This Week on Fresh from the Field Fridays

Ross “The Produce Boss” Nelson and Dan “The Produce Man” Avakian share their top picks of the week!

Ross dives into Moon Cherries, Baby Nibble Spuds cooked up on his Blackstone, and talks trends with vegetable consumption down and fruit consumption up. He also introduces his favorite new salad mix from Dole and explains why he’s still stashing berries in mason jars.

Dan brings some fun and flavor with Butt-Crack Peaches, Rave Apples, Sommerfeld Apples, fresh bunched radishes, Concorde Grapes, fresh figs, Abate Fetel pears, and more!

Get your shopping list ready — you’ll want to grab these fresh picks of the week. Tune in to Fresh from the Field Fridays, brought to you by The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media.

This week on Fresh From the Field Fridays, host Ross Nelson is joined by special co-host Patrick Kelly while on the road in Charlotte, NC! Together, they dig into what’s fresh from the fields and landing in your grocery stores right now.

The conversation also explores rising consumer trends, with a spotlight on millennial purchase power, and wraps up with some key takeaways on how shoppers are choosing fresh vegetables today. Tune in for insights straight from the field to your table!

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, Dan the Produce Man and Ross the Produce Boss share some of their top picks of the week. They’re joined byaward-winning organic retail consultant, educator, and advocate, and the owner of Organic Options Mark Mulcahy.

Mark brings the latest on what’s tasting great right now — like dry-farmed early-grown tomatoes and even dry-farmed variety melons grown in Oregon. He also talks about the Rising Stars program, a collaborative effort that’s helped over 2,500 produce and fresh food managers grow and thrive in the industry.

Tune in for all this and more — only on Fresh from the Field Fridays, brought to you by The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media.

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, we’re going ape for grapes!

Ross “The Produce Boss” Nelson and Dan “The Produce Man” Avakian welcome Jim Beagle from Grapery.

Jim shares his journey from working the fields at age five with his dad to becoming CEO of Grapery—still walking the rows every day with his crew. You’ll hear how rich dialogue with consumers keeps Grapery in tune with shopper expectations, and Jim’s core advice: do the job right every day, be consistent, and deliver the experience shoppers can count on.

We dive into:

• The intensity and precision of meticulous hand harvesting
• Why Grapery lets grapes ripen longer for maximum flavor
• The systems that ensure bunches are picked at peak maturity
• Grapery’s world travels to find wild grape species with amazing flavor, bred into seedless varieties (all non-GMO)
• Flavor explosions ranging from tropical notes to Stone fruit sweetness

It’s a masterclass in flavor, farming, and consistency—all right here on Fresh from the Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media.

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, Dan the Produce Man and Ross the Produce Boss are joined by Farmer Lee Jones from The Chef's Garden in Huron, Ohio.

Farmer Lee digs deep into regenerative agriculture—feeding the soil, respecting its biology, and restoring nutrients to our food. He explains how vegetables grown a century ago carried up to 80% more nutrients than they do today, but now we’re bringing that back—dusting it off, reinventing it, and restoring the living biology in the soil. As he says: “There’s more life in a tablespoon of healthy soil than in the whole world—when the biology is respected.”

We also explore Farmer Lee’s journey: from standard farming practices to transforming The Chef’s Garden under the influence of world-renowned chefs. Together, they built a path forward when times were tough, advancing their offerings through a focus on texture, body, color, and flavor.

It’s a powerful conversation about soil, chefs, and survival in the produce world—all right here on Fresh from the Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media.

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, Anthony Totta from FreshXperts joins us. FreshXperts is a powerhouse team of produce industry consultants, advisors, and mentors.

Anthony walks us through the group’s broad spectrum of expertise—everything from retail-level merchandising, product handling, and worker training, all the way back through the supply chain. That includes warehousing, ERP software solutions, grant writing, business development strategies, procurement training, and even helping companies secure the financing they need to reach their goals.

From growing up in his grandfather’s and father’s grocery stores, to creating brands, to building a successful ERP platform for independent grocers—Anthony shares highlights from his journey and plenty of insights along the way.

It’s all right here on Fresh From The Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media!

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media—

Ross the Produce Boss and Dan the Produce Man are joined by Dick Peixoto, founder and proprietor of Lakeside Organic Gardens.

You’ve seen the Lakeside Organic Gardens label on organic veggies all across America, from grocery stores to foodservice distributors.

Hear how Dick went from being the son of a pesticide salesman to one of the largest organic powerhouses in the country.

It’s all right here on Fresh from the Field Fridays—so tune in and turn on!

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network and AgLife Media—Dan the Produce Man and Ross the Produce Boss are live in Monterey at the IFPA Foodservice Summit!

Ross is just back from Europe with great photos and stories from produce markets abroad. Dan’s got summer treats like Angelcots, Japanese honeydew, and more, plus the latest from this year’s IFPA Food Show.

It’s all happening on Fresh from the Field Fridays—so tune in and turn on!