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General News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 4 Macfrut 2014 Brings Fruit and Vegetable Suppliers to Italy After the positive results achieved in 2013, with 24,800 registered visitors and exhibitors from more than 35 countries, Macfrut, the international trade fair for the fruit and vegetable supply chain will be held in Cesena, Italy from September 24-26. This year, internationalization will be the main focus of the event. Macfrut is a trade fair for the supply chain, where visitors can find all the useful elements to set up strong businesses in the global market. These include seeds, as well as cultivation and protection techniques, where multinational corporations and leading niche companies each play a key role. The event will also showcase product processing and preservation technologies. In addition, another event highlight, the Oscar Macfrut award ceremony, dedicated to innovative technologies, will honor industry leaders. For further information, visit www.macfrut.com. Trade Event to Celebrate the World of Latino Cuisine The World of the Latino Cuisine: El Mundo de la Cocina Latina is a food products and beverage trade show that will showcase products from Latin America and the Caribbean on September 17-18 at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Newark, New Jersey. The trade show will provide a dynamic venue where Latino food producers will exhibit their offerings for the ever-growing Hispanic marketplace. The show will feature an exhibit floor, workshops and the participation of students from local culinary schools. This food and beverage trade show invites food manufacturers, producers and importers from the Caribbean and Latin American countries as exhibitors, and the attendance of buyers, merchandisers, distributors, small- and medium-sized specialty food stores, regional chains, caterers, restaurants and independents. Exhibit categories include frozen foods, groceries, natural and organic products, beverages and non-food products. For more information, visit www.latinofoodshow.com. National Heirloom Expo Comes to Sonoma County Fairgrounds Coming to Santa Rosa, California September 9- 11, The National Heirloom Exposition is a not- for-profit event dedicated to showcasing pure food, heirloom vegetables and non-GMO products. The fourth annual event will take place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Tickets are available at http://theheirloomexpo.com. Last year's National Heirloom Exposition brought 18,000 people to California from throughout the United States and abroad. The event featured over 100 speakers and 300 natural food vendors and drew a great number of homesteaders, farmers, school groups and other individuals interested in the pure food movement. The event hopes to do similar numbers this year, billing itself as "The World's Fair of Pure Food." Speakers scheduled to appear at National Heirloom Exposition 2014 include bestselling author Joseph Mercola, prominent blogger Vani Hari and Indian academic Rajiv Kumar Sinha. Brookside Farms Blueberry Grower Honored as Champion of Change by the White House and USDA Kristin Fritz Kubiszak of Brookside Farms, a grower for MBG Marketing – The Blueberry People, was one of only 15 national honorees named as a Cham- pion of Change this year by the White House and the United States Department of Agriculture. The award honors agri- culture leaders from across the country who are taking innovative approaches to support American farming and ranching, now and in the future. The award show- cases actions that advance the future of agriculture. Kubiszak is the retail manager for Paw Paw, Michigan-based Brookside Farms. She is a fifth-generation member of her family to operate a farm that distributes fresh blueberries through MBG's cooper- ative marketing network under the Na- turipe ® brand. After obtaining her bachelor's degree in social work from Cornerstone University, Kubiszak re- turned home to her family farm, which focuses on growing and packing top- quality blueberries. Kubiszak's involvement in the agricul- ture industry does not stop at her family farm. She also sits on the board of direc- tors for the Van Buren County Farm Bu- reau as Chair of its Promotion and Education Committee. With this posi- tion she has dedicated her time to edu- cating the community with trips to local schools, the Ag Venture tent at the local Youth Fair and other youth and con- sumer education programs. Kubiszak's primary goal is to educate not only about agriculture, but also about how families impact agriculture and how important it is to continue family farms. "Kristin is another member of the Fritz family farming operation that makes us proud that they are part of our MBG and Naturipe families," said Bob Hawk, President and CEO of MBG Marketing. Brookside Farms started as a dairy farm in 1876, and Kubiszak's grandfa- ther planted his first blueberry bush in 1956. That was the same year the family joined Michigan Blueberry Growers Association, a grower-owned coop- erative. Kubiszak's father, Bill Fritz, has continued the family tradition of active agricultural leadership, by serving on the boards of both MBG Marketing and Na- turipe Farms. "We were absolutely delighted when we learned that Kristin was selected for this program," said Fritz. "She is a won- derful representative of the next genera- tion that has the desire and drive to continue our commitment to family farming and the broader agricultural community." Kubiszak and the other honorees were congratulated by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack of the USDA and recognized at a ceremony in the White House by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Harden and Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Ce- cilia Munoz. They were given a tour of the First Lady's White House garden by Sam Kass, President Obama's Senior Pol- icy Advisor for Nutrition Pol- icy and the Executive Director of Let's Move. "It was a true privilege to represent the blueberry indus- try as a Champion of Change. Since we grow blueberries, which are known for their great flavor and incredible health attributes, I was espe- cially pleased to learn firsthand about some of the efforts by the First Lady to encourage children to eat a healthy, brighter array of fresh fruits and vegetables," said Kubiszak. "It was great to share the story of our family blueberry farm. It has always been a passion of mine to educate others about what we do, and this was another great opportu- nity." To learn more about Kubiszak and the other Champions of Change, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions. GN U.S. Breweries are Booming According to Census Bureau; Wine, Distilled Liquor Industries Also Up The number of U.S. breweries more than doubled from 398 to 869 between 2007 and 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released from the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series. The breweries in- dustry reported $28.3 billion in shipments in 2012, an increase of nearly 33.6 percent since 2007. Employment in the breweries industry also climbed over the five-year span, ris- ing to 26,077 employees in 2012, up by 3,825 or 17.2 percent from 22,252 em- ployed in the industry in 2007. Still, while overall employment within the brewing industry grew, the average num- ber of employees per brewery decreased sharply from 56 in 2007 to 30 in 2012, a possible indication of the growth of smaller craft breweries within the larger American brewing landscape. The economic census data also reveals that beer shipments in kegs have grown substantially but still represent just a frac- tion of overall beer shipments. Specifically, beer shipments in barrels and kegs rose 88.2 percent to $2.4 billion in 2012. How- ever, kegs represented just 8.6 percent of all beer shipments, up from 6.1 percent in 2007. The newly released economic census data also detailed growth within the Amer- ican wine and distilled liquors industries. Data shows that the wineries industry em- ployed 37,602 people in 2012, up from 33,390 people in 2007. Average payroll per employee increased 10.7 percent during this period. Total product shipments of wineries was fairly evenly split between red and white wine: 31.6 percent red wine, 29.2 percent white wine. Meanwhile, rosé grape and other fruit and berry wines accounted for 2.6 percent of total shipments. Sales of distilled liquor increased 29.9 percent from 2007 to 2012, outpacing the increases observed in wine sales (16.5 per- cent increase) and beer sales (9.6 percent increase) during the same period. Wine and distilled alcoholic beverage merchant wholesalers reported $78.3 billion in sales, a 23.6 percent increase from 2007 to 2012. By comparison, beer and ale merchant wholesalers reported sales of $57.7 billion in 2012, up 10.7 percent. Future 2012 Economic Census Industry Series reports will be released through Feb- ruary 2015. For more information on these future releases or to see which industries' data have been released already, see http://business.census.gov. GN

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