Author Archive
By J&J Family of Farms
Westlake, FL: J&J Family of Farms is pleased to announce a new, one of a kind pepper variety: Sunny Sweet™ Peppers.
Like no other sweet pepper in its category, Sunny Sweet™ Peppers have a much sweeter taste than mini sweet peppers due to their higher BRIX1. The unique proprietary field-grown variety pepper also has a very small seed cavity located at the very top of pod, making it easier to enjoy as a bite size snack, easily stuffed, or cut up in a salad.
“We really wanted the packaging to reflect the true uniqueness of this pepper by creating a fun brand that will make an impact among our customers and their consumers,” said Angela Gamiotea, Marketing Manager. “We are excited to introduce this new Sunny Sweet™ brand, as this is just a glimpse of what’s to come in terms of product innovation at J&J Family of Farms.”
Sunny SweetTM Peppers are currently grown only in Florida and J&J is harvesting through the entire Florida growing season. The peppers are currently all yellow, but next year J&J is looking to provide other colors such as red and orange. Sunny Sweet™ Peppers are available in a 1lb. resealable bag.
“With the mini sweet pepper category growing in retail, we are thrilled to offer a product that isn’t in the marketplace yet,” said Lynn Rundle, Chairman and CEO. “Our growers also love it, because it has a great yield and grows beautifully on the plant. We are confident that once consumers taste this pepper, they will want to get their hands on it.”
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About J&J Family of Farms: Established in 1983, J&J Family of Farms specializes in growing cucumbers, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes and eggplant. J&J manages over 14,000 acres of production from its own farms and partners and has operations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona and Mexico. For more information, visit www.jjfamilyoffarms.com or SunnySweetPeppers.com
Larger volume shipments are being reported for bananas, limes and Brussel sprouts.
Imported bananas have been light in recent months because of inclement weather and other unfavorable conditions in numerous banana producing countries.
However, supplies are expected to improve in coming weeks, although the first quarter of 2018 has presented serious challenges.
About 85 percent of bananas shipped to the U.S. in 2017 came from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras. American importers have reported issues affecting production in three of those four countries as well as in others.
Temperatures have been as much as 10 degrees below normal for several weeks in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, slowing fruit growth, production and yield.
There also has been excess rainfall and flooding in Costa Rica and Panama that have damaged plantations, infrastructure, roads and bridges. There also has been high winds and waves causing delays in shipping. Combine these factors with national instability and supply interruptions in Honduras, and the result supplies being much tighter than normal.
Lime Imports
Rain in Mexico’s Veracruz growing region reduced lime imports by the U.S., but observers expect improved shipments by the middle of April. The f.o.b. price on limes had doubled from mid February to mid March. Erratic weather in Mexico often makes March a difficult time of year for the lime shipments and so far in 2018 it hasn’t been any different.
Mexico provided 93 percent of total U.S. lime imports in mid-March, with the remaining light volume from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. Lime volume should return to normal levels by May.
Brussel Sprouts
It seems Brussels sprouts may be the latest trendy vegetable in America and that has led to increased production and shipments.
The volume of fresh Brussels sprouts shipped hit 78.9 million pounds, up 9 percent during the past year. Domestic fresh Brussels sprout shipments totaled 3.03 million 25-pound cartons in 2016, up from 752,000 cartons in 2010. Imported fresh Brussels sprouts totaled 4.5 million (25-pound) cartons, up from 1.06 million cartons in 2010.
In California, 2016 USDA statistics show peak shipments of Brussels sprouts occurred in November, when 22 percent of the state’s crop was shipped. The four-month period of September through December accounted for 68 percent of the state’s total Brussels sprouts shipments.
by Earth Source
Constellation Brands, the No. 1 import beer company in the U.S., has granted Earth Source, an international and domestic fresh produce grower representative, the right to source and distribute Corona Extra branded limes under an agreement brokered by The Joester Loria Group.
Earth Source, an industry leader skilled in providing premium fresh produce, will oversee the procurement, packaging, and distribution of the limes, which will be available in both Corona six-packs and bulk boxes. Earth Source’s Corona Extra – branded limes will be specially selected for size and quality, providing consumers with the perfect limes to complement the #1 imported beer brand in the United States.
“Corona Beer and Corona Limes are the perfect couple for any beach, slope or party,” said William Ison, Director of Business Development of Earth Source. “We are delighted that Constellation Brands and the Earth Source team will be working to together to provide Corona Extra consumers with perfect limes to accompany their favorite beer.”
About Earth Source
Established in 2006, Earth Source is a grower representative and part of the Four Seasons Family of Companies. Earth Source has cultivated strong, long-term relationships with key grower partners across North America and globally to bring the freshest and highest quality produce to their customer base throughout the United States. They are an industry leader in providing a premium selection and variety of fresh produce with full traceability and transparency for seamless year-round availability.
Four Seasons Family of Companies has been in business for over 41 years and is located near Lancaster, PA. At their state-of-the-art facility, Four Seasons supplies reliable solutions for fresh produce distribution through a spectrum of services. The Family of Companies supply and support their customers with logistics and transportation capabilities, Sunrise Logistics and Sunrise Transport, with a fleet of over 150 owned trucks delivering across the U.S. daily.
About Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a Fortune 500® company, is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Italy and Canada. Constellation is the No. 3 beer company in the U.S. with high-end, iconic imported brands such as Corona Extra, Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra and Pacifico. The company’s beer portfolio also includes Ballast Point, one of the most awarded craft brewers in the U.S. In addition, Constellation is the world leader in premium wine, selling great brands that people love, including Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Kim Crawford,
Sweet corn shipments will be having a significant increase in volume beginning the week of April 9th in the U.S.
The rise in shipments is just a prelude to the major peak shipping periods related to the big four summer holidays — Memorial Day (May 28th) , Father’s Day (June 17th), Fourth of July (a Wednesday) and Labor Day (September 3rd).
Sweet corn shipper A Family of Farms, based in South Bay, FL is seeing sweet corn shipments picking up this week with steady volume through the months of April and May. The company’s bicolor corn will start shipping in late April and continue through the Fourth of July. The shipper has a similar situation to one of its Florida competitors, Duda Farm Fresh Foods of Ovideo, FL, which had lower sweet corn volume than normal through Easter, due to rain and cooler weather during the planting season. Sweet corn shipments also are expected to remain consistent for the transition to loadings taking place out of Georgia around Memorial Day.
On the West Coast, sweet corn shipper Five Crowns Marketing of Tracy, CA, experienced a late freeze in the Imperial Valley which reduced supplies during April. Volume shipments will arrive in May. However, there may be a bit of roller coaster ride with shipments because of rain and cooler weather during the planting season.
During the past five years, shipments of sweet corn have peaked in late June leading up to the Fourth of July, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Retail Report.
In 2017, sweet corn was promoted in an average of 4,600 stores per week. The peak weeks, however, showed significantly more promotions, with sweet corn on ad in 18,500 stores the week ending June 30; 17,200 stores the week ending May 26; and 16,400 stores the week ending September 1.
The leading states for sweet corn shipments are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas and Washington.
Plentiful grape shipments crossing the border from Mexico will be starting in a few weeks, plus here’s a shipping update on sweet potatoes.
Mexican Grapes
Mexican grape shipments will get underway in late April, with peak loadings occurring between the last week of May and the third week of June. A majority of the Mexican grapes will be crossing the border at Nogales, AZ.
The Mexican state of Caborca will come into its major production in early June, after shipping its first box in late May. The first crop estimate is expected about April 19-20, but good volume is predicted.
This 2018 crop is expected to be similar to 2016, which yielded a normal volume of about 16 million boxes. In Mexico in 2017, there was a record-breaking fresh grape crop of 21 million boxes exported to the U.S. An additional 4 million boxes were sold in the domestic (Mexican) market.
Nearly all of Mexico’s table grape vineyards are in the state of Sonora. Sonora’s three basic grape-growing regions are Hermosillo, Caborca and Guaymas. Guaymas is the farthest south and ships the earliest Sonoran grapes. The Hermosillo growing district has production to the west of town, in the La Costa area — near the relatively warm waters of the Sea of Cortez — and to the north in Pesqueria. Generally speaking, Caborca supplies the end of Mexico’s fast and short May-June deal.
Sweet Potato Shipments
American sweet potato growers harvested 159,300 acres in 2017, down from 163,300 acres the previous year. From 2010-14, that number had remained between 115,000 and 130,000 acres. As acreage and yields have increased, farmers have seen lower markets, leading one to wonder if supply isn’t finally exceeding demand. Meanwhile, moderate volume of sweets potatoes are being shipping from North Carolina, with much lighter volume from other areas.
Louisiana Sweet Potatoes
Louisiana will continue shipping sweet potatoes into June, ranking a distant fourth in volume nationwide behind North Carolina, California and Mississippi. Cajun country is shipping about 25 truck loads of sweet potatoes a week. Loads are grossing about $1800 to Chicago.
By Sunonions
PARMA, ID – It’s official: Sunions are a phenomenon. It’s a rave. America’s first tearless and sweet onion hit retail shelves across the United States last December to accolades from consumer media nationwide. In just the first two months of what is the first season in wide distribution, Sunions reached more than one billion media impressions and counting in print, radio, web and television media including appearances on ABC’s The Chew and Good Morning America.
Consumers are responding to the buzz all across the country and visiting their local stores looking for Sunions. Along with dozens of questions regarding availability fielded through the Sunions website, messages streaming in from shoppers who put Sunions to the test demonstrate an overwhelmingly positive response.
“Just tried your onions. They are the best – I’m so surprised,” said one shopper. “I have bought ‘sweet onions’ before and was always disappointed. I couldn’t believe the taste! I hope I can always get them.”
“Just bought some and the statements are true,” said another shopper. “I sliced it up and there was a very strong onion odor but no tears and no bite! I buy a lot of onions and these will be on my list – good product.”
A game-changing product of more than three decades of research, development and natural hybridization by Bayer Crop Science, Sunions are a long-day sweet onion variety grown in the USA. But unlike other long-day onions, Sunions actually become sweeter and more tearless in storage.
It all comes down to the levels of volatile compounds responsible for pungency and tearing in onions. The levels of those compounds in other onions remain stable or increase during storage. In Sunions, these compounds do the exact opposite and decrease in prevalence to create a milder, sweeter and tearless onion over time. This natural process also promotes a strong level of consistency from bulb to bulb.
Unlike any other onion variety, a sensory panel with full authority and power to determine ship dates follows a tightly-controlled protocol that includes both flavor and tearlessness. Sunions will ship only once they are certified ready by this panel of tasting experts and with the support of a food lab test determining the proper levels of volatile compounds.
Sunions are marketed and distributed exclusively by Generation Farms, Onions 52 and Peri & Sons Farms.
Here is the outlook for loadings of Florida blueberries, peaches and Valencia oranges.
Florida blueberry shipments are now moving in decent volume and will continue until the middle of May.
Wish Farms of Plant City, FL should have about 250,000 pounds of organic fruit from Florida this year, compared to 100,000 pounds a year ago. Strawberries are Wish Farms’ largest crop, accounting for about 60percent of its volume, compared to 30 percent for blueberries. The company will wind up its strawberry season any day now.
In all, Florida blueberry production consists of about 7,000 acres and 1,000 growers. Florida shipped about 20 million pounds of blueberries in 2017, and a similar volume is expected this year.
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New Florida Blueberry Shipper
MIAMI, FLA. – Crystal Valley Foods (Crystal Valley) has announced that it will begin shipping conventional and organic Florida blueberries under the Crystal Valley label this season. The first shipments will begin at the end of March and they will be available through the end of May.
The company has an exclusive partnership with a grower/packer in Hawthorne, Fla. and they expect a good Florida season as weather in the region has been conducive to good volume and quality.
With the acquisition of Team Produce last year, Crystal Valley has been able to successfully enter into the berry category, supplying imported blueberries from September through April. The transition into Florida is the first step in offering their customers year-round blueberries.
About Crystal Valley Foods
Founded in 1994, Crystal Valley Foods is a leading grower and importer of produce from Central and South America. With offices and facilities in Miami and Los Angeles, the company is one of the largest importers and distributors of asparagus in the USA. Its extensive product line also includes baby vegetables, peas, beans, berries, baby lettuces, peppers and other specialty crops.
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Florida Citrus
The Dundee (FL) Citrus Growers Association reports Florida grapefruit shipments are winding down, but valencia oranges will continue through April. with storage crop available into June.
Florida Peaches
Florida peach shipments are just getting started will continue until the middle of May. with peak loadings mostly occurring during April. Traditionally, Florida peaches start as Chile exits the marketplace and before California, South Carolina or Georgia being shipments of new season fruit.
By Lipman Family Farms
IMMOKALEE, FL — Lipman Family Farms – North America’s largest open field tomato grower has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ontario, Canada based Huron Produce, a greenhouse grower and distributor of tomatoes and vegetables with operations in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Huron Produce packs under the Suntastic® brand. The expansion into greenhouse product will allow Lipman Family Farms to offer its customers hothouse and field grown tomatoes and vegetables on a year-round basis.
“The Huron Produce acquisition is truly transformative,” said Darren Micelle, COO of Lipman Family Farms. “We look forward to the opportunities resulting from the introduction of our proprietary varieties into the protected agriculture space. We have innovative new products planned that will create value for our customers. Likewise, Huron Produce can now expand their customer offering to include field grown product. This is a classic win-win transaction. The addition of Huron gives us extraordinary product depth, expands our collective capabilities and broadens our distribution footprint, allowing us to better serve our customers with a single, year-round solution for tomatoes and vegetables. We’re excited to welcome the Huron team to the Lipman family.”
Huron Produce is a multigenerational, family owned company with over 50 years in the produce business. Commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Kints, President of Huron Produce said, “The transaction with Lipman will allow Huron to build on our years of success, accelerate our business strategies and enhance our service and product offering to our customers.”
As part of the acquisition, Lipman plans to expand operations with new facilities in Canada, Nebraska, a second location in Denver and a warehouse in McAllen, Texas. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2018.
About Lipman Family Farms
Lipman Family Farms is the largest field tomato grower in North America. From seed to shelf, Lipman’s total supply chain control – research & development, farming, processing, repacking, logistics to marketing – delivers the consistency and quality that has made Lipman Family Farms North America’s most dependable source of fresh tomatoes and vegetables.
Fort Valley, GA – Mother Nature has provide good construction weather this winter which has spurned a fury of activity at the site of Pure Flavor®’s greenhouse project in Georgia. Ground leveling completed in late fall lead to a smooth start of construction of the company’s new 75-acre high tech greenhouse facility in Peach County.
Over the course of the last few weeks once post holes were dug and back filled, Dutch greenhouse builder Havecon began erecting the main structure with full scale implementation now underway. From a timing standpoint, the project is on track for completion by late summer with the first crop of tomatoes & seedless cucumbers to be planted shortly thereafter.
“Building a high-tech greenhouse in Georgia was part of our growth strategy to extend our reach across North America. Being strategically located in Peach County allows us in some instances to have same day & next day deliveries in the southeast region”, stated Matt Mastronardi, Executive Vice-President. Pure Flavor® researched more than 400 sites throughout North America before settling on Peach County, GA. The 75-acre greenhouse project broke ground in September 2017 and will be built in 3 phases of 25 acres. Phase 1 is expected to be completed in late Summer 2018.
“Greenhouse tomatoes & seedless cucumbers grown in Georgia will help breathe new life in to the category. It will help our retail (& foodservice partners) in the region to have fresher product on store shelves while maintaining consistent quality and availability year-round. In the end, it is the consumer who will benefit from great product grown in the state of Georgia”, said Mastronardi.
“We are connecting our customers with the project in every way possible with frequent updates via social media, the photo gallery, and video stories shot by drone”, said Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer. A custom website was built just before the groundbreaking in September 2017 to announce the project, the page now serves as the central resource for everything to do with the Georgia project. “A connected customer is an informed customer, we can’t wait to get our first plants in the greenhouse later this summer”, commented Veillon. Pure Flavor® expects the first crops to be picked in early Fall 2018.
About Pure Flavor® –
Pure Flavor® is a family of greenhouse vegetable growers who share a commitment to bringing A Life of Pure Flavor™ to communities everywhere. Our passion for sustainable greenhouse growing, strong support for our retail & foodservice customers, and focus on engaging consumers is built on a foundation drawn from generations of growing expertise.
We are the next generation of vegetable growers, inspired to put quality, flavor, and customers first by providing greenhouse-grown vegetables from our farms that are strategically located throughout North America.
California spring vegetable shipments are seeing increasing competition from Mexican imports.
USDA trade statistics show imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico soared to $294 million in 2017, up 27 percent from $231 million in 2016 and up 87 pecent from 2013. By volume, U.S. imports of Mexican fresh broccoli and cauliflower totaled 262,000 metric tons, up 14 percent from 2016 and up 49 percent from 2013.
Imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower were only $19.6 million and 45,000 metric tons in 2000, according to USDA statics. That’s just 6 pecent of 2017 import value and 17 percent of 2017 import volume.
Around 44 percent of Mexican imports of broccoli and cauliflower were recorded from January through April in 2017. March was the biggest month for imports for fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico, with more than 33,000 metric tons reported in March 2017, or about 13 percent of total annual imports.
The value of U.S. imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico has increased year over year recently. In 2016 had a slight dip in volume, followed by a big jump in 2017.
Growth in imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico also has been strong. Total imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled $246 million in 2017, up 13 percent from 2016 and 55 percent from 2013. By volume, 2017 imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled 231,000 metric tons, up 30 percent from 2016 and 54 percent higher than 2013.
In 2000, fresh lettuce imports from Mexico totaled just $6.5 million in value and 10,000 metric tons in value. That accounts for just 3 percent of 2017 import value and 4 percent of import volume.
Fresh asparagus imports from Mexico totaled $422.3 million in 2017, up 21 percent from 2016 and 35 percent higher than 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican asparagus were 147,000 metric tons in 2017, up 16 percent from 2016 and up 58 percent from 2013.
Year 2000 imports of Mexican fresh asparagus were $67 million in value and 38,000 metric tons in volume. That is just 16 percent of 2017 value and 26 percent of 2017 import volume.
Imports of Mexican fresh celery totaled $33 million in 2017, up 27 percent from 2016 and up 43 percent from 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican celery totaled 64,400 metric tons in 2017, up 33 percent from 2016 and 33 percent from 2013.
Imports of Mexican celery in 2000 $7.5 million in value and 22,400 metric tons in volume. That represents 21 percent of 2017 value and 34 percent of 2017 volume.
Mexican imported vegetables at Nogales – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
Mexican imported vegetables from South Texas – grossing about $5900 to New York City.
By J&J Family of Farms
Westlake, FL: J&J Family of Farms is pleased to announce a new, one of a kind pepper variety: Sunny Sweet™ Peppers.
Like no other sweet pepper in its category, Sunny Sweet™ Peppers have a much sweeter taste than mini sweet peppers due to their higher BRIX1. The unique proprietary field-grown variety pepper also has a very small seed cavity located at the very top of pod, making it easier to enjoy as a bite size snack, easily stuffed, or cut up in a salad.
“We really wanted the packaging to reflect the true uniqueness of this pepper by creating a fun brand that will make an impact among our customers and their consumers,” said Angela Gamiotea, Marketing Manager. “We are excited to introduce this new Sunny Sweet™ brand, as this is just a glimpse of what’s to come in terms of product innovation at J&J Family of Farms.”
Sunny SweetTM Peppers are currently grown only in Florida and J&J is harvesting through the entire Florida growing season. The peppers are currently all yellow, but next year J&J is looking to provide other colors such as red and orange. Sunny Sweet™ Peppers are available in a 1lb. resealable bag.
“With the mini sweet pepper category growing in retail, we are thrilled to offer a product that isn’t in the marketplace yet,” said Lynn Rundle, Chairman and CEO. “Our growers also love it, because it has a great yield and grows beautifully on the plant. We are confident that once consumers taste this pepper, they will want to get their hands on it.”
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About J&J Family of Farms: Established in 1983, J&J Family of Farms specializes in growing cucumbers, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes and eggplant. J&J manages over 14,000 acres of production from its own farms and partners and has operations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona and Mexico. For more information, visit www.jjfamilyoffarms.com or SunnySweetPeppers.com
Larger volume shipments are being reported for bananas, limes and Brussel sprouts.
Imported bananas have been light in recent months because of inclement weather and other unfavorable conditions in numerous banana producing countries.
However, supplies are expected to improve in coming weeks, although the first quarter of 2018 has presented serious challenges.
About 85 percent of bananas shipped to the U.S. in 2017 came from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras. American importers have reported issues affecting production in three of those four countries as well as in others.
Temperatures have been as much as 10 degrees below normal for several weeks in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, slowing fruit growth, production and yield.
There also has been excess rainfall and flooding in Costa Rica and Panama that have damaged plantations, infrastructure, roads and bridges. There also has been high winds and waves causing delays in shipping. Combine these factors with national instability and supply interruptions in Honduras, and the result supplies being much tighter than normal.
Lime Imports
Rain in Mexico’s Veracruz growing region reduced lime imports by the U.S., but observers expect improved shipments by the middle of April. The f.o.b. price on limes had doubled from mid February to mid March. Erratic weather in Mexico often makes March a difficult time of year for the lime shipments and so far in 2018 it hasn’t been any different.
Mexico provided 93 percent of total U.S. lime imports in mid-March, with the remaining light volume from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. Lime volume should return to normal levels by May.
Brussel Sprouts
It seems Brussels sprouts may be the latest trendy vegetable in America and that has led to increased production and shipments.
The volume of fresh Brussels sprouts shipped hit 78.9 million pounds, up 9 percent during the past year. Domestic fresh Brussels sprout shipments totaled 3.03 million 25-pound cartons in 2016, up from 752,000 cartons in 2010. Imported fresh Brussels sprouts totaled 4.5 million (25-pound) cartons, up from 1.06 million cartons in 2010.
In California, 2016 USDA statistics show peak shipments of Brussels sprouts occurred in November, when 22 percent of the state’s crop was shipped. The four-month period of September through December accounted for 68 percent of the state’s total Brussels sprouts shipments.
by Earth Source
Constellation Brands, the No. 1 import beer company in the U.S., has granted Earth Source, an international and domestic fresh produce grower representative, the right to source and distribute Corona Extra branded limes under an agreement brokered by The Joester Loria Group.
Earth Source, an industry leader skilled in providing premium fresh produce, will oversee the procurement, packaging, and distribution of the limes, which will be available in both Corona six-packs and bulk boxes. Earth Source’s Corona Extra – branded limes will be specially selected for size and quality, providing consumers with the perfect limes to complement the #1 imported beer brand in the United States.
“Corona Beer and Corona Limes are the perfect couple for any beach, slope or party,” said William Ison, Director of Business Development of Earth Source. “We are delighted that Constellation Brands and the Earth Source team will be working to together to provide Corona Extra consumers with perfect limes to accompany their favorite beer.”
About Earth Source
Established in 2006, Earth Source is a grower representative and part of the Four Seasons Family of Companies. Earth Source has cultivated strong, long-term relationships with key grower partners across North America and globally to bring the freshest and highest quality produce to their customer base throughout the United States. They are an industry leader in providing a premium selection and variety of fresh produce with full traceability and transparency for seamless year-round availability.
Four Seasons Family of Companies has been in business for over 41 years and is located near Lancaster, PA. At their state-of-the-art facility, Four Seasons supplies reliable solutions for fresh produce distribution through a spectrum of services. The Family of Companies supply and support their customers with logistics and transportation capabilities, Sunrise Logistics and Sunrise Transport, with a fleet of over 150 owned trucks delivering across the U.S. daily.
About Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a Fortune 500® company, is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Italy and Canada. Constellation is the No. 3 beer company in the U.S. with high-end, iconic imported brands such as Corona Extra, Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra and Pacifico. The company’s beer portfolio also includes Ballast Point, one of the most awarded craft brewers in the U.S. In addition, Constellation is the world leader in premium wine, selling great brands that people love, including Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Kim Crawford,
Sweet corn shipments will be having a significant increase in volume beginning the week of April 9th in the U.S.
The rise in shipments is just a prelude to the major peak shipping periods related to the big four summer holidays — Memorial Day (May 28th) , Father’s Day (June 17th), Fourth of July (a Wednesday) and Labor Day (September 3rd).
Sweet corn shipper A Family of Farms, based in South Bay, FL is seeing sweet corn shipments picking up this week with steady volume through the months of April and May. The company’s bicolor corn will start shipping in late April and continue through the Fourth of July. The shipper has a similar situation to one of its Florida competitors, Duda Farm Fresh Foods of Ovideo, FL, which had lower sweet corn volume than normal through Easter, due to rain and cooler weather during the planting season. Sweet corn shipments also are expected to remain consistent for the transition to loadings taking place out of Georgia around Memorial Day.
On the West Coast, sweet corn shipper Five Crowns Marketing of Tracy, CA, experienced a late freeze in the Imperial Valley which reduced supplies during April. Volume shipments will arrive in May. However, there may be a bit of roller coaster ride with shipments because of rain and cooler weather during the planting season.
During the past five years, shipments of sweet corn have peaked in late June leading up to the Fourth of July, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Retail Report.
In 2017, sweet corn was promoted in an average of 4,600 stores per week. The peak weeks, however, showed significantly more promotions, with sweet corn on ad in 18,500 stores the week ending June 30; 17,200 stores the week ending May 26; and 16,400 stores the week ending September 1.
The leading states for sweet corn shipments are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas and Washington.
Plentiful grape shipments crossing the border from Mexico will be starting in a few weeks, plus here’s a shipping update on sweet potatoes.
Mexican Grapes
Mexican grape shipments will get underway in late April, with peak loadings occurring between the last week of May and the third week of June. A majority of the Mexican grapes will be crossing the border at Nogales, AZ.
The Mexican state of Caborca will come into its major production in early June, after shipping its first box in late May. The first crop estimate is expected about April 19-20, but good volume is predicted.
This 2018 crop is expected to be similar to 2016, which yielded a normal volume of about 16 million boxes. In Mexico in 2017, there was a record-breaking fresh grape crop of 21 million boxes exported to the U.S. An additional 4 million boxes were sold in the domestic (Mexican) market.
Nearly all of Mexico’s table grape vineyards are in the state of Sonora. Sonora’s three basic grape-growing regions are Hermosillo, Caborca and Guaymas. Guaymas is the farthest south and ships the earliest Sonoran grapes. The Hermosillo growing district has production to the west of town, in the La Costa area — near the relatively warm waters of the Sea of Cortez — and to the north in Pesqueria. Generally speaking, Caborca supplies the end of Mexico’s fast and short May-June deal.
Sweet Potato Shipments
American sweet potato growers harvested 159,300 acres in 2017, down from 163,300 acres the previous year. From 2010-14, that number had remained between 115,000 and 130,000 acres. As acreage and yields have increased, farmers have seen lower markets, leading one to wonder if supply isn’t finally exceeding demand. Meanwhile, moderate volume of sweets potatoes are being shipping from North Carolina, with much lighter volume from other areas.
Louisiana Sweet Potatoes
Louisiana will continue shipping sweet potatoes into June, ranking a distant fourth in volume nationwide behind North Carolina, California and Mississippi. Cajun country is shipping about 25 truck loads of sweet potatoes a week. Loads are grossing about $1800 to Chicago.
By Sunonions
PARMA, ID – It’s official: Sunions are a phenomenon. It’s a rave. America’s first tearless and sweet onion hit retail shelves across the United States last December to accolades from consumer media nationwide. In just the first two months of what is the first season in wide distribution, Sunions reached more than one billion media impressions and counting in print, radio, web and television media including appearances on ABC’s The Chew and Good Morning America.
Consumers are responding to the buzz all across the country and visiting their local stores looking for Sunions. Along with dozens of questions regarding availability fielded through the Sunions website, messages streaming in from shoppers who put Sunions to the test demonstrate an overwhelmingly positive response.
“Just tried your onions. They are the best – I’m so surprised,” said one shopper. “I have bought ‘sweet onions’ before and was always disappointed. I couldn’t believe the taste! I hope I can always get them.”
“Just bought some and the statements are true,” said another shopper. “I sliced it up and there was a very strong onion odor but no tears and no bite! I buy a lot of onions and these will be on my list – good product.”
A game-changing product of more than three decades of research, development and natural hybridization by Bayer Crop Science, Sunions are a long-day sweet onion variety grown in the USA. But unlike other long-day onions, Sunions actually become sweeter and more tearless in storage.
It all comes down to the levels of volatile compounds responsible for pungency and tearing in onions. The levels of those compounds in other onions remain stable or increase during storage. In Sunions, these compounds do the exact opposite and decrease in prevalence to create a milder, sweeter and tearless onion over time. This natural process also promotes a strong level of consistency from bulb to bulb.
Unlike any other onion variety, a sensory panel with full authority and power to determine ship dates follows a tightly-controlled protocol that includes both flavor and tearlessness. Sunions will ship only once they are certified ready by this panel of tasting experts and with the support of a food lab test determining the proper levels of volatile compounds.
Sunions are marketed and distributed exclusively by Generation Farms, Onions 52 and Peri & Sons Farms.
Here is the outlook for loadings of Florida blueberries, peaches and Valencia oranges.
Florida blueberry shipments are now moving in decent volume and will continue until the middle of May.
Wish Farms of Plant City, FL should have about 250,000 pounds of organic fruit from Florida this year, compared to 100,000 pounds a year ago. Strawberries are Wish Farms’ largest crop, accounting for about 60percent of its volume, compared to 30 percent for blueberries. The company will wind up its strawberry season any day now.
In all, Florida blueberry production consists of about 7,000 acres and 1,000 growers. Florida shipped about 20 million pounds of blueberries in 2017, and a similar volume is expected this year.
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New Florida Blueberry Shipper
MIAMI, FLA. – Crystal Valley Foods (Crystal Valley) has announced that it will begin shipping conventional and organic Florida blueberries under the Crystal Valley label this season. The first shipments will begin at the end of March and they will be available through the end of May.
The company has an exclusive partnership with a grower/packer in Hawthorne, Fla. and they expect a good Florida season as weather in the region has been conducive to good volume and quality.
With the acquisition of Team Produce last year, Crystal Valley has been able to successfully enter into the berry category, supplying imported blueberries from September through April. The transition into Florida is the first step in offering their customers year-round blueberries.
About Crystal Valley Foods
Founded in 1994, Crystal Valley Foods is a leading grower and importer of produce from Central and South America. With offices and facilities in Miami and Los Angeles, the company is one of the largest importers and distributors of asparagus in the USA. Its extensive product line also includes baby vegetables, peas, beans, berries, baby lettuces, peppers and other specialty crops.
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Florida Citrus
The Dundee (FL) Citrus Growers Association reports Florida grapefruit shipments are winding down, but valencia oranges will continue through April. with storage crop available into June.
Florida Peaches
Florida peach shipments are just getting started will continue until the middle of May. with peak loadings mostly occurring during April. Traditionally, Florida peaches start as Chile exits the marketplace and before California, South Carolina or Georgia being shipments of new season fruit.
By Lipman Family Farms
IMMOKALEE, FL — Lipman Family Farms – North America’s largest open field tomato grower has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ontario, Canada based Huron Produce, a greenhouse grower and distributor of tomatoes and vegetables with operations in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Huron Produce packs under the Suntastic® brand. The expansion into greenhouse product will allow Lipman Family Farms to offer its customers hothouse and field grown tomatoes and vegetables on a year-round basis.
“The Huron Produce acquisition is truly transformative,” said Darren Micelle, COO of Lipman Family Farms. “We look forward to the opportunities resulting from the introduction of our proprietary varieties into the protected agriculture space. We have innovative new products planned that will create value for our customers. Likewise, Huron Produce can now expand their customer offering to include field grown product. This is a classic win-win transaction. The addition of Huron gives us extraordinary product depth, expands our collective capabilities and broadens our distribution footprint, allowing us to better serve our customers with a single, year-round solution for tomatoes and vegetables. We’re excited to welcome the Huron team to the Lipman family.”
Huron Produce is a multigenerational, family owned company with over 50 years in the produce business. Commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Kints, President of Huron Produce said, “The transaction with Lipman will allow Huron to build on our years of success, accelerate our business strategies and enhance our service and product offering to our customers.”
As part of the acquisition, Lipman plans to expand operations with new facilities in Canada, Nebraska, a second location in Denver and a warehouse in McAllen, Texas. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2018.
About Lipman Family Farms
Lipman Family Farms is the largest field tomato grower in North America. From seed to shelf, Lipman’s total supply chain control – research & development, farming, processing, repacking, logistics to marketing – delivers the consistency and quality that has made Lipman Family Farms North America’s most dependable source of fresh tomatoes and vegetables.
Fort Valley, GA – Mother Nature has provide good construction weather this winter which has spurned a fury of activity at the site of Pure Flavor®’s greenhouse project in Georgia. Ground leveling completed in late fall lead to a smooth start of construction of the company’s new 75-acre high tech greenhouse facility in Peach County.
Over the course of the last few weeks once post holes were dug and back filled, Dutch greenhouse builder Havecon began erecting the main structure with full scale implementation now underway. From a timing standpoint, the project is on track for completion by late summer with the first crop of tomatoes & seedless cucumbers to be planted shortly thereafter.
“Building a high-tech greenhouse in Georgia was part of our growth strategy to extend our reach across North America. Being strategically located in Peach County allows us in some instances to have same day & next day deliveries in the southeast region”, stated Matt Mastronardi, Executive Vice-President. Pure Flavor® researched more than 400 sites throughout North America before settling on Peach County, GA. The 75-acre greenhouse project broke ground in September 2017 and will be built in 3 phases of 25 acres. Phase 1 is expected to be completed in late Summer 2018.
“Greenhouse tomatoes & seedless cucumbers grown in Georgia will help breathe new life in to the category. It will help our retail (& foodservice partners) in the region to have fresher product on store shelves while maintaining consistent quality and availability year-round. In the end, it is the consumer who will benefit from great product grown in the state of Georgia”, said Mastronardi.
“We are connecting our customers with the project in every way possible with frequent updates via social media, the photo gallery, and video stories shot by drone”, said Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer. A custom website was built just before the groundbreaking in September 2017 to announce the project, the page now serves as the central resource for everything to do with the Georgia project. “A connected customer is an informed customer, we can’t wait to get our first plants in the greenhouse later this summer”, commented Veillon. Pure Flavor® expects the first crops to be picked in early Fall 2018.
About Pure Flavor® –
Pure Flavor® is a family of greenhouse vegetable growers who share a commitment to bringing A Life of Pure Flavor™ to communities everywhere. Our passion for sustainable greenhouse growing, strong support for our retail & foodservice customers, and focus on engaging consumers is built on a foundation drawn from generations of growing expertise.
We are the next generation of vegetable growers, inspired to put quality, flavor, and customers first by providing greenhouse-grown vegetables from our farms that are strategically located throughout North America.
California spring vegetable shipments are seeing increasing competition from Mexican imports.
USDA trade statistics show imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico soared to $294 million in 2017, up 27 percent from $231 million in 2016 and up 87 pecent from 2013. By volume, U.S. imports of Mexican fresh broccoli and cauliflower totaled 262,000 metric tons, up 14 percent from 2016 and up 49 percent from 2013.
Imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower were only $19.6 million and 45,000 metric tons in 2000, according to USDA statics. That’s just 6 pecent of 2017 import value and 17 percent of 2017 import volume.
Around 44 percent of Mexican imports of broccoli and cauliflower were recorded from January through April in 2017. March was the biggest month for imports for fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico, with more than 33,000 metric tons reported in March 2017, or about 13 percent of total annual imports.
The value of U.S. imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico has increased year over year recently. In 2016 had a slight dip in volume, followed by a big jump in 2017.
Growth in imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico also has been strong. Total imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled $246 million in 2017, up 13 percent from 2016 and 55 percent from 2013. By volume, 2017 imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled 231,000 metric tons, up 30 percent from 2016 and 54 percent higher than 2013.
In 2000, fresh lettuce imports from Mexico totaled just $6.5 million in value and 10,000 metric tons in value. That accounts for just 3 percent of 2017 import value and 4 percent of import volume.
Fresh asparagus imports from Mexico totaled $422.3 million in 2017, up 21 percent from 2016 and 35 percent higher than 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican asparagus were 147,000 metric tons in 2017, up 16 percent from 2016 and up 58 percent from 2013.
Year 2000 imports of Mexican fresh asparagus were $67 million in value and 38,000 metric tons in volume. That is just 16 percent of 2017 value and 26 percent of 2017 import volume.
Imports of Mexican fresh celery totaled $33 million in 2017, up 27 percent from 2016 and up 43 percent from 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican celery totaled 64,400 metric tons in 2017, up 33 percent from 2016 and 33 percent from 2013.
Imports of Mexican celery in 2000 $7.5 million in value and 22,400 metric tons in volume. That represents 21 percent of 2017 value and 34 percent of 2017 volume.
Mexican imported vegetables at Nogales – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
Mexican imported vegetables from South Texas – grossing about $5900 to New York City.