Fresh News
Organisers say there will be a bumper programme of technical seminars and parallel events at this year’s show
Preparations for the 2015 edition of Fruit Attraction are well underway and this year’s fair will feature an extensive programme of technical seminars and parallel activities and sector-specific events, according to organisers Ifema and Fepex.
These include the second edition of Stone Fruit Attraction, which will be held on October 29, and will shine a spotlight on the diversity and variety of Spain’s stonefruit offer that enables the country to be the only Northern Hemisphere country able to supply the market for six months of the year (April to November).
The seventh edition of Fruit Attarction, which is expected to be the biggest yet, will also host the first congress for kakis, Kaki Attraction, to address the growing prominence of this product in Spain’s fresh produce basket.
Other highlights include the “Oganic Hub”, a space dedicated to organic fruits and vegetables and a parallel session on the afternoon of 28 October entitle “Markets and marketing of organic fruits and vegetables in Europe”, promoted by F&H, as well as Fruit Retail, an event organised by Alimarket, and the II Forum of Agri-journalists, which will focus on an analysis of the production and marketing of European fresh produce.
Meanwhile, Fruit Fusion, featuring cooking demonstrations from some of the best chefs in the country, will once again be a key part of the three-day event, as will Pasarela Innova, a space to showcase new varieties, and Foro Innova, an area featuring presentations on the latest developments in the industry.
SCS Global Services completes third-party audit of Fresh Del Monte’s plantations in Costa Rica and Guatemala
Worldwide certification body SCS Global Services (SCS) has announced that Del Monte Fresh Produce has received Sustainably Grown certification for all of its banana plantations in Costa Rica and Guatemala, as well as its pineapple farms in Costa Rica.
Receiving Sustainably Grown certification for these operations marks the culmination of a multi-year effort by Del Monte to improve and verify its sustainable farming practices in Central America through third-party assessment.
As a result, certified Del Monte pineapples and bananas will now feature the SCS Kingfisher Sustainably Grown certification mark in stores.
First introduced in 2003, the SCS Sustainably Grown certification programme is one of the world’s most strict standards for sustainable agriculture. The standard includes yearly auditing for compliance and emphasises continuous improvement, requiring certified farms to build on their sustainable practices over time.
“Sustainably Grown recognises agricultural operations that are on the cutting edge of sustainable farming,” said Dr Stanley Rhodes, founder and CEO of SCS Global Services. “Del Monte has proven that they are serious about growing bananas and pineapples in ways that minimise environmental impact while ensuring the health and safety of its workers and their communities.”
Del Monte farms receiving Sustainably Grown certification are audited to a rigorous set of environmental, social and quality criteria including, sustainable crop production, ecosystem management and protection, resource conservation and energy efficiency and integrated waste management.
Other factors taken into account include fair labour practices, community benefits, product quality, and product safety and purity.
“Del Monte Fresh is committed to embracing sustainable agriculture and making environmental conservation and fair labor practices a major part of our banana and pineapple supply chain,” said Hans Sauter, vice-president corporate research & development and agricultural services for Del Monte. “Achieving Sustainably Grown certification assures our customers that they are receiving produce that is grown in a responsible way.”
Certified Del Monte bananas and pineapples featuring the Sustainably Grown Kingfisher certification mark will begin appearing on store shelves in Europe and the United States in 2015.
Premium retailer said food sales in Christmas week were up a record 17%, and like-for-like sales grew by 0.1%
Marks and Spencer’s food business grew like-for-like sales by 0.1% in the 13 weeks to 27 December.
Total food sales rose by 2.8%, while sales in the Christmas week were up 17%.
The premium retailer said it had seen “record Christmas sales” in food, which “strongly outperformed the market”.
Despite a strong performance in the category, total like-for-like UK sales for the company fell by 2.7%, after a terrible performance in its general merchandise division, which includes womenswear, and where like-for-like sales were down 5.8%.
“Our food business delivered another excellent quarter, significantly outperforming the market by around three percentage points,” said CEO Marc Bolland.
“We saw record sales over the festive period, up 17% in the key Christmas week. Customers once again turned to us for our highly differentiated food offer, combining the best of quality, seasonal speciality and convenience, all at competitive prices.
“We launched nearly 750 new products giving customers more choice than ever, with record results in turkeys, party food, desserts and deli,” he said.
Bolland said disruption at the company’s Castle Donington distribution centre “strongly impacted” .com and general merchandise performance in December.
And he said overall international business was “heavily impacted” by the worsening currency and economic issues across its Middle East and Russia franchise region, but the business had performed well in other key markets such as India.
M&S will report its fourth quarter trading results on 2 April 2015.