One of the last things Southern hemisphere winter fruit needs is further delays when normal transit times to the U.S. are up to three weeks.
Long Beach and Los Angeles ports are facing log jams of container vessels, as perishable produce is spending more time on the water than normal.
Bengard Marketing of Los Angeles notes there has been lingering problems for months creating a perfect storm, resulting in fruit quality suffering. For example, fruit normally having a three week transit period via container from Chile is now experiencing five to six weeks on the water.
Sensitive fruits such as peaches, apricots and cherries are being affected the most from unpredictable arrival schedules. As volumes increase, there could be even more congestion after getting the product to storage, because it may be subject to repacking to get rid of poor quality fruit or even facing delays due to survey claims.
Concerning Peru, all grapes are subjected to a cold treatment upon arrival, which means adding a few days on top of the same delay faced by all other containers. Some shipments from Peru are being redirected to Port Hueneme, where there are fewer restrictions and less timing of discharge is much better as they don’t have as much congestion as L.A.
Many exporters are converting to bulk vessels that have their own terminal, along with operations that are not as impacted as the container vessel terminals are. While bulk vessel shipments are more predictable, the frequency of arrivals is much less than shipping via container vessels.
Renaming dragon fruit by an Indian state has occurred decision because of the original name’s “association with China. It has set off a storm of jokes and memes.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the fruit would now be called ‘kamalam’, Sanskrit for the lotus flower, the BBC reports. The lotus is sacred to Hindus and is India’s national flower.
India-China relations have nosedived in recent months. The two countries troops are locked in a tense stand-off along their long Himalayan frontier. India began cultivating dragon fruit only in recent years and it’s now grown in parts of Gujarat too.
It belongs to a family of cactus – and is believed to have earned its fearsome name because its pointy outer layer resembles the scales of a dragon. Though it’s a tropical fruit native to Central America and is largely imported from South America, many in India associate it with China because of its name.
Rivals India and China are often described as the elephant and the dragon respectively, and relations between the neighbors have been especially frosty since their armies clashed high in the Himalayas in the summer. The state’s decision to rename the fruit was announced on Tuesday by Rupani.
The lotus is also the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party, to which he and India’s PM Narendra Modi belong.
“The name dragon fruit is not proper, and due to its name one thinks of China. So we have given it the name ‘kamalam’,” Rupani told the local press. Rupani did not elaborate but that was all the inspiration the internet needed.
Dole Food Company has ordered of 500 energy-efficient reefer units from Maersk Container Industry (MCI), working in cooperation with leasing company, Textainer.
Star Cool’s AV+ system allows the units to control fresh air intake by a preselected maximum level of CO2 inside the reefer. These units allow Dole to have greater control over the product while shipping. AV+ was designed to maximize cargo freshness of delicate bananas and other fresh fruit, as vessels traverse the tropics while optimizing energy efficiency.
On a warm day, it would be counterproductive to drive a car with the air conditioning on and the windows open; in layman’s terms, the logic behind AV+ is similar, an MCI statement said.
“Dole prioritizes quality and innovation in all aspects of their business,” said Global ad of Sales and Marketing at MCI, Anders Holm to Portal Portuario. “These are also values that are important to MCI and we are very pleased about Dole confirming their trust in MCI by expanding their operated Star Cool fleet once again.”
Dole will pick up the new reefers with their own container vessel newbuilding Dole Maya from the port of Qingdao in China.
As the 2020-21 Florida tropical avocado season winds down, Brooks Tropicals has been supplementing supplies of their original tropical avocado branded SlimCado™ with fresh fruit from the Dominican Republic.
“We had a pretty good year in terms of crop-size here in Florida”, says Peter Leifermann, VP of Sales and Marketing at Brooks, in a press release.
“Although we may not quite make our industry-wide goal of bushels, each variety produced a good crop and we were especially pleased with the late fall varieties.
We have a few more months of Florida fruit to harvest but it will be limited. Our partnerships in the Dominican Republic have allowed us to serve our customers for the entire calendar year.”
To continue to meet growing consumer demand for tropical avocado, Brooks Tropicals has partners in the Dominican Republic that grow and pack that country’s several varieties.
Almost 30 years ago, Brooks and Agroindustria Ocoena, S.A. (AIOSA) struck a relationship that began with an avocado packing line and continues today with the shared generations of agricultural knowledge between the firms.
Brooks Tropicals has been growing tropical avocado, fruits, and vegetables in the Caribbean and South Florida for nearly a hundred years and AIOSA began exporting in 1987. Brooks also has another decades-old partner in AMR-AGRO.
Similar to the Florida crop, the Dominican Republic has over 20 different varieties in production, but January begins the transition from a Lula and Semil dominant crop to the Carla variety.
Carla tropical avocado are characterized by their more round shape – as opposed to pear-like – and being a late season variety, it’s higher oil content.
“Tropical avocados are so near perfect, it’s like they take into consideration our diets!” Leifermann continues. “In the summer they are lighter in flavor, and as the cooler months come they have a richer flavor. The Carla – similar to our proprietary Florida winter varieties – is a delicious fruit that pleases even the most hardened hass-lovers.”
Brooks Tropicals will distribute Carla variety tropical avocado from January until the end of April.
ATHENS, GA– As a leader in providing environmentally sustainable transport refrigeration solutions, Carrier Transicold has begun offering North America’s refrigerated haulers the new-generation refrigerant R-452A as an option for new and existing equipment. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions.
Starting in the first quarter of 2021, purchasers can specify R-452A on all Carrier Transicold trailer and diesel truck equipment orders. Carrier units with R-452A refrigerant have performance comparable to Carrier units with R-404A, the traditional transport refrigerant, in terms of refrigerant capacity, pulldown, fuel efficiency and reliability.
“R-452A has a global warming potential (GWP) of 2140, which is about half that of R-404A (GWP 3922),” said Bill Maddox, senior manager, product management, Carrier Transicold. “We are offering it for fleets that want to improve their environmental profiles and to prepare for compliance with evolving regulations.”
The California Air Resource Board (CARB) has proposed prohibiting high GWP refrigerants on new transport refrigeration equipment starting in 2022. Additionally, Canada has banned high GWP refrigerants for new transport refrigeration starting in 2025, in keeping with its plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Kigali Agreement of the Montreal Protocol. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of R-452A for transport applications but has not prohibited continued use of R-404A.
While there are currently no retrofit regulations proposed, Carrier Transicold units already in service can easily take advantage of R-452A. For Carrier units with an electronic expansion valve, converting requires only an operating software update. On Carrier Transicold truck units and older trailer units that use a mechanical expansion valve, the valve will require a manual adjustment or replacement, depending on the model.
Refrigerant cost may be a factor for some fleets considering conversion to R‑452A, Maddox said. Currently R-452A is three to four times more expensive than R‑404A, which will add somewhat to the initial equipment purchase and could affect refrigerant-related repair costs.
“Still, haulers should start to consider when transitioning to a lower GWP refrigerant will make the most sense for their fleets,” Maddox said. “While the EPA permits continued use of R-404A, the proposed 2022 California changes may ultimately drive use of R-452A as a de facto national standard, due to the large volume of refrigerated traffic that moves into that state.”
About Carrier Transicold
Carrier Transicold helps improve transport and shipping of temperature-controlled cargoes with a complete line of equipment and services for refrigerated transport and cold chain visibility.
The previous contract included a 32-cent-per-hour increase, which Daniel Kane Jr., the Teamsters Local 202 president, said was not enough with workers at risk during a pandemic.
“I’m hoping that that will resonate with workers throughout this country because our members are essential, and decent, hardworking family people,” Kane said during a news conference.
The strike was a “tough week” but worth it, Stephen Katzman, owner and president of S. Katzman Produce and president of the Hunts Point Cooperative Board told the New York Times.
“We have kept the city fed throughout the Great Depression, two World Wars, two recessions and now a global pandemic, without ever breaking our crucial role in the food supply chain,” he told the NYT. “New Yorkers can rest assured that they will continue to have access to a consistent supply of fresh fruits and vegetables…[even though] it cost us money and it was a tough week.”
The strike drew attention in the media with lawmakers including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joining picket lines. A handful of protesters were arrested, but the events remained peaceful.
Fewer exports of Peruvian mangoes are predicted this year as Brazil and Ecuador are wrapping up their seasons.
Exporters in Peru express optimism starting their season since Ecuador had season higher volumes towards the beginning, with lower volumes projected for its late season in January.
The current prediction of mango shipments from Peru to the U.S. for the season is 15.5 million boxes, 20% of what was exported to the U.S. a year ago. Mango volumes from Mexico will only start to pick up at the beginning of March.
During the last weeks of December, the total from Brazil, Ecuador and Peru was 25% lower than the same period of 2019. Estimated arrivals for January 2021 are substantially lower than those of last year at the same time.
Although demand during this time isn’t high, the low arrivals are already driving prices up to unusual numbers at a time when this normally wouldn’t happen (at least not in the last two seasons).
It is mid season for South African and Chilean stone fruit exports as both locations are seeing minor delays, but are overall pleased with how the season is moving along.
After three rough years, South Africa is having a normal crop. Hortgro, the organization that represents South Africa’s stone fruit growers, reported updated numbers in volumes with increases across the board. Plums are estimated to be up by 27% for the season, returning to a normal crop season while peaches and nectarines are also expected to be up by eight and 10 percent, respectively.
Icon Fruit reports more optimism compared to this time last year. Apricot export volumes are exceeding initial export estimates and are currently up 90% compared to last season. If current trends continue there could be 12 million cartons of plums.
This volume increase is due to a winter with good rains and cooler spring temperatures during the flowering period. The sizes of the stone fruit are bigger, which also helps increase the number of cartons that are exported.
Chilean Exports
Chile exporters have had some frustrations due to a slow start of the season and are just beginning to see normal sizes and volumes catching up to predicted numbers.
Verfrut North American expects good exports throughout January and February.
The company reports older varieties of plums with small sizes will not be sent to the U.S. because Americans prefer new varieties and larger sizes.
By Matt Fyten, Operations Manager, ALC San Francisco
Everyone is familiar with the phone call, the Monday after a hectic holiday pull, “Hey it’s Never There Trucking, remember me? I have four empty reefer teams ready to go anywhere, can you help me out?”
As brokers, we have to make a choice on which carriers we give our business to in an effort to support our customers. While it might be tempting to give our business to that truck that is ready to haul our loads at a low rate, experienced brokers know that is not always the best long term solution.
What about the carriers that gave you trucks all year and even took on extra loads during that holiday? Are we really going to pass on those options for a truck even if it’s 100 dollars cheaper? These are the questions that are fiercely debated among brokers every day. Managing a carrier’s load volume as well as their relationship expectations has never been more important as we navigate this time of uncertainty.
The largest challenge for produce transportation brokers was that midway through 2020 dry van rates surpassed refrigerated truck rates. There is significantly less liability for a carrier to haul a dry van load compared to a refrigerated load. Refrigerated trucks hauling fresh produce know that they are going to get paid more money because they must wait for extended periods of time to get loaded, use more fuel in their reefer units, maintain a continuous cold chain, and are dealing with a product that has a short expiration date.
We spoke to one of our carriers who stated, “we are getting over $3.50 a mile, having zero claims with flexible loading and delivery dates, along with being able to use 80% of my reefers without having to buy new equipment made dry a profitable option for us.”
They know any breakdown or issue could cause a very expensive problem, constricting an already volatile truck market as our country was entering various stages of pandemic responses.
The rate discrepancy has made many refrigerated trucks that specialize in produce hesitant to commit to a year-long contract rate in 2021. I reached out to some of our highest volume carriers to get their thoughts on the upcoming year. Another of our larger carriers stated that contracts this year are “very risky and a gamble he is not willing to take.”
One solution is to work out mini contracts. These are locked in rates that can last for six months, a season, a month, or even a week. Having carriers sign up for programs like our own RIGS, will ensure we keep their trucks loading with ALC. Carriers take comfort in knowing that a single company can provide them round trips and they don’t need to search the load boards for freight. That same carrier also informed us that they avoid the posting boards because in times like this they need to be assured that they will receive payment from a reputable company like ALC.
Coming off of a very challenging year in 2020 it might be tempting to give business to the less expensive truck that shows up as the market softens. Last year showed us a market shift can come at any moment not just during the summer months or before the holidays. We have to treat carrier relationships like a long-term investment and continue to educate our carriers on the value of repeat business with ALC.
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Matt Fyten joined the Allen Lund Company in August of 2014 as a broker in training. Over the years he has held the roles of broker, senior broker and now Operations Manager in the San Francisco office. Matt holds a degree in Liberal Studies from San Francisco State University and has 12 years of experience in sales/customer relations.
For the first time, a white strawberry that smells a bit like a pineapple will go to market in the U.S.
As western-central Florida strawberry harvesting season continues through the end of March, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services is releasing two new varieties — the white one and a red one — neither named yet, according to a news release.
“The flavor is very different from a typical strawberry, sweet but with a pineapple-like aroma,” Vance Whitaker, associate professor of horticultural sciences and a strawberry breeder, said in the release. “White strawberries have been popular for some time in Japan, but this is expected to be the first white strawberry on the market in the United States.”
The strawberry is white inside and out even when it’s ripe and ready to eat. It has a slight pink blush on the skin and red seeds, said Whitaker, also a faculty member at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.
Breeders crossed white strawberries from the wild with modern strawberries to make this new specialty.
He expects these white strawberries to be available in U.S. grocery stores by 2022, marketed as “pineberries” because of the pineapple aroma.
