Author Archive
Hunts Point Wholesale Produce Market is the largest produce terminal in the world, moving 3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables from 55 countries and 49 states through its stalls each year. The 113-acre complex has more than 1 million-square-feet of shop and storage space, houses 42 merchants, employs 10,000 people, and generates $2.4 billion in sales annually.
Hunts Point, located in the South Bronx, serves New York City and the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), bringing fresh produce to an ethnically diverse population of more than 23 million. The terminal facility sells to retailers, secondary wholesalers, restaurants, and other foodservice outfits.
For over 10 years Hunts Point has faced a challenge due to operating in a 1960s-era facility that’s both in need of repair and has been outgrown.
Storage is limited, and the layout was built for smaller trucks than today’s 53-foot trailers. Infrastructure (including electrical needs) is inadequate, and the cold chain is a challenge. Over the past several years, there’s been questions, if rebuilt, is there enough room on the existing campus to accommodate a new market that will last the next 50-plus years.
PRODUCE FREIGHT RATES
A combination of fewer trucks due to the economy reducing the number of owner-operators and carriers, plus fuel costs led to what wholesalers claim were record freight rates last summer.
“Freight has been very rough,” says Hunts Point wholesaler Jim Hunt. “Up until July Fourth, freight out of California to New York was astronomical, in the $8,500 to $9,000 range. Also, trucks were hard to come by, and this is something we will have to deal with going forward.”
“It gets broken down as a function of the delivered cost,” explains Hunt. Hypothetically, if freight is $8,000 or $9,000 for a 20-pallet truck, the f.o.b. price is $5 per box. And if the freight is another $5, this puts the merchant in at $10. “If you’re trying to make 15 percent, you have to gun for $12 and fall short at $11,” he said.
“If freight were to continue to go up the way it has, it would be unsustainable for the produce industry,” concedes wholesaler Matthew D’Arrigo. “But the beauty of our industry is that we don’t have government regulations setting freight rates; we have the laws of supply and demand.
By American Pistachio Association
FRESNO, Calif. —According to a long-term women’s health study recently published, women in the study who ate a one-ounce serving of tree nuts two or more times a week had a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those studied who did not include nuts in their diet. This is the first study to measure the association between pancreatic cancer risk and nut consumption. Pistachios were among the tree nuts included in the study.
More than 75,600 women were followed in the widely-recognized Nurses’ Health Study. It shows that those who consumed a 28-g (1 oz.) serving of nuts two or more times per week, significantly reduced their risk of developing pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause for cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
Results of this large prospective cohort study can be found online in the British Journal of Cancer. The lead author is Ying Bao, MD, ScD, from the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Dr. Bao states these results were independent of established or suspected risk factors for pancreatic cancer including age, height, obesity, physical activity, smoking, diabetes and dietary factors. Also, participants could have no previous history of cancer.
In addition to pistachios, the nuts consumed by the women in the nurses study included almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts and walnuts. Documentation began in 1980 with follow up every four years through 2010. The study also showed that women with more frequent nut consumption were generally leaner, more likely to exercise, and less likely to smoke. Earlier studies have linked tree nut consumption to a reduced risk for diabetes.
The long-running Nurses’ Health Study was funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health. This study specifically examining the association between tree nut consumption and pancreatic cancer was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation. It was also supported in part by a micro-grant from the Biomedical Research Institute at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. State cancer registries also helped with the study. The sponsors did not participate in the design and analysis or any other parts of the study or approval of the manuscript.
Pistachio Facts
Pistachios are nutrient rich and full of antioxidants, vitamins, protein and fiber. A one-ounce serving of pistachios equals 49 nuts, more per serving than any other snack nut. They are cholesterol free and contain just 1.5 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of fat per serving, the majority of which comes from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. In addition, they contain a significant amount of potassium, 300-mg per serving.
About American Pistachio Growers
American Pistachio Growers (APG) is a non-profit voluntary agricultural trade association representing more than 550 grower members in California, Arizona and New Mexico. APG is governed by a democratically-elected board of directors and is funded entirely by growers and independent processors with the shared goal of increasing global awareness of nutritious American-grown pistachios. American pistachios are the “Official Snack” of USA Water Polo, big mountain snowboarder and 2013 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Jeremy Jones, British pro cyclist Mark Cavendish and Miss California. For more information, visit AmericanPistachios.org.
Consumption of wild blueberries can help blood vessel function and health, according to new research conducted by European researchers.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in a study supported by the Alpro Foundation Grant and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, published the report last September.
The Wild Blueberry Association of North America in Portland, ME donated blueberry test materials (typically freeze dried powder of whole blueberries) for the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Reading in Reading, United Kingdom, University Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany, and the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
The findings are the first to link wild blueberry polyphenols, natural compounds that are present in goods volume in wild blueberries, to improvements in vascular function in healthy men, according to a news release from the WBANA.
“Importantly, even the lowest amount of wild blueberries tested in the study, equivalent to 3/4 cup of wild blueberries, was able to improve endothelial function, which is an amount easy to incorporate into a daily diet,” Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, from the Division of Cardiology, Pulmunology and Vascular Medicine at the University of Dusseldorf, said in the release.
“The simple message is eat your fruits and vegetables in all the colors,” said David Bell, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission. Bell said the research on health benefits may perhaps be true for cultivated blueberries, but researchers only studied wild blueberries.
Less than one percent of Maine’s wild blueberries are sold fresh, with nearly all the harvest frozen. Maine’s growers harvest about 86 million pounds of wild blueberries annually.
Bell said there are many more health studies “in the pipeline,” with more studies using clinical human trials and also delving into the “why” behind apparent health benefits.“What I think we are figuring out is that blueberries are up regulating some (positive) genes and down regulating other (negative) genes,” he said.
Here’s hoping each of you are able to spend Christmas with those closest to you. What a gift to be able to love and be loved.
When the folks are opening a Christmas gift this year, it most likely was delivered to your city or town by truck.
The DOT reports trucks moved 73.7 percent of the country’s freight in 2012, carrying $10 trillion worth of the country’s $13.6 trillion in freight.
The figuress come from the DOT’s recently released Commodity Flow Survey, which is done about every five years.
Trucks also carried 70 percent of the tonnage moved in 2012, hauling 8 billion of the 11.7 billion tons shipped last year.
The for-hire trucking industry carried $6.6 trillion in freight — 48.5 percent of the total — the CFS says, while private trucks hauled 25.2 percent, or $3.4 trillion.
Trucks were slightly edged by rail, though, in ton-miles last year, as rail moved 44.5 percent and trucking moved 38.1 percent. Ton-miles is a measurement of weight multiplied by distance shipped.
Over half of the total tonnage moved in 2012 went less than 50 miles, while shipments traveling fewer than 250 miles accounted for more than 60 percent.
The CFS is only conducted every five years, with the first coming in 1993, and the subsequent ones coming in 1997, 2002, 2007 and last year. Final data from the survey will be released in December 2014.
Meanwhile, consumers show remember that whether it is the Christms tree at the home, the toys under that tree, or the furniture, or produce and other food in the refrigerator, chances are it came by truck.
To HaulProduce.com subcribers, sponsors and others who visit this website, this is wishing you the best Christmas ever! God Bless.
— Bill Martin
There will be about 7 millions fewer boxes of Washington state apples shipped from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys this season, but it still should end up next August being the second largest crop of all time.
Last year’s record apple loadings hit 128.2 million fresh boxes, and is competing with larger New York and Michigan shipments, after devasting freezes hit those states in 2012.
As of December 1, 28 million boxes had been shipped compared to 31.5 million at the same time last year and 25.3 million two years ago. Loadings are still clipping along at 2.7 million boxes per week and should remain at that level into spring, possibly peaking around 3 million per week in January.
The crop’s current standing at 113.3 million boxes is up .1 percent from the November 1 storage report, down 5.5 percent from the August 1 forecast of 119.8 million boxes and pff 11.7 percent from the record 128.2-million-box 2012 crop.
Exports are down 10 percent from a year ago at 8.4 million boxes as of December 1 compared with 9.4 million at the same time in 2012 and 7.8 million in 2011.
Mexico and Canada are Washington’s largest apple export markets.
Mexico normally takes 10 million to 11 million boxes annually but hit 13.6 million last year. Canada averages 5 million to 6 million and last year took 6.35 million boxes.
Thus far this season, Canada is at 1.2 million boxes and Mexico is just getting started at 1 million
Washington state apples – grossing about $6700 to Orlando.
Florida always has light produce volume in the fall and the winter, but the Sunshine state’s produce loads has been even lighter this year. After a tumultuous fall which brought lighter shipments with central Florida’s tomatoes, volume is finally, a long last, picking up. Still, don’t expect spring like volumes.
Yet, the higher volume has actually led to some rate increases.
Florida tomato shipments out of Immokalee have been just okay in terms of quality, but apparently have looked pretty good compared to the early stuff out of the Palmetto-Ruskin area.
Heavy August and September rains stunted yields and certainly did not help the quality in the early fall. As late fall growing conditions become more favorable with moderated temperatures and lower humidity levels, volume and loading opportunties showed some improvement.
Fall tomato shipments yields were down 30 to 70 percent from normal depending on plantings, but the Palmetto-Ruskin region has been increasing.
The quality of the central Florida mature green tomatoes is reported good and Florida is now entering the time of year — early winter is when you should be hauling the best quality tomatoes that have been available in awhile.
Central Florida usually starts in early October with grape and cherry tomatoes and begins harvesting mature-greens by early November.
Central Florida freight rates have increased 10 to 15 percent to places such as New York, Philly and Boston due to increasing volume with tomatoes, strawberries out of Plant City and exisiting light production of veggies.
Central Florida produce – grossing about $3000 to New York City.
Produce shipments can be a crap shoot anytime of the year, but the odds certainly increase when trying to grow and ship perishable products in the wintertime. Sometimes you dodge the bullet, sometimes not. The proverbial bullet was dodged recently in the California and Arizona deserts, although some vegetables may have been grazed. But shipments are pretty much back to normal…At the end of the report is an update on the California citrus freeze.
Vegetable volumes out of the California and Arizona deserts are returning to normal after freezes in the first half of December. Record lows slowed growth across the board, but broccoli and cauliflower were hit the hardest.
Desert lettuce shipments are warmer in the Imperial Valley from such places as Holtville, compared to the Yuma district in Western Arizona.
Iceberg or head letttuc, as well as mixed leaf mostly escaped the freezing weather but cauliflower, broccoli, spring mix, arugula and other leaf items suffered a little bit with damage such as tip burn.
It is too early to get a handle on whether desert celery plantings and its resulting shipments will come off later than their typical early January start because of the December cold.
Whether we are talking Imperial Valley vegetable shipments, or Yuma vegetables shipments, it is particularly wise to keep an eye on the weather, and when you do load, make sure your receiver knows the quality of the product. Winter veggies tend to get beat up by Mother Nature and are not always pretty.
California Citrus Shipments
Early inspections of freeze-damaged citrus in California’s Kern County pegged mandarin orange and lemon losses at around 20 percent, and navel losses at less than 5 percent.
Still, the toll of a Dec. 4-10 cold snap remains unclear in Kern County and in Fresno and Tulare counties…..We’ll still ring in the New Year before we start getting a significant feel for how much California citrus shipments will be affected.
by Robert Orchanian
As an author and longtime educator, Robert Orchanian leaned heavily on his personal experiences when he came up with the idea for the VEDGE Kids project. The goal of the initiative, which stands for Vigorous, Educated and Good Eaters, is to instill healthy eating habits in children between the ages of two and five, and his book, titled The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way, Volume 1, encourages those healthy habits while teaching children the alphabet as they are having fun.
“I’m a father of five,” said Orchanian, “and VEDGE Kids is a reflection of how I raised five healthy children.” He explained that kids under five years of age are in a highly formative state, so they’re essentially metabolically programmed during that time to eat the food they will crave for the rest of their lives. Because that age is so important, Orchanian stressed that it’s essential to make eating fruits and vegetables a fun and tasty thing for children early on.
“We feel we needed a different approach to get kids to eat healthy, so we went for something that’s fun and entertaining, as opposed to something that’s fact-based,” said Orchanian. The ABC’s of Nutrition introduces each letter of the alphabet with a VEDGE’ Kid and a colorful illustration of a fruit or vegetable. Drawing on his experience as a teacher, Orchanian also focused very much on the details of each page of the book tailoring it to the learning needs of toddlers.
“We paid close attention to the sizing of letters and counters, for example, because toddlers and see letters and form words in a special way” said Orchanian. “We also spent a lot of time collaborating with our illustrator over the details of each of the VEDGE’ Kids so toddlers would be drawn to them. Andrew is extremely talented and is now a lead illustrator of Angry Birds. We wanted fun, color and energy and that’s what he gave us.” Orchanian is sure the book, which came out in September and is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, will set kids on the right path in terms of eating habits.
“The idea is to get children to eat healthy at the earliest possible age,” said Orchanian. “And we feel we have a unique approach to accomplish that with this book.”
On the business side, several online organic home delivery companies are now using Orchanian’s book as a premium. “Companies whose customer base is mommies, see The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy as a great way to say thank you during the holiday season. Moms want their kids to eat right and grow up healthy. The ABCs of Nutrition helps make the connection. Those companies see it as something that’s special and a lot more targeted than say a calendar. It’s a way for companies to distinguish themselves and build good will in a crowded market place.” Orchanian is also in early negotiations with one of those companies to license the VEDGE’ Kids. “Branding one’s product with recognizable cartoon characters is a sure win in the marketplace.” Orchanian says to stay tuned. “There’s a lot more to come!” You can see an electronic version of The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way, Volume 1 at: TheABCsofNutrition.com
Construction of a new wholesale produce market in San Antonio is scheduled to start in late December by Abasto Properties LLC of Mcllen, TX.
The project will be built in at least three phases, including a total of 200 warehouses. The first phase, consisting of 60 warehouses, should be finished by the end of 2014 or early in 2015.
The 80-acre site near the corner of Loop 410 and I-37 in south San Antonio will be about 3½ hours from McAllen.
San Antonio was selected because it can serve a large local and regional market that includes Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Marcos.
The market will feature mostly of small- and medium-sized warehouses operated by Mexican exporters desiring a presence in the market.
The facility will mostly handle imported Mexican product, but also will include some U.S. product destined for south of the border.
Among the San Antonio wholesale produce market features are:
- All warehouse units are 3,100 square feet with an additional 900-square-foot mezzanine for offices;
- All warehouses will be refrigerated;
- Each cold room can hold up to 156 pallets — about seven truckloads;
- Temperature in the loading areas will be controlled to ensure cold chain continuity;
- Each warehouse features a 450 square-foot covered dock;
- The project will feature extra-wide streets for easy truck maneuvering; and
- Each warehouse will have plenty of vehicle parking in front plus ample general parking for visitors and trucks.
San Antonio will differ from McAllen, which ships nearly all of its product out of state, in that about half of its product will be distributed locally or regionally.
Some of the tenants will be McAllen firms that are expanding their operations, while others will have their sole location in San Antonio.
U.S. potato shipments from the fall crop, which will be shipped well into next summer, is down 5 percent from 2012, but never fear, there are still plenty of spuds for hauling.
Idaho’s 2013 potato production is an estimated 132.9 million hundredweight (cwt) , down 6.3 percent from a year ago. In Washington, the crop is estimated at 96 million, up less than 1 percent. Wisconsin’s estimated potato production for the year is 27.9 million hundredweight, down 5.2 percent, and Oregon’s estimate is 21.6 million, down 5.9 percent. Colorado this year is down 1.5 percent to 20.3 million, and Michigan is up 5.4 percent to 16.8 million.
North Dakota’s 2013 potato crop will come in at 22.6 million cwt, down about 10.1 percent from last year. Some were forecasting shipments to be down more than double from last year.
Minnesota potato production dropped from 18.8 million hundredweight in 2012 to 17.5 million this year, a drop of just under 7 percent.
While Idaho potato shipments, and to a lesser extent, Washington state move a significant amount of tubers via the railroads, most shipping areas do not have access to rails. Most produce shipped by rail establish their shipping costs based on truck rates, and the rails tend to under cut those rates.
Meanwhile, trucks continue for the most part to deliver faster and better service, that includes providing a lot more flexibility.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – grossing about $3000 to Atlanta.
Idaho potatoes – about $5500 to New York City.
Hunts Point Wholesale Produce Market is the largest produce terminal in the world, moving 3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables from 55 countries and 49 states through its stalls each year. The 113-acre complex has more than 1 million-square-feet of shop and storage space, houses 42 merchants, employs 10,000 people, and generates $2.4 billion in sales annually.
Hunts Point, located in the South Bronx, serves New York City and the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), bringing fresh produce to an ethnically diverse population of more than 23 million. The terminal facility sells to retailers, secondary wholesalers, restaurants, and other foodservice outfits.
For over 10 years Hunts Point has faced a challenge due to operating in a 1960s-era facility that’s both in need of repair and has been outgrown.
Storage is limited, and the layout was built for smaller trucks than today’s 53-foot trailers. Infrastructure (including electrical needs) is inadequate, and the cold chain is a challenge. Over the past several years, there’s been questions, if rebuilt, is there enough room on the existing campus to accommodate a new market that will last the next 50-plus years.
PRODUCE FREIGHT RATES
A combination of fewer trucks due to the economy reducing the number of owner-operators and carriers, plus fuel costs led to what wholesalers claim were record freight rates last summer.
“Freight has been very rough,” says Hunts Point wholesaler Jim Hunt. “Up until July Fourth, freight out of California to New York was astronomical, in the $8,500 to $9,000 range. Also, trucks were hard to come by, and this is something we will have to deal with going forward.”
“It gets broken down as a function of the delivered cost,” explains Hunt. Hypothetically, if freight is $8,000 or $9,000 for a 20-pallet truck, the f.o.b. price is $5 per box. And if the freight is another $5, this puts the merchant in at $10. “If you’re trying to make 15 percent, you have to gun for $12 and fall short at $11,” he said.
“If freight were to continue to go up the way it has, it would be unsustainable for the produce industry,” concedes wholesaler Matthew D’Arrigo. “But the beauty of our industry is that we don’t have government regulations setting freight rates; we have the laws of supply and demand.
By American Pistachio Association
FRESNO, Calif. —According to a long-term women’s health study recently published, women in the study who ate a one-ounce serving of tree nuts two or more times a week had a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those studied who did not include nuts in their diet. This is the first study to measure the association between pancreatic cancer risk and nut consumption. Pistachios were among the tree nuts included in the study.
More than 75,600 women were followed in the widely-recognized Nurses’ Health Study. It shows that those who consumed a 28-g (1 oz.) serving of nuts two or more times per week, significantly reduced their risk of developing pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause for cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
Results of this large prospective cohort study can be found online in the British Journal of Cancer. The lead author is Ying Bao, MD, ScD, from the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Dr. Bao states these results were independent of established or suspected risk factors for pancreatic cancer including age, height, obesity, physical activity, smoking, diabetes and dietary factors. Also, participants could have no previous history of cancer.
In addition to pistachios, the nuts consumed by the women in the nurses study included almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts and walnuts. Documentation began in 1980 with follow up every four years through 2010. The study also showed that women with more frequent nut consumption were generally leaner, more likely to exercise, and less likely to smoke. Earlier studies have linked tree nut consumption to a reduced risk for diabetes.
The long-running Nurses’ Health Study was funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health. This study specifically examining the association between tree nut consumption and pancreatic cancer was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation. It was also supported in part by a micro-grant from the Biomedical Research Institute at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. State cancer registries also helped with the study. The sponsors did not participate in the design and analysis or any other parts of the study or approval of the manuscript.
Pistachio Facts
Pistachios are nutrient rich and full of antioxidants, vitamins, protein and fiber. A one-ounce serving of pistachios equals 49 nuts, more per serving than any other snack nut. They are cholesterol free and contain just 1.5 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of fat per serving, the majority of which comes from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. In addition, they contain a significant amount of potassium, 300-mg per serving.
About American Pistachio Growers
American Pistachio Growers (APG) is a non-profit voluntary agricultural trade association representing more than 550 grower members in California, Arizona and New Mexico. APG is governed by a democratically-elected board of directors and is funded entirely by growers and independent processors with the shared goal of increasing global awareness of nutritious American-grown pistachios. American pistachios are the “Official Snack” of USA Water Polo, big mountain snowboarder and 2013 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Jeremy Jones, British pro cyclist Mark Cavendish and Miss California. For more information, visit AmericanPistachios.org.
Consumption of wild blueberries can help blood vessel function and health, according to new research conducted by European researchers.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in a study supported by the Alpro Foundation Grant and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, published the report last September.
The Wild Blueberry Association of North America in Portland, ME donated blueberry test materials (typically freeze dried powder of whole blueberries) for the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Reading in Reading, United Kingdom, University Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany, and the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
The findings are the first to link wild blueberry polyphenols, natural compounds that are present in goods volume in wild blueberries, to improvements in vascular function in healthy men, according to a news release from the WBANA.
“Importantly, even the lowest amount of wild blueberries tested in the study, equivalent to 3/4 cup of wild blueberries, was able to improve endothelial function, which is an amount easy to incorporate into a daily diet,” Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, from the Division of Cardiology, Pulmunology and Vascular Medicine at the University of Dusseldorf, said in the release.
“The simple message is eat your fruits and vegetables in all the colors,” said David Bell, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission. Bell said the research on health benefits may perhaps be true for cultivated blueberries, but researchers only studied wild blueberries.
Less than one percent of Maine’s wild blueberries are sold fresh, with nearly all the harvest frozen. Maine’s growers harvest about 86 million pounds of wild blueberries annually.
Bell said there are many more health studies “in the pipeline,” with more studies using clinical human trials and also delving into the “why” behind apparent health benefits.“What I think we are figuring out is that blueberries are up regulating some (positive) genes and down regulating other (negative) genes,” he said.
Here’s hoping each of you are able to spend Christmas with those closest to you. What a gift to be able to love and be loved.
When the folks are opening a Christmas gift this year, it most likely was delivered to your city or town by truck.
The DOT reports trucks moved 73.7 percent of the country’s freight in 2012, carrying $10 trillion worth of the country’s $13.6 trillion in freight.
The figuress come from the DOT’s recently released Commodity Flow Survey, which is done about every five years.
Trucks also carried 70 percent of the tonnage moved in 2012, hauling 8 billion of the 11.7 billion tons shipped last year.
The for-hire trucking industry carried $6.6 trillion in freight — 48.5 percent of the total — the CFS says, while private trucks hauled 25.2 percent, or $3.4 trillion.
Trucks were slightly edged by rail, though, in ton-miles last year, as rail moved 44.5 percent and trucking moved 38.1 percent. Ton-miles is a measurement of weight multiplied by distance shipped.
Over half of the total tonnage moved in 2012 went less than 50 miles, while shipments traveling fewer than 250 miles accounted for more than 60 percent.
The CFS is only conducted every five years, with the first coming in 1993, and the subsequent ones coming in 1997, 2002, 2007 and last year. Final data from the survey will be released in December 2014.
Meanwhile, consumers show remember that whether it is the Christms tree at the home, the toys under that tree, or the furniture, or produce and other food in the refrigerator, chances are it came by truck.
To HaulProduce.com subcribers, sponsors and others who visit this website, this is wishing you the best Christmas ever! God Bless.
— Bill Martin
There will be about 7 millions fewer boxes of Washington state apples shipped from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys this season, but it still should end up next August being the second largest crop of all time.
Last year’s record apple loadings hit 128.2 million fresh boxes, and is competing with larger New York and Michigan shipments, after devasting freezes hit those states in 2012.
As of December 1, 28 million boxes had been shipped compared to 31.5 million at the same time last year and 25.3 million two years ago. Loadings are still clipping along at 2.7 million boxes per week and should remain at that level into spring, possibly peaking around 3 million per week in January.
The crop’s current standing at 113.3 million boxes is up .1 percent from the November 1 storage report, down 5.5 percent from the August 1 forecast of 119.8 million boxes and pff 11.7 percent from the record 128.2-million-box 2012 crop.
Exports are down 10 percent from a year ago at 8.4 million boxes as of December 1 compared with 9.4 million at the same time in 2012 and 7.8 million in 2011.
Mexico and Canada are Washington’s largest apple export markets.
Mexico normally takes 10 million to 11 million boxes annually but hit 13.6 million last year. Canada averages 5 million to 6 million and last year took 6.35 million boxes.
Thus far this season, Canada is at 1.2 million boxes and Mexico is just getting started at 1 million
Washington state apples – grossing about $6700 to Orlando.
Florida always has light produce volume in the fall and the winter, but the Sunshine state’s produce loads has been even lighter this year. After a tumultuous fall which brought lighter shipments with central Florida’s tomatoes, volume is finally, a long last, picking up. Still, don’t expect spring like volumes.
Yet, the higher volume has actually led to some rate increases.
Florida tomato shipments out of Immokalee have been just okay in terms of quality, but apparently have looked pretty good compared to the early stuff out of the Palmetto-Ruskin area.
Heavy August and September rains stunted yields and certainly did not help the quality in the early fall. As late fall growing conditions become more favorable with moderated temperatures and lower humidity levels, volume and loading opportunties showed some improvement.
Fall tomato shipments yields were down 30 to 70 percent from normal depending on plantings, but the Palmetto-Ruskin region has been increasing.
The quality of the central Florida mature green tomatoes is reported good and Florida is now entering the time of year — early winter is when you should be hauling the best quality tomatoes that have been available in awhile.
Central Florida usually starts in early October with grape and cherry tomatoes and begins harvesting mature-greens by early November.
Central Florida freight rates have increased 10 to 15 percent to places such as New York, Philly and Boston due to increasing volume with tomatoes, strawberries out of Plant City and exisiting light production of veggies.
Central Florida produce – grossing about $3000 to New York City.
Produce shipments can be a crap shoot anytime of the year, but the odds certainly increase when trying to grow and ship perishable products in the wintertime. Sometimes you dodge the bullet, sometimes not. The proverbial bullet was dodged recently in the California and Arizona deserts, although some vegetables may have been grazed. But shipments are pretty much back to normal…At the end of the report is an update on the California citrus freeze.
Vegetable volumes out of the California and Arizona deserts are returning to normal after freezes in the first half of December. Record lows slowed growth across the board, but broccoli and cauliflower were hit the hardest.
Desert lettuce shipments are warmer in the Imperial Valley from such places as Holtville, compared to the Yuma district in Western Arizona.
Iceberg or head letttuc, as well as mixed leaf mostly escaped the freezing weather but cauliflower, broccoli, spring mix, arugula and other leaf items suffered a little bit with damage such as tip burn.
It is too early to get a handle on whether desert celery plantings and its resulting shipments will come off later than their typical early January start because of the December cold.
Whether we are talking Imperial Valley vegetable shipments, or Yuma vegetables shipments, it is particularly wise to keep an eye on the weather, and when you do load, make sure your receiver knows the quality of the product. Winter veggies tend to get beat up by Mother Nature and are not always pretty.
California Citrus Shipments
Early inspections of freeze-damaged citrus in California’s Kern County pegged mandarin orange and lemon losses at around 20 percent, and navel losses at less than 5 percent.
Still, the toll of a Dec. 4-10 cold snap remains unclear in Kern County and in Fresno and Tulare counties…..We’ll still ring in the New Year before we start getting a significant feel for how much California citrus shipments will be affected.
by Robert Orchanian
As an author and longtime educator, Robert Orchanian leaned heavily on his personal experiences when he came up with the idea for the VEDGE Kids project. The goal of the initiative, which stands for Vigorous, Educated and Good Eaters, is to instill healthy eating habits in children between the ages of two and five, and his book, titled The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way, Volume 1, encourages those healthy habits while teaching children the alphabet as they are having fun.
“I’m a father of five,” said Orchanian, “and VEDGE Kids is a reflection of how I raised five healthy children.” He explained that kids under five years of age are in a highly formative state, so they’re essentially metabolically programmed during that time to eat the food they will crave for the rest of their lives. Because that age is so important, Orchanian stressed that it’s essential to make eating fruits and vegetables a fun and tasty thing for children early on.
“We feel we needed a different approach to get kids to eat healthy, so we went for something that’s fun and entertaining, as opposed to something that’s fact-based,” said Orchanian. The ABC’s of Nutrition introduces each letter of the alphabet with a VEDGE’ Kid and a colorful illustration of a fruit or vegetable. Drawing on his experience as a teacher, Orchanian also focused very much on the details of each page of the book tailoring it to the learning needs of toddlers.
“We paid close attention to the sizing of letters and counters, for example, because toddlers and see letters and form words in a special way” said Orchanian. “We also spent a lot of time collaborating with our illustrator over the details of each of the VEDGE’ Kids so toddlers would be drawn to them. Andrew is extremely talented and is now a lead illustrator of Angry Birds. We wanted fun, color and energy and that’s what he gave us.” Orchanian is sure the book, which came out in September and is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, will set kids on the right path in terms of eating habits.
“The idea is to get children to eat healthy at the earliest possible age,” said Orchanian. “And we feel we have a unique approach to accomplish that with this book.”
On the business side, several online organic home delivery companies are now using Orchanian’s book as a premium. “Companies whose customer base is mommies, see The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy as a great way to say thank you during the holiday season. Moms want their kids to eat right and grow up healthy. The ABCs of Nutrition helps make the connection. Those companies see it as something that’s special and a lot more targeted than say a calendar. It’s a way for companies to distinguish themselves and build good will in a crowded market place.” Orchanian is also in early negotiations with one of those companies to license the VEDGE’ Kids. “Branding one’s product with recognizable cartoon characters is a sure win in the marketplace.” Orchanian says to stay tuned. “There’s a lot more to come!” You can see an electronic version of The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way, Volume 1 at: TheABCsofNutrition.com
Construction of a new wholesale produce market in San Antonio is scheduled to start in late December by Abasto Properties LLC of Mcllen, TX.
The project will be built in at least three phases, including a total of 200 warehouses. The first phase, consisting of 60 warehouses, should be finished by the end of 2014 or early in 2015.
The 80-acre site near the corner of Loop 410 and I-37 in south San Antonio will be about 3½ hours from McAllen.
San Antonio was selected because it can serve a large local and regional market that includes Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Marcos.
The market will feature mostly of small- and medium-sized warehouses operated by Mexican exporters desiring a presence in the market.
The facility will mostly handle imported Mexican product, but also will include some U.S. product destined for south of the border.
Among the San Antonio wholesale produce market features are:
- All warehouse units are 3,100 square feet with an additional 900-square-foot mezzanine for offices;
- All warehouses will be refrigerated;
- Each cold room can hold up to 156 pallets — about seven truckloads;
- Temperature in the loading areas will be controlled to ensure cold chain continuity;
- Each warehouse features a 450 square-foot covered dock;
- The project will feature extra-wide streets for easy truck maneuvering; and
- Each warehouse will have plenty of vehicle parking in front plus ample general parking for visitors and trucks.
San Antonio will differ from McAllen, which ships nearly all of its product out of state, in that about half of its product will be distributed locally or regionally.
Some of the tenants will be McAllen firms that are expanding their operations, while others will have their sole location in San Antonio.
U.S. potato shipments from the fall crop, which will be shipped well into next summer, is down 5 percent from 2012, but never fear, there are still plenty of spuds for hauling.
Idaho’s 2013 potato production is an estimated 132.9 million hundredweight (cwt) , down 6.3 percent from a year ago. In Washington, the crop is estimated at 96 million, up less than 1 percent. Wisconsin’s estimated potato production for the year is 27.9 million hundredweight, down 5.2 percent, and Oregon’s estimate is 21.6 million, down 5.9 percent. Colorado this year is down 1.5 percent to 20.3 million, and Michigan is up 5.4 percent to 16.8 million.
North Dakota’s 2013 potato crop will come in at 22.6 million cwt, down about 10.1 percent from last year. Some were forecasting shipments to be down more than double from last year.
Minnesota potato production dropped from 18.8 million hundredweight in 2012 to 17.5 million this year, a drop of just under 7 percent.
While Idaho potato shipments, and to a lesser extent, Washington state move a significant amount of tubers via the railroads, most shipping areas do not have access to rails. Most produce shipped by rail establish their shipping costs based on truck rates, and the rails tend to under cut those rates.
Meanwhile, trucks continue for the most part to deliver faster and better service, that includes providing a lot more flexibility.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – grossing about $3000 to Atlanta.
Idaho potatoes – about $5500 to New York City.