USDA Cites Fresh & Easy LLC in California for Failure to Pay for Produce and Company Satisfies Terms of Consent Decision and Order

USDA/AMS Press Release: In a complaint filed on Dec. 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Fresh & Easy LLC, of Riverside, Calif., for failure...

March 13, 2025

2 minute read

USDA/AMS Press Release:

In a complaint filed on Dec. 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Fresh & Easy LLC, of Riverside, Calif., for failure to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $201,468 to 23 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).

Subsequent to the complaint being filed, USDA and Fresh & Easy LLC entered into a consent decision and order finding that the company committed flagrant and repeated violations of the PACA. Fresh & Easy LLC paid the produce sellers in full and paid a civil penalty in the amount of $30,000. Because Fresh & Easy LLC has satisfied the terms of the consent decision and order, the company remains licensed under the PACA and this case is closed.

The PACA Division, which is part of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses that are operating subject to PACA, including buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry.

In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,500 claims involving more than $58 million. Our experts also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $140 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.

For further information, contact Josephine E. Jenkins, Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873, or by email at PACAInvestigations@ams.usda.gov.

Get the latest Agricultural Marketing Service news at www.ams.usda.gov/news or follow us on Twitter @USDA_AMS. You can also read about us on the USDA blog.

Contact Info: Nadine Wilkins, nadine.wilkins@ams.usda.gov, 202-720-8998

Release No.: 052-17

For more PACA violations reported by Blue Book Services: #PACAViolations

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