Aldi's time

The New York Times runs a nice feature on Sept. 6 on Aldi. From a customer who likes to shop Aldi from time to time, there is no substitute for low prices: From the last three graphs of the NYT feature:

Aldi’s no-frills approach appears to be paying off. There are more than 950 stores in the United States, and it plans to add 100 in the next year. (It has 8,500 worldwide.) Supermarket News estimates that sales last year were $5.8 billion. By comparison, Wal-Mart’s grocery sales in 2006 were $92 billion, according to the Food Marketing Institute, which listed Aldi’s 2006 sales at $3.3 billion.

Of course, shopping at Aldi is hardly the same experience as shopping at Wegmans or Whole Foods Market, or the local Kroger or Safeway. Those stores spent the last decade catering to shoppers’ desire for convenience and more upscale products like artisanal cheeses, fresh-caught fish and organic produce.

Aldi ignored the trends and stayed focused on price. For now, at least, shoppers are rewarding that decision.

COOL questions and clarifications

From www.regulations.gov, we have a letter from Wild Rocket Food that addresses industry questions about COOL. Even with the USDA rulemaking, there will be no quick end to the questions about COOL.

August 20, 2008

Ag Marketing Service

USDA

Dear sir / madam

Re: COOL Questions

Wild Rocket Foods is a processor of juice, salsa, prepared fruit, prepared vegetables, prepared salad products, single/mixed packs of fruit and vegetables. We directly supply retail and receive product from both Brokers and Growers directly.

Please provide clarification to the following questions in relation to the COOL Interim Rule:

1. If we receive product of more than one country on a pallet (e.g. 300 bell peppers from Mexico, USA, Canada), should the Bill of Lading be split to demonstrate the exact quantity from each country, or can the total be quoted with three countries listed?
2. We have a customer requirement to quote STATE in addition to USA. Is it possible to abbreviate STATE when more than one needs to be listed e.g. WA, CA, AZ etc? This is important given the available space that we have on our packaging. We could perhaps put the abbreviated STATE into brackets after USA? “USA (CA, AZ)”
3. Is there a period of time, whereby a packer would be exempt from stating the country? Such as, if during a season changeover, the product is packed for less than 30 days from that particular country.
4. In the area of leafy greens, what products would constitute single vs. co-mingled commodities. For example, would arugula mixed with green leaf be classed as single or co-mingled? Also red leaf and green leaf mixed – both are leaf products? Also red leaf and red oak leaf?
5. Is there a defined list of covered commodities. For example at the COOL Compliance Meeting we were told Grapes were not included?
6. During a season changeover, a single commodity (packed as a single unit e.g. Squash) may come from two countries at the same time. Can we put the two countries on the label if our inventory stock shows we had both countries available at the same time? How accurate are we expected to be? Does the country need to be affirmatively identified during this time?
7. In the situation of point 6. how should the countries be separated? We were advised at the Compliance Meeting that a ‘comma’ is treated as an ‘and’, but this would be physically impossible for a single unit to come from two countries and will be confusing to the consumer. Could they perhaps be separated by a space or a ‘slash’?
8. Could the countries permitted for abbreviation be extended? We suggest New Zealand, Guatemala, South Africa, Argentina, Australia be considered.
9. We have a process of ‘steaming’ as a microbiological kill step in the preparation of some fruit products. It does not physically change the character of the product, though we later cut the product. Does this meet the ‘processed’ exclusion? For example pineapple in whole form, steamed, then cut into pineapple chunks as a single finished product.

We thank you for your consideration of these points.

Yours sincerely

Clare Rapa-Marley

Supply Chain Technical Manager

Getting started in DC

I've arrived at Ronald Reagan Airport this evening and took the yellow line metro to my Alexandria, Va., Holiday Inn. I'll be here week, starting with coverage of the f/v industry advisory committee meeting and ending with the WPPC.

Tomorrow is the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee meeting, three metro stops away at the Crowne Plaza at Washington National Airport. The agenda includes a "farm bill update" by Robert Keeney, deputy administrator of the F/V programs fro the USDA AMS. Also on tap is a look at developments in market news reporting of organic items by Terry Long, chief of the USDA AMS FV Market News Branch.

Also on the agenda:
Crop insurance, the issue of maximum pesticide levels, PACA license fees, and the committee's working groups on food safety/traceability, child nutrition reauthorization, labor/immigration, transportation, market news/inspection services.

If all works as planned, you may get some real time updates tomorrow....

FDA authority to regulate on farm safety - possible outcomes

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group links to the recent Congressional Research Service report on FDA's authority and regulation of on-farm food safety. Luis also uploaded the entire report, found here. Luis also uploaded a companion CRS report here. Good backgrounders to what Congress will be considering this year and next.

Eat more produce - cut greenhouse gas

That's another way of communicating the essence of what the U.N is telling consumers about red meat. In this story from The Guardian, a U.N. officials says consumers should cut way back on consumption of meat because of its effect on greenhouse gas emissions. If you can't eat meat, you will surely eat more fresh produce.

People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.

His comments are the most controversial advice yet provided by the panel on how individuals can help tackle global warning.