Mexican table grapes are crossing the border at Nogales, AZ in light volume, starting with Early Sweets, Perlettes and other early green varieties. Flames and a dozen other varieties of all colors will follow shortly.
The Sonora Grape Growers Association issued an original crop estimate of 21.5 million cartons March 30 and this estimate is still though to be good.
That estimate forecasted the second week of May at just under 400,000 cartons and the first week of June at about 4,000,000. That’s a 10-fold increase in 3 weeks.
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. — J&J Family of Farms (“J&J”), a Florida-based leading national grower, packer and shipper of field-grown vegetable commodities and value-added produce, today announced strategic infrastructure investments and new grower relationships that further expand its capacity to deliver premium quality produce throughout the year to retail and foodservice customers.
With over 10,000 acres of farmland already under management and multiple packing and cooling facilities across North America, J&J has acquired another 1,000 acres of agricultural land near Vero Beach, Florida to support its growth. In addition to being prepared to grow a significant volume of sweet and hot peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers and eggplant for commercial distribution, this land will house a new research and development facility and a dedicated area for seed variety trials.
Additionally, J&J also welcomed new dry vegetable and watermelon growers to its network across five states, adding more than 1,000 additional acres to the company’s contracted production capacity.
J&J is a wholly owned subsidiary of Benson Hill, a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants with its cutting-edge food innovation engine, CropOS™. Today’s announcement is a part of Benson Hill’s recently-announced plans to enhance J&J’s operations with breeding and testing sites, expanded processing and distribution capacity and sustainability best practices across J&J’s grower base.
J&J Family of Farms’ transportation subsidiary, Trophy Transport, manages its fleet, and contracts independent, third-party owners and operators to satisfy the demand of produce shipping.
With five J&J locations throughout the eastern US, Trophy Transport has access to over 100,000 square feet of refrigerated produce warehouse space for cross-docking freight.
Cross Docking Locations
Loxahatchee, FL
Boca Raton, FL
Adel, GA
Homerville, Ga
Tifton, GA
About J&J Family of Farms Established in 1983, J&J Family of Farms is a leading grower, packer and shipper of field-grown vegetable commodities. J&J specializes in bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, squash and eggplant. Within their family of farms, J&J operates packing and cooling facilities in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Mexico. J&J’s farm-to-fork approach starts with expertise in farming directly. J&J is a wholly owned subsidiary of Benson Hill. Learn more at www.jjfamilyoffarms.com.
Here’s a glimpse at hauling availability now and in coming weeks for cherries, watermelons and berries
California cherry volume is low. Although this gorgeous looking and tasting fruit makes up only one percent of total volume in produce shipments, it’s one of the highest paying freight items for produce haulers.
The cost for a 16-pound case of cherries started the season in California at a whopping $58 per case, the highest in 7 years. U.S. cherry shipments get underway in late April and wraps up at the end of August. Traditionally, peak loadings occur in July before gradually decreasing. The United States is the 2nd largest producer of cherries in the world after Turkey.
The California cherry season is just the warm up for an action-packed 16 weeks, and is a prelude to big time shipper, the state of Washington.
Lime, Lemon Shipments
Mexico has experienced an abnormally wet and cold winter in Tabasco, the leading lime growing region. Shippers also report high freight rates also is contributing to the availability of limes. Lime volume is expected to remain lower than normal at least through June.
While cherry volume is limited right now, watermelons are in plentiful supply.
As an example, a 40,000-pound truckload of cherries is valued at $174,000. The same weight in watermelons is only worth $4,800!
Blueberry shipments are finally increasing as domestic U.S. production rises and are less reliant on imports to meet blueberry demand. Domestic blueberry shipping regions are ramping up as they head toward peak loadings from June to August.
Blackberry volumes also are on the upswing with increasing production in the Baja California, Mexico, and California. While raspberries are coming out of those same regions volume remains relatively low.
As for strawberries, volume and quality have been all over the board in recent weeks. Shipments are expected to be building and should continue through June.
Why are the rates so high? Where are all the trucks? When will it go back to normal?
All modes of transportation have been struggling to find these answers, the light at the end of the tunnel so to say. But the reality is we don’t have these answers. The last year has been challenging for obvious reasons, and as the containment of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to progress, so does the demand for transportation capacity.
How do we continue to service our customers, source capacity, and stay profitable all at the same time? Is that even possible? Yes, it is. And it boils down to a better understanding of the market, drivers, and communication.
The usual conversations between brokers and customers are focused on load details, commodities, quantities, temps, ready dates, and so forth. But, why not also discuss the market conditions related to bigger picture items? Information is a powerful tool for productive decision making and for educating our fellow supply chain members. We can work together to share insights and forecasts too!
As the gap between truck supply and freight demand continues to spread, most of us can attest it’s the tightest truck market in decades. Couple that with a driver pool which continues to age due to more drivers retiring while fewer drivers enter the workforce, and we all face an extremely fragile market.
Carriers are doing anything possible to help combat this issue and get drivers in the seat. We hear of this from our carrier partners every day. We also find that the small to midsize carriers are more successful in growing their fleets than the larger players as it’s easier to go from 5 trucks to 10 than it is from 50 to a 1,000.
At Allen Lund we are blessed that our core carriers fall into this category as it allows us to keep up with our customer demand in a way their asset pools cannot. All too often we find ourselves in a position of wanting to fulfill a buyer’s need for transportation and an obvious lack of supply that fits all of their freight parameters. Whether that be finding capacity within their vendor’s allowance, or finding a truck within the allotted freight spend that’s also able to deliver the load by the desired arrival time. This is a great time for honest communication and education about how to work together in this challenging market.
Maybe the buyer is willing to sacrifice price in order to keep a timeline or vice versa. Maybe there’s an ad and we need to make it happen, or maybe there is enough inventory on hand to tide them over until next week while we shop for better pricing. Unfortunately, with perishable shipments, time is of the essence. If we can’t find flexibility on load dates, maybe next time we can increase the lead time.
Anticipating continued driver shortages and elevated consumer demand as the world opens back up from the coronavirus will be key to staying ahead of the always hectic produce season. Buyers, brokers, and transportation managers will all benefit by being more comfortable talking about freight spend and capacity restraints. A wise man once said that there’s no hill for a climber.
We are all in this game together. Communication on market trends and drilling down to prioritize our freight will help us get through this as we establish the new norm in transportation.
*****
Paul Nesbit began working for the Allen Lund Company in February of 2020, when they acquired Des Moines Truck Brokers (DMTB) in Norwalk, IA. He has been working in transportation brokerage since graduating from Grand View University in 2012. He first started as an admin for TMC Transportation completing carrier setups and billing. Nesbit later obtained his CTB and was hired at DMTB. He has been an account manager in the Des Moines office for the last eight years.
Plant City, FL – International grower and year-round marketer of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, Wish Farms, is pleased to announce the ribbon cutting on its new headquarters in Plant City, FL. The ceremony commemorated the official move in to Wish Farms’ new 24,000 square foot office on its 36-acre campus.
“Our company has a one-hundred-year relationship with the community of Plant City. Our connection goes back to our days on the State Farmers Market and beyond,” said Wish Farms’ owner Gary Wishnatzki. “This is a strawberry town, so keeping our new address here means a lot to our company, employees and growers.”
The land on which the campus is built has a strong connection to agriculture dating back generations before Wish Farms’ purchase. Proceeds from its sale in 2018 were placed into a charitable trust benefiting local FFA and agriculture education by the previous owner, Joe Kuhn.
In addition to the office built by construction company Barr and Barr, the campus features a blueberry farm, 125,000 square foot warehouse/cooling facility with a 20,000 square foot solar array, digital billboard, a treehouse, walking trails and lake. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, approximately 115,000 vehicles drive past the Wish Farms’ headquarters every day.
About Wish Farms:
Founded in 1922, Wish Farms is a fourth-generation, family operated company. As a year-round supplier of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, it grows both conventional and organic varieties.
New Jersey spring vegetable shipments are underway, although early local crops are destined to local markets. As volume increases some shipments are regional.
Katona Farms in Burlington County, NJ grows and ships asparagus as well as other vegetables and crops and are currently in farmers markets and stores around the state.
New Jersey ranks in the top 10 in the U.S. in the production of several crops, including fourth in asparagus. In 2020, the New Jersey asparagus crop was valued at $15 million, and the overall production of the state’s fruits and vegetables was about $350 million, according to the USDA.
Other crops with an early harvest are shipping daily include kale, lettuce, radishes and spinach. Beets and strawberries became available recently.
First established as Rolling Acres in 1950 by Walt and Betty Katona, it later became known as Katona Farms under Chip Katona and is now in its third generation. Along with asparagus, the farm grows sweet corn, market tomatoes and watermelon, which are sold at its Crosswicks Farm. The Katonas also sell vegetables wholesale to large farm markets and wholesale buyers, as well as to Hunts Point Produce Market in Bronx, N.Y., and to markets in Philadelphia.
The Katonas own nearly 800 acres, all of which is deed-restricted to agriculture. They also have a grain operation which includes wheat for grain and straw, soybeans, corn, hay and rye for straw.
Total volume of avocado fruit sold in the U.S. rose by 6.1% in 2020, from 2.492 billion pounds in 2019 to 2.644 billion pounds in 2020;
Bagged fruit saw a rise in popularity at retail. Bagged fruit in many weeks reached about 30% of retail sales, according to HAB; and
There was some retail pricing deflation in 2020, the HAB said, with per fruit pricing coming off the average of $1.15/per fruit in 2019 to closer to $1 per fruit in 2020. The lower pricing was especially seen in the latter part of the year, according to the release.
Mexican avocados, tropical fruits and vegetables from South Texas – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
The owners of Habelman Bros. Co. in Tomah, WI., and L&S Cranberry LP in St. Lucien, Quebec, recentiy formed the Cranberry Cooperative of the Americas.
These fresh cranberry suppliers have united to leverage their experience and knowledge in the growing, handling and packaging of fresh cranberries to best serve retailers worldwide, according to a news release.
“As a cooperative committed to and focused on the fresh cranberry segment, we believe that the CCA model will bring an entirely new level of value to our buyers as well as to the farm,” president and CEO Mike Dubuc said in the release. “Ultimately, fresh is the reason our members farm cranberries.”
The cooperative has commissioned The Cranberry Network LLC of Wisconsin Rapids, WI., and Graystone LLC of East Wareham, MA., to serve as its marketing team and managers of the cooperative. The owners of these two marketing teams have more than 50 years of combined experience in the fresh cranberry space.
“In combining the Habelman family’s resources and experience with those of the L&S team, we now represent the geographically diverse supply solution for the fresh cranberry market,” Bob Wilson, vice president of sales and chief operating officer, said in the release.
“These two vertically integrated players now provide complimentary services to one another with multiple and diverse packaging capabilities.”
Total U.S. fruit imports rose by 9 percent last February compared to February 2020 and were largely driven by fresh berries.
USDA figures show the growth in fruit imports – which includes fresh, frozen, processed and juice – at $2 billion, came amid strong increases in fresh strawberries and blueberries and was partially offset by a big drop in avocado imports.
Strawberries rose by 23 percent to $208 million, with Mexico supplying almost all the volumes.
Imports of conventional blueberries saw an increase of 63 percent to $140 million, with the U.S.’s three main supplying countries all showing big increases. Imports from Chile rose by 33 percent to $75 million, and from Mexico and Peru they slightly more than doubled to $52 million and $13 million respectively.
Organic blueberry imports also showed significant growth, rising by 69 percent to $61 million.
The two other berry categories also performed well. Raspberry imports grew by 30 percent to 90 million, while blackberry imports rose by 9 percent to 44 million. In both cases, Mexico was virtually the sole supplier.
Other double-digit increases came in mango and pineapple imports, which rose by 21 and 19 percent respectively to total $48 million each. Limes also rose by 73 percent to $45 million.
There was a significant drop in avocado imports, which fell by 22 percent to 174 million, with almost all supplies coming from Mexico. Table grape imports saw a small drop of 4 percent to $288 million, with the decrease driven by Chile and partially offset by growth from Peru.
Outside of the fresh fruits, total U.S. fruit imports were also spurred on by a 29 percent increase in fruit juices to $182 million and a 31 percent rise in frozen fruit to $94 million.
The fruit import rise in February follows a slower month in January when imports saw a slight dip of percent, USDA data shows.
California’s Salinas Valley vegetable shippers were shipping good volumes by late April an this trend continues with favorable weather. Meanwhile, truck shortages and record rates persist.
Shippers are still a bit skeptical about what lies ahead for the the second half of the season due to uncertainties relating to the pandemic.
Pacific International Marketing of Salinas reports a cooler than normal spring, but supplies have not been interrupted.
Compared with the start of the COVID -19pandemic, Coastline Family Farms Inc. of Salinas had not problem planting for the first half of the Salinas season. Now it is evaluating what it wants to do for the second half of the season. Beyond acreage reserved for contract sales, Coastline also has a little extra acreage for open market and for whole distribution. Still, some growers are being cautious. The company lost significant acreage last March due to the the shutdown of the foodservice business.
Pacific International is expecting foodservice shipments to gradually return and be back in full force by the end of the year.
Coastline notes cauliflower contracts have been expanded this year, and foodservice demand in general is climbing back.
Some foodservice customers also are taking more mixed loads rather than straight loads, limiting their buying while demand improves.
While dozens of different vegetables shipments are coming out of the Salinas Valley, lettuce easily leads in volume (with mostly Iceberg and romane) averaging about 1,900 truck loads per week, followed by broccoli with around 270 truck load weekly.
Truck rates remain on record tracks!
Salinas Valley vegetables – grossing $11,000-plus to New York City.
