U.S. citrus imports grew significantly during the third quarter of the year while volumes of other key fruits during the period such as avocados and bananas saw declines, according to the USDA.
Total imports of fresh citrus between June and September this year rose by 20 percent over 2019 to $682 million. Easily the largest increase in citrusy came from mandarins with imports soaring by 55 percent to $225 million.
Both Chile and Peru were responsible for the dramatic increase. Both have seen strong growth in soft citrus volumes in recent years. South Africa and Uruguay also increased shipments. Limes and oranges both rose by 10 percent to $134 million and $123 million, respectively, while lemons saw a 3 percent decline to $95 million.
Limes came almost entirely from Mexico, while the increase in oranges was driven by South Africa and partially offset by a decline from Chile.
Meanwhile, avocado imports experienced a huge decline of 26 percent to $531 million during the quarter. This decline was driven both by Mexico, whose volumes fell by 24 percent to $424 million, and Peru, whose shipments fell by 22 percent to $102 million.
Chilean imports in the third quarter last year were $20 million, just $1 million. Colombia, meanwhile, managed to roughly double its shipments from 2019 to $4 million. Banana imports fell by 7 percent to $457 million, driven by Guatemala’s volumes falling by 9 percent to $220 million.
Costa Rica and Ecuador saw declines of 11 percent each to $91 million and $43 million, while Honduras saw a 15 percent increase to $41 million. Blueberry imports remained stable at $183 million, with a sharp increase from Peru offset by an equally sharp decrease from Canada.
Avocado shipments are expected to be strong with stable volumes over the coming weeks, with an increase in the run-up to the Super Bowl.
The Del Rey Avocado Company reports supplies have been steady over recent weeks, hitting around 50 million pounds per week into the U.S. market.
This pace is likely to continue as volumes are expected to pick up in the new year. A weekly increase in volume to match the demand for the Super Bowl is seen from the middle to the end of January. However, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. market will see volumes of up to 78 million pounds per week for two or three weeks as in previous years.
Mission Produce notes Mexico is producing good volumes through December and leading into the Super Bowl on February 7, the biggest avocado sales period of the year. Volumes over 50 million pounds through December and will continue to grow as we get closer to the Big Game.
Pelion, S.C. – WP Rawl, the premier grower, processor and shipper of leafy greens honored fallen military heroes by participating in Wreaths Across America Day this December.
WP Rawl’s dedicated truck and trailer traveled from Pelion, South Carolina to Columbia Falls, Maine to pick up thousands of fresh evergreen wreaths to be placed on the headstones of veterans – a symbol used for centuries to recognize and honor the fallen.
Each year National Wreaths Across America Day takes place in over 1,600 locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad continuing the tradition by participating in annual wreath-laying ceremonies.
For the first time in five years of participating, the company picked up wreaths for two national cemeteries in their home state of South Carolina. Over 28,500 wreaths were delivered to Fort Jackson and Beaufort National Cemetery for the headstones of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Beaufort National Cemetery held a parade on Saturday, December 19th where trucks were escorted into the cemetery with a crowd of cheering volunteers. WP Rawl driver and Army veteran, Craig Ruff had the honor of delivering both loads of wreaths. “It was an honor as a peace time veteran to retrieve a load of wreaths from Maine and then to deliver them to the two national cemeteries,” said Ruff. “It was a humbling experience and great joy meeting all of the folks that want to honor our military heroes. I am grateful for WP Rawl for giving me the opportunity as an employee and veteran. Thank you! I am packed and ready for next year!”
“In a year of so many uncertainties, we were happy to be able to continue the tradition of supporting Wreaths Across America.” said Ashley Rawl, vice president of sales, marketing and product development. “What better way to support our local heroes then by showing our thanks to the many men and woman who are to thank for the many freedoms we have today.”
WP Rawl has supported the Wreaths Across America organization throughout the years by donating services, sponsoring wreaths and sending employees who volunteered to lay wreaths on fallen veterans’ graves.
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About WP Rawl Dating back to 1925, WP Rawl is a fourth generation family farm which has grown to become a grower/shipper/processor, specializing in year-round bulk and value-added leafy greens and vegetables in the Rawl®, Nature’s Greens® and Palmetto Gardens® brands.
Over a recent 16-year period North Carolina sweet potato volume has jumped by 42 percent. That translates into consumer consumption hitting 7.2 pounds per capita.
The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission reports much of the increase is attributed in large part to consumers searching for healthy food choices. This ranges from fries, to fresh cuts, and sweet potato tater tots.
While the majority of the N.C. crop remains the conventional orange-fleshed covington variety, there is growing consumer interest in organics. There is a perception among consumers that ‘organic’ means healthy. However, research finds no difference in nutritional value between organic and conventionally grown. So it becomes a matter of producers meeting consumer demand.
Of the newer varieties, purple sweet potatoes with their purple-tinted skin and violet flesh are gaining in popularity. Plus, being a novelty is an attraction to some consumers.
Vick Family Farms of Wilson, N.C., reports shipping more organic and specialty varieties as niche items, such as reddish-purple, white-fleshed murasaki, to retail supermarkets. These were developed at the University of Louisiana in the early 2000s, and the sweet bonita, with its tan skin and white flesh. Vick also still grows a few acres of beauregards, red-copper tubers with deep orange flesh. Nash Produce of Nashville, N.C. is seeing an increase in demand for its organics, bonita and murasaki varieties.
A revised estimate of the production and exports of Chilean cherries predicts an even greater increase compared to what was announced in early November.
The Asoex Chilean Cherry Committee, exports of 326,184 metric tons (MT) (63,236,847 cartons of 5 kg) are predicted, which would be an increase of 38.3 percent over last season. The original estimate was expected to reach 310,352 MT. The figure was also a record in exports for the Latin American country.
Among the top countries receiving Chilean cherry exports are the U.S. South Korea, Brazil, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand.
SINGAPORE – ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. is expanding its refrigerated shipping capabilities with 1,000 new containers equipped with Carrier Transicold’s PrimeLINE® refrigeration unit. 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.
The new, 40-foot high-cube containers will help the Haifa, Israel-based shipping line accommodate growth and solidify its commitment to having ample refrigerated resources to support its customers during these challenging times. Many of the new containers will ship highly temperature-sensitive perishable cargoes and high-value pharmaceutical products.
“With thousands of PrimeLINE units already in service to our fleet over many years, the refrigeration system has proven itself to be a highly capable performer,” said Moti Azari, reefer trade manager, ZIM. “The unit’s excellent refrigeration capabilities, energy efficiency and record of reliability, backed by Carrier Transicold’s responsive field support team, are all vitally important to our fleet operations, especially so, during these unprecedented times amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The PrimeLINE unit offers rapid temperature pull-down, tight temperature control, high energy efficiency and high air-flow performance, which are integral to the transportation of high-value cargoes, especially pharmaceutical products. Its efficiency is attributed primarily to an advanced digital scroll compressor that reduces power draw, which also results in reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions. Carrier helps customers meet the rapidly evolving supply chain demands to make their cold chain activities more efficient through the Healthy, Safe, Sustainable Cold Chain Program.
“We appreciate the opportunity to continue supporting ZIM with our PrimeLINE units, which have been the industry sales leader for more than a decade with best-in-class refrigeration performance,” said Kay Henze, international key account manager, Global Container Refrigeration, Carrier Transicold.
To learn more about the PrimeLINE refrigeration unit, turn to the experts at Carrier Transicold or visit transicold.carrier.com.
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 more than 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.
Mexican avocado imports by the U.S. are expected to experience higher volume this year than last.
Growers in Mexico will export 2.3 billion pound of avocados to the U.S. in 2020-21, up from just over 2 billion pounds during the 2019-20 season according to The Mexican Hass Avocados Importers Association.
Summer avocado shipments from California and Peru have given way to Mexican fruit, giving Mexico a 96 percent market share.
The Oppenheimer Group of Vancouver, British Columbia announced in October that it had acquired a 65 percent stake in Eco Farms of Temecula, CA, which has increased its year-round supplies of avocados.
The focus now is on Mexico, which is ramping up production and moving towards the peak of its 2020-21 season.
About half the business at Henry Avocado Corp. of Escondido, Calif., has been with restaurants and other institutions, which have cut back orders.
Overall shipments have been higher than last year because of lower prices and increased sales to retailers, but still nothing like they should have been due to the crash in foodservice business.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula, CA will have about 20 percent more product from Mexico to sell from this year’s regular crop out of Mexico than last year.
Index Fresh Inc., Riverside, CA expects a crop 15 t 20 percent larger than any average crop since 2015.
More imports of Chilean grapes are expected this season due to favorable weather and abundant rainfall, according to a USDA.
Chilean table grape exports to all destinations are expected to reach 620,000 metric tons in 2020-21, a 1.6 percent increase compared with the previous year. The U.S. imports about 46 percent of Chile’s table grapes, followed in volume by China.
The USDA report state, “Rainfall was abundant, especially in the month of June and climatic conditions during the spring have been favorable, thus fruit producers are expecting higher production volumes.”
Chilean fresh apple exports will total 655,000 metric tons, a 3.9 percent increase compared with last season, while pear exports are projected to decline by 4.3 percent to 111,000 metric tons because of a decline in pear planted area.
Grape expectations
Area planted to table grapes in Chile dropped by 4.9 percent in the 2020-21 season, and now totals about 113,000 acres.
Even so, the report said Chilean grape production will remain unchanged from last season and total 780,00 metric tons. The largest drops in table grape planted area were 11.8 percent in the Atacama region and 14.1 percent in the Metropolitana region.
“Table grape production and exports has become very competitive due to the increase in production and exports from Peru, and demand for new varieties of table grapes in destination markets,” the report read.
Varieties like red globe and flame seedless have low margins, and growers have replaced acreage of those varieties with newer grape varieties or alternative crops.
Pleasanton, Calif. — DeltaTrak® announces customized vaccine temperature monitoring solutions compatible with the three temperature profiles required for transport, storage and handling of COVID-19 vaccines. This includes Certified alarm thermometers, Digital data loggers (DDLs), and Real-time monitors (RTL) for vaccines stored in refrigerators, freezers, ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers, and thermal shippers. These solutions have been specifically designed to alleviate cold chain distribution challenges worldwide.“
Our vaccine monitoring solutions serve a key role in helping to ensure efficacy by supporting compliance with required temperature conditions,” said Frederick Wu, President and CEO of DeltaTrak. “Having the visibility to track temperature integrity through the Cloud-based Cold Chain supply network, is vital to the success of COVID-19 vaccine distribution stakeholders.”
DeltaTrak’s three-in-one vaccine monitors can be used for all types of vaccines that require customized temperature management profiles: AstraZeneca (2-8°C), Moderna (-20°C) and Pfizer (-70°C). Customers can select products with a variety of certifications to best suit their operational needs or requirements, including: ISO 17025 certification, NIST certification, WHO prequalified, CDC, and 21 CFR Part 11 compliant solutions. The Real-time monitor options upload data 24/7 to the FlashTrak cloud platform, enabling stakeholders to receive alerts and share information in real-time, to identify any temperature excursions during distribution, storage, and dispensing.
The FlashTrak RTL supply chain dashboard provides enhanced visibility to your data for accessing reports and sharing with other parties such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, 3PL, or health departments. The platform also allows users to customize settings for cargo security, temperature alerts, location, and arrival and departure status using geofence and API integration. Actionable data in the Cloud gives visibility to make immediate cold chain management decisions for corrective actions to protect our life-saving COVID-19 vaccines.
DeltaTrak® is a leading innovator of cold chain management, environmental monitoring and food safety solutions for the food, produce, life science, and chemical industries. Contact DeltaTrak® by phone at 1-800-962-6776 or by email at marketing@deltatrak.com. Additional information can be found at www.deltatrak.com.
