The Center for Produce Safety (CPS) is already $5 million richer towards its $15 million financial goal, which will be used for produce-specific food safety research, and to transfer these research findings to industry, government, and other stakeholders. This will take place during the next five years.
Taylor Farms and Western Growers, two organizations in the fresh produce industry, are each donating $1 million to the project. CPS has stated that the money will go towards the group's work to fund science, find solutions, and fuel change in fresh produce food safety.
Taylor Farms and Western Growers have very different business structures, but their motivations for their CPS donations are the same: to safeguard consumers and the industry's future by improving produce safety knowledge.
Western Growers also donated $1 million to CPS during a 2015 campaign. Its president and CEO, Dave Puglia, ranks food safety as a "top-level threat" to the fresh produce industry.
Produce safety is important to Taylor Farms because of consumer loyalty, says Bruce Taylor, CEO of fresh-cut processing company Taylor Farms.
Taylor Farms made a $2 million contribution in 2007 when it co-founded CPS with the Produce Marketing Association.
