Avocado export volumes from Mexico were up by five percent from January to October of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Volumes topped one million metric tons (MT), according to the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture. The value of exports, however, fell by seven percent for the same 10-month period with amounts registering at about $2.5 billion. For the entire 2019 year, Mexican avocado exports worldwide amounted to $3.1 billion dollars.
In past years, avocado consumption has risen consistently from 1.1 billion pounds 2008 to 2.6 billion in 2018, an annual increase of nine percent.
Hass avocados, dominate the U.S imports representing about 95 percent of the avocados consumed in the United States and 80 percent worldwide. The U.S. Hass avocado industry, in particular, had a value of $6.5 billion in 2019, according to the USDA.
The Hass Avocado Board of Mission Viejo, CA notes in 2017, nearly half of U.S. households bought avocados. However, most of the avocados sold in the US are imported from other countries.
In 2018, for example, 76 percent of the America’s total consumption was imported from Mexico The total export amount of Mexican avocados bound for the United States in 2019 tallied to approximately $2.4 million.
Peruvian lime exports are being threatened because of a drought in the northern part of the country, just a few weeks before the beginning of the peak summer shipping season.
The Association of Citrus Producers of Peru (ProCitrus) reports a possible shortage of the fruit and if the rains continue to be insufficient for the next two months.
A drought will lead to a plunge in production, either due to smaller sizes or because each acre yields fewer tons. It all depends on whether the drought continues. It is expected in the coming weeks the rains will begin to normalize, but if the drought continues, there could be a shortage.
The rains have been well below normal. Because of this, access to reservoir water has been restricted. Among citrus products, lime has the heaviest production in northern Peru.
In particular, it is found around Piura, the city that produced more than half of the national lime production in 2016.
Following in production are the cities Lambayeque, Tumbes, and the region Loreto, all in northern Peru. In the region of Piura, there are 45,351 acres designated for lime crops, distributed among the main producing valleys: San Lorenzo has 26,430 acres, while Chira has 10,991 acres and Chulucanas follows with 3,590 acres.
Limes are harvested the year around, but the months leading up to summer are considered the most important period of the year.
The lime varieties produced in Peru are Sutil and Tahiti. The former stays within the domestic market, while the latter is increasingly grown for export purposes. In 2019, 9,000 metric tons (MT) of Tahiti limes were exported, which represented a 55 percent increase from 2018.
The North Carolina State Port Authority has received a $16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help pay for upgrades to triple the Port of Wilmington’s container capacity.
The USDOT’s Maritime Administration’s grant will support development of a new container gate complex at the port, according to a news release.
The overall project is part of a five-year, $200 million container expansion plan. The current container gate (channel for container trucks transporting cargo) isn’t adequate for forecasted container volumes, but when the expansion is complete, it will more than triple the container capacity. Inbound and outbound lanes for trucks are increasing, and a container operations building will be constructed.
The $16-million-grant is the largest single grant awarded to North Carolina ports yet, Brian Clark, chief operating officer.
“Improving the container gate has long been part of our infrastructure improvements plan at the Port of Wilmington,” he said. “We recognized early on the need for a more modern gate. Our terminal in Wilmington is known for its fast truck turn times and this modern complex will help us maintain the speed our customers expect.”
The project includes a new truck gate interchange with technology to improve safety and efficiency, according to the release.
There has been double-digit increases in demand for fresh produce at supermarkets, and the USDA projects that retail prices for fruits and vegetables will come in below historical averages.
The USDA reports, “Consumer Price Index growth for fruits and vegetables has been lower than the 20-year average of 2 percent,” according to its October 23rd Food Price Outlook.
Current projections indicate retail prices will continue to grow slower than the historical average.
“This aggregate decline is driven by a 0.5 percentdrop in the price of fresh vegetables,” the USDA reports. No growth and a 0.1 percent increase in the price of fresh fruits and processed fruits and vegetables only partially offset the decline of fresh vegetables, the agency said.
So far in 2020, compared to 2019, overall grocery prices have increased 3.4 percent, while restaurant prices have climbed 2.8 percent. Forecast for the full year, overall 2020 grocery prices are expected to increase between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent, while restaurant prices are projected to rise between 2 percent and 3 percent.
For 2021, the USDA said overall grocery prices will increase between 1 percent and 2 percent, while restaurant prices are expected to increase between 2 percent and 3 percent.
Remaining U.S. fresh apples remaining to be shipped on November 1 were 12 percent less than the same time last year, according to the first storage report of the season from the U.S. Apple Association of Falls Church, VA.
Fresh apple remaining in storage for shipping on November 1 were 117.5 million (42-pound) cartons, 12 percent less than the inventories the same time a year ago.
Processing holdings were 45 million cartons, 6 percent less than the same time last year. Total apples in storage on November 1 were 162.5 million cartons, 10 percent less than a year ago and 4 percent below the 5-year average for that date.
The U.S. Apple fresh inventories on November 1, with percent change compared with a year ago:
Gala: 24.2 million cartons, down 15 percent ; and
Red delicious: 21.17 million cartons, down 24 percent;
Honeycrisp: 15.34 million cartons, up 3.6 percent;
Granny smith: 13.37 million cartons, down 15 percent;
Golden delicious: 5.01 million cartons, down 38 percent.
Cosmic Crisp: 1.631 million cartons, up 533 percent.
Resilience is an important part of this industry and this year is no exception.
I believe this quote by John Rockefeller perfectly describes the current state of our industry. “If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the work paths of accepted success.”
The way growers, shippers, retailers, and transportation providers deal with ever constant change, have determined their success in the new “norm” we live in today.
Sales obviously has had to adapt, as well. The conventions that take place throughout the year have all taken place virtually and the in-person handshakes have been replaced by video chat requests. The most common word used to describe this year’s market is “uncertain” and with many clients working from home they depend on us more than ever to not just provide fair rates but to educate them about what we are seeing and hearing in the market.
Although rates started out lower than expected for summer, freight rates increased quickly and the usual decrease after the 4th of July never happened. This left many clients scrambling, looking to secure capacity for their supply chain.
Our team at Allen Lund Company stood by our clients, growing year-over-year and absorbing costs on a percentage of our freight. Much of the success in expanding our base over the past seven months is due to the hardworking, essential employees throughout our offices working diligently with our clients to navigate the road ahead.
As we prepare for the holidays, our industry and companies’ resilience will once again be put to the test. California outbound freight is now seeing dry van rates surpass the refrigerated freight market. Many of the large cultural festivals that occur during this time are not taking place in person, however, we still anticipate drivers continuing to take time off to spend time with family.
Keeping an open dialogue with the companies we work with allows them to keep surprises to a minimum and in turn, help them service their own customers and consumers. While the upcoming holidays will be different for everyone, we know that our customers depend on and appreciate the resilience of our team.
Braden Goodere began working for the Allen Lund Company in September of 2013 as a business development specialist. In September 2019, he was promoted to business development manager. Goodere joined the company with many years of experience in agriculture, having grown up on a ranch. He attended Cal Poly-SLO and received a BS in agribusiness finance.
Have you ever eaten a hot dog that tastes like a carrot? Neither have we, but that’s about to change.
Bolthouse Farms of Bakersfield, CA has developed a new lineup of “carrot swaps.”
The name of the line is Wunderoots, and it includes Carrot Dogs, Carrot Fettuccine and Riced Carrot.
Both the Carrot Rice and Carrot Fettuccine kits can be prepared on a stove top or in the microwave. Carrot Dogs are designed to be grilled, according to a news release.
Bolthouse recommends merchandising all items from the line in the value-added section of the produce department. The Wunderoots items are expected to debut in spring 2021.
Carrot Dogs may be the most unusual the bunch. In creating the hot dog alternative, the company shaves carrots into the shape of a traditional hot dog, brines them for a smoky flavor, packages them and puts them through high pressure processing so they have a longer shelf life.
Bolthouse has three flavors of the Carrot Dog: Classic American, Chorizo and Sweet Italian.
While the product still tastes like a carrot, it is seasoned with spices traditionally not used as much with produce, and it has the texture of a hot dog.
Bolthouse contends it’s just the beginning of finding kind of new and creative ways to make, in this case carrots, but a broader mission on that is really about making plants more fun, more exciting.
The company expresses optimism about the Riced Carrot product, which will be available with sauces including Sesame Stir Fry, Green Chile and Yellow Coconut Curry.
Consumers are used to kind of vegetable noodles, but this vegetable rice is much better nutritionally than eating white rice.
The Carrot Fettuccine kits will be available with sauce options Marinara, Spicy Thai Basil and Red Coconut Curry.
Lower Florida orange and grapefruit are expected this season compared to a year ago.
The USDA’s prediction of 57 million boxes of Florida oranges and 4.5 million boxes of Florida grapefruit means a 15 percent decrease in Florida orange production and 7 percent decrease in Florida grapefruit shipments compared to the 2019-20 season,
However, specialty citrus volumes is expected to be up slightly this season over last with 1.1 million boxes forecasted.
Much of the production drop is expect to be from for juice, rather than the fresh market, according to Florida growers.
DLF International of Fort Pierce, FL, expects to ship 1.6 million cartons of citrus for the fresh market, which is about 15 percent more than the previous season.
DLF produces about 90 percent oranges, but is looking to increase its grapefruit program, to possibly 30 percent of its product line.
Shipping got underway September 20 and is expected to finish in July, although grapefruit should wrap up in April because it doesn’t use cold storage.
Valencias do well in cold storage for part of June and July with barely 1 percent discards once pulled out and resorted
Duda Farm Fresh Fresh Foods of Oveido, FL., reports company’s navel crop is expected to show larger sizes and bigger volume than last season.
The company’s grapefruit crop should be very similar to last year, with the potential for greater packouts and potentially slightly more volume.
The firm’s juice orange crop is expected to be very similar to last season, with potentially lighter overall volume. One bright spot is specialty citrus.
The company began shipping grapefruit, specialties and oranges The third week of October, and navels began Nov. 2.
Grapefruit shipments will peak in January and February and continue through March. Specialties began their peak before Thanksgiving and will continue with peak volume through Christmas.
Florida Classic Growers of Dundee, FL., started packing its first Florida citrus in October with Florida hamlin juice oranges, fallglo and early pride tangerines, as well as navel oranges.
By mid-November, tango tangerines were in full force.
New in 2020 is a partnership with Riverfront Packing Co., the Packers of Indian River and Quality Fruit Packers Inc. Good volumes of grapefruit are expected through mid-March.
After the first of the year, Florida Classic will transition from early season orange varieties to its valencia orange crop, which should be in good supply and available to the end of May.
The honey tangerine crop will start then too, running through early March.
Seald Sweet LL of Vero Beach, FL., expects similar volume of Florida volume compared with last season. The company began packing in late October and was in peak volume by mid-November.
Modern popular models of heavy trucks are shades of blue in a row on a truck stop for drivers’ rest and refueling of vehicles for the further movement for delivery commercial goods in accordance with the schedule drawn up and route
Near perfect growing conditions have been going on in the desert areas of California and Arizona. The Yuma, AZ forecast has highs in the low to mid 70s going well into December. If this continues there should be good, steady lettuce shipments with nice quality.
Coastline Family Farms of Salinas, CA launched its iceberg lettuce season in Yuma the first week of November, but other commodities, including broccoli, cauliflower, mixed leaf, romaine, green leaf and red leaf did not in Salinas until the last few days. The company gets started in the Brawley, CA the week of November 30th.
Boskovich Farms Inc. of Oxnard, CA will ship lettuce out of Yuma, as well as Oxnard this winter, but just about all of its other winter commodities will continue to be shipped exclusively from Oxnard.
The shipper grows green onions, radishes, leeks, beets, kales and Brussels sprouts in Mexico starting in November but will ship them from Oxnard.
Organic greens such as chards, kale and celery are grown in San Luis, Mexico, just south of Yuma.
The company’s Yuma iceberg lettuce program will kicked off the week of November 16 and continues through March.
Boskovich Farms will grow and ship celery, cabbages, romaine lettuce, napa, bok choy, parsleys, cilantro and spinach in Oxnard.
The company reports there will be a bit of a gap in November when Salinas is ending and before the desert gets fully geared.
the week of Oct. 18, which will run th
Peter Rabbit Farms of Coachella, CA, started its bell pepper and leaf lettuce in October and will continue through Christmas. The operation reports a few more green and red bell peppers this season. This will be the first year for its lettuce crop, so supplies are expected to be tight.
North Shore Greenhouses Inc., Thermal, CA is at it busiest time of year with its Roasting Mix which is a blend of rosemary, sage and thyme.
Prime Time International of Coachella, CA started harvest of green bell peppers, eggplant and chili peppers in the desert in October, while beans got underway the first week of November, followed by red bell peppers a couple of weeks later.
The company also started its hothouse production of red, yellow and orange bell peppers in Jalisco, Mexico, and began harvesting elongated red, yellow and orange bell peppers in Vizcaino in Baja California.
The Allen Lund Company has committed to sponsorship and participation in Navidad en el Barrio, an organization established in 1972 by Danny Villanueva, former NFL player, to provide a healthy Christmas dinner to the most underserved families in Southern California. This will be ALC’s 16th year supporting this event. This year due to the pandemic, distributing Christmas dinners to 10,000 families is the goal with all of the proper protocols in place.
“We look forward to working with Navidad en el Barrio every year”, commented Nora Trueblood, director of marketing for the Allen Lund Company. “This year has been challenging to make sure that the warehouse and distribution processes all meet COVID-19 protocols but we will ensure that the communities of Southern California will have plentiful dinners to feed their families this Christmas.”
The Allen Lund Company coordinates transportation for perishables from growers to Southern California. Depending upon the size and location of the donation, ALC will combine products in the most efficient way to move to Los Angeles, where the donations are divided for the Christmas dinners.
Over the years, Grimmway Enterprises, Inc., Wada Farms Marketing Group, LLC, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Mission Produce, Inc., Rainer Fruit Co., and so many other companies have joined ALC in the effort to give the least served in Southern California a proper Christmas dinner. Donations will be accepted the week of December 7th and the dinners distributed Saturday, December 12, 2020.
If you have an interest in participating in this event contact Nora Trueblood at 800.475.5863 or if you would like to donate, click here. Donate
About Allen Lund Company:
Specializing as a national third-party transportation broker with nationwide offices and over 550 employees, the Allen Lund Company works with shippers and carriers across the nation to arrange dry, refrigerated (specializing in produce), and flatbed freight; additionally, the Allen Lund Company has a logistics and software division, ALC Logistics, and an International Division licensed by the FMC as an OTI-NVOCC #019872NF. If you are interested in joining the Allen Lund Company team, please click here.
Established in 1976, the Allen Lund Company was recognized by Food Logistics magazine as a 2019 Top 3PL & Cold Storage Provider for TransKool Solutions, Logistics Tech Outlook for our software division ALC Logistics as a 2018 Top 10 Freight Management Solution Providers, 2018 Food Logistics’ Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers list, 2017 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Top 100, 2017 Food Logistics 100+ Top Software and Tech Provider, a 2016 Top IT Provider by Inbound Logistics, 2015 Coca-Cola Challenger Carrier of the Year, 2015 Top Private Company in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal, 2015 Top 100+ Software and Technology Providers, 2015 Top 100 Logistics IT Provider by Inbound Logistics, a 2014 Great Supply Chain Partner, and was placed in Transport Topics’ “2014 Top 25 Freight Brokerage Firms.” The company manages over 365,000 loads annually, and received the 2013 “Best in Cargo Security Award.” In 2011, the company received the TIA 3PL Samaritan Award, and NASTC (National Association of Small Trucking Companies) named Allen Lund Company the 2010 Best Broker of the Year. More information is available at allenlund.com
