NEW ROCHELLE, NY – LGS Specialty Sales, a leading importer of citrus, avocados, grapes and persimmons, anticipates a strong grape season from December 2021 through May of 2022.
For six months, LGS will be importing red, green and black seedless grapes from Chile and Peru. This will include specialty varieties like Cotton Candy and Candy Hearts. The grapes will be available in both clamshells and clear bags.
“We have a lot to look forward to with our upcoming grape season,” said Luke Sears, president and founder of LGS Specialty sales. “We’re partnering with one of the biggest Sweet Celebration and Cotton Candy growers in Chile, as well as importing new proprietary varieties out of Peru that include both conventional and specialty grapes.”
The company noted that its growing region in Peru continues to expand with new varieties, reporting a 10 percent increase from the previous year. LGS’ volume is on schedule to meet both retailer and consumer needs this upcoming import season.
An above average crop should translate into more Maine potato shipments this season.
The Maine Farmers Exchange of Presque Isle reports the past three seasons were plaqued by drought, unlike 2021 which has had adequate rain and good weather.
Shipment should continue into May 2022. Maine potato acreage for the fresh market is estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 acres out of the state’s total of 50,000 acres.
Cambridge Farms of Presque Isle reported a good growing season with great quality potatoes in storages.
Green Thumb Farms Inc. of Fryeburg, ME points out potatoes were in storage by mid-October with great quality.
The Maine Potato Exchange notes with the cost of transportation increasing each year the state has an advantage of being eight to 16 hours from one third of the nation’s population.
Children who eat more fruits and vegetables have better mental wellbeing, according to new research from the United Kingdom’s University of East Anglia Health and Social Care Partners.
The study shows that eating more fruit and vegetables is linked with better wellbeing among secondary school (middle to high school age) pupils in particular. What’s more, the research showed U.K. children who consumed five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day had the highest scores for mental wellbeing.
The study was led by UEA Health and Social Care Partners in collaboration with Norfolk County Council, according to a news release.
Public health strategies and school policies should be developed to ensure that good quality nutrition is available to all children before and during school to “optimize mental wellbeing and empower children to fulfil their full potential,” researchers said. “While the links between nutrition and physical health are well understood, until now, not much has been known about whether nutrition plays a part in children’s emotional wellbeing,” lead researcher Professor Ailsa Welch, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said in the release.
“So, we set out to investigate the association between dietary choices and mental wellbeing among schoolchildren.” The research team studied 2017 data from almost 9,000 children in 50 schools across Norfolk (7,570 secondary and 1,253 primary school children) taken from the Norfolk children and Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Survey, according to the release. Children in the study self-reported their dietary choices and took part in age-appropriate tests of mental wellbeing that covered cheerfulness, relaxation, and having good interpersonal relationships, the release said.
The study found only around a quarter of secondary-school children and 28% of primary-school children reported eating the recommended five-a-day fruits and vegetables. What’s more, the study found that just under one in 10 children were not eating any fruits or vegetables.
The research team also looked at the association between nutritional factors and mental wellbeing and considered other factors that might have an impact – such as adverse childhood experiences and home situations.
“We found that eating well was associated with better mental wellbeing in children,” Richard Hayhoe, also from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said in the release. “And that among secondary school children in particular, there was a really strong link between eating a nutritious diet, packed with fruit and vegetables, and having better mental wellbeing.”
Peruvian mango exports are predicted to be at 220,000-240,000 tons of fresh mangoes in the 2021/2022 season. This would be very similar to the previous two season, which were 237,000 tons in 2019/2020 and 217,000 tons in 2020/2021.
The Peruvian Association of Mango Exporters (APEM) note, 60 percent of the total volume would is destined for go the U.S., 30 percent to Europe, and 10 percent to Asia and other Latin American countries.
Peru’s mango season typically runs from December through March.
Peru has nearly 86,500 acres of mango for export (80 percent located in Piura, 10 percent in Lambayeque, and the remaining 10 percent in Ancash) that are grown by 14,000 producers.
This season Peru will have 17 certified hydrothermal treatment plants to ship fresh mango to the U.S., when 5 years ago there were only 11 plants.
Imported Peruvian asparagus should be up slightly over last season.
Peruvian growers exported 206.48 million pounds of asparagus to the U.S. during 2020, according to the USDA. The Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association predicts shipments should be slightly higher for 2021. The group sees steady imports through the end of the year and into January.
Square One Farms LLC of Sunrise FL, notes Peru supplies asparagus to the U.S. market about 10 months of the year, with the fourth quarter binging heaviest volume.
Square One Farms expects Peruvian asparagus volume to be up over 15% this year compared to 2020.
Southern Specialties Inc. of Pompano Beach, FL had increased imports by early November and expects slightly more volume this year. The company imports asparagus from Peru year-round.
Seven Seas of Vero Beach, FL, imports Peruvian asparagus from mid-April through mid-January, and is a big item for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Mother’s Day and Easter.
Prices for truckload services spiked to their highest levels yet in October, reflecting shippers’ willingness to pay a premium to move goods through their supply chains.
The DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI) was 239 in October, up 2% from September. An industry-standard indicator of freight activity, the TVI is a measure of dry van, refrigerated (“reefer”) and flatbed loads moved by truckload carriers last month.
“Congested ports, intermodal yards and warehouses acted as a drag on the number of loads moved last month,” said Ken Adamo, Chief of Analytics at DAT Freight & Analytics. “As a result, retailers and online sellers took on higher truckload prices in order to make sure their freight is positioned for success for the November and December shopping period.”
Spot van, reefer rates surged • The national average rate for van loads on the spot market rose 3 cents to $2.87 per mile (including fuel surcharge) in October. The monthly average rate has increased for five consecutive months and is up 47 cents year over year. • Reefer and flatbed spot rates averaged more than $3 a mile for the sixth straight month. The reefer rate was $3.29 per mile, up 4 cents compared to September and a new high. The flatbed rate decreased 1 cent to $3.08 a mile in October amid a seasonal drop in freight related to construction and heavy machinery. Spot load postings fell 3.3% • The number of loads posted to the DAT load board network fell 3.3% in October while truck posts rose 4.2%. The national average van load-to-truck ratio was 5.6, down from 6.3 in September, meaning there were 5.6 available loads for every available van on the network. The van ratio was 4.3 in October 2020 as the economy recovered from COVID-related lockdowns, and 1.7 in October 2019. • The reefer load-to-truck ratio declined from 13.5 to 12.0 as harvest activity winds down. The flatbed ratio was 48.6, nearly unchanged from September. Fuel surcharges spiked • Contract rates increased for all three equipment types. The national average contract van rate was $2.90 per mile, up 7 cents month over month, while the reefer rate increased 9 cents to $3.07 a mile. The average contract rate for flatbed freight edged up 2 cents higher to $3.33 a mile. • At 39 cents a mile for van freight, the national average surcharge for diesel fuel hit a new record and was up 20 cents year over year. The national average price of on-highway diesel was $3.61 a gallon in October, the highest monthly average since November 2014. After labor, fuel is the largest operating cost for truck fleets.
Fresno, CA – With good volume of California grapes available through December, shipments are predicted to continue through year-end in the U.S., and in Canada, Mexico, and other key export markets, according to Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission.
According to Nave the 2021 crop volume has been tracking close to that of 2020 for most of the season. The 2020 crop volume was 101.1 million 19-pound boxes with 20 million boxes shipped after November 15.
Noting that harvest is still underway in some areas, Nave said that in a typical season California ships grapes throughout the U.S. and to multiple export markets into January and this year looks to be no different.
“The U.S. is a good market for California grapes,” Nave said, “and even better this season in terms of demand and price than it has been in recent years.” Noting that the U.S. retail commitment to stick with California through December – as opposed to focusing on imported grapes – remains strong, Nave added that Canada, Mexico, and Central America have all been particularly good markets this season with exports to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan steady, in spite of the worldwide shipping issues.
Potato shipments have been shut down indefinite to prevent the spread of potato wart from Prince Edward Island (PEI) to other Canadian provinces and the U.S. The order came from the Canadian government effective at midnight November 24th.
The announcement comes after potato wart was confirmed on October 1 and 14, 2021 on two PEI farms where potatoes were being grown for processing. On November 2, 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced the suspension of the movement of seed potatoes from PEI to the United States.
Shipments of PEI seed potatoes to other Canadian provinces have been suspended and enhanced measures for cleaning other potatoes from PEI are being implemented. For the U.S., all exports of potatoes from PEI will be suspended until further notice. Additionally, equipment used in fields in PEI face new restrictions before crossing into the U.S.
“The U.S. potato industry appreciates (Canada) for acting quickly and recognizing the dire threat to the U.S. and Canadian potato industries should potato wart be spread beyond PEI,” said NPC President and Maine potato grower Dominic LaJoie.
Should potato wart be transmitted to the United States, the U.S. potato industry would likely lose access to all international fresh potato markets, costing the industry over $225 million in annual sales.
“We appreciate the steadfast support of Secretary Vilsack and the entire USDA APHIS team in addressing this virulent disease. The U.S. industry stands ready to engage with APHIS, CFIA and the Canadian industry to ensure that science-based measures are maintained to mitigate disease risk and productively address trade between the two countries,” said Jared Balcom, Vice President of Trade Affairs for National Potato Council.
In response to that limited action, last week NPC and 13 state potato organizations sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for the U.S. government’s support to prevent the spread of potato wart to the United States by suspending the importation of all potatoes grown in PEI, not just seed potatoes.
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The National Potato Council represents the interests of U.S. potato growers on federal legislative, regulatory, environmental and trade issues. The value of U.S. potato production is over $4.5 billion annually and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly.
Following a summer of light volume avocado shipments, the U.S. market has opened up significantly this fall as supplies have increased plenty of imported Mexican fruit.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula CA reports shipments through January are looking good and appear similar to last year.
The Hass Avocado Board of Mission Viejo, CA projected 2021 volume from Mexico, including projections for November and December, to reach about 2.4 billion pounds. That’s up slightly from 2.2 billion pounds in 2020.
Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc., of Fallbrook, CA anticipates a strong season out of Mexico with volume similar to last year.
College and professional football games, holiday parties and promotions by Avocados From Mexico all should contribute to strong shipments.
This year’s California season is complete with some avocados being imported from Chile and Colombia, but Mexico will be the primary supplier until early February, when California starts again.
Shifting to a new food freezing method could make for safer and better quality frozen foods while saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, according to a new study by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of California-Berkeley scientists.
“A complete change over to this new method of food freezing worldwide could cut energy use by as much as 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours each year while reducing the carbon emissions that go along with generating that power by 4.6 billion kg, the equivalent of removing roughly one million cars from roads,” said ARS research food technologist Cristina Bilbao-Sainz. She is with the Healthy Processed Foods Research Unit, part of ARS’s Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany.
“These savings could be achieved without requiring any significant changes in current frozen food manufacturing equipment and infrastructure if food manufacturers adopt this concept,” Bilbao-Sainz added.
The new freezing method, called isochoric freezing, works by storing foods in a sealed, rigid container—typically made of hard plastic or metal—completely filled with a liquid such as water. Unlike conventional freezing in which the food is exposed to the air and freezes solid at temperatures below 32 degrees F, isochoric freezing preserves food without turning it to solid ice.
As long as the food stays immersed in the liquid portion, it is protected from ice crystallization, which is the main threat to food quality.
“Energy savings come from not having to freeze foods completely solid, which uses a huge amount of energy, plus there is no need to resort to energy-intensive cold storage protocols such as quick freezing to avoid ice crystal formation,” Bilbao-Sainz said.
Isochoric freezing also allows for higher quality storage of fresh foods such as tomatoes, sweet cherries and potatoes that are otherwise difficult to preserve with conventional freezing.
Another benefit of isochoric freezing is that it also kills microbial contaminants during processing.
“The entire food production chain could use isochoric freezing—everyone from growers to food processors, product producers to wholesalers, to retailers. The process will even work in a person’s freezer at home after they purchase a product—all without requiring any major investments in new equipment,” said WRRC center director Tara McHugh, co-leader of this study. “With all of the many potential benefits, if this innovative concept catches on, it could be the next revolution in freezing foods.”
UC-Berkeley biomedical engineer Boris Rubinsky, co-leader of this project, first developed the isochoric freezing method to cryopreserve tissues and organs for transplants.
Since then, ARS and UC-Berkeley have applied for a joint patent for applying isochoric freezing to preserving food. The research team is now developing the best applications for this technology in the frozen foods industry, especially scaling up the technology to an industrial level. They also are seeking commercial partners to help transfer the technology to the commercial sector.
UC-Berkeley mechanical engineer Matthew Powell-Palm, one of the lead authors of the study paper, noted that “isochoric freezing is a cross-cutting technology with promising applications in not only the food industry, but in medicine, biology, even space travel.”
WRRC has also been designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in 2002 by the American Chemical Society for developing the Time-Temperature Tolerance studies, which made possible the production of stable, safe and high-quality frozen food, revolutionizing the industry in the 1950s.
