The Produce Industry Podcast w/ Patrick Kelly

Why was the most famous coffee farmer in the world a Cuban-American opera singer from Havana who had never visited Colombia — and how did a fictional man with a mule named Conchita become one of the most successful advertising characters in the history of capitalism? What is the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, the institution that built its own roads, its own bank, and its own merchant fleet to protect 540,000 smallholder families from the commodity trap? And how did a research centre founded in 1938 end up saving the entire Colombian coffee industry from a fungal epidemic forty years later?
Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Colombia and coffee — Juan Valdez, the parafiscal tax, and the real institution behind the fictional farmer...
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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.
The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!
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Why does a single spontaneous genetic mutation in a Styrian pumpkin field — sometime in the nineteenth century — matter enough to trigger diplomatic rows, European Parliament debates, and a forensic investigation involving rare earth element fingerprinting? How did an oil so dark it looks like used engine oil become both a peasant medicine worth its weight in gold and a gourmet product evaluated by specialist juries? And why are there now two legally protected "Styrian pumpkin seed oils" from two different countries, both called Styrian?
Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Austria and the green gold of Styria — the hull-less pumpkin, the fraud, the Slovenian oil war, and a landscape that wrote itself into a genome...
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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
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Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Why does the word "paradise" — as used in every European language, in Arabic, in Urdu — simply mean "walled garden" in Old Persian, and what does that tell us about the civilisation that turned a horticultural achievement into humanity's vision of the afterlife? How did Cyrus the Great build a garden in the middle of one of Earth's most extreme deserts using a 3,000-year-old technology that is still working today? And why does the Taj Mahal, visited by millions who have never heard of the chahar bagh, turn out to be the most famous Persian garden on Earth?
Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Iran and the paradise garden — the qanats, the four rivers of the Quran, and the walled enclosure that became heaven...
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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.
The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!
-----------
Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Share this episode with your friends
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Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.
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Join Patrick Kelly and special guest GT Parris, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Seald Sweet, as they dive into the dynamic world of South African summer citrus.
Discover how growers and supply chain experts are overcoming challenges like tariffs and weather to deliver consistent, high-quality citrus to U.S. retailers. This episode offers insider perspectives on the season's outlook, the fruit basket variety, and the positive impact South African growers have on their communities.

This week on Fresh From the Field Fridays, Dan The Produce Man is serving up a table full of summer flavor! From Yumi watermelon and Adriatic figs to Northwest cherries, Stockton sweet red onions, serpent cucumbers, fresh-picked berries, rhubarb, butter lettuce, domestic shiitake mushrooms, juicy plums, and expert tips on choosing the perfect peach—it's all here.
Brought to you by the Produce Industry Network, powered by AgLife Media. Visit aglifemedia.com today.