's realistic. Is it really realistic to take a few hours away from work in the middle of the day to help your kids with school, take care of the house, prepare meals, and then log back into your computer at 9pm to do more work? Not really, which is why the produce industry needs to be realistic and support employees with compassion, creativity and empathy.

"Every woman I know is so committed to doing a great job and it just kills us, especially in our mental health, if we feel like we're having performance issues in any part of our life." - Amelie Aust (35:13-35:20)

Amelie Aust is the 2nd generation owner of Fall Creek Nursery, a blueberry company in Oregon with nurseries and farms all over the world. She recently stepped down from her role as CEO at the company to just reside at the board level so she could take care of her one year old, four year old, and six year old (who's taking school online). Attempting to live in the same structural system with work, keep the same hours and deliver the same level of output, especially in an executive role, just wasn't possible while also having three kids at home due to the pandemic.

Having a hard conversation with herself in the mirror, Amelie decided she wasn't willing to be a "less than" partner to her business partners, or in any other areas of her life. Instead of seeing her role as a step down, she's seen it as a platform shift, an increased opportunity for her non-executives to take on more responsibility, and a way for her to channel her energy into mentoring.

She also reminds us all that, for example, helping her first grader learn how to read, is a life long, huge impact she's making, even if it's not the career-driven impact she's used to!

"In business, I was always worried that if I said, 'I can't do this meeting or I can't be on video for 20 minutes,' that they would think of me differently, choose not to invite me to project teams or potentially for me to not get promoted." - Jenny Maloney (24:34-24:53)

Jenny Maloney is the Strategic Accounts Manager for Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds and has an almost one year old, three year old preschooler, and five year old kindergartener. Jenny has had the same fear many moms have had in their career: that if she wasn't able to make a meeting or had to take a break because she's nursing, her team might think of her differently, not invite her to project teams, or overlook her for promotions.

During the pandemic, Jenny quickly learned she wasn't able to maintain the facade of what life looked like before. Our lives now require flexibility, understanding, and scheduling self care time (no eye rolls allowed!) that you're extremely protective over. She reminds us to be in the moment instead of trying to do a million things at once and how you can tie in time for yourself while making an impact supporting small businesses.

"I've worked since I was 13 years old, so just the idea of stepping away really frightened me." - Yolanda Owens (19:26-19:29)

Yolanda Owens had an interesting shift in her career when the pandemic hit. Formerly Yolanda had a full-time position as the Director of Marketing and Community Initiatives for DNO Produce, but stepped away to start her own apparel line called Forage + Black and continue her consulting at her strategic communications company, Colloquy. Yolanda has a two year old that her mom watches at home while Yolanda does homeschooling with her five year old.

Having to step away from work was a scary idea for Yolanda, who's been working since she was thirteen, and as a parent, what frightened her even more was what her child might be experiencing in her first year of school. Creating a sense of normalcy was of utmost importance for Yolanda's kids and she reminds us all that you can put your kids first as a priority and there's nothing wrong with that! Your career can pivot to accommodate that.

"During the pandemic I kind of had an epiphany where I felt that everything I was doing in tech was pointless." - Lauren Ventura (10:25-10:32)

Lauren's previous career positions were mainly with Silicon Valley startups, but thanks to the pandemic, she was inspired to shift towards something that would make her life more meaningful. Lauren moved into the role as a Digital Marketing Manager for NatureSweet and has a seven year old daughter attending school at home. Lauren's a single mom who has faced the challenge of finding a last minute virtual school, feeling torn between working and helping her child with homework, and that end of the day, game time decision between cooking or takeout!

Like many of our produce moms, Lauren can relate to the fear about not doing well in her job and the lack of socialization with our kids. Lauren's biggest plea for the produce industry is for businesses to rise to the occasion and help moms out with the type of content they produce, their marketing messaging, and just positioning themselves as a resource for the consumer who's a mom and needs solutions for the crazy, chaotic lives we live right now.

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!

"You can deploy the vaccine in an environment where there's already built in trust."Chris Valadez (7:37-7:42)

"Our growers [in Texas] were really in the thick of their season when we had to adjust," says Dante Galeazzi, where Chris Valadez's agricultural workers (in California) were just getting started on their season when the pandemic hit.

No one could have expected or been prepared enough for the Covid-19 outbreak this year. Even though we saw store shelves empty of toilet paper, bread, and boxed goods, in most areas around the country produce remained readily available. Our frontline workers and first responders have worked hard to ensure we remain as safe as possible, and our agricultural workers, farmers and produce industry have worked just as hard to make sure safe, fresh, healthy food has kept America fed during this time.

"It is vital to maintain the food that Americans need to eat." - Dante Galeazzi (11:16-11:20)

As soon as the pandemic hit, Chris's Grower-Shipper Association partnered with others in the agricultural industry and with the county government to put together a best practices guide that was made publicly available. They needed to get a baseline of safety measures out there fast that made sense for everyone on an operational level, whether it was a farmer, a transportation unit, an employee housing site, or other integral part of the produce industry operation chain. The guidelines were based on what the CDC, local and state government announced.

In a lot of regions where agriculture makes up one-third or more of the job market, crowded and congested personal living situations became an issue fast. Most of these areas have a lack of available and affordable housing, which disproportionately affects many people that work in agriculture. Individuals were going home to many others where the spread of the virus (or illnesses in general) was being exacerbated.

The agriculture industry knew they needed to remedy this fast. Free of charge to farmers and ag workers, the companies that give you your most favorite food brands offered nursing, housing and feeding to help get people out of congested environments. Individuals that contracted the virus were put in this housing (for free) for a two week quarantine period, were provided with all of their medical needs and basic necessities, to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

These are efforts from the agricultural industry no one has talked about, or what would have happened if the people of this industry weren't able to contain the spread of the virus within the produce supply chain. Growers and shippers were some of the first companies to immediately set up whatever they could, whether it was hand sanitizer stations, wood or plastic partitions, sanitized uniforms, shoes, and gloves, or even shower curtains to prevent the spread of Covid. There's even packing houses who are implementing blood oxygenation tests!

Now that we're seeing vaccine trials go through and vaccines being given to our first responders and medical workers, it's time to talk about who will be next in line. These people are extremely important to our society, and after others who are high risk for the virus, such as the elderly, farmers and food workers should be thought of as top priority for the vaccine. Something that's critical in thinking about this, however, is partnering with farmers and local clinics to administer the vaccine to the agriculture population.

"We've got to get our workforce vaccinated so they can keep putting food on American's tables." - Dante Galeazzi (16:08-16:11)

Dante and Chris both advocate for the use of the employer when administering vaccines to farmers and agricultural workers because those individuals already have a built-in trust with them versus government officials where they might be fearful, lack trust or have political views getting in the way of their safety (and the safety of our country). Both associations are doing what they can to advocate for agricultural workers to be next in line for the vaccine by speaking to the state and federal government.

What's the risk if this doesn't happen? If more ag workers become sick with the virus and aren't able to work, or risk spreading it to our vital food sources, the demand for food will stay high, but the supply will decrease, meaning prices will go up. With the fragile state of our economy right now, that's the last thing our country needs. Hopefully we continue to make progress with the virus and the agricultural industry is seen as a priority to receive vaccination next.

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!