DALLAS — It’s a green victory for Avocados From Mexico (AFM), the No. 1 selling brand of avocados in the U.S. After six years of successful advertising in the Big Game, the company decided to not to air a commercial and shift its strategy to help drive retail sales during the fall season in order to prepare the market for the brand’s boldest Super Bowl promotion ever.
This new strategic approach paid off leading to new historic records. Despite pandemic challenges, the U.S. imported a historic record of 277 million pounds of Mexican avocados in the first four weeks of the year leading up to the most important guacamole consumption event. This represents a 19% increase vs the same period in 2020, with yet another incredible record of 78 million pounds of Mexican avocado imports in a single week for the first time ever.
From October to December (OND), the market sustained an amazing 49+ million lb. weekly average in 2020 of Mexican fruit compared to 46+ million lb. weekly average in 2019. “Since we decided to reinforce the promotional strategy for OND two years ago, Mexican avocado imports have grown 27% during this three-month period, a clear indication that we are on the right path,” said Luque.
With 97% market share in OND, AFM established this time frame as a major tentpole within its annual marketing strategy, with hyper-focused shopper and trade marketing efforts to drive consumption. Given the pandemic’s impact on the foodservice sector, AFM pivoted its strategy to focus on driving demand in retail. AFM’s trade and shopper marketing activities in OND supported strong retail demand with programs such as a national shopper marketing campaign featuring a $500k home giveaway, a national incentive contest with over 35 participating retail accounts, consumer and loyalty offers, and an important emphasis on bagged fruit programs. This paid off in 2020: per Nielsen, avocado consumption during OND was up double digits across the U.S, with an increase of 16.5% in lb. volume compared to OND 2019.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced the Kansas City Chiefs 31 – 9 to win Super Bowl LV.
About Avocados From Mexico Company – Avocados From Mexico, based in Dallas (AFM), is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), formed for the purpose of advertising, promotion, public relations and research for all stakeholders of Avocados From Mexico. Under agreements, MHAIA and the Mexican Avocado Exporter Producers and Packers (APEAM) have combined resources to fund and manage AFM, with the intent to provide a focused, highly- effective and efficient marketing program in the United States. AFM is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Imports of Peruvian table grapes were increasing throughout January but may decline in February.
Volumes from Peru are up this year in comparison to the average of the past five seasons. Capespan North America reports Peruvian quality has been mostly very good and has avoided serious weather issues from orchards north of Lima, unlike Chile to the south.
Because of labor and social unrest throughout the growing regions, Peru’s volume is expected to be lower in February.
Capespan is concerned there may be some irregular arrival patterns. Because of congestion at container vessel ports between Long Beach and Los Angeles, CA, some Peruvian shipments are being redirected to Port Hueneme.
Southern Specialties of Pompano Beach, FL 8is ramping up its expanded Mexican asparagus shipments, according to a news release.
The grower/shipper/importer is expanding its volume of asparagus from Mexico to supply retail, club store and foodservice customers. It will be shipping asparagus, grown in Caborca, Mexico until mid-April.
“The northern Mexico deal is a vital portion of our year-round asparagus program.” Kristen Francisco, the company’s director of sales, said in the release. “We continue to grow year-over-year volumes, from this region, and increase our customer base. We are looking forward to an active season.”
Mexican asparagus from Southern Specialties is hauled in less than truckload and straight loads, from San Luis, AZ., and Pompano Beach, FL. shipping points.
The firm’s Mexican asparagus is available in both 11-pound and 28-pound cases and packed in all sizes from small to jumbo. The company is also shipping organic asparagus in 11-pound cartons.
Oppy, a leading grower, marketer and distributor of fresh produce from around the world, announced a new grape program building on its exclusive partnership with Ocean Spray®, the agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 farmer families.
The fruit comes from the Southern Hemisphere, which expands Oppy’s footprint, offering retailers a powerful 12-month consumer brand for the grape category from Peru, Chile and Brazil as well as South Africa, Mexico and California. Oppy’s overall program is well balanced across several global growing regions and a wide range of proprietary varieties, with an emphasis on high-quality, consistency and excellent flavor.
Ocean Spray® grapes are offered in a variety of packaging options, including high-graphic bags as well as 2 lb. and 3 lb. clamshells. Promotional volumes are available through February to support various retailer needs.
“Oppy’s grape program continues to evolve in exciting ways to meet the market demand,” Oppy’s Director of Import Grapes and Stone Fruit Bill Poulos said. “Our program is incredibly varied and comprises a mixture of new, exciting varieties that help attract new consumers, as well as tried and trusted favorites that are always a hit. Now offered under the immediately familiar and top-quality Ocean Spray® brand, our customers can truly refresh and reenergize their grape category.”
Import grapes continue to deliver healthy results, with 2020 volume increasing by 6% over 2019 in their January-May season, despite overall unpredictability across markets.
Since the U.S. is the top market by volume for grapes from Peru, where Oppy has recently broadened its decades-long presence, the 162-year-old fresh produce company will also offer its first ever organic Fair Trade Certified green and red seedless grapes, in keeping with growing consumer demand for produce that helps communities as well as the environment.
A Fair Trade partner since 2004, the program’s premiums go toward supporting essential infrastructure in grower communities including healthcare, education, fresh water access and more. The workers who produce Fair Trade Certified produce determine the allocation of premiums, thus empowering communities toward sustainable development. Oppy’s sales of Fair Trade grapes have already experienced meteoric growth, increasing by 137% from the first half of 2018 to the first half of 2019.
Combined with its offerings from Chile, where Oppy enjoys decades of on-the-ground expertise, promotable grape volumes are expected this season, allowing for greater choice and flexibility at retail. Earlier this year, Oppy further developed its grape offerings by becoming the first ever importer of the organic green seedless Arra 15 variety from Peru, continuing to chart new avenues of growth for the category.
About Oppy
Growing, marketing and distributing fresh produce from around the globe for more than 160 years, Vancouver, BC-based Oppy discovers and delivers the best of the world’s harvest. With over 50 million boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables grown on every continent moving through its supply chain annually, Oppy offers popular favorites from avocados and berries to apples and oranges year-round, alongside innovative seasonal specialties.
About Ocean Spray: Founded in 1930, Ocean Spray is a vibrant agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry farmers in the United States, Canada and Chile who have helped preserve the family farming way of life for generations. The Cooperative’s cranberries are currently featured in more than a thousand great-tasting, nutritious products in over 100 countries worldwide.
A new variety that was developed in the Midwest and grown in Michigan is now being shipped.
The EverCrisp is a late-season apple and a cross between Honeycrisp and Fuji which stores well and is long-lasting, with the ability to last for weeks without refrigeration.
The Michigan Apple Committee of Lansing reports it is a rosy-colored, crisp apple that is a fairly new variety grown across the Midwest, including Michigan.
The committee notes many Michigan growers have invested in EverCrisp tree plantings that have now come into bearing. The variety can be found at many retailers and grocery chains across Michigan and throughout the United States. It is most widely available after the New Year when it comes out of storage.
The EverCrisp was originally developed in 1998 as part of the Midwest Apple Improvement Association (MAIA), an apple breeding project in which growers of all sizes were invited to participate in developing new varieties.
MAIA was co-founded by Mitch Lynd of Lynd Fruit Farms in Pataksala, Ohio, who hoped to develop flavorful apple varieties despite the region’s unpredictable winter and spring weather patterns.
The Evercrisp or MAIA-1 variety, as it’s also called, came from a cross made in spring 1998 when Lynd collected apple blossoms from a Fuji tree, removed the pollen, and used it to pollinate Honeycrisp tree flower.
When the sun rose above the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys on New Year’s Day 2020, it was business as usual for California’s prune growers. Their plum trees had been tended to in the run up to winter in order to regulate tree shape and growth, and the first bloom of the year was just weeks away. By the time spring arrived however, the world was caught up in an unprecedented pandemic, the impact of which would be felt economically and socially across the globe.
For Californian agriculture, the combination of COVID-19 and the summer wildfires certainly made for an unusual and challenging year. Buoyed by a healthy, if relatively short, crop however, California Prune growers have found a sliver of hope in sales and are looking ahead to 2021 with optimism.
Donn Zea, Executive Director of the California Prune Board, which represents around 800 prune growers and packers, explains: “Agriculture, like other sectors, has been adversely impacted by the pandemic. The food service industry in particular has been devasted because of restrictions and lockdowns.
“However, with more people choosing to get creative in their own kitchens, consumers have been raiding their store cupboards and experimenting with ingredients they might not normally think to use, such as dried fruit. Consumers are also looking for natural foods with nutritional benefits, and that’s a trend we’ve seen reflected in our sales in Europe and the Far East in particular. We’re hopeful that it continues, especially given California Prunes contain vitamins and minerals that play a part in maintaining healthy immune systems.”
In response to the challenges posed by the both the fires and the pandemic, California Prune growers have adapted well. Donn adds: “Mother Nature waits for no one so, when the harvest came, California Prune growers and their teams worked against the backdrop of smoke, the intense heat of the summer sun and the COVID-19 workplace guidance necessary to keep everyone safe.”
California Prune grower John Taylor, of Taylor Brother Farms in Yuba City, CA, explains: “The pandemic has affected operations, but we felt it less in the orchards, where we were able to separate workers more easily. Our priority this year has been to keep our teams healthy and get through the harvest.”
His fellow Yuba City grower Nick Micheli, of Micheli Enterprises adds: “It was important we responded immediately with the correct procedures such as the implementation of sanitisers, gloves and masks to keep our people safe. Working in PPE in the heat was of course tricky but everyone pulled together under difficult circumstances.”
As challenging as 2020 has been, both growers agree it’s been a ‘vintage’ year for the prunes themselves, in terms of sizing, quality, consistent flavour and excellent sugar content.
Donn adds: “We’re extremely proud of our California Prunes and the value they can add to the trade and the end consumer in terms of nutritional profile, premium taste and versatility – a process that begins right back in the orchards.”
With the arrival of 2021, the Board is well-placed to respond to the trend towards healthier eating, and its produce comes backed with decades of research into the benefits of eating prunes. For now, though, as the orchards lay dormant for another winter, California Prune growers are already looking ahead to the March bloom. After all, there’s nothing like a blossoming canopy of fragrant flowers to bring hope and optimism.
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA PRUNE BOARD Created in 1952, The California Prune Board aims to amplify the premium positioning and top-of-mind awareness of California Prunes through advertising, public relations, promotion, nutrition research, crop management and sustainability research, and issues management. The California Prune Board represents approximately 800 prune growers and 28 prune, juice, and ingredient handlers under the authority of the California Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
Blueberries are the second-most produced berries in the United States, after strawberries. Over the past 10 years, the total supply of fresh blueberries available for American consumption has increased fivefold. Availability of fresh blueberries to U.S. consumers has grown at a faster pace than that of fresh strawberries over that same time. U.S. production and imports of blueberries both have been increasing rapidly to meet year-round consumer demand.
In 2010, New Jersey, Georgia, and Michigan were the biggest U.S. producers of fresh-market blueberries — blueberries that are not directed to the processed market. California, Washington, and Florida were smaller producers. By 2019, the U.S. blueberry sector had expanded as Georgia, California, and Oregon emerged as the largest suppliers, each accounting for roughly 17 percent of U.S. production. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service reported fresh-market blueberry shipments from eight States in 2019: California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington.
Since 2010, the U.S. blueberry production season has expanded into the spring and late summer/early fall months (see figure above). The Florida crop now typically arrives on the market beginning in March and ending in May. Georgia enters the market in mid- to late April, followed by other major producing States, which come into production through the summer. Since 2010, growers in Florida and Georgia have advanced their season using newer cultivars. In eastern Washington, dry growing conditions and relatively little pest pressure have led to the growth in blueberry production there as well as an extended early season. While the harvest ends in September for growers throughout the United States (except in California, which ships small amounts throughout the year), Washington, Michigan, and Oregon ship into October with the use of controlled atmosphere storage.
Despite seasonal expansion of domestic production, U.S. blueberry supplies remain lower from fall to early spring. Consumer demand for year-round blueberries has encouraged all who can increase production in those months to do so. Production overseas has correspondingly expanded in response.
U.S. fresh blueberry imports grew rapidly over the past decade; on average, the U.S. imported 60 percent of blueberries consumed during 2017-19, up from an average of 50 percent from 2010-12. In 2010, Chile was the main foreign supplier of fresh-market blueberries to the United States, and Peru and Mexico produced much smaller quantities of blueberries.
By 2019, however, Mexico and Peru began increasing their share of the U.S. blueberry import market. For instance, Peru’s blueberry exports have grown exponentially in the last decade: by 2019, Peru had become the leading supplier of U.S. blueberry imports. About 80 percent of U.S. blueberry imports in 2019 were sourced from three countries: Peru, Chile, and Mexico. The boost in imports from these countries is a likely result of increased cultivation of newer varieties and expanded acreage devoted to blueberries in relatively new producers of blueberries, such as Peru and Mexico.
In 2010, there was little overlap in U.S. and foreign blueberry supplies in the domestic market, and the periods between seasons had higher grower prices. Since 2010, domestic and foreign blueberry seasons have extended. Imports from Mexico in early spring have grown, somewhat offsetting imports from Chile, while Florida and Georgia now harvest more in March and April. About 70 percent of import shipments in September and October 2019 were from Peru, increasing competition for producers in Michigan, Washington, and Oregon, where shipments continue until October.
This increase in U.S. production and imports has led to an increase of blueberry supplies in the domestic market, and prices in the U.S. off-season are now lower (see below figure). Correspondingly, the overall price level in 2019 was lower, with smaller price increases in the early spring and fall months. Lower prices that occur as domestic supplies increase are ultimately benefitting U.S. consumers.
Maersk is the largest container shipping company in the world with over 700 ships owned and leased by the Danish Moller family. Even in China and entering Shanghai Harbour is mile after mile of Maersk shipping containers.
The Emma Maersk is over 170,000 tons, and the largest Maersk container vessel in world built in 2017 is Madrid Maersk with over 214,000 tonnage.
What a ship….no wonder ‘Made in China ‘ is displacing North American made goods big time. This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just five days!! Another two will soon be commissioned.
These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get their imported goods from China … They hold an incredible 15,000 containers and have a 207 foot deck beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier which has a crew of 5,000. With its 207′ beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals ……..
It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots. The goods arrive four days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run. 91% of Wal-Mart products are made in China. So this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods. The ship was built in five sections. The sections are floated together and then welded. The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.
Additional info: Country of origin – Denmark Length – 1,302 ft Width – 207 ft Net cargo – 123,200 tons Engine – 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP) Cruise Speed – 31 knots
Cargo capacity – 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet) Crew – 13 people! First trip – Sept. 08, 2006 Construction cost – US $145,000,000+ Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year.
Editorial Comment! A documentary in late March, 2010 on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China – EMPTY ! Yep, that’s right. We send nothingback on these ships. What does that tell you about the current financial state of the west in crisis? So folks, just keep on buying those imported goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money. Then you may wonder what the cause of unemployment (maybe even your job) in the U..S, UK, Canada and even in Australia????
A favorable winter fruit import season from Chilean took a turn for the worse January 31st because of heavy rains and hail.
Chile is reporting serious damage to a number of key fruit crops in their early harvest season following unseasonal heavy rainfall of up to 2.4 inches in production regions.
The Fruit exporters’ association Asoex of Santiago reports rainfall – and hail in some cases – that hit the central and southern regions over the weekend damaging summer fruit crops including blueberries, table grapes, and stone fruit. This will result in lower export volumes than expected for the 2020-21 season.
There are reports of splitting in blueberries from later areas, especially in the Brightwell and Ochlockonee varieties, while in the Last Call variety, the situation is under evaluation. However, the damage observed so far will affect the production and export volume this season.
The Chilean blueberry industry had last year forecasted a slight increase in fresh exports to around 111,000 metric tons (MT). The South American country has shipped only 15 percent of its shipments for the season.
Asoex report grapes are “very damaged,” not only due to splitting, but also because of grapevine trellises collapsing due to the weight of the water. The Thompson variety in Rancagua, is already showing evidence of “mal de media luna” (half-moon syndrome), associated with a fungus that rots the grain and damages any attempt to market the fruit.
Additionally there was hail, but the effects are still being evaluated.
Additionally, stone fruit, there are losses due to splitting and possible rotting. Loss estimates are currently impossible because of continuing rain in some areas, while others areas remain inaccessible.
From Arizona to Idaho and Washington state gross freight rates for fruits and vegetables are often 10 to 30 percent higher than they were at this time a year ago. At the same time many rates are moving little or downward right now on a week to week basis.
Due to COVID shipping disruptions, and competitive dry freight rates, more attractive hauls not requiring refrigeration are a reason many types of transportation rates are well above 2020 before the pandemic shutdowns and restrictions.
Here’s a glimpse at some possible loading opportunities in the western half of the United States.
Arizona
The Yuma District continues shipping over 1400 truck loads of Iceberg, romaine and other lettuces each week as well as some broccoli and cauliflower. A lot of multi pick up loads are starting in California (Oxnard, Kern County, desert areas etc.) and the truck is filled in Yuma or Nogales.
Yuma vegetables to New York City – grossing about $8100, over 19 percent higher than this time last year.
Mexican veggies crossing through Nogales are generally in the heaviest volume now for winter shipments lead by items ranging from zucchini and other types of squash, as well as vine ripe, plum and grape tomatoes. There’s also loadings of bell peppers, cucumbers and a host of other mixed veggies at Nogales distribution warehouses.
Nogales vegetables to Dallas – grossing about $3000, 30 percent over a year ago.
Washington
Nearly 2800 truckload equivalents of apples are moving out of the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys each week, plus around 450 truckload equivalents of pears.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $8500 to New York City, about 25 percent higher than a year ago.
Along the state line, Washington’s Columbia Basin and the nearby Umatillia Basin in Oregon are shipping over 900 truckloads of potatoes and about 300 loads of onions weekly.
Idaho/Oregon
There’s over 900 truck loads of onions being moved weekly from the Western Idaho/Malheur County, Oregon area.
The Twin Falls region in Idaho is shipping around 1850 truckload equivalents of potatoes each week.
Idaho potatoes grossing about $5800 to Atlanta, 28 percent more than a year ago.
Texas
Mexican produce crossings through South Texas continue to give Nogales a run for its money (loads). The 1250 loads each week of avocados leads the pack, although there is good volume with vine ripe and plum tomatoes, as well items ranging from cucumbers, bell peppers, broccoli, limes and a host of other veggies and tropical fruits.
Mexican produce crossings through the Lower Rio Grande Valley – grossing around $5800 to New York City.
