Supermarket Perimeter - September 2021 - 6

the
WIRE
North Carolina
and Georgia sweet
potato producers
merge under new
partnership
Bland Farms LLC,
Battleboro Produce,
Boyette Brothers Produce
LLC, and Sandyland
Produce have announced
a new partnership and
sales company, Sand
Candy Produce LLC.
The four major sweet
potato growers have
partnered in Sand Candy
Produce to focus on
selling sweet potatoes
grown in North Carolina
and Georgia. With their
respective packing
facilities, each partner
can pack bins, boxes, and
bags with sizes ranging
from 2 - 10lbs.
The company will
have its main office in
Battleboro, NC and will
handle sales for more
than 10,000 acres of
sweet potato production
in North Carolina and
Georgia. This will put the
new partnership as one
of the major marketers
of sweet potatoes in the
United States.
The new company
will expand the market
reach for each partner
company due to
the synergy of their
6 - SEPTEMBER 2021
combined domestic
and international
customer bases.
" We are one of the
three North Carolinabased
growing partners
that have been farming
world-famous North
Carolina sweet potatoes
for over 50 years, "
said Joel Boseman,
owner and president of
Battleboro Produce. " We
have enjoyed a strong
export business and
are excited that now
with Sand Candy, we
can grow our domestic
business along with our
international business.
Having both North
Carolina and Georgia
sweet potatoes this
season will be a win for
our customers. "
Sand Candy will
provide full marketing
and promotional services
to their customers
including in-store
POS social media, and
customer-specific
marketing. In addition,
the company will also
provide mixed loads
of sweet potatoes and
sweet onions as needed,
as well as mixed bins
of sweet potatoes and
sweet onions upon
request.
" We've been growing
supermarketperimeter.com
Georgia sweet potatoes
for several years now, "
said Delbert Bland,
owner and president of
Bland Farms LLC. " This
partnership will allow us
to expand our production
of sweet potatoes and
complement our Vidalia
sweet onion season. "
COVID-19 claims
an in-person Fancy
Food Show 2021
The Specialty Food
Association (SFA) is
shifting Fancy Food
Show 2021 from an inperson
event to a virtual
show due to concerns
about the spread of
COVID-19, specifically
the Delta variant of the
virus. The live event was
scheduled to take place
Sept. 27-29 at the Jacob
Javits Convention Center
in New York City.
The virtual event
is being rebranded as
Fancy Food 24/7 and will
now take place Sept. 27
through Oct. 8.
" The Specialty Food
Association has been
steadfast in creatively
supporting our members
and our $170.4 billion
industry during this
incredibly challenging
time, and we remain
committed to providing
opportunities in the
safest way possible, "
said Bill Lynch, president
of the SFA. " While we
will miss that special
feeling of in-person
connections with our
industry colleagues,
safety remains our No. 1
priority. "
Exhibitors will have the
option of a full refund,
or a credit for the Winter
Fancy Food Show 2022
or Summer Fancy Food
Show 2022, according to
the SFA. All pre-registered
attendees will receive a
refund and retain access
to Fancy Food 24/7.
UNFI and RangeMe
build platform
to strengthen
retailer-supplier
relationships
United Natural Foods is
enhancing the ability for
retailers and emerging
suppliers to facilitate
purchase orders directly
on UNFI's Easy Options
platform through
its partnership with
RangeMe.
Easy Options,
which serves
THE SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION, RANGE ME
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Supermarket Perimeter - September 2021

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