EU’s plan to go green will boost innovation, but costs will rise, too
Companies and citizens of the European Union (EU) will not be able to escape the fact that there is no such thing as a free lunch and there are costs to “greening” the union. The European Green Deal is the name of the EU’s overarching policy that aims to make the EU climate neutral in […]
UK Grower of the Year? FPC Fresh Awards will honour one in July
Perhaps at no point in recent memory has there been a more challenging time to be a grower in the UK – with the COVID-19 pandemic, rising costs, labour shortage and weather that has been especially fickle wreaking havoc on farmers and their crops. But the best of the best have shined through, and the […]
Tesco urges start-ups with innovative solutions to enter Agri T-Jam
Agriculture technology start-ups are once again being asked to gather their creative ideas and solutions and enter them into one of the industry’s most unique competitions: the 2022 Tesco Agri T-Jam. The event features seed and early agri-tech inventors pitching their most thoughtful innovations to a panel judge, including a select audience of investors and […]
UK Growth Strong for South African Raisins
The South African raisin industry reports continued growth at the end of the 2021 season, despite climatic challenges. Regardless of limitations faced by the industry, export volumes of South African raisins to the UK are up once again vs 2020, which saw a huge increase compared to 2019. The UK imported 1,430,000 kg to the […]
UK government grants relief on labour shortage, but is it enough?
British ministers extended some relief to agriculture and the fresh produce industry by allowing to temporary workers to remain in the UK through 2024, though it will begin putting limits on the “reliance on foreign labour.” Affected by Brexit and COVID-19, worker shortages led to food waste and delivery issues in 2019 and early on […]
LEAF sets new targets for sustainability throughout UK supply chain
Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) has revised its benchmarks for sustainability, saying now that 85% of fresh produce grown by the UK should be environmentally friendly. That would mean doubling of fruits and vegetables that are LEAF Marque-certified by 2026. “LEAF Marque growers are already tackling climate change through reducing carbon emissions, building healthier and […]
Fruits of Thought: The Great Resignation And The Joy of Produce
All over the United States, businesses are experiencing difficulty getting fully staffed. This is especially a problem in restaurants and hospitality establishments that downsized a great deal or even closed during the pandemic. In August one in 14 workers in these industries quit. Partly this is because it is easy to quit as comparable jobs […]
A Landmark Decision: Grower Property Rights Issue Hits U.S. Supreme Court, a Victory Almost 50 Years In Making
This column first appeared on PerishablePundit.com The Pundit grew up, of course, in a produce family. When we were around 10 years old, we remember someone in school was passing around a petition asking people to support César Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union. We can still hear her explaining that farmers were abusive toward the farm […]
