Author Archive
by Dole Food Company, Inc
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Powerful news for families fighting the good fight of nutrition in the home: Super Hero help is on the way.
Starting March 1, Black Panther, Captain America, Black Widow and other Avengers will team-up on new products to help moms, dads and all citizens win more of their daily battles to adopt a healthier lifestyle including a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. The program continues through April 30, right before the epic release of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War on May 4.
“Powering the Hero Within” is an eight-week healthy-eating alliance between Dole and Marvel that combines original Marvel character-inspired recipes and healthy eating tips with character images on millions of DOLE® Bananas and Pineapples in U.S and Canadian supermarkets continent wide.
Weary meal planners will find relief in the form of 30 original Dole fruit and vegetable recipes directly inspired by Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow and Thor. Created by Dole Chef Mark Allison and registered dieticians at the Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI), each recipe links to the powers and personalities of the character – from “Liberty Banana Sushi” for Captain America, “T’Challa Teriyaki Kabobs” for Black Panther and “Mighty Mini-BLT Bites” for Thor to “Power Punch Smoothie” for Hulk,“Stark Industries Banana Pie Oatmeal” for Iron Man and “Widow Bite Spider Rolls” for Black Widow.
“Dole is taking its cue from the Marvel Universe to honor some of the biggest superheroes of all – the moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, coaches and others committed to making the home a healthier place,” said Bil Goldfield, director of corporate communications for Dole. “Since we know that getting kids to eat healthy can often seem like a hero-sized challenge, we’re arming those on the front lines with the reinforcements they need to change family eating habits one great-tasting healthy snack, entrée or dessert at a time.”
In addition to those iconic Marvel characters featured on DOLE produce, the program includes a dedicated Dole microsite offering recipes, character details and a celebration of the healthy-living collaboration between Dole and Marvel.
For recipes and other information about “Powering the Hero Within,” go to www.dole.com/Marvel.
About Dole Food Company, Inc.
Dole Food Company, Inc., is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education and research.
About Marvel
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.
Bananas are always right at the top in surveys listing favorite fruits to eat. But now you can eat the banana peel – at least in Japan….Also, only a moderate increase in food prices is seen this year in the U.S.
Edibile Banana Peel
by Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News
The brainchild of food scientists at a farm in Western Japan, the eat-it-all Mongee (pronounced mon-gay) banana derives from a frigid growing environment.
“Typically bananas only grow in tropical climates, but D&T Farms uses a method called ‘Freeze Thaw Awakening,’”
Mongee banana trees grow at -76 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, they’re thawed and replanted. As a result, fruit grows rapidly and are left with a lettuce-like skin.
The designer banana, reports rocketnews24.com, is “sweeter than regular bananas, with 24.8 grams of sugar, as opposed to the average 18.3 grams.
Retail Food Prices
Retail food prices will rise between 1 and 2 percent in 2018 after dropping 0.2 percent in 2017, predicts the USDA.
The USDA’s January 25 food price outlook report said retail food price inflation has been lower than average because of a stronger U.S. dollar which makes imported foods cheaper.
A high dollar also dampens U.S. exports, which increases domestic supply of food and put pressure on prices. Moderate increases in energy costs and shrinking retailer margins in 2017 may have held down food prices, according to the USDA.
For 2017, the report said retail prices for fresh fruits fell 1.1 percent from November to December but are up 2.1 percent compared with December 2016.
While banana prices rose in December, citrus prices dropped 6.1 percent and apple prices were 2.4 percent lower than in November. The USDA said fresh fruit prices rose 0.5 percent in 2017. For 2018, fresh fruit prices may rise 3 to 4 percent.
Fresh vegetable prices increased 1.3 percent from November to December, and were 3.5 percent higher than in December 2016. For all of 2017, fresh vegetable prices decreased 0.1 percent. For 2018, fresh vegetable prices are expected to change between -0.5 to 0.5 percent.
U.S. Potato Shipments are Similar to a Year Ago; A Look at Mexican Product Crossing into South Texas
U.S. potato shipments are remaining fairly steady week to week with total shipments quite similar to a year ago….Meanwhile, here is a look at Mexican produce items crossing the border in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Roughly the same amount of U.S. potatoes remain in storages to be shipped from the major potato states that existed at this same time in 2017 as of February 1st.
Storages held 202.55 million cwt. (per hundredweight) at the beginning of February, compared to storages holding 203.10 million cwt. a year earlier. Potatoes remaining to be shipped accounted for 51 percent of the volume by fall storage states, only one percent more than 2017. Potato disappearance is down three percent to 197 million cwt., and season-to-date shrink (loss of product due to quality) has also fallen, down five percent from 2017 to 15.4 million cwt.
The 13 key fall crop producing states listed in the USDA report account for 91 percent of all potato volume.
The leading potato shipping areas last week shipped about the following number of truck load equivalents: Idaho, 1750; Colorado, 625; Columbia Basin (Washington) and Umatilla Basin (Oregon), 340; Wisconsin, 285; Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, 250; and Nebraska, 185.
San Luis Valley of Colorado potatoes – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Stevens Point, WI potatoes – grossing about $3200 to Atlanta.
Rio Grande Valley
Mexican vegetable shipments and tropical fruits are crossing the border at Pharr, in South Texas, on a fairly steady basis from week to week, although volume is not exceptionally heavy on most items. The biggest tonnage is coming from tomatoes and avocadoes. Both commodities are averaging about 1,000 truck loads per week. Tomatoes consist primarily of vine ripes, followed by plum or romas. However, keep in mind the Mexican avocado loadings will soon start declining as the season comes to an end before returning in a few months.
Mexican strawberries are amounting nearly 450 truck loads weekly, with limes have similar, but increasing volume. Otherwise, there are watermelons and cucumbers, with a host of other items with much smaller volume.
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas grapefruit amounts to around 250 truck load weekly, with much smaller volume found with oranges.
South Texas and Mexican produce – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Western produce shipments may not be setting many records right now, but in general provide the best loading opportunities in the U.S.
Vegetables are in good volume from Arizona, where it be the Yuma district or Mexican product crossing the border at Nogales. Head lettuce and romaine lettuce account for the heaviest volume with about 2000 truck loads a week from Yuma and to a lesser extent the Phoenix area. Much fewer shipments of broccoli and cauliflower also are available.
Yuma, AZ vegetables – grossing about $7100 to New York City.
Mexican vegetables coming into Nogales distribution centers are led by bell peppers and other peppers totaling about 900 truck loads weekly, and various squash at around 750 truck loads of sweet corn. There’s also decent volume with tomatoes and squash.
Mexican vegetables from Nogales – grossing about $5800 to Miami.
In the Pacific Northwest apple growers and shippers not only know how to produce great product, they’ve developed keen marketing skills over the decades. Apples easily provide the single heaviest domestic fresh produce volume this year. Over 3000 truck load equivalents are being shipped from Washington state’s Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. They also are shipping much lighter volumes of pears.
Washington apples – grossing about $5100 to Chicago.
Southern Washington’s Columbia Basin along with the adjacent Umatilla Basin in Northern Oregon are shipping moderate amounts of onions and potatoes. Combined the two products are averaging 1000 truck loads a week, although the biggest volume is with onions.
Idaho potato shipments are averaging over 1800 truck load equivalents, although similar to Washington apples, a significant amount is moving by rail. Western Idaho and Malheur County Oregon are loading about 650 truck loads of onions weekly.
Twin Falls, ID potatoes – grossing about $5900 to Orlando.
Colorado russet potato shipments from the San Luis Valley are amounting to around 575 truck loads per week.
San Luis Valley potatoes – grossing about $1700 to Dallas.
Delays in Mexican produce crossing the border, which also means in delays for produce haulers picking up product at distribution centers, is occurring at Nogales, AZ…..Also, bananas are now arriving for the first time by boat at Wilmington, NC.
Nogales is a leading port of entry for Mexican fresh vegetables, amounting to $2 billion in 2016, is having delays due in large part from a shortage of officers.
A shortage of as many ad 300 officers is reported a US. Customs and Broker Protection (CBP). The results are long lines delaying produce border crossings.
Citing security reasons the CBP doesn’t reveal exactly how many officers are currently working at the gateway. However, they acknowledge the port is rotating staff by bring in officers from other ports around the U.S. to Nogales for 90-day work assignments. As many as 175 officers have relocated to the Nogales for temporary duty, reports the National Treasury Employees Union.
In 2016 alone, $8.3 billion worth of U.S. exports when from Arizona into Mexico. Also in 2016, $7.4 billion in Mexican goods were imported into Arizona.
Not only is commerce adversely affected by the delays at Nogales, but travelers looking to cross the border are looking at lengthy delays.
Anthony Reardon, president of the Nogales, National Treasury Employees notes CBP’s protracted and complicated hiring process, strict polygraph testing, and extensive training times are all at play when he recently testified before congress. This has resulted in 3700 vacant positions for the agency, simply due to the 12 to 18 month hiring process.
Banana Imports at Wilmington
Bananas imported from Central America recently began arriving at the Port of Wilmington (NC). The inital arrival marks the beginning of a 12-month commitment to bring weekly deliveries of bananas for distribution by truck to distribution centers across North Carolina and South Carolina.
Wilmington is the first South Atlantic port to implement both phases of the Department of Agriculture’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot program, which allows for more direct imports of produce.
Produce trucking can be frustrating this time of year as spring is still a month away (March 20th), rates are down from earlier in the year, and spring vegetable shipments have yet to seasonally take off.
An interesting note is imported truck loads that include everything from Nogales and South Texas, as well as ports on both coasts, there were 7000 fewer truck loads shipped than during the same week in 2017. Part of the explanation is many imported produce items are maturing on a more normal schedule this year, compared to last year when warmer weather resulted in a lot of early crops.
Florida spring shipments won’t hit volume for several weeks, but there are signs of life. The new season for red potatoes out of Southern areas is underway, and we are seeing light but increasing volume with vegetables such as beans and cabbage. Tomatoes (mostly mature greens) are averaging around 750 truck loads weekly, although most loads out of the state involve multiple pick ups. Plant City area strawberries are averaging around 500 truck loads a week.
Florida produce – grossing around $3000 to New York City.
Port of Philadelphia
Chilean fruit arrivals are growing in volume. Early season Chilean grapes haven’t been that impressive quality-wise, but it’s good enough you shouldn’t face claims issues over it. There also is increasing volume with peaches, plums and nectarines. However, the biggest single volume item may be pineapples from Costa Rica and other Central American countries.
Otherwise, it is pretty much slim pickings from the Eastern time zone. You’ve got light volume out of New York state with apples, cabbage and storage onions. Eastern North Carolina is shipping around 250 truck loads of sweet potatoes each week, which is more than double the other leading states of California, Mississippi and Louisiana combined.
Michigan is moving about 150 truck loads of apples weekly, primarily from the Grand Rapids region. Some shippers buy items such as potatoes and onions from Western states, repack them, and then ship it out.
By Jim Prevor’s Perishable Pundit
With relentless pressure on margins in all commodity produce driven by the ever-increasing power of large buyers, the necessity of innovation has never been greater. Fresh Del Monte has invested in innovation, whether varietal — its Del Monte Gold Pineapple was the single greatest leverage tool in the produce industry for a while — or structural — methodically building a network of regional processors. Now Fresh Del Monte decided, in one fell swoop, to buy an innovation factory and scale up its product line to be able to face retailers across a broader spectrum. We speak, of course, of the announcement that Fresh Del Monte will purchase Mann Packing.
From a business perspective, it is hard to think of a more synergistic acquisition. The storied Del Monte brand had its roots in vegetables, with canned green beans and the like creating billions of multi-generational impressions that have sunk into the collective sub-conscious of the nation and the world. Yet the fresh company had its strength in fruit — pineapples and bananas notably, but also fresh-fruit processing. Now, in one fell swoop, Fresh Del Monte has a division that is a leader in fresh-cut vegetables.
No business strategies have been announced, and for the moment, there will be no changes for customers. The Mann management team stays, and the company will operate just as before. But one doesn’t have to have inside information to imagine the Del Monte brand starting to appear on fresh-cut vegetable packs and other innovative products that Mann is known for.
The deal also points to the evolution in the business that is favoring multi-product companies. Once one company starts to broaden its range, others find the necessity to do the same; otherwise competitors, profiting on other lines, can eviscerate margins on the one competitive category and kill a business. Broad diversity of product, geography and customer type makes a company invulnerable to this strategy. So, Del Monte is acquiring not just a source for new product ideas and not just a new business line, but a strategically more defensible position in the industry.
The whole deal reminds us of something that has often been dismissed in recent times: The enormous value of experience. Deals like this involve many people doing many things but, despite its good sense, the deal might never have happened if Fresh Del Monte had not hired Emanuel Lazopoulos, now Senior Vice President of North America Sales, Marketing and Product Management.
Emanuel joined Fresh Del Monte back in 2005 to run its Fresh-Cut operation. His career, though, includes time as the Managing Director of NewStar Fresh Foods, as Vice President of DNA Plant Technology and as Vice President of Dole Fresh Vegetables — in other words, he spent a lot of time in Salinas. There are many companies that are buying other companies today — there is private equity and venture capital funds, for example. But for a family business like Mann, finding a home that will lead to success for grower partners, for employees, for the living embodiment of generations of sweat and tears, these are not trivial matters.
Over and over again, we have heard the same story: a team of super-smart, super-educated private equity analysts march into a business to review the numbers and do the analytics but also say they have no interest in touring the plant, so they turn off the very people they need to get excited about a potential combination. It is no stretch to imagine that decades of familiarity raised the comfort level and facilitated the deal.
There has been an enormous drain of produce experience from important produce companies and their retail customers. But deals like this remind us that though the loss may not always be evident or be easily quantified, it is real. One opportunity, one moment, one connection, can cover a lifetime of salary.
Selling a successful family business is always filled with both excitement and trepidation, hope and a tinge of melancholy. But family businesses are always challenged by the mere passage of time. With each successive generation, ownership gets more diffused, difficult decisions have to be made about how to deal with the differing financial interests of those family members who work in the company and those who do not; estate taxes must be paid with each generation, and shareholders, once bound by love, respect, history, familiarity and propinquity — so often become strangers. If the right situation presents itself at the right time, a sale solves many problems and actually sets the business up for continued growth.
This particular story is a great drama. It includes great loss, but also stands as testament to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit and the extraordinary importance of the individual.
It has a heroine… Lorri Koster, née Nucci, Chairman and CEO of Mann Packing Co., shepherded Mann through this process. She ran this ball down the field and carried it over the line. But she was not the football player in the family.
The plans once made called for her brother, Joe, to head up the company, who died several ago unexpectedly. When these settled plans were disrupted, nine out of ten companies would have never recovered. But the Nucci’s and the Ramsey’s circled the wagons. Lorri’s father, Don Nucci, and Bill Ramsey jumped in, but Don died shortly thereafter. Lorri, though, always connected to the family business, had left full time employment to try other things, including a stint at a produce dot com, setting up her own marketing agency, buying a local magazine.
But in the aftermath of the passing of both her brother and her father, this baseball Mom, with support of her sisters DeeDee and Gina, would come to guide Mann Packing to its present prosperity. To take a reputation for ethical business conduct, combine it with innovation, position it as Moms selling to Moms and complete the transformation of what was once the largest commodity broccoli shipper in the country into a kind of produce skunkworks that boosts sales and consumption with the quality of ideas well-executed.
Fresh Del Monte is a good home for Mann. The company knows growers, has facilities that can be jointly leveraged — say regional vegetable processing — it won’t run from a food safety issue, and both companies combined can leverage transportation and procurement.
This story, though, tells us that buildings and equipment are just the public manifestation of the story. It is the character of people that matters more than anything. Emanuel had to be seen as a man of good character and integrity; not having been in Salinas would have been a negative. Lorri had to undertake responsibilities when others might not have done so. She had to persevere under tragic circumstances when others would have not been able to. Amidst darkness, she had to broadcast a light that would inspire others to follow —and she did.
In business, everyone will look for opportunities to trade and engage with the new, larger, Fresh Del Monte, but the profit to be derived by watching this deal is the lesson that experience matters, that perseverance matters and the character matters —above all.
By Stemilt Growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. – Honeycrisp apples will have a longer Honeycrisp season this spring and summer. Stemilt Growers will be expanding their Honeycrisp shipping season through mid-summer with a new brand called Honeyhill™.
“Honeyhill™ is an exciting addition to include in our family of brands as we will be offering one of the most popular apple varieties for a longer timeframe,” states Roger Pepperl, Stemilt marketing director. “We’re choosing the best Honeycrisp apples for Honeyhill™ boxes…. that taste as if you had just picked them from the tree back in the fall.”
Stemilt is not allowing just any Honeycrisp apple to be packed under the Honeyhill™ name. Only high-color Honeycrisp apples will qualify for the Honeyhill™ brand. The main strain that is producing high-color and high-quality Honeycrisp apples late in the season is Royal, a new sport of Honeycrisp apples that is actually quite different than the rest of the pack.
“The Royal Honeycrisp is a beautiful strain with great color and finish. Its real advantage is that our teams can pick full-colored fruit at the right starch levels in order to store well in our controlled atmosphere rooms. When we pull these apples out at a later date, the starches have converted to sugars with good acides that deliver that amazing fall flavor in the spring and summer months,” said Pepperl.
Planted in some of Stemilt’s most pristine orchards throughout Washington State, Stemilt’s field team works effortlessly to ensure each Royal Honeycrisp can maximize it’s time on the tree. The Royal strains ability to color well allows Stemilt to pick the fruit in an ideal window where the fruit starch levels allow it to be stored for long-term success. Stemilt also utilizes shade cloth and windscreens to further care for its Royal Honeycrisp apples.
Organic Honeycrisp apples are also available and currently being packed under Stemilt’s Artisan Organics™ label. “We all know organic is a growing category….,” states Pepperl. “We’re excited about Honeyhill™.
About Stemilt
Stemilt Growers is a leading tree fruit growing, packing and shipping company based in Wenatchee, Washington. Owned and operated by the Mathison family, Stemilt is the leading shipper of sweet cherries and one of the nation’s largest suppliers of organic tree fruits. Stemilt has also demonstrated a commitment to sustainable agriculture and social responsibility since 1989, when founder Tom Mathison launched the company’s Responsible Choice program.
Avocado shipments from both California and Mexico are looking strong, while a big increase is seen coming for imported golden kiwifruit.
Mexican avocado shipping volumes are big the second and third week of January, but reaches a peak in the fourth week of the month leading up the big game February 4th. It is known as the Super Bowl effect.
The Hass Avocado Board reports 204 million pounds of avocados were shipped into the U.S. during the first four weeks of January. Of the total amount of avocados, 93 percent were imported from Mexico, with 3.6 percent coming from from California, with 2.7 percent from the Dominican Republic with Chile supplying 0.7 percent.
Despite widespread shortages of trucks being reported around the U.S. in the first half of January, it apparently had minimal affect on shipments for the Super Bowl.
California Avocado Shipping Forecast
Avocado shipments are currently originating both from Mexico and California, although the vast majority are coming from South of the U.S. border.
For example, West Pak Avocado Inc. of Murrieta, CA sources most of its avocados from Mexico and California and sees good supply and quality this season from both areas. Mexico will have strong volume continuing into the summer. California should have good shipments totaling around 374 million pounds.
There was limited California volume is available for the Super Bowl because it is so early in the season, when the limited shipments are typically directed to California receivers. National California avocado shipments typically ramps up in March and April.
Golden Kiwi Shipments
The golden kiwifruit season for imports from New Zealand recently ended, but importers already are laying plans from the new arrivals coming in May.
Golden kiwifruit imports more than doubled in 2017, with the SunGold variety from Zespri accounting for 80 percent of the category. The company is based in New Zealand and set a record with 27.8 million pounds of the fruit imported.
Zespri is planning a 50 percent growth for the coming year and extend the season at the season into March and April.
By Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc.
Coral Gables, FL. – Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. (“Del Monte”) entered into a definitive agreement on February 5th, to acquire Mann Packing Co., Inc. (“Mann Packing”), an award-winning innovator and leading grower, processor and supplier of a broad variety of fresh and value-added vegetable products in North America. Mann Packing’s annual sales were approximately $535 million in 2017.
Del Monte will acquire Mann Packing for an aggregate consideration of approximately $361 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions that are customary for transactions of this type and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2018.
“We are extremely pleased about our acquisition of Mann Packing, a leader in the fresh and value-added vegetable category,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fresh Del Monte. “Mann Packing’s strength in the vegetable category, one of the fastest growing fresh food segments, will provide us with synergies, enhancing our ability to better serve our combined customers and address consumers’ needs for healthier products. This acquisition is a significant step toward our goal to be the world’s leading supplier of healthful, wholesome and nutritious fresh and prepared food and beverages for consumers.”
“Everyone at Mann is excited with this development” said Lorri Koster, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mann Packing. “We share Del Monte’s values and commitment of providing fresh, high-quality produce based foods that are nutritious and delicious. Both our companies have been successful in their own right with their superior quality, service and value to our customers and consumers in all channels throughout North America. This will only be enhanced by combining the business expertise and skills of two of the industry’s premiere organizations.”
About Del Monte Fresh Produce
Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. is one of North America’s leading marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. markets its products in North America under the Del Monte® brand (as well as other brands), a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability for more than 125 years.
About Mann Packing Co.
Mann Packing, established in 1939 and based in Salinas, California, is a leading grower and supplier in North America of fresh vegetables, including washed and ready to eat fresh-cut vegetables, snack packs and party trays, and washed and trimmed lettuce products for the food service and retail markets.
by Dole Food Company, Inc
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Powerful news for families fighting the good fight of nutrition in the home: Super Hero help is on the way.
Starting March 1, Black Panther, Captain America, Black Widow and other Avengers will team-up on new products to help moms, dads and all citizens win more of their daily battles to adopt a healthier lifestyle including a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. The program continues through April 30, right before the epic release of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War on May 4.
“Powering the Hero Within” is an eight-week healthy-eating alliance between Dole and Marvel that combines original Marvel character-inspired recipes and healthy eating tips with character images on millions of DOLE® Bananas and Pineapples in U.S and Canadian supermarkets continent wide.
Weary meal planners will find relief in the form of 30 original Dole fruit and vegetable recipes directly inspired by Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow and Thor. Created by Dole Chef Mark Allison and registered dieticians at the Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI), each recipe links to the powers and personalities of the character – from “Liberty Banana Sushi” for Captain America, “T’Challa Teriyaki Kabobs” for Black Panther and “Mighty Mini-BLT Bites” for Thor to “Power Punch Smoothie” for Hulk,“Stark Industries Banana Pie Oatmeal” for Iron Man and “Widow Bite Spider Rolls” for Black Widow.
“Dole is taking its cue from the Marvel Universe to honor some of the biggest superheroes of all – the moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, coaches and others committed to making the home a healthier place,” said Bil Goldfield, director of corporate communications for Dole. “Since we know that getting kids to eat healthy can often seem like a hero-sized challenge, we’re arming those on the front lines with the reinforcements they need to change family eating habits one great-tasting healthy snack, entrée or dessert at a time.”
In addition to those iconic Marvel characters featured on DOLE produce, the program includes a dedicated Dole microsite offering recipes, character details and a celebration of the healthy-living collaboration between Dole and Marvel.
For recipes and other information about “Powering the Hero Within,” go to www.dole.com/Marvel.
About Dole Food Company, Inc.
Dole Food Company, Inc., is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education and research.
About Marvel
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.
Bananas are always right at the top in surveys listing favorite fruits to eat. But now you can eat the banana peel – at least in Japan….Also, only a moderate increase in food prices is seen this year in the U.S.
Edibile Banana Peel
by Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News
The brainchild of food scientists at a farm in Western Japan, the eat-it-all Mongee (pronounced mon-gay) banana derives from a frigid growing environment.
“Typically bananas only grow in tropical climates, but D&T Farms uses a method called ‘Freeze Thaw Awakening,’”
Mongee banana trees grow at -76 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, they’re thawed and replanted. As a result, fruit grows rapidly and are left with a lettuce-like skin.
The designer banana, reports rocketnews24.com, is “sweeter than regular bananas, with 24.8 grams of sugar, as opposed to the average 18.3 grams.
Retail Food Prices
Retail food prices will rise between 1 and 2 percent in 2018 after dropping 0.2 percent in 2017, predicts the USDA.
The USDA’s January 25 food price outlook report said retail food price inflation has been lower than average because of a stronger U.S. dollar which makes imported foods cheaper.
A high dollar also dampens U.S. exports, which increases domestic supply of food and put pressure on prices. Moderate increases in energy costs and shrinking retailer margins in 2017 may have held down food prices, according to the USDA.
For 2017, the report said retail prices for fresh fruits fell 1.1 percent from November to December but are up 2.1 percent compared with December 2016.
While banana prices rose in December, citrus prices dropped 6.1 percent and apple prices were 2.4 percent lower than in November. The USDA said fresh fruit prices rose 0.5 percent in 2017. For 2018, fresh fruit prices may rise 3 to 4 percent.
Fresh vegetable prices increased 1.3 percent from November to December, and were 3.5 percent higher than in December 2016. For all of 2017, fresh vegetable prices decreased 0.1 percent. For 2018, fresh vegetable prices are expected to change between -0.5 to 0.5 percent.
U.S. Potato Shipments are Similar to a Year Ago; A Look at Mexican Product Crossing into South Texas
U.S. potato shipments are remaining fairly steady week to week with total shipments quite similar to a year ago….Meanwhile, here is a look at Mexican produce items crossing the border in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Roughly the same amount of U.S. potatoes remain in storages to be shipped from the major potato states that existed at this same time in 2017 as of February 1st.
Storages held 202.55 million cwt. (per hundredweight) at the beginning of February, compared to storages holding 203.10 million cwt. a year earlier. Potatoes remaining to be shipped accounted for 51 percent of the volume by fall storage states, only one percent more than 2017. Potato disappearance is down three percent to 197 million cwt., and season-to-date shrink (loss of product due to quality) has also fallen, down five percent from 2017 to 15.4 million cwt.
The 13 key fall crop producing states listed in the USDA report account for 91 percent of all potato volume.
The leading potato shipping areas last week shipped about the following number of truck load equivalents: Idaho, 1750; Colorado, 625; Columbia Basin (Washington) and Umatilla Basin (Oregon), 340; Wisconsin, 285; Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, 250; and Nebraska, 185.
San Luis Valley of Colorado potatoes – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Stevens Point, WI potatoes – grossing about $3200 to Atlanta.
Rio Grande Valley
Mexican vegetable shipments and tropical fruits are crossing the border at Pharr, in South Texas, on a fairly steady basis from week to week, although volume is not exceptionally heavy on most items. The biggest tonnage is coming from tomatoes and avocadoes. Both commodities are averaging about 1,000 truck loads per week. Tomatoes consist primarily of vine ripes, followed by plum or romas. However, keep in mind the Mexican avocado loadings will soon start declining as the season comes to an end before returning in a few months.
Mexican strawberries are amounting nearly 450 truck loads weekly, with limes have similar, but increasing volume. Otherwise, there are watermelons and cucumbers, with a host of other items with much smaller volume.
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas grapefruit amounts to around 250 truck load weekly, with much smaller volume found with oranges.
South Texas and Mexican produce – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Western produce shipments may not be setting many records right now, but in general provide the best loading opportunities in the U.S.
Vegetables are in good volume from Arizona, where it be the Yuma district or Mexican product crossing the border at Nogales. Head lettuce and romaine lettuce account for the heaviest volume with about 2000 truck loads a week from Yuma and to a lesser extent the Phoenix area. Much fewer shipments of broccoli and cauliflower also are available.
Yuma, AZ vegetables – grossing about $7100 to New York City.
Mexican vegetables coming into Nogales distribution centers are led by bell peppers and other peppers totaling about 900 truck loads weekly, and various squash at around 750 truck loads of sweet corn. There’s also decent volume with tomatoes and squash.
Mexican vegetables from Nogales – grossing about $5800 to Miami.
In the Pacific Northwest apple growers and shippers not only know how to produce great product, they’ve developed keen marketing skills over the decades. Apples easily provide the single heaviest domestic fresh produce volume this year. Over 3000 truck load equivalents are being shipped from Washington state’s Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. They also are shipping much lighter volumes of pears.
Washington apples – grossing about $5100 to Chicago.
Southern Washington’s Columbia Basin along with the adjacent Umatilla Basin in Northern Oregon are shipping moderate amounts of onions and potatoes. Combined the two products are averaging 1000 truck loads a week, although the biggest volume is with onions.
Idaho potato shipments are averaging over 1800 truck load equivalents, although similar to Washington apples, a significant amount is moving by rail. Western Idaho and Malheur County Oregon are loading about 650 truck loads of onions weekly.
Twin Falls, ID potatoes – grossing about $5900 to Orlando.
Colorado russet potato shipments from the San Luis Valley are amounting to around 575 truck loads per week.
San Luis Valley potatoes – grossing about $1700 to Dallas.
Delays in Mexican produce crossing the border, which also means in delays for produce haulers picking up product at distribution centers, is occurring at Nogales, AZ…..Also, bananas are now arriving for the first time by boat at Wilmington, NC.
Nogales is a leading port of entry for Mexican fresh vegetables, amounting to $2 billion in 2016, is having delays due in large part from a shortage of officers.
A shortage of as many ad 300 officers is reported a US. Customs and Broker Protection (CBP). The results are long lines delaying produce border crossings.
Citing security reasons the CBP doesn’t reveal exactly how many officers are currently working at the gateway. However, they acknowledge the port is rotating staff by bring in officers from other ports around the U.S. to Nogales for 90-day work assignments. As many as 175 officers have relocated to the Nogales for temporary duty, reports the National Treasury Employees Union.
In 2016 alone, $8.3 billion worth of U.S. exports when from Arizona into Mexico. Also in 2016, $7.4 billion in Mexican goods were imported into Arizona.
Not only is commerce adversely affected by the delays at Nogales, but travelers looking to cross the border are looking at lengthy delays.
Anthony Reardon, president of the Nogales, National Treasury Employees notes CBP’s protracted and complicated hiring process, strict polygraph testing, and extensive training times are all at play when he recently testified before congress. This has resulted in 3700 vacant positions for the agency, simply due to the 12 to 18 month hiring process.
Banana Imports at Wilmington
Bananas imported from Central America recently began arriving at the Port of Wilmington (NC). The inital arrival marks the beginning of a 12-month commitment to bring weekly deliveries of bananas for distribution by truck to distribution centers across North Carolina and South Carolina.
Wilmington is the first South Atlantic port to implement both phases of the Department of Agriculture’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot program, which allows for more direct imports of produce.
Produce trucking can be frustrating this time of year as spring is still a month away (March 20th), rates are down from earlier in the year, and spring vegetable shipments have yet to seasonally take off.
An interesting note is imported truck loads that include everything from Nogales and South Texas, as well as ports on both coasts, there were 7000 fewer truck loads shipped than during the same week in 2017. Part of the explanation is many imported produce items are maturing on a more normal schedule this year, compared to last year when warmer weather resulted in a lot of early crops.
Florida spring shipments won’t hit volume for several weeks, but there are signs of life. The new season for red potatoes out of Southern areas is underway, and we are seeing light but increasing volume with vegetables such as beans and cabbage. Tomatoes (mostly mature greens) are averaging around 750 truck loads weekly, although most loads out of the state involve multiple pick ups. Plant City area strawberries are averaging around 500 truck loads a week.
Florida produce – grossing around $3000 to New York City.
Port of Philadelphia
Chilean fruit arrivals are growing in volume. Early season Chilean grapes haven’t been that impressive quality-wise, but it’s good enough you shouldn’t face claims issues over it. There also is increasing volume with peaches, plums and nectarines. However, the biggest single volume item may be pineapples from Costa Rica and other Central American countries.
Otherwise, it is pretty much slim pickings from the Eastern time zone. You’ve got light volume out of New York state with apples, cabbage and storage onions. Eastern North Carolina is shipping around 250 truck loads of sweet potatoes each week, which is more than double the other leading states of California, Mississippi and Louisiana combined.
Michigan is moving about 150 truck loads of apples weekly, primarily from the Grand Rapids region. Some shippers buy items such as potatoes and onions from Western states, repack them, and then ship it out.
By Jim Prevor’s Perishable Pundit
With relentless pressure on margins in all commodity produce driven by the ever-increasing power of large buyers, the necessity of innovation has never been greater. Fresh Del Monte has invested in innovation, whether varietal — its Del Monte Gold Pineapple was the single greatest leverage tool in the produce industry for a while — or structural — methodically building a network of regional processors. Now Fresh Del Monte decided, in one fell swoop, to buy an innovation factory and scale up its product line to be able to face retailers across a broader spectrum. We speak, of course, of the announcement that Fresh Del Monte will purchase Mann Packing.
From a business perspective, it is hard to think of a more synergistic acquisition. The storied Del Monte brand had its roots in vegetables, with canned green beans and the like creating billions of multi-generational impressions that have sunk into the collective sub-conscious of the nation and the world. Yet the fresh company had its strength in fruit — pineapples and bananas notably, but also fresh-fruit processing. Now, in one fell swoop, Fresh Del Monte has a division that is a leader in fresh-cut vegetables.
No business strategies have been announced, and for the moment, there will be no changes for customers. The Mann management team stays, and the company will operate just as before. But one doesn’t have to have inside information to imagine the Del Monte brand starting to appear on fresh-cut vegetable packs and other innovative products that Mann is known for.
The deal also points to the evolution in the business that is favoring multi-product companies. Once one company starts to broaden its range, others find the necessity to do the same; otherwise competitors, profiting on other lines, can eviscerate margins on the one competitive category and kill a business. Broad diversity of product, geography and customer type makes a company invulnerable to this strategy. So, Del Monte is acquiring not just a source for new product ideas and not just a new business line, but a strategically more defensible position in the industry.
The whole deal reminds us of something that has often been dismissed in recent times: The enormous value of experience. Deals like this involve many people doing many things but, despite its good sense, the deal might never have happened if Fresh Del Monte had not hired Emanuel Lazopoulos, now Senior Vice President of North America Sales, Marketing and Product Management.
Emanuel joined Fresh Del Monte back in 2005 to run its Fresh-Cut operation. His career, though, includes time as the Managing Director of NewStar Fresh Foods, as Vice President of DNA Plant Technology and as Vice President of Dole Fresh Vegetables — in other words, he spent a lot of time in Salinas. There are many companies that are buying other companies today — there is private equity and venture capital funds, for example. But for a family business like Mann, finding a home that will lead to success for grower partners, for employees, for the living embodiment of generations of sweat and tears, these are not trivial matters.
Over and over again, we have heard the same story: a team of super-smart, super-educated private equity analysts march into a business to review the numbers and do the analytics but also say they have no interest in touring the plant, so they turn off the very people they need to get excited about a potential combination. It is no stretch to imagine that decades of familiarity raised the comfort level and facilitated the deal.
There has been an enormous drain of produce experience from important produce companies and their retail customers. But deals like this remind us that though the loss may not always be evident or be easily quantified, it is real. One opportunity, one moment, one connection, can cover a lifetime of salary.
Selling a successful family business is always filled with both excitement and trepidation, hope and a tinge of melancholy. But family businesses are always challenged by the mere passage of time. With each successive generation, ownership gets more diffused, difficult decisions have to be made about how to deal with the differing financial interests of those family members who work in the company and those who do not; estate taxes must be paid with each generation, and shareholders, once bound by love, respect, history, familiarity and propinquity — so often become strangers. If the right situation presents itself at the right time, a sale solves many problems and actually sets the business up for continued growth.
This particular story is a great drama. It includes great loss, but also stands as testament to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit and the extraordinary importance of the individual.
It has a heroine… Lorri Koster, née Nucci, Chairman and CEO of Mann Packing Co., shepherded Mann through this process. She ran this ball down the field and carried it over the line. But she was not the football player in the family.
The plans once made called for her brother, Joe, to head up the company, who died several ago unexpectedly. When these settled plans were disrupted, nine out of ten companies would have never recovered. But the Nucci’s and the Ramsey’s circled the wagons. Lorri’s father, Don Nucci, and Bill Ramsey jumped in, but Don died shortly thereafter. Lorri, though, always connected to the family business, had left full time employment to try other things, including a stint at a produce dot com, setting up her own marketing agency, buying a local magazine.
But in the aftermath of the passing of both her brother and her father, this baseball Mom, with support of her sisters DeeDee and Gina, would come to guide Mann Packing to its present prosperity. To take a reputation for ethical business conduct, combine it with innovation, position it as Moms selling to Moms and complete the transformation of what was once the largest commodity broccoli shipper in the country into a kind of produce skunkworks that boosts sales and consumption with the quality of ideas well-executed.
Fresh Del Monte is a good home for Mann. The company knows growers, has facilities that can be jointly leveraged — say regional vegetable processing — it won’t run from a food safety issue, and both companies combined can leverage transportation and procurement.
This story, though, tells us that buildings and equipment are just the public manifestation of the story. It is the character of people that matters more than anything. Emanuel had to be seen as a man of good character and integrity; not having been in Salinas would have been a negative. Lorri had to undertake responsibilities when others might not have done so. She had to persevere under tragic circumstances when others would have not been able to. Amidst darkness, she had to broadcast a light that would inspire others to follow —and she did.
In business, everyone will look for opportunities to trade and engage with the new, larger, Fresh Del Monte, but the profit to be derived by watching this deal is the lesson that experience matters, that perseverance matters and the character matters —above all.
By Stemilt Growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. – Honeycrisp apples will have a longer Honeycrisp season this spring and summer. Stemilt Growers will be expanding their Honeycrisp shipping season through mid-summer with a new brand called Honeyhill™.
“Honeyhill™ is an exciting addition to include in our family of brands as we will be offering one of the most popular apple varieties for a longer timeframe,” states Roger Pepperl, Stemilt marketing director. “We’re choosing the best Honeycrisp apples for Honeyhill™ boxes…. that taste as if you had just picked them from the tree back in the fall.”
Stemilt is not allowing just any Honeycrisp apple to be packed under the Honeyhill™ name. Only high-color Honeycrisp apples will qualify for the Honeyhill™ brand. The main strain that is producing high-color and high-quality Honeycrisp apples late in the season is Royal, a new sport of Honeycrisp apples that is actually quite different than the rest of the pack.
“The Royal Honeycrisp is a beautiful strain with great color and finish. Its real advantage is that our teams can pick full-colored fruit at the right starch levels in order to store well in our controlled atmosphere rooms. When we pull these apples out at a later date, the starches have converted to sugars with good acides that deliver that amazing fall flavor in the spring and summer months,” said Pepperl.
Planted in some of Stemilt’s most pristine orchards throughout Washington State, Stemilt’s field team works effortlessly to ensure each Royal Honeycrisp can maximize it’s time on the tree. The Royal strains ability to color well allows Stemilt to pick the fruit in an ideal window where the fruit starch levels allow it to be stored for long-term success. Stemilt also utilizes shade cloth and windscreens to further care for its Royal Honeycrisp apples.
Organic Honeycrisp apples are also available and currently being packed under Stemilt’s Artisan Organics™ label. “We all know organic is a growing category….,” states Pepperl. “We’re excited about Honeyhill™.
About Stemilt
Stemilt Growers is a leading tree fruit growing, packing and shipping company based in Wenatchee, Washington. Owned and operated by the Mathison family, Stemilt is the leading shipper of sweet cherries and one of the nation’s largest suppliers of organic tree fruits. Stemilt has also demonstrated a commitment to sustainable agriculture and social responsibility since 1989, when founder Tom Mathison launched the company’s Responsible Choice program.
Avocado shipments from both California and Mexico are looking strong, while a big increase is seen coming for imported golden kiwifruit.
Mexican avocado shipping volumes are big the second and third week of January, but reaches a peak in the fourth week of the month leading up the big game February 4th. It is known as the Super Bowl effect.
The Hass Avocado Board reports 204 million pounds of avocados were shipped into the U.S. during the first four weeks of January. Of the total amount of avocados, 93 percent were imported from Mexico, with 3.6 percent coming from from California, with 2.7 percent from the Dominican Republic with Chile supplying 0.7 percent.
Despite widespread shortages of trucks being reported around the U.S. in the first half of January, it apparently had minimal affect on shipments for the Super Bowl.
California Avocado Shipping Forecast
Avocado shipments are currently originating both from Mexico and California, although the vast majority are coming from South of the U.S. border.
For example, West Pak Avocado Inc. of Murrieta, CA sources most of its avocados from Mexico and California and sees good supply and quality this season from both areas. Mexico will have strong volume continuing into the summer. California should have good shipments totaling around 374 million pounds.
There was limited California volume is available for the Super Bowl because it is so early in the season, when the limited shipments are typically directed to California receivers. National California avocado shipments typically ramps up in March and April.
Golden Kiwi Shipments
The golden kiwifruit season for imports from New Zealand recently ended, but importers already are laying plans from the new arrivals coming in May.
Golden kiwifruit imports more than doubled in 2017, with the SunGold variety from Zespri accounting for 80 percent of the category. The company is based in New Zealand and set a record with 27.8 million pounds of the fruit imported.
Zespri is planning a 50 percent growth for the coming year and extend the season at the season into March and April.
By Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc.
Coral Gables, FL. – Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. (“Del Monte”) entered into a definitive agreement on February 5th, to acquire Mann Packing Co., Inc. (“Mann Packing”), an award-winning innovator and leading grower, processor and supplier of a broad variety of fresh and value-added vegetable products in North America. Mann Packing’s annual sales were approximately $535 million in 2017.
Del Monte will acquire Mann Packing for an aggregate consideration of approximately $361 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions that are customary for transactions of this type and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2018.
“We are extremely pleased about our acquisition of Mann Packing, a leader in the fresh and value-added vegetable category,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fresh Del Monte. “Mann Packing’s strength in the vegetable category, one of the fastest growing fresh food segments, will provide us with synergies, enhancing our ability to better serve our combined customers and address consumers’ needs for healthier products. This acquisition is a significant step toward our goal to be the world’s leading supplier of healthful, wholesome and nutritious fresh and prepared food and beverages for consumers.”
“Everyone at Mann is excited with this development” said Lorri Koster, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mann Packing. “We share Del Monte’s values and commitment of providing fresh, high-quality produce based foods that are nutritious and delicious. Both our companies have been successful in their own right with their superior quality, service and value to our customers and consumers in all channels throughout North America. This will only be enhanced by combining the business expertise and skills of two of the industry’s premiere organizations.”
About Del Monte Fresh Produce
Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. is one of North America’s leading marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. markets its products in North America under the Del Monte® brand (as well as other brands), a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability for more than 125 years.
About Mann Packing Co.
Mann Packing, established in 1939 and based in Salinas, California, is a leading grower and supplier in North America of fresh vegetables, including washed and ready to eat fresh-cut vegetables, snack packs and party trays, and washed and trimmed lettuce products for the food service and retail markets.