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%.
The harvest of Chilean table grapes in the Atacama region kicked off in mid December, one week behind last season, yielding mostly white seedless grapes (Sugraone, Prime Seedless, and Timson), as well as a lower volume of Flame Seedless.
The Chilean Fresh Fruits Association reports exports of table grapes got underway with the New Year, with just 475 tons shipped globally during the first week. A total of 219 tons were destined to North America, which is Chile’s largest export market. Exports to this market will continue to ramp up.
Last season, Chile exported a total of 600,960 tons with about 50 percent shipped to North America. It is expected the number will increase in 2021.
There will be increased volumes of the more popular newer varieties (Timco, Sweet Celebration, Allison, etc.) and lower volumes of varieties such as Flame Seedless.
Stone fruit volume will hit high gear in February and runs through April.
Through mid-December, Chile has shipped 370 tons of plums globally including 201 tons to North America. Early pickings focused on Early Queen and Big Fusion varieties.
With nectarines, 2,992 tons were shipped through the same time period with 1,084 destined for North America. Early picking focused on Zee Fire, Rio Red and Early Juan varieties.
As for peaches, so far 2,550 tons have been shipped globally with 64 percent headed to North America. The main varieties harvested season to date have been Early Majestic and Super Rich.
Chilean berry shipments have been particularly strong, resulting in 13.6 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
The country started exporting blueberries to North America in mid-August, but there were only small volumes until mid-November, and very concentrated in organics from the northern region. The first week that Chile shipped more than 1,000 tons to North America was November 16-22.
Peak loadings by boat are underway from Chile, with good weekly through February. The forecast calls for 111,500 tons of total fresh blueberry exports, 2 percent higher than last season.
Total shipped volume (globally) through December 13 was 26,127 tons with about half of all volume shipped heading for North America. Still, the number of imports to the U.S. is down about 11 percent from last season.
RICHLAND, MS – Accommodating significant fleet growth and modernization, one of North America’s leading refrigerated trucking companies, KLLM Transport Services, is adding 1,400 new Utility trailers refrigerated by Carrier Transicold units equipped with the eSolutions™ telematics platform and TRU-Mount solar charging systems.
“Thanks to continued investments to replace and upgrade our equipment and technology, we are, today, a 57-year-old company with one of the youngest, most advanced fleets on the highway,” said Jim Richards, president of KLLM, a Top-3 refrigerated carrier, headquartered in Richland, Mississippi.
“As a premier service provider, with more than 6,000 refrigerated trailers and domestic intermodal containers serving 48 states and Mexico, it is vital that we continuously renew our fleet,” Richards added. “This latest investment helps us keep our fleet new and modern for improved service, less downtime and to provide our customers with the advantage of the most current technology.”
The new Carrier Transicold systems include 1,325 X4™ 7500 single-temperature trailer refrigeration units to be deployed by KLLM, and 75 Vector™ 8600MT multi-temperature units to be used by KLLM’s Dallas-based Frozen Foods Express (FFE) business. All refrigeration systems will be installed on 53-foot Utility 3000R insulated trailers by Carrier Transicold and Utility Trailer dealer Southern States Utility Trailer Sales Inc., also located in Richland.
Carrier Transicold’s eSolutions platform helps refrigerated transporters operate more efficiently by improving visibility of their cold chain assets and intelligently providing a centralized data stream about their transport refrigeration units (TRUs) and cargo.
In addition to supplying critical data, such as temperatures, location and movement, the eSolutions platform will provide two-way control as well as analytic and diagnostic information about its refrigeration units. Carrier’s high-performance TRU-Mount solar charging system helps maintain the charge of the refrigeration unit battery, which supports the eSolutions telematics system, even when the refrigeration unit is off.
“The fact that the eSolutions system is integrated with the Carrier Transicold units is very important to us,” Richards said. “It will give us new abilities to download data and upgrade over the air, including our IntelliSet™ profiles – something we are certainly excited about.”
The IntelliSet feature is a software application included with Carrier Transicold’s APX™ refrigeration unit controllers that allows custom configuration of multiple refrigeration parameters to create profiles based on specific commodities or customer preferences. With the eSolutions system, IntelliSet configurations can be selected remotely, and parameter updates can be done over the air rather than manually, saving time and resources.
For additional details about Carrier Transicold’s transport refrigeration units, eSolutions platform and solar charging options, turn to the experts in Carrier Transicold’s North America dealer network.
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. For 50 years, Carrier Transicold has been an industry leader, providing customers around the world with advanced, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable container refrigeration systems and generator sets, direct-drive and diesel truck units, and trailer refrigeration systems. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions.
Even in the midst of winter when produce loading opportunities in most areas of the country are nothing to get excited about, Florida still offers the best opportunities, at least in the Eastern time zone.
Some things never change, and multiple pick ups and drops is the norm. There’s a tremendous variety of produce for hauling in Florida, but none of the items are in big volume.
Imports from around the world continue to increase and south Florida ports are beneficiaries. Boats frequently arrive with containers from Chile to Peru, Guatemala, Central America, Brazil and the Caribbean.
Domestic loadings of dozens of vegetables are available, mostly out of Central and Southern Florida. Mature green and grape tomatoes are probably the heaviest volume items offering around 700 truck load equivalents per weeks. After this there is much lighter volume with items ranging from cabbage, to squash, peas and citrus, among numerous others.
South Georgia has light loadings of cabbage, carrots, sweet corn and greens. The Port of Savannah is becoming a bigger player with produce imports.
However, the ports of Philadelphia and Wilmington, NC are much higher volume ports handling imports from countries such as Chile, Peru, Italy, Brazil and Ecuador.
Everything concerning logistics and transportation has been difficult during the pandemic and it wasn’t any easier during the holiday season. Produce shipments are expected to return to more normal patterns (whatever that is). Restocking of retail supermarket shelves should translate in to an increase in shipments on many items before leveling off as we progress into the New Year.
Here’s a round up of some major winter shipping areas in the western half of the U.S. and the biggest volume items being shipped.
Arizona
Western Arizona in the Yuma district is loading about 1,000 truck loads of head lettuce and romaine each week, plus lesser amounts of numerous other winter veggies….Many Mexican produce items crossing at Nogales will be reaching peak volume in the weeks ahead. Lots of mixed loads here. More than a half dozen different types of squash combined are accounting for about 500 truck loads weekly. Cucumbers and bell peppers are gaining in volume, along with watermelons and tomatoes.
Mexican veggies from Nogales – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.
California
California at one time was the most exciting place for picking up produce loads, but a lot of the shine has shifted to other areas, led by Mexico due to left coast taxes and other political decisions. Many of the best loading opportunities are now in the desert of the Imperial and Coachella valleys with many items mirroring those found in the Yuma district….In Ventura County there are around 450 truck load equivalents weekly of celery. Over in Kern County about 300 truck load equivalents of carrots are being shipped.
Idaho
Russet potato shipments from the Twin Falls region are averaging around 1250 truck load equivalents weekly….In Western Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon they are loading nearly 600 truck load equivalents.
Texas
South Texas continues to become one of the most attractive areas for loading produce, as more and more Mexican fruits and veggies are crossing the border. Nearly 900 truckloads of avocados are being loaded weekly and this should be increasing as we approach the Super Bowl in early February. Other volume items range from tomatoes to limes, watermelons, strawberries and broccoli.
Mexican produce crossings from South Texas – grossing about $4800 to Atlanta.
Washington
Apples and pears are the most obvious opportunities this time of year from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys with over 2100 truck load equivalents each week. There is also moderate shipments of potatoes and onions from Washington’s Columbia Basin and the adjacent Umatilla Basin of Oregon.
Washington apples grossing – about $8400 to New York City.
2020 has come to close and for many of us, and not too soon.
It proved to be a very challenging year for everyone. Few have been challenged more than the patriotic driver of the United States of America.
2021 has got to be better. Among the reasons for optimism is
President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the public-private partnership to
facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of
COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Warp Speed program that
resulted in vaccinations now becoming available in record time.
The trucking industry came through as never before during the
past year delivering the vast majority of the nation’s freight to keep this
great country moving.
For this reason, we are dedicating the New Year to America’s truck drivers. Despite the enormous challenges created by the China virus, you keep delivering us fresh fruits and vegetables, countless other perishables, as well as just about anything else one can think of.
Thank you for your dedication, professionalism, and
perseverance during all of the adversity.
Wishing a prosperous 2021, full of success and good health
for each of you and your family!
By Iyer Amruthur, Business Development Specialist, ALC San Antonio
The Legend of Topo Chico has a near and dear place in every Texan’s heart as the premier choice for natural sparkling mineral water. From an ancient story of an ailing Aztec princess whose father, Movtezum I Ilhuicamina, searched far and wide for a cure; wise priests told the king his daughter must bathe in the mystical waters to the north of them. The tribe embarked on a search, for health.
The king took his daughter to the springs by a mole-shaped hill called Topo Chico. After bathing in, and drinking the waters, legend has it that she was immediately cured. Now we see this same spring as one of the most popular sources of beverages in the world! Topo-Chico began selling its mineral water to the U.S. in the 1980s, with its primary market being the Mexican-American communities.
Texas was the biggest consumer of the Topo Beverage, and soon it developed a cult following which exploded in 2010. With retro-green-tinted bottles, and a mythical location in one of Monterrey, Mexico’s inactive volcanoes, they took the market by storm. That is until they closed one of the biggest deals in their history.
In 2017 Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drink company acquired Topo Chico for 220 Million Dollars. With the added supply chain, marketing, and business expertise they were able to expand their sales by 25% in the first quarter. Before the acquisition, 70% of all Topo Chico sales were in Texas but with Coke’s distribution network, they were able to easily reach areas they were unable to before. Soon they started to pop up in convenience stores, additional Walmart’s, and even Costco.
Coke understands the effect the supply chain can have on companies. One thing that the company recognized about Topo-Chico is that the following was cult-like, it was based in certain demographics, and it had a certain image people loved. As Kellam Mattier, a VP of innovation at Coke said, “It’s important for us to maintain the relevance with the core Topo Chico fan base while introducing the brand to new people.” This helps the original company, traditionally regional, to bring that same company feel to the whole nation.
Now with 2021 on the horizon, Coke will debut Topo Chico’s first Hard Alcoholic Seltzer in Latin American cities and will be launching in the U.S. in 2021. This shows the perfect synergy, and what happens between a loved brand, and an expert distributor. Logistics has a lot of the focus on trucks, but before trucks even hit the road, someone needs to make routes, orders, and deals. This is what Coke brings to the table, and why you may see Topo Chico in a store near you soon.
With the bottled-water industry booming to $16 billion in 2017, the market was shifting slightly away from soda. In this gap today, Topo-Chico fits perfectly and is growing just like the legend from long ago.
Iyer Amruthur is a business development specialist in the ALC San Antonio office and has two years of logistics experience. Iyer attended The University of Georgia where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, with a minor in Communications.
A 25 percent decline in Argentine lemon exports are estimated compared to a year ago. This would result in producing only 190,000 metric tons (MT) this coming season, according to a report by the USDA.
Reasons for the projected decline is due to a decrease in production, available fruit supply in the Northern Hemisphere’s fruit-producing countries and strong competition from South Africa.
Exporters are also concerned about the continued threat of fruit rejections by the EU due to the presence of Citrus Black Spot (CBS) as occurred in the 2019-20 season.
Lemon exports to the U.S. for the 2020-21 season are estimated to be about 40,000MT. However, this is an uncertain estimate due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumption patterns.
Argentine lemon production forecasts at 1.03MMT, a 30 percent decrease in comparison to last year, due to cold damage early in the season and dry growing conditions. A drought is restricting production of all citrus fruit in Argentina by reducing fruit size. This season fresh lemons for processing are forecast to decrease significantly to 731,000 MT, down 31.5 percent compared to 2019-20, as a result of the decrease in production.
