🌱 Marketing produce on TikTok

🌱 Good afternoon, and welcome to today's fresh newsletter! 

In today's email:

• IFPA Opens 2025 Global Produce & Floral Show Registration

• Village Farms Forms Vanguard JV to Reboot Fresh Produce

• Trivia: Which Fruit Contains the Enzyme Bromelain?

• Fresh Picks: Our Handpicked Produce Content from the Web

• Ruby Rush Sets Pace for 2025 Grape Season

• Potatoes USA: Cross-Platform Integration Ensuring Potato's Market Dominance

• Tip of the Day: Leverage Quick Surveys to Understand Consumer Preferences

AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

IFPA Opens 2025 Global Produce & Floral Show Registration

Registration is open for the 2025 Global Produce & Floral Show, set for October 16–18 in Anaheim, California.

Hosted by the International Fresh Produce Association, the event will gather over 20,000 professionals from more than 60 countries and feature 1,000+ exhibitors.

Designed to support every part of the global supply chain, the show includes tech launches, networking receptions, and targeted education.

Attendees gain access to general sessions, a Women’s Breakfast, and themed pavilions on topics like controlled-environment agriculture and digital traceability.

The agenda includes seminars, food safety forums, and innovation pitches from startups.

Special rates for students and young professionals, along with DEI mixers, aim to foster inclusion and next-gen talent.

Early-bird registration is now available.

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STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

Village Farms Forms Vanguard JV to Reboot Fresh Produce

Village Farms International is forming a joint venture with private-equity-backed Vanguard Food LP, selling its Texas greenhouses and produce assets for $40 million and a 37.9% stake in Vanguard

The deal shifts Village Farms’ focus to international markets while Vanguard builds a branded CPG company using the acquired assets.

The transaction includes greenhouses, IP, distribution facilities, and staff, excluding the Village Farms name.

Village Farms retains its Canadian Delta greenhouses and will continue to supply Vanguard under service agreements.

Vanguard will be led by Charlie Sweat as Chairman and Village Farms CEO Michael DeGiglio as interim CEO.

The move supports Village Farms’ strategy to streamline operations and focus on higher-margin, profitable international growth.

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TRIVIA

______ are the only fruit that contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins and can tenderize meat.

A ______ isn't a single fruit, it's a cluster of berries fused around a central core.

🍎 Co-founder of Okanagan Specialty Fruits Unveils Plan to Revitalize Apple Industry | Neal Carter, co-founder of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, unveiled a plan to transform the apple industry using genome editing, robotics, and AI to reduce labor costs, improve sustainability, and enhance efficiency. (BlueBookServices.com | May 16, 2025)

🥬 VFarms Grows Record-Breaking Lettuce in Qatar Using Solar Power and Atmospheric Water | Qatar-based VFarms has achieved record-breaking lettuce yields using off-grid vertical farming powered by solar energy and atmospheric water, showcasing a sustainable, scalable solution to food security in extreme climates. (FreshPlaza.com | May 16, 2025)

💧 Inaction on Water Woes Could Cost California Billions | A new economic report from UC Davis and UC Merced warns that without coordinated statewide action, California’s declining water supplies could cost up to $14.5 billion annually, eliminate 67,000 jobs, and devastate agricultural and rural communities. (ThePacker.com | May 15, 2025)

🚢 Suez Canal to Reduce Transit Fees for Container Ships by 15% | The Suez Canal Authority has announced a 15% fee discount for large container ships transiting the canal from May 15 for 90 days, aiming to attract major shipping lines back amid improved Red Sea security and restore traffic lost due to recent regional instability. (FreshFruitPortal.com | May 16, 2025)

🍅 Reasons Revealed Why Bacterial Spot of Tomato Spreads So Easily | A 12-year global study led by UF researchers reveals that the bacterial spot of tomato spreads easily due to diverse and rapidly evolving genetic strains, complicating control but offering crucial insights for breeding disease-resistant tomato varieties. (GrowingProduce.com | May 14, 2025)

AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION

Ruby Rush Sets Pace for 2025 Grape Season

Sun World International launched its 2025 grape season early with commercial shipments of its proprietary red seedless variety, Sugrafiftythree, branded as RUBY RUSH®.

Bred in California, this variety offers vibrant color, high yields, and early ripening, solving common challenges of early-season red grapes.

Grower adoption spans over ten countries, including Chile, Peru, and South Africa, with expansion underway.

Known for its bright ruby skin, crisp texture, and 18–20 °Brix sweetness, Ruby Rush® is outperforming Flame Seedless and generating strong retail interest.

With over 90% pack-out rates and reduced labor needs, it’s being rapidly commercialized globally.

Sun World is hosting showcases worldwide to expand licensing and plans to use the variety as a foundation for a broader red grape lineup.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Potatoes USA: Cross-Platform Integration Ensuring Potato's Market Dominance

Potatoes USA, the national board for America’s potato growers and importers, is fusing field research, retail analytics, and TikTok-ready storytelling to keep the country’s favorite vegetable front and center through 2025.

Its “field-to-fork” agenda spans everything from breeding russets that fry lighter to sending athletes across finish lines in potato costumes, all aimed at lifting demand and value for farmers, retailers, and chefs.

During a recent interview with Produce Leaders, Global Manager of Retail Market Development Nick Bartelme explained that the strategy knits together insights, merchandising toolkits, and influencer partnerships “to get more people eating more potatoes in more ways,” and does so faster than any previous marketing cycle.

“Over 85 % of U.S. households buy potatoes, and fresh potatoes are purchased nearly 11 times per year. Potatoes are the number one vegetable in volume sold and the fifth in dollar sales among all fresh produce items. Potatoes also contribute to higher total basket value, making them a strategic category for driving overall store sales.”

To help retailers turn that reach into sales, Potatoes USA offers easy-to-use tools: clear planograms based on real data, seasonal promo guides, and ready-to-shop recipe content from its yearly Path to Purchase and Attitudes & Usage research.

As Bartelme puts it, the goal is to take potatoes “from dump bin to destination.”

Among those efforts is the “Potatoes Fuel Performance” campaign, where fitness, lifestyle, and culinary creators on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube link training videos directly to retailer carts, generating measurable lifts in purchase intent during paid tests.

The athletic message broke through nationally when engineer-runner Ainsley Chapman tackled April’s Salt Lake City Half Marathon as the “Speedy Spud.”

Variety pipelines like the National Chip Program and the tiered National Fry Processors Trial chase longer storage life and better fry color, while the grower-led Potato Research Advisory Committee has channeled nearly $30.7 million in Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants since 2016 to projects targeting yield, sustainability, and mechanization.

Washington grower Shelley R. Olsen elected board chair last August has streamlined committees and backed artificial intelligence tools for reputation management alongside a Culinary Medicine curriculum that places potatoes in hospital teaching kitchens.

By aligning lab work, digital influence, and hands-on menu testing, Potatoes USA believes it can insulate the category against carbohydrate fads and global competition.

As Bartelme sums up, the board’s 2025 playbook leaves little doubt that every link in the chain is now tuned to “get more people eating more potatoes in more ways.”

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TIP OF THE DAY

Leverage Quick Surveys to Understand Consumer Preferences

Leveraging quick surveys, both in-store and on social media, allows you to gather valuable insights into your customers’ preferences, shopping habits, and expectations regarding the fresh products you offer.

Simple questions like “Which fruit would you like to see more often?”, “Do you prefer local or exotic products?”, or “What recipe would you like to receive this week?” not only encourage interaction but also provide useful data to fine-tune your product selection, launch more effective promotions, or introduce new items with greater acceptance.

Additionally, showing that you value customer feedback helps strengthen their sense of connection and loyalty to your brand.

These surveys can be integrated into purchase receipts, displayed on in-store screens, or shared through interactive Instagram stories, promoting fast and approachable two-way communication.