Author Archive
An usually warm, mild Florida winter has shipments of most produce items ahead of schedule. If the trend continues this will lead right into spring shipments of many items, particularly vegetables.
For example, swee corn shipments have been good this winter, with plantings for spring loadings starting in light volume by early to mid-March. Corn movement is currently orignating out of the Homestead area, as a primer for strong shipments with higher volume arrives at the end of March fromBelle Glade, at least a week earlier than normal. Belle Glade sweet corn loading should continue through most of May.
Strawberries from the Plant City area continue in strong volume.
Florida Ports
The most volume with fruits arriving at South Florida ports, are easily with Chilean table grapes, followed by apples and berries. Still, over all fruit arrivals at Florida prots are lower due in part to a freeze earlier in the season in Chile.
There also are other times from hauling from Florida ports ranging from citrus products, to avocados, cherries, stone fruits, pomegranates and kiwifruit. Additionally, there are arrivals of blueberries from Chile, pineapples from Costa Rico, melons — cantaloupes and honeydews — from Honduras and Guatemala, tomatoes from Guatemala, cucumbers from Honduras and asparagus and mangos from Peru.
South Florida produce – grossing about $2000 to Baltimore.
FoodLink, the network for fresh food retailers, wholesalers, growers and shippers, reported a third straight year of record growth in 2012. Growth was driven by new retail customers, expanded business with existing customers, and a surge of new suppliers and service partners joining its online commerce network.
“This was a good year for FoodLink and an even better one for our customers,” Eric Peters, president and chief executive officer of Los Gatos, CA-based FoodLink, said in a press release. “Many of the early industry projects and efforts to increase efficiency and traceability in fresh food are being embraced by the mainstream, and there is no longer much doubt about the tangible benefits that come from improvements in growing, shipping and merchandising safe, fresh food while eliminating waste from the supply chain. FoodLink has long been a leader in this area, and we look forward to continuing that trend.”
In 2012, FoodLink moved into the Produce Traceability Initiative sphere by acquiring pioneering SaaS solution provider TrueTrac LLC. TrueTrac’s suite of products enables growers and shippers to electronically track the origins and movement of fresh food through the supply chain, and to comply with new food-safety regulations while supporting consumer demand for more information about the source and freshness of their food.
“We looked at other solutions, but FoodLink stood out as the most flexible, cost-effective way for us to connect with our growers in Central [America] and South America, and to achieve our goals in terms of labeling and traceability,” Mike Bowe, vice president of Dave’s Specialty Imports, one of FoodLink’s new PTI customers, added in the press release.
FoodLink added United Supermarkets to the network in 2012 and enabled customers to directly transact with high-volume buyers such as Costco as well as regional brands such as Stater Bros. Inc.
FoodLink also brought new inventory management capabilities to longtime customer C&S Wholesalers and expanded business with fresh food buyers such as Ahold USA, Topco Associates, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Roundy’s Supermarkets and Unified Grocers.
“FoodLink will provide us with the real-time data that we need to improve our buying,” Tommy Wilkins, director of produce procurement for United Supermarkets, added in the press release. “Their network connects us with our suppliers and carriers to help us make the best buying decisions and improve our supply chain efficiency. Given the increased importance of produce in our stores, FoodLink will help us continue to make this category a differentiator.”
Suppliers had many new options on FoodLink in 2012. High-volume suppliers signed up for FoodLink DirectConnect, a service that directly integrates back-end financial and operational systems with the FoodLink network. New DirectConnect customers include Calavo Growers Inc., Grower’s Express LLC, Mastronardi Produce Ltd. and Sunsprout of Lancaster.
In addition, new products such as FoodLink Deal Manager enabled suppliers to build an online product catalog and to run promotions that aligned with retailer merchandising strategies.
New products and customers in 2012 contributed to a third straight year of increased purchase order volume and growth in the number of trading partner connections between buyers and sellers over the FoodLink network. Some of those gains include the following:
- More than 50 new suppliers signed up for annual subscriptions.
- Overall network traffic increased with more than 320 new supplier-buyer relationships.
- Orders for fresh produce increased by 26 percent over the previous year.
- More than 100,000 items were promoted across the new Deal Manager platform
Last year also marked the beginning of a new kind of network for FoodLink, as software and services partners began to leverage the company’s “open” network architecture to build solutions that can enhance the value of existing trading partner connections.
Offline, FoodLink increased participation in events such as FreshBuys LIVE (www.foodlink.net/events/freshbuys-live), a first-of-its kind series of one-day regional events connecting retail buyers and perishable goods suppliers doing business over FoodLink.
“Our relationship with FoodLink and our ability to use the open network to provide a direct channel to important fresh food buyers is truly a best practice,” Rob O’Rourke, co-owner of RJO Produce, added in the press release. “This is just the beginning of how we will use platforms like FoodLink to continue to evolve and enhance the fresh produce supply chain.”
Mexican produce crossings at both Nogales, AZ and in South Texas have been reduced by cold, wet weather. Both Arizona and Texas are major border crossing points with warehouse distribution centers. Produce truckers load at these faciliteis for delivery Mexican fresh produce across the USA and Canada.
There have been tight supplies on yellow squash, green beans, sweet corn and some other commodities from northern Mexico, due to the lingering effects of a mid-January freeze in southern Sonora and northern Sinaloa, Mexico.
The majority freeze damage occurred January 11-16.
It will probably be April 1st before volume and loadings return to normal. Losses have been extensive and drivers should make an extra effort to observe what is being loaded and look for damage to items ranging from squash to green beans, among others.
Nearly everything in Sonora and from Los Mochis north in Sinaloa was adversely affected by the freeze.
Mexican tomatoes, which are grown mostly in greenhouses farther to the south, were in fine shape and not affected nearly as much by the cold. About 200 truckloads of tomatoes are crossing the borders weekly at both Nogales and McAllen, TX, with volume on the increase.
Mexican tomatoes and other items crossing at McAllen – grossing about $4300 to New York City.
Mexican tomatoes and veggies crossing at Nogales – grossing about $3400 to Chicago.
Southern California is projected to ship about 7.2 million trays of kiwifruit this season, 2 million fewer than last season.
Because Italy’s crop are even lighter than California’s -about 22% lighter, California shipments should remain strong for produce haulers. California still has about 45% of its crop remaining in storage. Loadings should continue on a steady basis until Chilean product begins arriving in April.
You know when Californa and Arizona lettuce prices go through the roof due to freezes and rains in the desert, shipments are much lighter due to lack of volume. It difficult to forecast when loading opportunities will improve. While produce haulers may find more lettuce for hauling during February, shipments will once again decline in March until crops make a seasonal shift to Huron in the San Joaquin Valley and then to Salinas in only a few weeks.
Not only has it been quite a roller coaster ride in the Imperial Valley and Yuma, but in the Coachella Valley with vegetablaes as well. The weather also has resulted in shipping gaps in Southern California with everything from berries to citrus.
Now, during the weekend of February 9 and 10th the San Joaquin Valley, particularly the area just north of Bakersfield, had freezing temperatures. However, apprently the ctrus crops escaped damage. About 60 of the crop remains to be harvested.
Desert vegetable shipments grossing about $6200 to New York City.
A study by The NPD Group claims fresh fruit is eaten as a snack more often than any sweet or salty alternative beyond the produce aisle with USA consumers.
The report, “Snacking in America” is from the group’s Rosemont, Ill.-based food and beverage division. It states fresh fruit is eaten 55 times annually per capita as a snack. Chocolate is second at 45; potato chips third at 30; nuts, 27; and cookies, 22. Crackers, yogurt, ice cream and others accounted for 17 each.
The two-year study ended in March.
The NPD Group study found snacks account for 20 percent of all eating occasions.
“Those of us already following the healthiest diets are snacking twice as often as those of us with the least healthy diet,” the report says. “Increased consumption of fruits, yogurts and other better-for-you products is contributing to this health dynamic.”
California is expected to soon announce a new record for table grape shipments. Not only was it a huge crop, but the fruit was high in sugar and had great taste. California table grapes growers are were promoting their fruit as the “Original Super Snack” this season.
The commission is touting five snack recipes on its website aimed at snackers. One is grapes in a canoe — peanut butter-filled celery sticks topped with grapes. The study scores consumers’ snack choices on multiple criteria, among them health and weight concerns; satisfying hunger; convenience; satisfying a craving; and habit.
It distinguishes snacking from grazing. Snacking is more of a social occasion than grazing, it says, and is less likely to include a beverage. Only one in four snacks is now consumed with a beverage. High-calorie, sugary fruit drinks and carbonated soft drinks have seen the largest declines in consumption, according to the report.
The Hunts Point Terminal Market in New York City’s South Bronx isn’t going anywhere soon. Thousands of refrigerated big rigs deliver fresh fruits and vegetable to the world’s largest wholesale operation on a weekly basis.
Negotiations between New York City and the wholesale produce maket have stalled. Hunts Point merchants have used New Jersey as a bargaining tool as wholesalers have threated to move Hunts Point across the Hudson River if NYC didn’t meet their demands.
Now the wholesalers are biding their time until 2014 when Mayor Bloomberg will be replaced by a new major.
There was an exclusive agreement between the two parties which prevented relocation of Hunts Point to New Jersey. The Garden State has been attempting to lure Hunts Point for decades.
However, a lease extension offered by New York City was recently rejected by the market’s board of directors.
One of the issues is Hunt Point tenants wants the city’s Business Integrity Commission, which is responsible for ending organized crime influence, to settle some issues that could disrupt the operations of wholesalers.
While Hunt Point officials have long said they are considering moving the market to New Jersey, most really want to remain right where they are, with New York City paying for major infrastructure improvements on the market.
The South Bronx location is ideal since it is nestled in the nation’s most heavily populated metroplex, plus has easy access to New England states. Meanwhile, many produce haulers would prefer the market did move to New Jersey, lessening their gridlock woes in having to cross various Hudson River Bridges to get to the market.
Pink Lady America (PLA) is starting the new year with a program designed to focus on those families at the orchard level doing the hard work it takes for consumers to enjoy the high quality apples readily available in the supermarket produce department.
“With the apple section in stores being a feast for the eyes which naturally leads to a tasty and healthy treat for the fans of this very popular fruit, the real reason it’s there can sometimes be lost,” says Alan Taylor, PLA marketing director in Yakima, Washington.
“Those apples didn’t just fall out of the sky or magically appear from the back of the store. Most consumers understand this but it doesn’t hurt to remind them where this fruit is grown and who is doing the growing.”
The program is called ‘My Family Grows Great Apples™, and while its message is being delivered through one or more of the youngsters in the apple grower’s family, it also shows they’re really not different than the folks buying the fruit they grow.
“We’ll be showing this very clearly through professionally-produced posters to be used in our social media and retail programs,” Taylor says. “In addition to the headline on the posters, there will also be an interesting ‘fast fact’ at the bottom of the page, referring to something involved in the growing process.”
An example, again coming from one of the kids in the poster, will be “there are what look like windmills in our orchard which bring the warmer air down during cold spring evenings to help keep the tender fruit buds from freezing.”
“There can be no doubt that today’s consumers are blessed by the results of a complicated and sophisticated delivery system which puts these fresh, tasty and healthy apples in the produce department,” Taylor says.
“However, it should be worthwhile for these same consumers to actually see what may even look like familiar family faces who work very hard to take to grow these high quality fresh fruit products.”
(In The Photo: Sean, Anna and Amelia Gilbert of Gilbert Orchards which markets through Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers.)
Additional information: Alan Taylor at pinkladyrep@embarqmail.com.
Source: Pink Lady America
It has been unseasonably warm in Florida, which has been good for winter shipments of bell peppers, squash and other vegetables from Immokalee. Consistent loadings are continuing as south Florida transitions from shipments to winter shipments.
Earlier than normal loadings are predicted for watermelons coming out of south Florida. Shipment normally starting in mid to late April could get under this year as early as March 10, the earliest ever.
As for Florida blueberries, if warm weather continues, loadings could start one to two weeks early — around the end of March.”
CITRUS
The outlook isn’t near a good if you haul Florida citrus. Volume is decreasing primarily because of the dry weather and a disease called greening. More fruit is falling to the ground before harvest, which means less citrus — in some cases 20 or 30 percent is being picked than last year.
Florida citrus shipments have been describedhe as the worst in 40 years, with the only comparison be the last major freeze which too place in 1989.
STRAWBERRIES
Meanwhile Florida strawberries from the Plant City area seem to basking in the sun. Strong shipments are expected to continues with the peak harvest well underway.
South Florida produce – grossing about $2400 to New York City.
A loss in equipment capacity and rising freight increases are coming if new trucking hours of service regulations are implemented by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) come July 1st.
A FMCSA field study analyzing the effect of new rules, particularly the 34-hour restart provisionwhich is due at the end of March, could change those new regulations. The American Trucking Associations and others have challenged the rules in court.
The FMSCA hels nationwide meetings across the USA before issuing its new rules in December 2011. Rules were finalized in early 2012, requring with full compliance by July 2013. Despite truck related accidents being the lowest ever the past two years, rules were specifically designed to improve the safety record of long-haul drivers as the result of a few accidents tied to driver fatigue.
A point of contention is many in trucking want to continue the regulation allowing 11 hours of drive time in any day, while many highway-safety activists are promoting a 10-hour maximum drive day. FMCSA maintained the 11-hour day but reduced maximum driving hours per week to 70 hours from 82, and mandated a 30-minute break after every eight hours of driving. Additonally, there is a new regulation involving the 34-hour mandated layoff at the start and end of each driver’s work week.
Under the existing rules, it is possible for a driver to include a 34-hour restart every six days. Under the new rules, only one restart is allowed per week.
In addition, under the new rules, the restart period must include two consecutive free periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Many in the trucking industry believe these two provisions combined are going to greatly reduce the productivity of drivers. For example, a solo driver currently making 26 cross-country round trips per year would be limited to a maximum of 24 coast-to-coast trips under these new rules. That will mean either a 7 percent drop in capacity or the need to hire additional drivers to maximize the use of the tractor-trailers. Both scenarios would mean higher costs.
The new restart provisions is believed by many to adversely affect on-truck owner operatiors or small fleets even more than larger carriers because the smaller operators are the back bone of produce trucking.
For example, middle-of-the-night East Coast unloading or produce is commonplace. If a driver ends his trip unloading produce at an East Coast terminal in the middle of the night, which is common, and then begins his restart period, he’ll be off the road for more than 48 hours because he has to include two consecutive middle-of-the-night free periods.
A truck making a 2 a.m. delivery to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, for example, on a Monday morning, marks the end of a cross-country long haul. He will then have to park his truck the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday before scheduling a pickup after 5 .a.m. Wednesday.
Under the old rules, if it was 4 a.m. by the time he unloaded and got back to the terminal, he could begin driving again 34 hours later, or 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Over time, these delays will result in fewer cross-country trips.
The FMCSA claims that off-duty breaks, including the amended 34-hour restart rule, provides the greatest safety benefit and will result in fewer crashes and fewer highway deaths.
If you haven’t noticed as many loads of winter Chilean fruit imports available for hauling there is a reason. Due to weather factors volume has been less than in a normal year. Imports should be increasing this month at ports ranging from Philadelphia to Wilmington, NC and Long Beach, CA.
Grapes are typically the largest Chilean imported fruit and in a normal season about 50 million boxes are shipped to the USA. However, this season, only about 40 million cartons are expected to be shipped from Chile, a 20 percent decrease.
Chilean blueberry imports should provide refrigerated haulers with more normal volume and possibily better quality following a period in which volumes and quality were affected by rains. Decent imported arrivals of blueberries from Chile should continue until starting a decline in February. However, arrivals will continue, although in much lighter volume, through the first half of April.
Chilean kiwifruit imports will begin arriving in April.
Chile is the world’s largest exporter of fresh grapes (29%) and plums (23%). It is the second largest exporter of avocados (16%).
As a southern hemisphere country, Chile’s growing seasons run counter to the growing seasons of countries in the northern hemisphere. Chile can thus supply the highest quality fresh fruits and vegetables to northern hemisphere countries during their winter months.
An usually warm, mild Florida winter has shipments of most produce items ahead of schedule. If the trend continues this will lead right into spring shipments of many items, particularly vegetables.
For example, swee corn shipments have been good this winter, with plantings for spring loadings starting in light volume by early to mid-March. Corn movement is currently orignating out of the Homestead area, as a primer for strong shipments with higher volume arrives at the end of March fromBelle Glade, at least a week earlier than normal. Belle Glade sweet corn loading should continue through most of May.
Strawberries from the Plant City area continue in strong volume.
Florida Ports
The most volume with fruits arriving at South Florida ports, are easily with Chilean table grapes, followed by apples and berries. Still, over all fruit arrivals at Florida prots are lower due in part to a freeze earlier in the season in Chile.
There also are other times from hauling from Florida ports ranging from citrus products, to avocados, cherries, stone fruits, pomegranates and kiwifruit. Additionally, there are arrivals of blueberries from Chile, pineapples from Costa Rico, melons — cantaloupes and honeydews — from Honduras and Guatemala, tomatoes from Guatemala, cucumbers from Honduras and asparagus and mangos from Peru.
South Florida produce – grossing about $2000 to Baltimore.
FoodLink, the network for fresh food retailers, wholesalers, growers and shippers, reported a third straight year of record growth in 2012. Growth was driven by new retail customers, expanded business with existing customers, and a surge of new suppliers and service partners joining its online commerce network.
“This was a good year for FoodLink and an even better one for our customers,” Eric Peters, president and chief executive officer of Los Gatos, CA-based FoodLink, said in a press release. “Many of the early industry projects and efforts to increase efficiency and traceability in fresh food are being embraced by the mainstream, and there is no longer much doubt about the tangible benefits that come from improvements in growing, shipping and merchandising safe, fresh food while eliminating waste from the supply chain. FoodLink has long been a leader in this area, and we look forward to continuing that trend.”
In 2012, FoodLink moved into the Produce Traceability Initiative sphere by acquiring pioneering SaaS solution provider TrueTrac LLC. TrueTrac’s suite of products enables growers and shippers to electronically track the origins and movement of fresh food through the supply chain, and to comply with new food-safety regulations while supporting consumer demand for more information about the source and freshness of their food.
“We looked at other solutions, but FoodLink stood out as the most flexible, cost-effective way for us to connect with our growers in Central [America] and South America, and to achieve our goals in terms of labeling and traceability,” Mike Bowe, vice president of Dave’s Specialty Imports, one of FoodLink’s new PTI customers, added in the press release.
FoodLink added United Supermarkets to the network in 2012 and enabled customers to directly transact with high-volume buyers such as Costco as well as regional brands such as Stater Bros. Inc.
FoodLink also brought new inventory management capabilities to longtime customer C&S Wholesalers and expanded business with fresh food buyers such as Ahold USA, Topco Associates, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Roundy’s Supermarkets and Unified Grocers.
“FoodLink will provide us with the real-time data that we need to improve our buying,” Tommy Wilkins, director of produce procurement for United Supermarkets, added in the press release. “Their network connects us with our suppliers and carriers to help us make the best buying decisions and improve our supply chain efficiency. Given the increased importance of produce in our stores, FoodLink will help us continue to make this category a differentiator.”
Suppliers had many new options on FoodLink in 2012. High-volume suppliers signed up for FoodLink DirectConnect, a service that directly integrates back-end financial and operational systems with the FoodLink network. New DirectConnect customers include Calavo Growers Inc., Grower’s Express LLC, Mastronardi Produce Ltd. and Sunsprout of Lancaster.
In addition, new products such as FoodLink Deal Manager enabled suppliers to build an online product catalog and to run promotions that aligned with retailer merchandising strategies.
New products and customers in 2012 contributed to a third straight year of increased purchase order volume and growth in the number of trading partner connections between buyers and sellers over the FoodLink network. Some of those gains include the following:
- More than 50 new suppliers signed up for annual subscriptions.
- Overall network traffic increased with more than 320 new supplier-buyer relationships.
- Orders for fresh produce increased by 26 percent over the previous year.
- More than 100,000 items were promoted across the new Deal Manager platform
Last year also marked the beginning of a new kind of network for FoodLink, as software and services partners began to leverage the company’s “open” network architecture to build solutions that can enhance the value of existing trading partner connections.
Offline, FoodLink increased participation in events such as FreshBuys LIVE (www.foodlink.net/events/freshbuys-live), a first-of-its kind series of one-day regional events connecting retail buyers and perishable goods suppliers doing business over FoodLink.
“Our relationship with FoodLink and our ability to use the open network to provide a direct channel to important fresh food buyers is truly a best practice,” Rob O’Rourke, co-owner of RJO Produce, added in the press release. “This is just the beginning of how we will use platforms like FoodLink to continue to evolve and enhance the fresh produce supply chain.”
Mexican produce crossings at both Nogales, AZ and in South Texas have been reduced by cold, wet weather. Both Arizona and Texas are major border crossing points with warehouse distribution centers. Produce truckers load at these faciliteis for delivery Mexican fresh produce across the USA and Canada.
There have been tight supplies on yellow squash, green beans, sweet corn and some other commodities from northern Mexico, due to the lingering effects of a mid-January freeze in southern Sonora and northern Sinaloa, Mexico.
The majority freeze damage occurred January 11-16.
It will probably be April 1st before volume and loadings return to normal. Losses have been extensive and drivers should make an extra effort to observe what is being loaded and look for damage to items ranging from squash to green beans, among others.
Nearly everything in Sonora and from Los Mochis north in Sinaloa was adversely affected by the freeze.
Mexican tomatoes, which are grown mostly in greenhouses farther to the south, were in fine shape and not affected nearly as much by the cold. About 200 truckloads of tomatoes are crossing the borders weekly at both Nogales and McAllen, TX, with volume on the increase.
Mexican tomatoes and other items crossing at McAllen – grossing about $4300 to New York City.
Mexican tomatoes and veggies crossing at Nogales – grossing about $3400 to Chicago.
Southern California is projected to ship about 7.2 million trays of kiwifruit this season, 2 million fewer than last season.
Because Italy’s crop are even lighter than California’s -about 22% lighter, California shipments should remain strong for produce haulers. California still has about 45% of its crop remaining in storage. Loadings should continue on a steady basis until Chilean product begins arriving in April.
You know when Californa and Arizona lettuce prices go through the roof due to freezes and rains in the desert, shipments are much lighter due to lack of volume. It difficult to forecast when loading opportunities will improve. While produce haulers may find more lettuce for hauling during February, shipments will once again decline in March until crops make a seasonal shift to Huron in the San Joaquin Valley and then to Salinas in only a few weeks.
Not only has it been quite a roller coaster ride in the Imperial Valley and Yuma, but in the Coachella Valley with vegetablaes as well. The weather also has resulted in shipping gaps in Southern California with everything from berries to citrus.
Now, during the weekend of February 9 and 10th the San Joaquin Valley, particularly the area just north of Bakersfield, had freezing temperatures. However, apprently the ctrus crops escaped damage. About 60 of the crop remains to be harvested.
Desert vegetable shipments grossing about $6200 to New York City.
A study by The NPD Group claims fresh fruit is eaten as a snack more often than any sweet or salty alternative beyond the produce aisle with USA consumers.
The report, “Snacking in America” is from the group’s Rosemont, Ill.-based food and beverage division. It states fresh fruit is eaten 55 times annually per capita as a snack. Chocolate is second at 45; potato chips third at 30; nuts, 27; and cookies, 22. Crackers, yogurt, ice cream and others accounted for 17 each.
The two-year study ended in March.
The NPD Group study found snacks account for 20 percent of all eating occasions.
“Those of us already following the healthiest diets are snacking twice as often as those of us with the least healthy diet,” the report says. “Increased consumption of fruits, yogurts and other better-for-you products is contributing to this health dynamic.”
California is expected to soon announce a new record for table grape shipments. Not only was it a huge crop, but the fruit was high in sugar and had great taste. California table grapes growers are were promoting their fruit as the “Original Super Snack” this season.
The commission is touting five snack recipes on its website aimed at snackers. One is grapes in a canoe — peanut butter-filled celery sticks topped with grapes. The study scores consumers’ snack choices on multiple criteria, among them health and weight concerns; satisfying hunger; convenience; satisfying a craving; and habit.
It distinguishes snacking from grazing. Snacking is more of a social occasion than grazing, it says, and is less likely to include a beverage. Only one in four snacks is now consumed with a beverage. High-calorie, sugary fruit drinks and carbonated soft drinks have seen the largest declines in consumption, according to the report.
The Hunts Point Terminal Market in New York City’s South Bronx isn’t going anywhere soon. Thousands of refrigerated big rigs deliver fresh fruits and vegetable to the world’s largest wholesale operation on a weekly basis.
Negotiations between New York City and the wholesale produce maket have stalled. Hunts Point merchants have used New Jersey as a bargaining tool as wholesalers have threated to move Hunts Point across the Hudson River if NYC didn’t meet their demands.
Now the wholesalers are biding their time until 2014 when Mayor Bloomberg will be replaced by a new major.
There was an exclusive agreement between the two parties which prevented relocation of Hunts Point to New Jersey. The Garden State has been attempting to lure Hunts Point for decades.
However, a lease extension offered by New York City was recently rejected by the market’s board of directors.
One of the issues is Hunt Point tenants wants the city’s Business Integrity Commission, which is responsible for ending organized crime influence, to settle some issues that could disrupt the operations of wholesalers.
While Hunt Point officials have long said they are considering moving the market to New Jersey, most really want to remain right where they are, with New York City paying for major infrastructure improvements on the market.
The South Bronx location is ideal since it is nestled in the nation’s most heavily populated metroplex, plus has easy access to New England states. Meanwhile, many produce haulers would prefer the market did move to New Jersey, lessening their gridlock woes in having to cross various Hudson River Bridges to get to the market.
Pink Lady America (PLA) is starting the new year with a program designed to focus on those families at the orchard level doing the hard work it takes for consumers to enjoy the high quality apples readily available in the supermarket produce department.
“With the apple section in stores being a feast for the eyes which naturally leads to a tasty and healthy treat for the fans of this very popular fruit, the real reason it’s there can sometimes be lost,” says Alan Taylor, PLA marketing director in Yakima, Washington.
“Those apples didn’t just fall out of the sky or magically appear from the back of the store. Most consumers understand this but it doesn’t hurt to remind them where this fruit is grown and who is doing the growing.”
The program is called ‘My Family Grows Great Apples™, and while its message is being delivered through one or more of the youngsters in the apple grower’s family, it also shows they’re really not different than the folks buying the fruit they grow.
“We’ll be showing this very clearly through professionally-produced posters to be used in our social media and retail programs,” Taylor says. “In addition to the headline on the posters, there will also be an interesting ‘fast fact’ at the bottom of the page, referring to something involved in the growing process.”
An example, again coming from one of the kids in the poster, will be “there are what look like windmills in our orchard which bring the warmer air down during cold spring evenings to help keep the tender fruit buds from freezing.”
“There can be no doubt that today’s consumers are blessed by the results of a complicated and sophisticated delivery system which puts these fresh, tasty and healthy apples in the produce department,” Taylor says.
“However, it should be worthwhile for these same consumers to actually see what may even look like familiar family faces who work very hard to take to grow these high quality fresh fruit products.”
(In The Photo: Sean, Anna and Amelia Gilbert of Gilbert Orchards which markets through Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers.)
Additional information: Alan Taylor at pinkladyrep@embarqmail.com.
Source: Pink Lady America
It has been unseasonably warm in Florida, which has been good for winter shipments of bell peppers, squash and other vegetables from Immokalee. Consistent loadings are continuing as south Florida transitions from shipments to winter shipments.
Earlier than normal loadings are predicted for watermelons coming out of south Florida. Shipment normally starting in mid to late April could get under this year as early as March 10, the earliest ever.
As for Florida blueberries, if warm weather continues, loadings could start one to two weeks early — around the end of March.”
CITRUS
The outlook isn’t near a good if you haul Florida citrus. Volume is decreasing primarily because of the dry weather and a disease called greening. More fruit is falling to the ground before harvest, which means less citrus — in some cases 20 or 30 percent is being picked than last year.
Florida citrus shipments have been describedhe as the worst in 40 years, with the only comparison be the last major freeze which too place in 1989.
STRAWBERRIES
Meanwhile Florida strawberries from the Plant City area seem to basking in the sun. Strong shipments are expected to continues with the peak harvest well underway.
South Florida produce – grossing about $2400 to New York City.
A loss in equipment capacity and rising freight increases are coming if new trucking hours of service regulations are implemented by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) come July 1st.
A FMCSA field study analyzing the effect of new rules, particularly the 34-hour restart provisionwhich is due at the end of March, could change those new regulations. The American Trucking Associations and others have challenged the rules in court.
The FMSCA hels nationwide meetings across the USA before issuing its new rules in December 2011. Rules were finalized in early 2012, requring with full compliance by July 2013. Despite truck related accidents being the lowest ever the past two years, rules were specifically designed to improve the safety record of long-haul drivers as the result of a few accidents tied to driver fatigue.
A point of contention is many in trucking want to continue the regulation allowing 11 hours of drive time in any day, while many highway-safety activists are promoting a 10-hour maximum drive day. FMCSA maintained the 11-hour day but reduced maximum driving hours per week to 70 hours from 82, and mandated a 30-minute break after every eight hours of driving. Additonally, there is a new regulation involving the 34-hour mandated layoff at the start and end of each driver’s work week.
Under the existing rules, it is possible for a driver to include a 34-hour restart every six days. Under the new rules, only one restart is allowed per week.
In addition, under the new rules, the restart period must include two consecutive free periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Many in the trucking industry believe these two provisions combined are going to greatly reduce the productivity of drivers. For example, a solo driver currently making 26 cross-country round trips per year would be limited to a maximum of 24 coast-to-coast trips under these new rules. That will mean either a 7 percent drop in capacity or the need to hire additional drivers to maximize the use of the tractor-trailers. Both scenarios would mean higher costs.
The new restart provisions is believed by many to adversely affect on-truck owner operatiors or small fleets even more than larger carriers because the smaller operators are the back bone of produce trucking.
For example, middle-of-the-night East Coast unloading or produce is commonplace. If a driver ends his trip unloading produce at an East Coast terminal in the middle of the night, which is common, and then begins his restart period, he’ll be off the road for more than 48 hours because he has to include two consecutive middle-of-the-night free periods.
A truck making a 2 a.m. delivery to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, for example, on a Monday morning, marks the end of a cross-country long haul. He will then have to park his truck the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday before scheduling a pickup after 5 .a.m. Wednesday.
Under the old rules, if it was 4 a.m. by the time he unloaded and got back to the terminal, he could begin driving again 34 hours later, or 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Over time, these delays will result in fewer cross-country trips.
The FMCSA claims that off-duty breaks, including the amended 34-hour restart rule, provides the greatest safety benefit and will result in fewer crashes and fewer highway deaths.
If you haven’t noticed as many loads of winter Chilean fruit imports available for hauling there is a reason. Due to weather factors volume has been less than in a normal year. Imports should be increasing this month at ports ranging from Philadelphia to Wilmington, NC and Long Beach, CA.
Grapes are typically the largest Chilean imported fruit and in a normal season about 50 million boxes are shipped to the USA. However, this season, only about 40 million cartons are expected to be shipped from Chile, a 20 percent decrease.
Chilean blueberry imports should provide refrigerated haulers with more normal volume and possibily better quality following a period in which volumes and quality were affected by rains. Decent imported arrivals of blueberries from Chile should continue until starting a decline in February. However, arrivals will continue, although in much lighter volume, through the first half of April.
Chilean kiwifruit imports will begin arriving in April.
Chile is the world’s largest exporter of fresh grapes (29%) and plums (23%). It is the second largest exporter of avocados (16%).
As a southern hemisphere country, Chile’s growing seasons run counter to the growing seasons of countries in the northern hemisphere. Chile can thus supply the highest quality fresh fruits and vegetables to northern hemisphere countries during their winter months.