HGI Planter Nov 98

Welcome to the HGI Planter

Why a Newsletter?

Patrick A. Tuffield

HGI Worldwide, Inc.

Welcome to the HGI Planter Newsletter. We have decided that a good way to inform our growers of different things that we feel you should know and articles of interest would be in a newsletter. We are all excited about this newsletter and hope that it will be fun for you as well as us and at the same time be informative. I feel that the more information that we can share the more knowledge we can gain and the end result should benefit everyone involved. So I hope that you will enjoy this newsletter and all of them to follow. If you have any questions or comments about the newsletter or the articles contained in the newsletter feel free to drop me a note at; HGI Worldwide, Inc. P.O. Box 25845 Colorado Springs, CO 80936-5845, or you can call or fax me at; 719-495-2266 or email me at patrick.tuffield@hydro-gardens.com. Have a great month and I hope that you have a nice Thanksgiving

Puzzled About PLU #’s

FAQ ‘s On PLU’s

Lori Morton

HGI Worldwide, Inc.

Recently this acronym has swept trough our industry. Leaving many of us confused. We thought we would try to help by answering some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is a PLU number?

It stands for Price Look Up code. When supermarkets introduced scanning to track inventory, manufactures began to put bar codes on products. For bulk or by weight items (such as produce) this was a problem. So produce just continued as it has. As consumer demands grew for more and different varieties of produce (since the 1970’s the number of items has exploded from less than 100 to over 300 today) the Produce Marketing Association realized there needed to be a way to track these items. Solution - - PLU numbers.

Who needs to use PLU numbers?

Growers selling to supermarkets. The large markets or chains expect the grower to have their vegetables and fruit individually labeled. Today even the small local grocery store uses scanning, so they may need PLU numbers as well.

If I already have a label, do I need to add the PLU number?

A. Again this depends on who you are marketing to. If you supply to several markets some may, or may not use PLU numbers. It makes

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not what he is capable of receiving!" Albert Einstein

good cents to have only one label with a PLU number for your crop. Therefore you are not buying and applying different labels for each market. This would be expensive and very labor intensive.

How do I know what PLU number to use?

There are standards set by the Produce Marketing Association. But of course these do vary. Some stores will assign a Retail Supplier number to each grower. We suggest contacting your markets and their produce managers. For the standard numbers call HGI, we have a list from the Produce Marketing Association and would be happy to help you.

Where can I get labels?

We have a wide range of generic labels. They cover Organically Grown to Insecticide Free. We will also custom make labels to your requirements. Call us for samples and details.

Remember – If you are considering a custom label for your spring crop, Now is the time to start the process. That will allow us plenty of time to work out the details of your order and get the labels finished in time. A normal first time label could take some time so don’t get caught in the rush

Check out this web site
Greg Morton
Greg Morton
Web Page Administrator

The web site recommendation for this issue is Dr. Rick Snyder’s page on tomato information. This site is loaded with useful information for the tomato grower or anyone considering growing tomatoes. The site covers topics such as growing and marketing. You will also be able to access many sites related to this field. To get to Dr. Snyder’s web site Click Here. Here you will also find related sites and other sites of interest. Be sure to look in the next issue for another web site to check out.

Growers View
Patrick A. Tuffield
Patrick A. Tuffield
HGI Worldwide, Inc.

This spot is reserved for the grower. I would like to take information, ideas, recipes, cartoons and tricks that you have learned over the years or whatever you feel would be informative or fun and share it with other growers. What I need you to do is take time if you would and send it to me. I am hoping to get a really good response from our growers. The ideas and articles that we receive will only be printed upon the decision of the HGI newsletter staff and must be appropriate for all ages; (this would include our younger growers). If you have any questions you can call fax or email me and as always I would be delighted to talk with you.
Thank you for your support.
Patrick

Eric’s German Potato Salad

Well the holidays are fast approaching and it is the time of year that we eat and eat. So for this we have a great German potato salad. Eric Long is our shipping and receiving manager and this recipe has been passed over several generations in his family. Enjoy!!!!!!!

5 lbs. Red Potatoes 1 lb. Bacon
2 Large Onions 24 oz. Dill Pickles
1 Cup beef bullion stock

Boil the potatoes in the skin until they are fully cooked. Cut the bacon into ½ " pieces and fry. Save the bacon grease. When the potatoes are done, peel while they are still hot. In a large bowl add the potatoes and bacon. Dice the onions and the pickles and add to the bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of bacon grease and 1cup of beef bullion stock. You can add to taste salt pepper and of course fresh garlic. And for added flavor you can add some of the pickle juice.
This potato salad is best when served warm.

Holiday schedule

Hydro-Gardens will be closed on Thursday November 26, 1998 for Thanksgiving

Friday December 25, 1998 for Christmas, Friday January 1, 1999 for New Years day. On Thursday December 24, 1998 we will be closing at 12:00 noon. So we can get our shopping completed!

The HGI Planter is printed bimonthly. Please direct questions or comments concerning this newsletter to Patrick A. Tuffield at 719-495-2266. Or email me at patrick.tuffield@hydro-gardens.com

HGI Worldwide, Inc. PO Box 25845 Colorado Springs CO 80936-5845