🌱 Stemilt’s five-generation growth story

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

In today's email:

• Stater Bros. Expands IFCO Reusable Packaging Deal

• Oppy and DEEP Forge Ahead on Geothermal Greenhouse in Saskatchewan

• Fresh Picks: Our Handpicked Produce Content from the Web

• IFPA Honors Nine Innovators with 2025 Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards

• Stemilt: Washington’s Family Fruit Company

• Tip of the Day: Offer Surprise Produce Bags to Spark Curiosity

PACKAGING

Stater Bros Expands IFCO Reusable Packaging Deal to Reduce Waste and Shrink

Stater Bros Markets has expanded its long-standing partnership with IFCO, adopting more of its reusable packaging containers (RPCs) for produce to reduce waste, product shrink, and labor across 169 stores.

This multi-year deal follows a joint audit showing RPCs improve freshness and supply chain efficiency.

The crates, already used for items like tomatoes and potatoes, are praised for durability, better airflow, and sustainability.

Over 80% of produce suppliers support the shift, citing reduced damage.

Stater Bros. anticipates operational gains and enhanced in-store focus; the move aligns with the chain’s sustainability goals and waste reduction pledges.

IFCO claims its RPCs help eliminate 2 billion single-use boxes annually, supporting both environmental and economic benefits.

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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Oppy and DEEP Forge Ahead on Geothermal Greenhouse in Saskatchewan

Oppy and DEEP Earth Energy Production are advancing plans for Canada’s most sustainable geothermal-powered greenhouse in southeast Saskatchewan.

The project integrates DEEP’s deep-well geothermal plant with a high-tech greenhouse to grow produce year-round while cutting emissions and fossil fuel use.

Design, crop planning, and offtake agreements are progressing, with equity participation discussions underway with local First Nations.

DEEP and Oppy emphasize Indigenous inclusion, local economic benefits, and emissions reduction.

The geothermal system will supply electricity and heat, replacing gas boilers.

Co-location reduces capital costs and enhances sustainability.

Oppy brings marketing and crop expertise, while DEEP leads power operations; the facility aims to transform agriculture in Canada and serve Western Canadian and U.S. markets.

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🌱 New High Tunnel Study Uncovers Key Challenges and Solutions | A study of Kentucky high tunnel vegetable growers by the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky identified the major pest, weed, and soilborne disease challenges, highlighting soil solarization as a highly effective but underused management strategy and emphasizing the need for better disease and nematode identification skills. (GrowingProduce.com | Apr 25, 2025)

🥔 Stepping Into the Future With a New Optical Sorter | Creek Side Potatoes in Alberta has enhanced its seed potato production by integrating North America's first Optica Q optical sorter, achieving greater efficiency, reduced labor needs, and high-quality sorting with strong technical support from Tolsma-Grisnich. (FreshPlaza.com | Apr 25, 2025)

🍅 Florida Tomato Exchange: Terminating the Suspension Agreement Will Level the Playing Field for U.S. Growers | The Florida Tomato Exchange supports the U.S. Commerce Department’s intent to terminate the U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement, arguing it will restore fair competition, protect American tomato farmers from unfair pricing, and strengthen domestic agricultural markets.(BlueBookServices.com | Apr 25, 2025)

🍓 Harvest CROO Demonstrates Commercially Viable Automated Strawberry Harvesting | Harvest CROO has successfully demonstrated the commercial viability of its AI-driven, autonomous strawberry harvester, matching human picking performance while improving food safety, yield, quality, and shelf life, signaling a major advancement for agriculture and related industries. (ThePacker.com | Apr 24, 2025)

🌍 Syngenta Develops Positive Pepper Properties | Syngenta is advancing its global pepper program by developing new varieties like Spartanos and Yamato with improved disease resistance, extended harvest periods, better shelf life, and higher profitability, aiming to meet the evolving needs of growers, retailers, and increasingly health-conscious consumers worldwide. (Fruitnet.com | Apr 23, 2025)

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

IFPA Honors Nine Innovators with 2025 Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards

The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) has announced the nine winners of its 2025 Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards, recognising chefs and foodservice leaders who promote fruits and vegetables in American dining.

Honourees span diverse sectors including universities, hospitals, restaurants, and retail, and will be recognised at IFPA’s Foodservice Conference in Monterey, California, from July 31 to August 1.

Winners were selected for creativity, produce handling and community impact.

The awards, sponsored by FreshEdge®, aim to boost produce use across all food service channels.

Honourees will also engage in tours and panels to strengthen industry ties.

The program highlights innovation and healthier food choices across the supply chain.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Stemilt: Five Generations of Orchard Leadership

Stemilt Growers is a family-run produce company headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington, where five generations of the Mathison family have cultivated apples, pears and cherries on the slopes overlooking the Columbia River since the first homestead was deeded in 1893.

From that hillside farm, the business has evolved into one of the state’s largest tree-fruit operations, marketing what it calls “World Famous Fruit” to retailers across North America and beyond.​

The brand’s origins lie in the determination of founder Thomas Kyle Mathison, known as Tom, who returned from World War II to take over the orchard after his father’s unexpected death.

Within a few years, he was studying harvest methods in California, redesigning packing practices, and following his cherries to eastern markets to see where quality broke down.

By 1964 he was packing neighbors’ crops as well as his own, and the enterprise took the name Stemilt Growers, a nod to the Native American word meaning “coming from the mountains.”​

Today Stemilt farms thousands of acres from California’s Delta region north to 3,800-foot elevations on Stemilt Hill.

Its catalog features mainstream varieties such as Gala, Fuji and Bartlett alongside proprietary offerings like Rave®, Piñata® and Skylar Rae® cherries.

A separate Artisan Organics™ line supplies year-round organic apples, pears, and stone fruit, continuing the commitment Tom made when he first converted acreage in the late 1980s.​

In 2018, the company opened the Fresh Cube, an automated distribution center that consolidates post-packing activities and houses a pears ripening facility.

Automated optical sizing equipment now scans each apple for external and internal defects, while a high-altitude compost farm recycles green waste into nutrient-rich fertilizers.

These upgrades support quality aims but also environmental targets: Stemilt is pursuing zero food waste to landfill and expects logistics changes to save more than half a million gallons of fuel annually by 2030, goals embedded in the Responsible Choice roadmap.​

Earlier this year Stemilt declared 2025 “the year of the Cosmic Crisp,” spotlighting the Honeycrisp-Enterprise cross that is up 57 percent in volume while national Honeycrisp supplies are reportedly down by nearly a third.

At the International Fresh Produce Association’s 2024 Global Floral and Produce Show, the company previewed new recyclable EZ Band packs for organic pears and rolled out the “World Famous Fruit by World Famous Families” campaign a nod not just to the Mathisons but to multi-generation employee families as well.

Despite the marketing push, executives insist the heart of Stemilt’s strategy remains agronomic fine-tuning.

Fifth-generation grower Kyle Mathison experiments with lunar-calendar harvests and nutrient-dense compost to extend cherry season “as many months of the year as possible,” while his nephew West, company president since 2005, oversees investments meant to “leave the land as good as we can, or better if we can,” echoing his grandfather’s maxim.​

The company says it now supplies the nation’s largest share of organic tree fruit and can stretch Northwest cherry availability from early May to early September, giving buyers flexibility that few rivals match.​

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TIP OF THE DAY

Create a “Seed-to-Table” Timeline Display

Consider creating simple, visual timelines that show the journey of your crops, from the moment seeds are planted to the day they’re ready to harvest.

Including how many days, weeks, or months each type takes to grow can help people better understand the process.

Photos of the plants at different stages, like when they first sprout, begin to flower or start to ripen, can make the timeline more engaging.

These displays could be a great addition to your market stand or packaging.

Sharing this kind of information gives customers a chance to see the care and time involved in growing fresh produce.

It may spark conversations, help people learn something new about farming, and offer a better understanding of why high-quality food is worth the wait.

For those who enjoy using technology, you might think about adding QR codes that link to short-time-lapse videos.

These could show your crops growing over time, offering a behind-the-scenes look that feels both real and shareable.