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produce watch
ANNOUNCEMENT
MIDWEST PRODUCE AND SPECIALTY FOODS DISTRIBUTOR ACQUIRES CIBUS FRESH
IF&P Foods LLC’s Indianapolis Fruit and Piazza Produce announced the acquisition
of Cibus Fresh, an Indiana-based foodservice company specializing in high quality made-to-order packaged convenience foods. The acquisition will accelerate the growth of Indianapolis Fruit and Piazza Produce by expanding their convenient grab-and-go offerings to include chef-curated sandwiches, wraps, atbreads, salads,
snack packs and parfaits cups. It also will provide an 11,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art FDA and USDA inspected kitchen facility certi ed with the Federal Grant of Inspection to ensure optimum food safety and regulation. Family-run businesses Indianapolis Fruit and Piazza Produce merged in 1997 to form IF&P Foods. Indianapolis Fruit distributes to individual grocers and grocery chains, while Piazza Produce distributes to foodservice establishments. Through the acquisition with Cibus Fresh, more than 60 new food varieties will be added to IF&P Foods’ product lines.
TRANSITION
WHOLESALE PRODUCE SUPPLY
Wholesale Produce Supply
Company, headquartered in Minne-
apolis, announced produce industry
veteran Bob Reich will be joining the
company in the role of Vice President
of Sales. Reich most recently was
with US Foods as Southeast regional
category manager, and prior to that
was director of procurement and sales
for the Florida of ce of Pro*Act-af liated company Fresh Link. He has worked in the produce industry for more than 25 years in the foodservice, grower/ shipper, brokerage and transportation sectors. Wholesale Produce Supply Company is one of the largest wholesale distributors of fresh produce in the Upper Midwest and has been operating since 1964.
ANNOUNCEMENT
UNITED FRESH NAMES 2018 FAMILY
BUSINESS SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Four winners of the 2018 Frieda
Rapoport Caplan Family Business
Scholarships were announced by
United Fresh Produce Association
and awarded complimentary
trips to last month’s Washington
Conference in Washington, DC.
They were: Johna Mailolli, RD,
Inserra Supermarkets Inc-ShopRite of Tallman, Mahwah, NJ; Marc Newman, transportation manager, Capital City Fruit Company, Norwalk, IA; Jacob Serck, owner and head of marketing, J.A.B. Produce, Chicago; Jeremy Taylor, vice president of sales, DNO, Inc., Columbus, OH. Scholarship recip- ients had an opportunity to network with produce industry leaders from across the country, as well
as gain an understanding of the political process and how to advocate for their priority issues at the conference, which featured education on critical industry issues and meetings with members of Congress, their staffs and top regulatory of cials. The Frieda Rapoport Caplan Family Business Scholarship Program was founded in 2001 by sisters Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins of Freida’s Inc., in honor of their mother and produce industry trailblazer, Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan.
ANNOUNCEMENT
CALIFORNIA GRAPES RECEIVE SPOT ON
PROMINENT RESTAURANT MENUS
California grapes will be featured this fall on the menus of some of the most well-known tourist desti- nations in the U.S. as well as a popular restaurant chain with locations around the country. California grapes will be included this fall
on the menus of Restaurant
Associates, one of the largest
hospitality companies in the
country. Restaurant Associates
provides food to corporate
dining, education facilities, and
museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Restaurant Associates will feature California grapes in snack boxes, grab ‘n go options, and smoothies. California grapes will also be on the menu at Wow Café, a 54-unit, fast-casual restaurant chain found on university campuses, and in hospitals, hotels, and airports around the country.
Bob Reich
Frieda Caplan
Produce & Floral Watch are regular features of Produce Business. Please send information on new products, personnel changes, industry, corporate and personal milestones and available literature, along with a high resolution image to: Managing Editor, Produce Business, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425 or email us at info@producebusiness.com.
16 / OCTOBER 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS