Author Archive
Favorable weather across much of the United States is resulting in good loading opportunities for pumpkins and other fall items. Meanwhile an update on California grape shipments shows the best is yet to come.
Pumpkins are grown in almost every state and shippers in most areas see a good crop of pumpkins and hard squash for the upcoming season. Since these items are grown in so many states, most loads are regional or local.
While pumpkins are an American Halloween tradition, good volume typically occurs after after October 31st. Pumpkin shipments typically are brisk following Halloween as Americans prepare for Thanksgiving.
For example, Frey Farms in Keenes, Ill., started shipping its fall pumpkins the last week of August. Besides regular pumpkins, the company sells painted pumpkins as an in-and-out item and pumpkin tattoo kits – food-safe transfers that enable consumers to “paint” a pumpkin in a minute.
Van Groningen & Sons Inc. Manteca, CA starts shipping pumpkin and ornamentals around Labor Day.
Todd Greiner Farms of Hart, MI began shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals in late August.
Jackson Melons Inc., of Henderson, TX will start shipping carving pumpkins right after Labor Day.
Pumpkin Pyle of Floydada, TX is shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals, which will continue through until about October 20th.
California Grape Shipments
The California table grape shipments continues through the summers and by season’s end at the end of the year, maybe January, is projected at 111.4 million 19-pound boxes.
California grape shippers loaded 108.9 million 19-pound box equivalents, about 40 percent of which was moved from May through August. With the end of August, 60 percent of the overall crop had been shipped in 2016, but the season should last into January.
Over 85 varieties are grown in California, with the leading varieties being scarlet royal, autumn king, flame seedless, crimson seedless and sugraone. About 93 percent of the state’s grapes are seedless.
With California grape crop in 2016, 36 percent of the fruit was exported, mostly to Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.
By Hudson River Fruit Distributors
Hudson River Fruit Distributors is excited to announce its brand new, high graphic, apple display bin. The bin is the latest addition to Hudson River Fruits expanding packaging lineup that aims to utilize apples in many different ways, while bringing the farm fresh feel to your stores!
The bin displays a hi definition photo of one of the farms owned by Hudson River Fruit, and highlights the locally grown and family farmed aspects in the forefront. The side of the bin features a metal plaque “mounted” onto wooden planks, which contains a quote from co-founder and owner Harold Albinder, about the company, as well as, the history and tradition of Apples grown in New York State.
“We are very excited to launch this marketing tool to help our customers bring the farm to their stores this fall. The display bin can be used to display local loose apples, tote’s, poly bags or our 2LB Lil Chief bags.” Says Pat Ferrara, Sales Director at Hudson River Fruit Distributions, ” We are excited to share our story and products with customers at store level.”
About Hudson River Fruit
Hudson River Fruit is a 4th generation, family owned and operated apple grower, packer and shipper in New York. They have been in business for over 54 years and are widely recognized as an industry leading apple supplier. They grow over 21 different varieties and ship over 2 million boxes of fresh apples yearly.
Hudson River Fruit Distributors was established on July 12, 1963, by Isadore “Izzy” Albinder and his son Harold Albinder.
Izzy first entered the apple business back in 1932, after emmigrating from Russia. He saw an opportunity to broker apples, so he bought a pushcart and sold apples in the neighborhood streets of Brooklyn, New York. A time came that Izzy had trouble finding apples of high enough quality. He decided to venture up to the Hudson Valley, and began fostering relationships with apple growers, some of whom we still work with today
by Giumarra Companies
LOS ANGELES – Giumarra announces it will be working with Bengala Agrícola to offer a 12-month supply of premium-quality golden Columbian pineapples grown in Valle de Cauca.
First shipments will arrive Sep. 4. Fruit will arrive on the East Coast via the Ports of New York and Philadelphia, and on the West Coast via the Port of Long Beach.
“Our grower Bengala is offering the only certified Costa Rican MD2 golden pineapple seed planted in Colombia,” says Tom Richardson, V.P. Global Development for Giumarra. “Our customers can trust the quality will be excellent and deliver a superior eating experience to consumers.”
The pineapples will be available in single-layer cartons of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 counts.
“Giumarra Wenatchee is excited to offer this specialty, high-value item to our North American customers every week throughout the year,” says Jason Bushong, Division Manager. “Valle de Cauca’s lower rainfall rate results in consistent pineapple availability year-round.”
Bengala Agrícola farms 700 hectares, or more than 1,700 acres, of golden pineapples. The grower holds certifications from GlobalGAP, ICA, and BASC (Business Alliance for Secure Commerce).
About the Giumarra Companies
The Giumarra Companies is a leading international network of fresh produce growers, distributors, and marketers that encompasses a world of freshness. Since its inception in 1922, the Giumarra group of companies has taken pride in a longstanding commitment and tradition of quality, service, and industry leadership to feed the world in a healthy way.
The Nature’s Partner brand represents the core of what we do: a partnership with our people, customers, growers, and the land and its fruits. Products packed under the Nature’s Partner label represent some of the highest-quality fruits and vegetables in the marketplace, having met strict standards for food safety, quality control, and flavor. The Nature’s Partner Brand Promise:
“We are committed to the people we work with and those we serve.
Very simply, we look to provide the best service and improve upon it every day.”
Organically grown table grape production continues to increase in popularity, according to growers in California who are experiencing significant increases in volume.
For example Anthony Vineyards of Bakersfield reports 80 percent of its San Joaquin Valley table grape crop now is organic, and is expected to eventually make up 100 percent of the company’s valley production. Anthony Vineyard began shipping organic grapes about 2005 after acquiring an organic ranch. The operation now has at least a dozen organic grape varieties.
Homegrown Organic Farms of Porterville is developing and growing its organic grape program. While the company grows and ships some traditional varieties it also handles new ones such as the as Ivory and Kelly. The newer varieties tend to size well and offer lots of crunch and flavor.
Top Brass Marketing Inc., of Bakersfield has about 15 percent of its grape acreage in organics with all of its varieties continuing to grow in popularity. experiencing double digit growth annually. Growing organically is a more complex process than growing conventionally, and yields typically are less, requiring growers to charge a premium for their fruit.
Farming operations each year seek to learn new ways of increasing yields and using new organic supplements to treat the fields for pests.
Sunview Marketing International of Delano is one of California’s largest grower-shippers of organic grapes, which are grown exclusively in the San Joaquin Valley. This seaon, the company is shipping Rosa Seedless, scarlet royal, Magenta, Timco and crimson red varieties and sugraone, Stella Bella, princess, Great Green, thompson and autumn king green varieties. There also are black grapes including summer royal and black seedless.
Environmental efforts that use less energy and often more cost efficient are common with organic growing. For example, Top Brass has five acres of solar panels to run its cold storage facilities and recently contracted to add Tesla batteries to enhance that renewable resource even more.
By The Mushroom Council
Sturgis, S.D. – The Mushroom Council took on a new frontier of burger lovers last week when it served The Blend to hundreds of bikers attending the 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
“It’s the best burger I’ve had all week,” was the familiar refrain offered up by bikers who stepped off Sturgis’ Main Street drag to sample a 70/30 meat-mushroom blend on August 10th, at a fundraiser for the Sturgis Museum and Hall of Fame. The event was hosted by Thunder Press magazine as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.
Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council, helped serve the blended burgers and interacted with attendees.
“I wanted to know first-hand how blended burgers would be accepted by meat eaters and burger fans who hold nothing back in their opinions,” said Minor. “It’s safe to say we’ve recruited hundreds of new Blenditarians – they gave it resounding accolades and came back for seconds. The event was an excellent demonstration of The Blend’s universal appeal.”
For recipes and inspiration, visit www.Blenditarian.com.
About The Mushroom Council
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Many parents struggle with their kids’ eating habits and obesity. What if more kids actually wanted to consume fruits and vegetables? A New York startup believes it will make that happen.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Vedge’ Kids, LLC Phase 1 of a 2 Phase $1.1 million grant to conduct research on the effectiveness of its produce-centric TV show and curriculum in the fight against childhood obesity. Childhood obesity continues to be a serious health concern in the U.S. Total societal costs are estimated at over 100 billion dollars annually.
The Vedge’ Kids show, which features animated fruits and vegetables as superheroes, aims to inspire and motivate children to eat healthy. The show is unique in that it is entertainment driven not preachy, flat or didactic.
“We’re extremely pleased to have worked with the USDA to reach this milestone,” said Rob Orchanian, President of Vedge’ Kids. “The individuals at the USDA are dedicated, professional and forward thinking. Their action confirms our proof of concept and our team’s dedication. Our goal is to improve the health of all our children by promoting the eating of fruits and veggies.
Our method has been to tear a page from the marketing book of junk food companies. Eating fruits and veggies is fun, exciting. They taste great too! We will make sure that little kids and their mommies know that and live that.”
Orchanian went on to say, “The Vedge’ Kids show is the cornerstone of a commercial enterprise. We firmly believe that the shows popular appeal will support a national TV broadcast. We expect this grant will be the 1st of a series of grants and investments that will move us firmly into profitability within the next 2 to 5 years.”
Research will be done in conjunction with the University of Maryland. The University has advised programs offered through Sesame Workshop and PBS.
Vedge’ Kids LLC, headquartered in the greater NYC metropolitan area, is also the publisher of several nutrition-focused children’s books. More information on the company can be found at www.vedgekids.com
The Central Minnesota potato season kicks off the upper Midwest potato season each year and demand for trucks has been strong this year.
The season started July 24th with red potatoes out of Big Lake, MN as well as Long Prairie, MN although in most years Long Prairie gets underway a week to 10 days later. The two areas only have five or six major shippers, but they will load 4000 to 4100 trucks in roughly a six-week period. The season starts winding down after Labor Day. Central Minnesota russet shipments just started late last week.
The DeChene Corporation of Big Lake has finished its season, while Peterson Bros. River Valley Farms Inc. of Long Prairie should be finished by Labor Day. John Petron of Long Prairie should wrap up its season no later than the third week of September.
A few shippers in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota also market and ship potatoes from Big Lake and Long Prairie. While Big Lake and Long Prairie have wash plants, there are no storage facilities so they wash, pack and ship as much product as possible directly from there.
Some Red River Valley potato shippers, such as NoKota Packers Inc., of Buxton, ND ,which has both wash, packing and storage facilities handles early season spuds from Minnesota until the valley gets going. NoKota, which is one of the valley’s largest red potato shippers already had 44 truckloads of potatoes sold yesterday for this week (August 28 – September 1) that were grown in Central Minnesota.
A primary reason truck supplies can be in short supply, whether it’s Central Minnesota or the valley is the lack of freight to haul in into those potato producing areas.
NoKota Packers plans to get started with valley potatoes by September 11th. The valley’s largest shipper, Associated Potato Growers Inc. of Grand Forks, ND is hoping to get its season under by September 18th.
While shippers have been scrambling to get enough trucks this season out of Central Minnesota, load board service DAT recently reported a critical truck shortage occurred on August 16th out of Central Minnesota. It pointed out there were 23.4 loads of potatoes available for each truck posted! DAT reported at that time rates from St. Cloud, MN (which is 57 miles Southeast of Long Prairie and 27 miles northwest of Big Lake) were $3171 to Atlanta and $2652 to Dallas.
Yesterday NoKota Packers reported rates at about $3600 to Plant City, FL and $2800 to San Antonio.
Idaho farmers are ramping up to start harvesting potatoes soon. Plus, an updated report on how Michigan apple shipments will be in the wake of that spring freeze.
The 2017 Idaho potato harvest commences with days coming off of 308,000 acres. Over 700 farmers will be preparing to dig about 13 billion pounds of potatoes in a short six-week window.
This year’s crop, which will produce approximately one-third of all potatoes shipped in the United States, will contribute more than $4.5 billion to Idaho’s economy and provide more than 30,000 jobs. Idaho potato shipments are easily the largest volume in the country. Heres some more interesting facts:
When fall potatoes are harvested, approximately 62 percent will be used as processed products; 29 percent will be sold as fresh potatoes to retailers and foodservice operators; and 9 percent are grown for certified seed
- More than 25 potato varieties are grown in Idaho
- The average American eats about 113 pounds of potatoes each year
- Idaho potatoes are certified by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy food
- A 5.3-ounce potato provides 110 calories, 45 percent daily value of vitamin C, nearly twice the potassium of a banana, three grams of fiber, and are fat-, sodium-, cholesterol- and gluten-free.
- The potato is the world’s fourth-largest food crop.
- At a White House dinner in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was the first person to serve French fries in the United States
- New York consumes more Idaho potatoes than any other state, followed by Ohio, Florida and Texas
- The first potato was grown in Peru between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Michigan Apple Shipments
Following a hard frost on May 8-9 apple buds were damaged in certain Michigan production areas. However, opinions vary on how much fresh apple shipments will be affected this season..
Still, the majority opinion sees volume at about 75 to 80 of normal. In 2017 there was a huge crop that totaled 30 million bushels. Another difference this season will be timing. Crops of 2015 and 2016 were about three weeks earlier than normal. This season, the harvest and shipments will start on a more normal pattern, any day now with the Sweet Tango, Gala and McIntosh varieties.
The Ridge, which produces the majority of Michigan’s fresh apples, fared a little better, which is why the crop is not down more. The northern part of the state pretty much will have a full crop. Southern Michigan growers may be off 20 to 30 percent.
Northwest potato shipments from the Skagit Valley should be good this season. At the same time imports of Peruvian onions are looking favorable for American ports.
Skagit Valley Potato Shipments
The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington. According to Wikipedia, its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities including the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Sedro-Wooley, Concrete, Lyman-Hamilton and Burlington.
There are about 90,000 acres of land devoted to agriculture, which has long been the primary industry in the Skagit Valley of the Cascade Mountain Range. Farmers produce some $300 million in a variety of crops that include potatoes, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers and the iconic tulips and daffodils as well as livestock and dairy products.
The Skagit Valley grows over 80 crops on 93,000 acres annually, including” some 300 million pounds of red, yellow and white potatoes. Additionally, about 95 percent of the red potatoes grown in Washington state are grown in the Skagit Valley. The acreage is used to produce mostly fresh market reds, whites, yellows, purple, fingerlings and some chipping potatoes.
About 12,000 acres of potatoes are now grown in Skagit County, a number that has remained constant for the last year of available records, 2015.
Harvest is just getting underway and good volume shipments are seen starting around Labor Day.
Peruvian Onion Imports
Last year Peru exported about 3,500 containers representing nearly 108,000 tons to the United States, with similar volume expected this season, which begins in a couple of months.
Peru has 6000 to 7200 acres of sweet onions with the main production areas being Ica, Norte Chico de Lima, and Arequipa.
Peru imported sweet onions get underway as the Vidalia sweet onion storage program is winding down. Some U.S. onion companies have partnered with local Peruvian growers. Volume is growing each season by about 5 to 7 percent. About 85 percent of Peruvian onion exports are coming to the United States, arriving mostly by boat at ports on both the east and west coasts.
An agreement between the U.S. and Columbia is resulting in hass avocado imports. Meanwhile, a new refrigerated container is coming from Maersk.
Cartagena – The United States has given the green light for hass avocados to be imported from Colombia.
“Today I announce that the United States has reached an agreement for Colombia’s avocado hass to enter the US market. I want to congratulate you President (Juan Manuel) Santos and his Government, “said Vice President Mike Pence during the press conference following his bilateral meeting with President Santos during his official visit to Colombia.
Pence highlighted the progress of the Trade Agreement which he said has created jobs and opportunities in both nations.
This approval by the United States is a process in which the country has worked for more than 10 years and finally the admissibility was achieved to this destination.
“The United States is a market with a lot of potential that in 2016 imported about 2 billion pounds, almost 90 percent was bought from Mexico. So it is an opportunity that opens for Colombian producers, “said Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Claudia Lacouture.
The opening of the United States could mean for producers and exporters of avocado hass, doubling the exports that Colombia is making today to the world, which reached US $ 25.2 million as of June this year. Everything was sold to Europe.
“Europe is only half the US market, so opening up the latter destination means that exports could double. And we must have a high sense of responsibility to produce and sell with high quality standards, to safeguard the good image of this product, “said Jorge Alberto Uribe, representative of the firm Fruty Green.
New Refrigerated Container
Maersk Container Industry is introducing An energy meter with its Star Cool refrigerated containers is being introduced by Maersk Container Industry.
The new feature will monitor energy consumption during transportation, by land or sea. Star Cool reefers can now log energy consumption in real time, which can be monitored via a modem or manually.
“Taking our 270,000 reefer containers online has provided significant operational cost savings and will give our customers unprecedented visibility into their cargo during transport, enabling better planning across their supply chains,” said Catja Hjorth Rasmussen, head of equipment excellence at Tinglev, Denmark-based Maersk Line, said in a news release. “Being able to accurately track the energy consumption of individual Star Cool reefer containers is a valuable add on for us.”
The new energy meter means operators will not need third-party devices to capture energy data.
Favorable weather across much of the United States is resulting in good loading opportunities for pumpkins and other fall items. Meanwhile an update on California grape shipments shows the best is yet to come.
Pumpkins are grown in almost every state and shippers in most areas see a good crop of pumpkins and hard squash for the upcoming season. Since these items are grown in so many states, most loads are regional or local.
While pumpkins are an American Halloween tradition, good volume typically occurs after after October 31st. Pumpkin shipments typically are brisk following Halloween as Americans prepare for Thanksgiving.
For example, Frey Farms in Keenes, Ill., started shipping its fall pumpkins the last week of August. Besides regular pumpkins, the company sells painted pumpkins as an in-and-out item and pumpkin tattoo kits – food-safe transfers that enable consumers to “paint” a pumpkin in a minute.
Van Groningen & Sons Inc. Manteca, CA starts shipping pumpkin and ornamentals around Labor Day.
Todd Greiner Farms of Hart, MI began shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals in late August.
Jackson Melons Inc., of Henderson, TX will start shipping carving pumpkins right after Labor Day.
Pumpkin Pyle of Floydada, TX is shipping pumpkins, squash and ornamentals, which will continue through until about October 20th.
California Grape Shipments
The California table grape shipments continues through the summers and by season’s end at the end of the year, maybe January, is projected at 111.4 million 19-pound boxes.
California grape shippers loaded 108.9 million 19-pound box equivalents, about 40 percent of which was moved from May through August. With the end of August, 60 percent of the overall crop had been shipped in 2016, but the season should last into January.
Over 85 varieties are grown in California, with the leading varieties being scarlet royal, autumn king, flame seedless, crimson seedless and sugraone. About 93 percent of the state’s grapes are seedless.
With California grape crop in 2016, 36 percent of the fruit was exported, mostly to Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.
By Hudson River Fruit Distributors
Hudson River Fruit Distributors is excited to announce its brand new, high graphic, apple display bin. The bin is the latest addition to Hudson River Fruits expanding packaging lineup that aims to utilize apples in many different ways, while bringing the farm fresh feel to your stores!
The bin displays a hi definition photo of one of the farms owned by Hudson River Fruit, and highlights the locally grown and family farmed aspects in the forefront. The side of the bin features a metal plaque “mounted” onto wooden planks, which contains a quote from co-founder and owner Harold Albinder, about the company, as well as, the history and tradition of Apples grown in New York State.
“We are very excited to launch this marketing tool to help our customers bring the farm to their stores this fall. The display bin can be used to display local loose apples, tote’s, poly bags or our 2LB Lil Chief bags.” Says Pat Ferrara, Sales Director at Hudson River Fruit Distributions, ” We are excited to share our story and products with customers at store level.”
About Hudson River Fruit
Hudson River Fruit is a 4th generation, family owned and operated apple grower, packer and shipper in New York. They have been in business for over 54 years and are widely recognized as an industry leading apple supplier. They grow over 21 different varieties and ship over 2 million boxes of fresh apples yearly.
Hudson River Fruit Distributors was established on July 12, 1963, by Isadore “Izzy” Albinder and his son Harold Albinder.
Izzy first entered the apple business back in 1932, after emmigrating from Russia. He saw an opportunity to broker apples, so he bought a pushcart and sold apples in the neighborhood streets of Brooklyn, New York. A time came that Izzy had trouble finding apples of high enough quality. He decided to venture up to the Hudson Valley, and began fostering relationships with apple growers, some of whom we still work with today
by Giumarra Companies
LOS ANGELES – Giumarra announces it will be working with Bengala Agrícola to offer a 12-month supply of premium-quality golden Columbian pineapples grown in Valle de Cauca.
First shipments will arrive Sep. 4. Fruit will arrive on the East Coast via the Ports of New York and Philadelphia, and on the West Coast via the Port of Long Beach.
“Our grower Bengala is offering the only certified Costa Rican MD2 golden pineapple seed planted in Colombia,” says Tom Richardson, V.P. Global Development for Giumarra. “Our customers can trust the quality will be excellent and deliver a superior eating experience to consumers.”
The pineapples will be available in single-layer cartons of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 counts.
“Giumarra Wenatchee is excited to offer this specialty, high-value item to our North American customers every week throughout the year,” says Jason Bushong, Division Manager. “Valle de Cauca’s lower rainfall rate results in consistent pineapple availability year-round.”
Bengala Agrícola farms 700 hectares, or more than 1,700 acres, of golden pineapples. The grower holds certifications from GlobalGAP, ICA, and BASC (Business Alliance for Secure Commerce).
About the Giumarra Companies
The Giumarra Companies is a leading international network of fresh produce growers, distributors, and marketers that encompasses a world of freshness. Since its inception in 1922, the Giumarra group of companies has taken pride in a longstanding commitment and tradition of quality, service, and industry leadership to feed the world in a healthy way.
The Nature’s Partner brand represents the core of what we do: a partnership with our people, customers, growers, and the land and its fruits. Products packed under the Nature’s Partner label represent some of the highest-quality fruits and vegetables in the marketplace, having met strict standards for food safety, quality control, and flavor. The Nature’s Partner Brand Promise:
“We are committed to the people we work with and those we serve.
Very simply, we look to provide the best service and improve upon it every day.”
Organically grown table grape production continues to increase in popularity, according to growers in California who are experiencing significant increases in volume.
For example Anthony Vineyards of Bakersfield reports 80 percent of its San Joaquin Valley table grape crop now is organic, and is expected to eventually make up 100 percent of the company’s valley production. Anthony Vineyard began shipping organic grapes about 2005 after acquiring an organic ranch. The operation now has at least a dozen organic grape varieties.
Homegrown Organic Farms of Porterville is developing and growing its organic grape program. While the company grows and ships some traditional varieties it also handles new ones such as the as Ivory and Kelly. The newer varieties tend to size well and offer lots of crunch and flavor.
Top Brass Marketing Inc., of Bakersfield has about 15 percent of its grape acreage in organics with all of its varieties continuing to grow in popularity. experiencing double digit growth annually. Growing organically is a more complex process than growing conventionally, and yields typically are less, requiring growers to charge a premium for their fruit.
Farming operations each year seek to learn new ways of increasing yields and using new organic supplements to treat the fields for pests.
Sunview Marketing International of Delano is one of California’s largest grower-shippers of organic grapes, which are grown exclusively in the San Joaquin Valley. This seaon, the company is shipping Rosa Seedless, scarlet royal, Magenta, Timco and crimson red varieties and sugraone, Stella Bella, princess, Great Green, thompson and autumn king green varieties. There also are black grapes including summer royal and black seedless.
Environmental efforts that use less energy and often more cost efficient are common with organic growing. For example, Top Brass has five acres of solar panels to run its cold storage facilities and recently contracted to add Tesla batteries to enhance that renewable resource even more.
By The Mushroom Council
Sturgis, S.D. – The Mushroom Council took on a new frontier of burger lovers last week when it served The Blend to hundreds of bikers attending the 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
“It’s the best burger I’ve had all week,” was the familiar refrain offered up by bikers who stepped off Sturgis’ Main Street drag to sample a 70/30 meat-mushroom blend on August 10th, at a fundraiser for the Sturgis Museum and Hall of Fame. The event was hosted by Thunder Press magazine as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.
Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council, helped serve the blended burgers and interacted with attendees.
“I wanted to know first-hand how blended burgers would be accepted by meat eaters and burger fans who hold nothing back in their opinions,” said Minor. “It’s safe to say we’ve recruited hundreds of new Blenditarians – they gave it resounding accolades and came back for seconds. The event was an excellent demonstration of The Blend’s universal appeal.”
For recipes and inspiration, visit www.Blenditarian.com.
About The Mushroom Council
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Many parents struggle with their kids’ eating habits and obesity. What if more kids actually wanted to consume fruits and vegetables? A New York startup believes it will make that happen.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Vedge’ Kids, LLC Phase 1 of a 2 Phase $1.1 million grant to conduct research on the effectiveness of its produce-centric TV show and curriculum in the fight against childhood obesity. Childhood obesity continues to be a serious health concern in the U.S. Total societal costs are estimated at over 100 billion dollars annually.
The Vedge’ Kids show, which features animated fruits and vegetables as superheroes, aims to inspire and motivate children to eat healthy. The show is unique in that it is entertainment driven not preachy, flat or didactic.
“We’re extremely pleased to have worked with the USDA to reach this milestone,” said Rob Orchanian, President of Vedge’ Kids. “The individuals at the USDA are dedicated, professional and forward thinking. Their action confirms our proof of concept and our team’s dedication. Our goal is to improve the health of all our children by promoting the eating of fruits and veggies.
Our method has been to tear a page from the marketing book of junk food companies. Eating fruits and veggies is fun, exciting. They taste great too! We will make sure that little kids and their mommies know that and live that.”
Orchanian went on to say, “The Vedge’ Kids show is the cornerstone of a commercial enterprise. We firmly believe that the shows popular appeal will support a national TV broadcast. We expect this grant will be the 1st of a series of grants and investments that will move us firmly into profitability within the next 2 to 5 years.”
Research will be done in conjunction with the University of Maryland. The University has advised programs offered through Sesame Workshop and PBS.
Vedge’ Kids LLC, headquartered in the greater NYC metropolitan area, is also the publisher of several nutrition-focused children’s books. More information on the company can be found at www.vedgekids.com
The Central Minnesota potato season kicks off the upper Midwest potato season each year and demand for trucks has been strong this year.
The season started July 24th with red potatoes out of Big Lake, MN as well as Long Prairie, MN although in most years Long Prairie gets underway a week to 10 days later. The two areas only have five or six major shippers, but they will load 4000 to 4100 trucks in roughly a six-week period. The season starts winding down after Labor Day. Central Minnesota russet shipments just started late last week.
The DeChene Corporation of Big Lake has finished its season, while Peterson Bros. River Valley Farms Inc. of Long Prairie should be finished by Labor Day. John Petron of Long Prairie should wrap up its season no later than the third week of September.
A few shippers in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota also market and ship potatoes from Big Lake and Long Prairie. While Big Lake and Long Prairie have wash plants, there are no storage facilities so they wash, pack and ship as much product as possible directly from there.
Some Red River Valley potato shippers, such as NoKota Packers Inc., of Buxton, ND ,which has both wash, packing and storage facilities handles early season spuds from Minnesota until the valley gets going. NoKota, which is one of the valley’s largest red potato shippers already had 44 truckloads of potatoes sold yesterday for this week (August 28 – September 1) that were grown in Central Minnesota.
A primary reason truck supplies can be in short supply, whether it’s Central Minnesota or the valley is the lack of freight to haul in into those potato producing areas.
NoKota Packers plans to get started with valley potatoes by September 11th. The valley’s largest shipper, Associated Potato Growers Inc. of Grand Forks, ND is hoping to get its season under by September 18th.
While shippers have been scrambling to get enough trucks this season out of Central Minnesota, load board service DAT recently reported a critical truck shortage occurred on August 16th out of Central Minnesota. It pointed out there were 23.4 loads of potatoes available for each truck posted! DAT reported at that time rates from St. Cloud, MN (which is 57 miles Southeast of Long Prairie and 27 miles northwest of Big Lake) were $3171 to Atlanta and $2652 to Dallas.
Yesterday NoKota Packers reported rates at about $3600 to Plant City, FL and $2800 to San Antonio.
Idaho farmers are ramping up to start harvesting potatoes soon. Plus, an updated report on how Michigan apple shipments will be in the wake of that spring freeze.
The 2017 Idaho potato harvest commences with days coming off of 308,000 acres. Over 700 farmers will be preparing to dig about 13 billion pounds of potatoes in a short six-week window.
This year’s crop, which will produce approximately one-third of all potatoes shipped in the United States, will contribute more than $4.5 billion to Idaho’s economy and provide more than 30,000 jobs. Idaho potato shipments are easily the largest volume in the country. Heres some more interesting facts:
When fall potatoes are harvested, approximately 62 percent will be used as processed products; 29 percent will be sold as fresh potatoes to retailers and foodservice operators; and 9 percent are grown for certified seed
- More than 25 potato varieties are grown in Idaho
- The average American eats about 113 pounds of potatoes each year
- Idaho potatoes are certified by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy food
- A 5.3-ounce potato provides 110 calories, 45 percent daily value of vitamin C, nearly twice the potassium of a banana, three grams of fiber, and are fat-, sodium-, cholesterol- and gluten-free.
- The potato is the world’s fourth-largest food crop.
- At a White House dinner in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was the first person to serve French fries in the United States
- New York consumes more Idaho potatoes than any other state, followed by Ohio, Florida and Texas
- The first potato was grown in Peru between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Michigan Apple Shipments
Following a hard frost on May 8-9 apple buds were damaged in certain Michigan production areas. However, opinions vary on how much fresh apple shipments will be affected this season..
Still, the majority opinion sees volume at about 75 to 80 of normal. In 2017 there was a huge crop that totaled 30 million bushels. Another difference this season will be timing. Crops of 2015 and 2016 were about three weeks earlier than normal. This season, the harvest and shipments will start on a more normal pattern, any day now with the Sweet Tango, Gala and McIntosh varieties.
The Ridge, which produces the majority of Michigan’s fresh apples, fared a little better, which is why the crop is not down more. The northern part of the state pretty much will have a full crop. Southern Michigan growers may be off 20 to 30 percent.
Northwest potato shipments from the Skagit Valley should be good this season. At the same time imports of Peruvian onions are looking favorable for American ports.
Skagit Valley Potato Shipments
The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington. According to Wikipedia, its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities including the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Sedro-Wooley, Concrete, Lyman-Hamilton and Burlington.
There are about 90,000 acres of land devoted to agriculture, which has long been the primary industry in the Skagit Valley of the Cascade Mountain Range. Farmers produce some $300 million in a variety of crops that include potatoes, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers and the iconic tulips and daffodils as well as livestock and dairy products.
The Skagit Valley grows over 80 crops on 93,000 acres annually, including” some 300 million pounds of red, yellow and white potatoes. Additionally, about 95 percent of the red potatoes grown in Washington state are grown in the Skagit Valley. The acreage is used to produce mostly fresh market reds, whites, yellows, purple, fingerlings and some chipping potatoes.
About 12,000 acres of potatoes are now grown in Skagit County, a number that has remained constant for the last year of available records, 2015.
Harvest is just getting underway and good volume shipments are seen starting around Labor Day.
Peruvian Onion Imports
Last year Peru exported about 3,500 containers representing nearly 108,000 tons to the United States, with similar volume expected this season, which begins in a couple of months.
Peru has 6000 to 7200 acres of sweet onions with the main production areas being Ica, Norte Chico de Lima, and Arequipa.
Peru imported sweet onions get underway as the Vidalia sweet onion storage program is winding down. Some U.S. onion companies have partnered with local Peruvian growers. Volume is growing each season by about 5 to 7 percent. About 85 percent of Peruvian onion exports are coming to the United States, arriving mostly by boat at ports on both the east and west coasts.
An agreement between the U.S. and Columbia is resulting in hass avocado imports. Meanwhile, a new refrigerated container is coming from Maersk.
Cartagena – The United States has given the green light for hass avocados to be imported from Colombia.
“Today I announce that the United States has reached an agreement for Colombia’s avocado hass to enter the US market. I want to congratulate you President (Juan Manuel) Santos and his Government, “said Vice President Mike Pence during the press conference following his bilateral meeting with President Santos during his official visit to Colombia.
Pence highlighted the progress of the Trade Agreement which he said has created jobs and opportunities in both nations.
This approval by the United States is a process in which the country has worked for more than 10 years and finally the admissibility was achieved to this destination.
“The United States is a market with a lot of potential that in 2016 imported about 2 billion pounds, almost 90 percent was bought from Mexico. So it is an opportunity that opens for Colombian producers, “said Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Claudia Lacouture.
The opening of the United States could mean for producers and exporters of avocado hass, doubling the exports that Colombia is making today to the world, which reached US $ 25.2 million as of June this year. Everything was sold to Europe.
“Europe is only half the US market, so opening up the latter destination means that exports could double. And we must have a high sense of responsibility to produce and sell with high quality standards, to safeguard the good image of this product, “said Jorge Alberto Uribe, representative of the firm Fruty Green.
New Refrigerated Container
Maersk Container Industry is introducing An energy meter with its Star Cool refrigerated containers is being introduced by Maersk Container Industry.
The new feature will monitor energy consumption during transportation, by land or sea. Star Cool reefers can now log energy consumption in real time, which can be monitored via a modem or manually.
“Taking our 270,000 reefer containers online has provided significant operational cost savings and will give our customers unprecedented visibility into their cargo during transport, enabling better planning across their supply chains,” said Catja Hjorth Rasmussen, head of equipment excellence at Tinglev, Denmark-based Maersk Line, said in a news release. “Being able to accurately track the energy consumption of individual Star Cool reefer containers is a valuable add on for us.”
The new energy meter means operators will not need third-party devices to capture energy data.