Weekly updates for the current month will be posted on this page to keep members informed on the lastest happenings at ASPIN.

CONTENTS

Week of September 24, 2007
Week of September 17, 2007
Week of September 10, 2007
Week of September 3, 2007

QUESTIONS OR NEED FURTHER INFORMATION?
Please contact Director of ASPIN Bette Thompson by email at bette@mesc.org or by phone at (520) 888-9664 or (800) 552-3534.

MOHAVE EXPO: Mark your calendars! The annual Mohave Expo is scheduled for October 17th at the Mesa Convention Center. This is our annual event bringing Mohave vendors and members together. This year we will be focusing on the Mohave process change that will start in January 08. It is important to note that the Mohave process changes DOES NOT affect ASPIN. Visit our website for registration information. Please be sure to pass this information on to your purchasing department. This is a conference they don’t want to miss!

SNAAZ CONFERENCE: It was GREAT to see so many ASPIN members at the SNAAZ conference last weekend! Please let us know if there were any products in particular that you would be interested in having on the ASPIN bid with Shamrock Foods.

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Mohave Educational Services is seeking a Director of Outreach and Education to work out of the Mohave Phoenix Office. We are offering a competitive salary and excellent benefits. If you know anyone that might be interested in applying for this position, please have them contact our Executive Director, Tom Peeler in the Kingman Office.

MARKON RESPONSE TO THE RECENT ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) REPORT ON SALAD SAFETY:

September 14, 2007

FOOD SAFETY UPDATE: FOOD SAFETY IN THE MEDIA

The Associated Press recently released a story on the safety of leafy greens and actions taken by the produce industry; the article portrays a lack of government action in the wake of last September’s E. coli outbreak.

Markon’s 5-Star Food Safety® Audit Program began years ago and continues today, even with the CLGMA (California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement) in place.

No one person or company can control government actions, but Markon can control the steps taken to protect Ready-Set-Serve, Markon First Crop, and MVP products. Markon’s 5-Star Food Safety Audit Program sets forth a stringent set of non-negotiable requirements for suppliers packing Ready-Set-Serve, Markon First Crop and MVP products. 5-Star goes beyond just monitoring fields and leafy greens; it addresses five points covering the entire field-to-fork continuum, and encompasses all items packed in Markon’s proprietary brands, including bell peppers, celery, strawberries and cucumbers.

All grower-shippers who pack Markon’s brand products have their fields and facilities annually audited for Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and Good Harvesting Practices (GHPs). Along with third-party audit requirements, Markon takes a “boots in the field” approach to food safety. Inspectors check fields daily before harvesting, looking for potential food safety risks; these daily risk assessments are a critical part of Markon’s food safety program, and a step which sets 5-Star apart from other programs.

All packers who process and distribute Markon’s brand products are annually audited for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). Daily inspections allow Markon to ensure that proper food safety protocols are maintained, monitor product quality and to verify that trace back stickers are being placed on every Markon carton and bag that is packed.

Our approach to produce handling can also be found on our web site at www.markon.com on the 5-Star Food Safety page
(http://www.markon.com/html/main.aspx?PageId=26).

AP Story:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALAD_SAFETY?SITE=
NCBER&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Johnna Hepner
Director of Food Safety

© 2007 Markon Cooperative, Inc. All rights reserved.
Markon is the company Shamrock Foods uses for produce.

HOLDING FUND INTEREST COMPUTATION: Your 06/07 interest computation worksheets will be faxed to you this week. If you have any questions, please call Bette.

RAINBOW PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

SHAMROCK PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

PRODUCT UPDATE: A product update is included as an attachment to this update.

ATTACHMENTS (Download as PDF Documents): RAINBOW PRODUCE; SHAMROCK PRODUCE; PRODUCT UPDATE.

MARK THE DATE: The Annual Mohave In-service program is scheduled for Friday, September 21st in Kingman. All of us from the ASPIN office will be attending the in-service. We will need to leave our office by 10:00 on Thursday, September 20th. Bob and Dila will be contacting you about orders. We will need to place your orders early in order to attend our in-service. We want to thank all our members for your assistance!

MOHAVE EXPO: Mark your calendars! The annual Mohave Expo is scheduled for October 17th at the Mesa Convention Center. This is our annual event bringing Mohave vendors and members together. This year we will be focusing on the Mohave process change that will start in January 08. It is important to note that the Mohave process change DOES NOT affect ASPIN. Visit our website for registration information. Please be sure to pass this information on to your purchasing department. This is a conference they don’t want to miss!

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Mohave Educational Services is seeking a Director of Outreach and Education to work out of the Mohave Phoenix Office. We are offering a competitive salary and excellent benefits. If you know anyone that might be interested in applying for this position, please have them contact our Executive Director, Tom Peeler in the Kingman Office.

MARKON RESPONSE TO THE RECENT ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) REPORT ON SALAD SAFETY:

September 14, 2007

FOOD SAFETY UPDATE: FOOD SAFETY IN THE MEDIA

The Associated Press recently released a story on the safety of leafy greens and actions taken by the produce industry; the article portrays a lack of government action in the wake of last September’s E. coli outbreak.

Markon’s 5-Star Food Safety® Audit Program began years ago and continues today, even with the CLGMA (California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement) in place.

No one person or company can control government actions, but Markon can control the steps taken to protect Ready-Set-Serve, Markon First Crop, and MVP products. Markon’s 5-Star Food Safety Audit Program sets forth a stringent set of non-negotiable requirements for suppliers packing Ready-Set-Serve, Markon First Crop and MVP products. 5-Star goes beyond just monitoring fields and leafy greens; it addresses five points covering the entire field-to-fork continuum, and encompasses all items packed in Markon’s proprietary brands, including bell peppers, celery, strawberries and cucumbers.

All grower-shippers who pack Markon’s brand products have their fields and facilities annually audited for Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and Good Harvesting Practices (GHPs). Along with third-party audit requirements, Markon takes a “boots in the field” approach to food safety. Inspectors check fields daily before harvesting, looking for potential food safety risks; these daily risk assessments are a critical part of Markon’s food safety program, and a step which sets 5-Star apart from other programs.

All packers who process and distribute Markon’s brand products are annually audited for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). Daily inspections allow Markon to ensure that proper food safety protocols are maintained, monitor product quality and to verify that trace back stickers are being placed on every Markon carton and bag that is packed.

Our approach to produce handling can also be found on our web site at www.markon.com on the 5-Star Food Safety page
(http://www.markon.com/html/main.aspx?PageId=26).

AP Story:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALAD_SAFETY?SITE=
NCBER&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Johnna Hepner
Director of Food Safety

© 2007 Markon Cooperative, Inc. All rights reserved.
Markon is the company Shamrock Foods uses for produce.

MARK THE DATE: The Annual Mohave In-service program is scheduled for Friday, September 21st in Kingman. All of us from the ASPIN office will be attending the in-service. We will need to leave our office by 10:00 on Thursday, September 20th. Bob and Dila will be contacting you about orders. We will need to place your orders early in order to attend our in-service. We want to thank all our members for your assistance!

MOHAVE EXPO: Mark your calendars! The annual Mohave Expo is scheduled for October 17th at the Mesa Convention Center. This is our annual event bringing Mohave vendors and members together. This year we will be focusing on the Mohave process change that will start in January 08. It is important to note that the Mohave process changes DOES NOT affect ASPIN. Visit our website for registration information. Please be sure to pass this information on to your purchasing department. This is a conference they don’t want to miss!

AEC MEETING: The ASPIN Executive Committee will be meeting at 10:00 on Wednesday, September 12th at the Mohave Phoenix Office, 5225 N. Central #218, Phoenix. All ASPIN members are welcome to attend, however, space is limited. If you would like to attend this meeting, please contact Bette in the ASPIN office.

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Mohave Educational Services is seeking a Director of Outreach and Education to work out of the Mohave Phoenix Office. We are offering a competitive salary and excellent benefits. If you know anyone that might be interested in applying for this position, please have them contact our Executive Director, Tom Peeler in the Kingman Office.

HOLDING FUND INTEREST COMPUTATION: Your 06/07 interest computation worksheets will be faxed to you this week. If you have any questions, please call Bette.

RECALL ON PROCESSED SPINACH: Please not that the recall on processed spinach DOES NOT apply to any products you may have received from Shamrock Foods.

PRODUCT INFO: Please note that NOI Shamrock product code #2726061, Beef Meatballs #7360-328 from Tyson Foods will not be available to order until late September. This is a Tyson issue, not a Shamrock Foods issue.

RAINBOW PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

SHAMROCK PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

PRODUCT UPDATE: A product update is included as an attachment to this update.

ATTACHMENTS (Download as PDF Documents): RAINBOW PRODUCE; SHAMROCK PRODUCE; PRODUCT UPDATE.

MOHAVE EXPO: Mark your calendars! The annual Mohave Expo is scheduled for October 17th at the Mesa Convention Center. This is our annual event bringing Mohave vendors and members together. This year we will be focusing on the Mohave process change that will start in January 08. It is important to note that the Mohave process changes DOES NOT affect ASPIN. Visit our website for registration information. Please be sure to pass this information on to your purchasing department. This is a conference they don’t want to miss!

AEC MEETING: The ASPIN Executive Committee will be meeting at 10:00 on Wednesday, September 12th at the Mohave Phoenix Office, 5225 N. Central #218, Phoenix. All ASPIN members are welcome to attend, however, space is limited. If you would like to attend this meeting, please contact Bette in the ASPIN office.

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Mohave Educational Services is seeking a Director of Outreach and Education to work out of the Mohave Phoenix Office. We are offering a competitive salary and excellent benefits. If you know anyone that might be interested in applying for this position, please have them contact our Executive Director, Tom Peeler in the Kingman Office.

HOLDING FUND INTEREST COMPUTATION: We hope to send you the Holding Fund Interest Computation for the 06/07 school year by the middle of September. We are waiting for the accounting department in Kingman to finalize year end numbers. As soon as we receive this information, we will forward it to you.

RECALL ON PROCESSED SPINACH: Please note that the recall on processed spinach DOES NOT apply to any products you may have received from Shamrock Foods.

PRODUCT INFO: Please note that NOI Shamrock product code #2726061, Beef Meatballs #7360-328 from Tyson Foods will not be available to order until late September. This is a Tyson issue, not a Shamrock Foods issue.

RAINBOW PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

SHAMROCK PRODUCE PRICES: Pricing for this week is included as an attachment to this update.

PRODUCT UPDATE: A product update is included as an attachment to this update.

MILK PRICING: Milk pricing for all counties from Shamrock Dairy is included as an attachment to this update.

MILK AND COLD STORAGE PRICING: Milk and cold storage pricing from Shamrock Foods for the month of September is included as an attachment to this update.

ATTACHMENTS (Download as PDF Documents): RAINBOW PRODUCE; SHAMROCK PRODUCE; PRODUCT UPDATE; MILK PRICING; MILK AND COLD STORAGE PRICING.

Links to Previous
Weekly Updates

August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006