Retail

US: Whole Foods launches free virtual home economics classesAs part of its new brand design rollout for its 365 by Whole Foods Market private label, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods is launching Home Ec 365, a digital curriculum that updates the fundamentals of home economics while putting a modern twist…

Walmart is partnering with grocery delivery platform Instacart in yet another bid to rival Amazon and its growing offline network of Whole Foods stores and same- and one-day Prime delivery. The partnership, first reported on Tuesday by CNBC, means Walmart customers in four pilot markets spanning California and Oklahoma can now choose Walmart’s grocery options when putting together an Instacart order.

Instacart already works with major grocery chains like Albertsons, Aldi, Costco, Kroger, and Target, as well as smaller chain stores like Wegmans and pharmacies like CVS. The platform also has an existing partnership with Walmart-owned Sam’s Club that will remain intact. The addition of Walmart — Amazon’s primary rival that has been working...

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More vertically grown greens are coming to the grocery store. The Evergreen Kosher Market, a well-known food retailer in Monsey, New York, announced this week it will soon debut a vertical farm from Israeli ag-tech company Vertical Field. According to a press release sent to The Spoon, the farm will use…

Oppy has introduced Haskap berries to customers in the greater Vancouver area, marking the first time these flavorful berries are available at retail. With a sweet, tangy taste, the berries have a flavor profile that combines elements of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Haskap berries are also especially…

The Organic Produce Network has announced a virtual online event featuring Frank Padilla, Costco’s vice president and general merchandise manager for produce and meat, and Steve Lutz, Category Partners’ senior vice president of insights and innovation, discussing sales and consumer purchasing behavior of organic fresh produce through the first seven months of the year.

What a Year It’s Been, So Far…. will be a provocative and engaging virtual conversation about sales of organic fresh produce, how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumer buying habits, and the future of retail grocery as part of the exclusive OPN event on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 10 AM PDT.

Moderated by Tonya Antle, OPN co-founder, What a Year It’s Been, So Far…. is a complimentary online session available for all members of the produce industry. Lutz will provide an overview of organic fresh produce sales data across retail for the first half of the year, with Padilla discussing how consumer buying practices have changed during the pandemic and what may lie ahead in the future. Registration is available here.

At Tops Friendly Markets, social responsibility and sustainability have always been at the core of the company’s mission, upholding standards that ensure the reduction of environmental waste and energy consumption while providing its customers with sustainably sourced, high-quality products. So when the opportunity came to take a closer look at the packaging of its produce items to make a change for the better, it simply made sense.

Another way Tops produce department has committed to its environmental impact is its partnership with local growers like Intergrow, who is now the sole provider of greenhouse-grown tomatoes for Tops. Now instead of bringing this product from Leamington, ON (255 miles away) or Mexico (2,000 miles away), product will be transported from Albion, NY (45 miles away) or Webster, NY (75 miles away), 52 weeks a year helping Tops to reduce its carbon footprint, another testament to Tops belief in supporting local growers and reducing its environmental impact.

Traditionally produce from any local grocery is packaged on foam trays which is non-biodegradable, considered a main source of marine debris, and even during manufacturing is said to emit HFC’s or hydrofluorocarbons, which negatively impact the ozone layer and climate change.

Customers at the ShopRite of Carteret, NJ, can order fresh salads with Sally the Salad Robot, which offers a contactless and individualized salad bar experience at a time when many people are looking for alternatives to traditional salad bars. Sally uses groundbreaking, advanced robotics and self-service technology to prepare and dispense made-to-order salads and healthy meals.

With a few taps of Sally’s screen, a customer can create a nutritional meal with favorite fresh ingredients that are safely protected in airtight, refrigerated containers. The fresh food robot contains 22 ingredients, including dressings, fruits, nuts, vegetables and proteins such as chicken, eggs and ham. Sally can combine two main base ingredients, up to six toppings and a dressing to make a custom salad, grain bowl or pasta salad. Sally also offers several chef-recommended recipes such as the Chicken Brown Rice Bowl or Cobb Salad, and users can view nutritional and calorie details for each ingredient. Customers can tailor that nutritional information to their own dietary needs by adding or subtracting ingredients from their order.

A parasite linked to bagged salad mixes has sickened 641 people in 11 states, federal health officials said Friday.

Policies barring food trucks from operating on city-owned land in downtown Nelson, B.C., and at the local farmers market introduced this year are of great concern for the owner of a food truck in the southern Interior city.

Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, since June there have been installed many fruit and vegetable vending machines. Yinchuan is one of China's pilot ‘smart cities’, trying to effectively apply technologies in city administration, public security, transportation,…

Amazon is expanding its real-world footprint with another unconventional physical product: a shopping cart. While it certainly looks like an aesthetic upgrade to your standard grocery store cart, the Dash Cart, as it’s called, is in fact a smart version of the tried-and-true food transport vehicle.

It’s equipped with a touchscreen and other various hardware components to automatically detect what items you’re placing inside and even how many of those items you’ve picked off the shelf. When you’re done shopping, you’re allowed to take the cart through a special lane that checks you out digitally without requiring a human cashier to ring you up.

The idea builds on Amazon’s approach of trying to take the convenience it’s mastered in the...

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