Just 18 days from harvest, and excitement is crackling at farms up and down Fruit Ridge Avenue near our sales office, as well as across Michigan.

Summer weather has been idyllic, although sometimes a bit on the cool side, which is good for apples. Rainfall has been regular, meaning sizing has been excellent.   We continue to anticipate a very clean crop that will be in the neighborhood of 30-32 million bushels.

2014 Michigan Apple harvest start dates
Paula Red                            Aug. 22-25
Ginger Gold                         Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Gala                                     Sept. 17-20
Gold Delicious                      Sept. 17-20
McIntosh                              Sept. 21-23
Jonamac                              Sept. 21-13
Honeycrisp                        Sept. 25-27
Cortland                               Sept. 27-29
Fuji                                       Sept. 27-29
Jonathan                              Sept. 27-29
Empire                                  Sept. 27-29
Red Delicious                       Oct. 2-7
Jonagold                               Oct. 2-7
Rome                                    Oct. 2-7
Ida Red                                 Oct. 27-31
Braeburn                              Oct. 27-31
Blondee                                Oct. 27-31
Cameo                                  Oct. 27-31
Pink Lady                              AVAILABLE IN 2016!
 
New staff, new duties
Experienced in apples and friendly to boot, Mitch Brinks has joined Riveridge Produce as account manager in our Sparta sales office.  Mitch has enjoyed a long career in the produce business, including the last 11 years as sales manager at Jack Brown Produce.
 
Brinks formerly worked in produce procurement for the Kroger Co., traveling and sourcing fruits and vegetables throughout the Eastern US.  He also has experience in import/export sales of apples.  He holds a degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing and Food Distribution from Western Michigan University.
 
His hire comes as Riveridge expands its sales team, and will bring new talents and perspectives to an already-strong sales office.

Riveridge has also added Dan Winowiecki to the accounting staff.  Winowiecki comes from a 32-year career with Cherry Growers, Inc., where he most recently served as Director of Finance and Accounting.
 
Jeff Armock, Manager of Food Safety and Quality Control, and now in his fifth year with Riveridge, has assumed additional responsibilities for production scheduling and sales.
 
Riveridge rebranding arrives on cartons
Among several new looks and innovations that Riveridge has brought to its packaging in the last year, produce buyers will see a fresh new look showing up on shipping cartons.

The lime-green-sprig of leaves atop a bright-red Riveridge signature has more energy, seems fresher and a better fit in today’s food marketplace.  Riveridge will adopt the coordinated brand look across its product line.  New traymaster cartons have the same look on a premium white cardboard, and a QR code linking back to the Riveridge website.

See you Tuesday in Chicago!
Meet us at Booth #619 next Tuesday at The Packer’s Midwest Conference and Expo, at the Chicago Hyatt Regency.  We’ll be showing off our full array of new products, including our new cartons.

Top Tweets.  For updates on what’s happening at Riveridge, follow us on Twitter at Riveridge Produce.

Sincerely,
 

       Don Armock                    Dawn Geers                 Rog Geers          Mitch Brinks           
Brian Johnson                          Melissa Dubridge                    Russell Comport