Larger, more concentrated shipments are taking place with the latter portion of the Peruvian table grape season.
Due to a labor strike the 2020 portion of the season, shippers are making up for lost time.
Peruvian grape exports to the U.S. are up 21 percent this season.
El Pedregal S.A reports from mid January on, the U.S. market is likely to see the arrivals of large shipments of Peruvian grapes. Green varieties will probably be the largest portion of this volume concentration, since it is a fruit that most producers have prioritized to harvest, due to their greater sensitivity to quality problems.
El Pedregal predicts a significant increase in exports for both green and red seedless table grapes with exports to destinations around the world reaching around 18 million boxes and 14 to 15 million boxes respectively.
This increase will also be seen in Peruvian grape exports overall. Last season Peru exported 48 million boxes. This year it is forecasting about 55 to 56 million boxes. The season is expected to start winding down the end of January or early February. This is the time period when Chilean exports begin.
The world’s largest fresh produce wholesale terminal, Hunts Point Produce Market, has a labor union strike over a wage dispute.
Hunts Point leaders on the Bronx market and the 1,400 member labor union are embroiled in an escalating debate on what’s a fair wage increase.
The market released a statement saying it was coordinating with the New York Police Department and bringing in a private security firm, to assure safe access is maintained for trucks bringing fresh healthy produce in and out of the market, as well as for produce buyers coming to the market to purchase produce.
The cooperative board represents about 30 produce firms, which supply about 60% of the produce for New York City; it also serves the surrounding region.
This will be the first strike at the Hunts Point market in almost 35 years.
The union is seeking a $1 per hour wage increase, and Hunts Point leaders offered 32 cents. The market reports business is down 30% since last spring due to the pandemic. Union workers earn between $30,000 and $40,000 a year, according to Teamsters Local 202.
Ready-to-eat beet brand, Love Beets USA, celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month.
With a robust product line, notable distribution, and beloved branding, they took what was formerly thought of as a polarizing vegetable and created delicious, modern, and versatile offerings that revitalized how Americans view beets.
Love Beets began as a true labor of love by husband-and-wife team, Guy and Katherine Shropshire. Recognizing there was a gap in the U.S. market for tasty, ready-to-eat beet options, they debuted their family’s favorite recipes at the 2010 Fancy Food Show. The response was overwhelmingly positive and virtually everyone who tasted their beets said they, “love beets!”
Though they felt it could be hard to overcome the initial perception of “grandma’s beets” and antiquated canned beets in the U.S., after witnessing the excitement and reaction to their products at that first show, Shropshire said he never doubted the potential of Love Beets.
“It’s a real-life example of success by joining a genuinely great product together with talented, super hard-working people,” he said.
Consumers can now enjoy Love Beets items in more than 15,000 retail locations across the country. Distribution has expanded to many prominent retail partners, including Costco, Whole Foods, Kroger, Wegmans, Sprouts, Target, and many more.
As beets biggest sponsor, Love Beets has had a substantial positive impact on the perception of beets nationwide, and they’ve made a name for themselves in both the produce industry and larger natural foods CPG space.
“We’ve been able to create a well-known and well-loved brand identity within the produce space, a department full of commodity and private label offerings with a lot of competition for shelf space,” said General Manager, George Shropshire.
“Beyond that accomplishment, we’ve also worked hard to grow as a U.S.-grown and produced company. We’re proud of our made in the USA label that stands out among our competitors.”
Looking forward, Love Beets aims to drive growth through innovation, sustainability, and continuing to drive trial and consumption. They will continue to provide consumers with healthy and convenient options that taste good, while working on an enhanced brand identity with updates to packaging and the introduction of new flavor offerings within their marinated baby beet line.
U.S. citrus shipments show mixed results in comparison to December’s estimate for the 2020-21 season.
The USDA January forecast for oranges for December’s forecast showed volumes of all variants decreasing by 11.3 million boxes from the 2019-20 season to 56 million boxes.
January’s figures continued with this decreasing trend, reporting the national production total will likely be two million boxes fewer at 54 million. Additionally, calculations specifically for Florida’s non-Valencia orange shipments is predicted to be down nine percent, showing loadings dropping from 22 million in December to 20 million this month.
Florida’s Valencia orange volume remained unchanged at 34 million boxes. Current fruit size is below average and is expected to stay that way at harvest.
Forecasted grapefruit shipments from December were also down from last year’s numbers by 450,000 boxes. However, January’s numbers break from the trend with a predicted five percent or 200,000 box increase.
If realized, this increase will still be 5% less than last season’s final grapefruit shipments.
Following suit, estimates in California and Texas for the current year increase 400,000 and 100,000 boxes, respectively. Meanwhile, January’s forecast for tangerine and tangelo production remained unchanged at 1.1 million boxes, 8% more than last season’s 1.02 million boxes.
Here’s a look at possible loading opportunities for fresh fruits and vegetable across the U.S.
South Texas
Primarily thanks to imports from Mexico this is one of the most active areas for produce hauls.
Mexican blueberry imports through South Texas are getting a boost because of problems in California. Movement out of Chile is increasing. However, availability is being limited by a backlog unloading Chinese container ships at West Coast ports, with ships waiting as long as two weeks for berths. This slowdown is also affecting quality of the berries on these ships, leading to an increase in demand for fresher Mexican blueberries.
Increasing movement on Mexico strawberries crossing through Texas is expected with over 400 truck loads weekly happening now. However, avocados are triple this amount in volume. Over 1200 loads of vine ripe and plum tomatoes are now crossing weekly. Of course, there are dozens of other smaller volume items available as well.
Lower Rio Grande Valley Mexican produce – grossing about $6700 to New York City.
Florida
Shipments of Florida winter tomatoes are normally providing decent volume this time of year, but cool weather is holding back production. This also is true with dozens of other vegetable items.
Arizona
The Yuma area is rolling pretty good led by head lettuce and romaine averaging around 1700 truck loads per week. There also are lesser amounts of other veggies here, as well as across the state line in California’s Imperial and Coachella Valleys. Meanwhile, Mexican crossings at Nogales continue with a wide range of veggies.
Yuma area lettuce – grossing about $5900 to Chicago.
Miscellaneous States
Colorado’s San Luis Valley is moving around 500 truckloads of potatoes each week….There’s much less spud volume available from Central Wisconsin and the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota.
Eastern North Carolina continues to ship sweet potatoes, but there are less than 200 truck loads per week.
The news comes after a brief yet influential period of impressing upon the federal government the urgency and need for the expansion by city leaders, U.S. senators, and other key stakeholders. The 2020 permit amends the current permit to allow for the addition of another bridge at the international port of entry.
This second span will give Pharr a competitive advantage by adding additional lanes to completely separate trucks and cars, dedicating specific lanes for empties, full cargo, certified cargo, and passenger vehicles, thereby adding capacity and reducing wait times. With this permit, Pharr will now have an official gate-to-gate FAST lane, or set of FAST lanes, from Mexico to the United States.
Typically, a permit process can take multiple years before approval; Pharr’s application was fast-tracked due to the dedicated efforts of city leaders and staff, consulting engineers Structural Engineering Associates, Inc., and others, who prioritized this project and worked diligently with U.S. and Mexican officials, despite the challenges of being in the midst of a global pandemic.
The City of Pharr worked with Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and their staff on this project, which began in September 2019 with a meeting between Pharr’s team and the White House arranged by Senator Cruz. Senator Cornyn led efforts and coordinated meetings between Pharr and the U. S. Department of State, which led to the formal notification to the U.S. Department of State in April 2020 of Pharr’s intent to expand the international bridge. Between April and August of 2020, Pharr leaders and representatives consulted with major U. S. and Mexican stakeholders, culminating in more than 60 letters of support from elected officials at the local, state, federal, and international levels.
The project also received support from all major transportation and trade associations, border infrastructure groups, and private industry partners that utilize the bridge on a daily basis. The Pharr City Commission authorized the submission of the presidential permit amendment application to the U. S. Department of State, which was submitted on September 30, 2020, and just three months later, the permit was issued.
“It is unprecedented that a sitting President of the United States grants a Presidential Permit Amendment with record time, and we thank him for doing so,” said Mayor Hernandez. “This new year began on a positive note with the issuing of this permit for the expansion of the Pharr International Bridge,” Hernandez continued. “The City of Pharr is appreciative of the diligent efforts made possible by the government relations and bridge teams at the city level, in coordination with Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, which opened the doors of communication with our presidential administration and federal agencies to accomplish this goal with unprecedented speed due to the forthright and transparent communication regarding the need and urgency of this project,” he continued.
“This permit amends the current permit to allow for the expansion of the Pharr International Bridge, and will further support the record numbers of international trade and commerce that transpires on our port of entry,” Hernandez added. “It is a wonderful new year, indeed!” he continued.
“Pharr’s ports of entry serve as a gateway for billions of dollars in cross-border trade that benefits our state’s economy,” said Senator Cornyn. “Expanding the Pharr International Bridge will enhance trade and travel and benefit all who use the facility,” he added.
Senator Cruz remarked, “Texas is home to some of the nation’s busiest border crossings and the Pharr International Bridge serves as an important port of entry to facilitate the United States’ trade and commerce with Mexico. I am grateful the Trump Administration recognized the importance of expanding the Pharr International Bridge to further enhance the U.S.-Mexico trade partnership and increase commerce between the two nations,” Senator Cruz said. “I’d like to commend the leadership of Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez, City of Pharr City Council, the staff at the City of Pharr, and community leaders for their diligent work on this project and working with our office to help ensure this project was permitted in record time. I was proud to support the Pharr International Bridge expansion project as millions of jobs, in Texas and across the country, depend upon trade with Mexico. I will continue working to ensure future trade opportunities benefit Texas and put American jobs first.”
SINGAPORE – Carrier Transicold’s EverFRESH® active controlled-atmosphere system for refrigerated containers now offers a new carbon dioxide (CO2) injection option to better preserve low-respiring, high-value perishable cargo.
The new option allows the container to be pre-charged with CO2 at the start of a voyage and automatically add more over the course of the trip. Carrier Transicold is the only container refrigeration system manufacturer to offer a controlled-atmosphere system with an integrated option to add CO2 on demand.
“The option is beneficial for cherries, blueberries, grapes, papayas and other low- to moderate-respiring commodities that do not create a lot of CO2 on their own,” said Jim Taeckens, senior product manager, Global Container Refrigeration, Carrier Transicold. “This technology allows customers to better protect and extend the shelf life of high-value commodities, which is especially important.”
Using active controlled-atmosphere technology, the EverFRESH system optimizes the balance of oxygen and CO2 within a refrigerated container to reduce respiration and slow the natural ripening of the commodity by generating high-purity nitrogen to more quickly and responsively displace oxygen. The system maintains a positive pressure within the container, making it less sensitive to box air leakage than other controlled-atmosphere methods.
The EverFRESH system with CO2 injection is currently available as a factory-installed option for Carrier Transicold PrimeLINE® refrigeration systems equipped with the wireless Micro-Link® 5 controller. Container atmosphere levels can be securely monitored via a mobile device using Carrier Transicold’s DataLINE Connect™ app, and Carrier Transicold’s TripLINK™ data management platform can be used to set and monitor oxygen and CO2levels. TripLINK will continue to be further enhanced by Carrier’s new Lynx™ digital platform, which provides application support to expand automation capabilities.
For more information about the EverFRESH controlled-atmosphere system with CO2 injection option, turn to the experts at Carrier Transicold or visit www.transicold.carrier.com.
Fruit World of Reedley, CA, a family-owned, grower-shipper of organic and conventional fruit, is reporting an exceptional citrus growing season, including a variety of specialty citrus, according to a press release.
The company is shipping conventional and organic mandarins, as well as organic Cara Cara, Blood, and Navel oranges, organic Minneolas, and their year-round mainstay, organic lemons. They are also announcing the transition of even more acreage towards organic certification.
Fruit World is now shipping mandarins now through May, with its highest volumes in early spring.
“We’re unique in how we time the availability of some of our citrus like Cara Caras and Blood Oranges,” said CJ Buxman, Fruit World co-founder and an organic citrus grower. “We start our season a little later so their flavor is at its strongest and sweetest when we ship.
Fruit World will start shipping Cara Caras in mid-January, with Blood Oranges close behind in late January, both available through April. The company’s year-round organic lemon program will also see good volumes from January through April.
Contributing to the company’s citrus production this season will be Heirloom Navel Oranges from Sky Ranch, one of Kaprielian’s family ranches. Sky Ranch’s Heirloom Navel acreage is transitioning to organic, and while this year’s crop will be sold as conventional, it will follow all organic standards.
The New Zealand kiwifruit industry will be boosted by three specialized reefer vessels following significant investment by operator Fresh Carriers, underpinned by their confidence in the kiwifruit industry and their longstanding relationship with Zespri.
The first of three vessels, MV Kowhai, arrived at the Port of Tauranga recently to begin loading 4,219 tons of Zespri Kiwifruit ahead of its maiden kiwifruit voyage bound for Japan.
In recognition of the fact kiwifruit would be the main cargo transported, Fresh Carriers provided the kiwifruit industry with the opportunity to name the three new ships. Former grower Lynda Hawes’ suggestion of Kowhai was selected, symbolising the golden kiwifruit that continues to strengthen the bond between New Zealand and Japan, with the remaining two ships to be named Kakariki (Green) and Whero (Red), ensuring a full spread of Zespri’s portfolio of golden, green and red kiwifruit.
“Each year Fresh Carriers transports around 190,000 tonnes of kiwifruit from New Zealand, and we’re pleased to deliver the first of our three brand new vessels that will ship fruit to some of Zespri’s top Asian markets,” says Oceanic Navigation Director Bruce Nisbet.
“The new vessels can ship more trays of kiwifruit through a higher deck, and the engines are built to the latest standards in fuel efficiency. New technology in the vessels also enable remote monitoring of fruit conditioning.
Fresh Carriers supplied 35 vessels to ship Zespri Kiwifruit to key North Asia ports this season, which is around 30 percent of this season’s fruit.
Table grape exports from Peru got off to a good start this year, despite continuing concern about the potential unrest in production areas.
ADEX, the country’s Exporters’ Association notes exports during October, the season’s opening month, rose by 11% over last season to $80 million. Table grapes were in third place for total agricultural exports from Peru, behind avocados and blueberries.
Between January and October, shipments totalled $546 million, presenting a growth of 23% over last season. The Ica region, which is the first producing region, led foreign grape sales totaling $324 million. However, there is concern due to the agricultural protests in the Ica region that affected transit throughout December.
Between January and October, Peruvian grape exports arrived at 48 destinations, with the U.S. as the main market, growing by 40.93% to $242.191 million.
The Netherlands followed in second place, increasing 14.53%, with Hong Kong, Mexico and China following. The top ten was completed by the UK, Spain, Colombia, South Korea and Canada. The most exported variety is the Red Globe, followed by Sweet Globe, Sugraone, Crimson Thompson, among others.
While production continues to do well in this region, the association warned about the potential impact due to the protests and road blockages.
There are daily protests preventing about 200 containers of agricultural products, representing a loss of about $10 million per day. Each container that stops moving has a value of about $50,000 on average.
Other northern grape-producing regions in October were Piura which increased its shipments by 16.6%; Lambayeque, which fell by 2.4%; and La Libertad which also suffered a loss of 16.3%.
