A 28% increase in citrus exports for Chile is projected for the 2023 season, at an estimated 345,000 tons, according to the Citrus Committee of the Chilean Association of Fruit Exporters and Producers (ASOEX).
The season began the first week of April with shipments of clementines of the Oronules, Orogrande and Clemenules varieties from the Coquimbo region.
By the end of April, 270 tons were shipped from Valparaiso to the U.S.
In 2022, Chile exported 270,000 tons of citrus. This volume represented a 32% decrease from the previous year.
Navel oranges accounted for 30% of exports, lemons represented 21%, clementines 16% and mandarins 33%.
The Citrus Committee, an organization formed by the main citrus exporters in the country and representing 75% of Chile’s citrus exports, indicates exports will level off to a normal average season and it is expected that rains in Coquimbo, for example, will result in a good fruit size.
Ciruli Bros. LLC of Rio Rico, AZ imports Mexican mangos through both Nogales and McAllen Tx and its volume through both continues to grow.
There was a slow start to the Mexican mango deal season between March and April, but the weather has improve. Mexican mango volume is at a peak due to concurrent production across three states – Chiapas, Michoacan, and Nayarit.
Good volume is expected through June.
Champagne peak volume started in mid May and will continue through June 15th, while Kents will peak between June 19 to about July 19.
As the Chiapas and Michoacan seasons slow down, Nayarit volume started picking up the second week of May and will through early July.
The state of Arkansas has about 2,000 acres of tomatoes, according to the Arkansas Farm Bureau, making the commodity one of the state’s largest specialty crops.
Gem Tomato & Vegetable Shales of Hamburg, AR is reporting an exceptional crop and is among the nation’s first field-grown vine-ripes to be harvested each year.
A few tomatoes were picked in late may, but there is now a jump in volume occurring.
Gem Tomato offers round, roma, and for the past few years, grape tomatoes and ships primarily to customers in the midwest.
Round tomatoes are the company’s bestseller, but demand for romas has increased each year since they were added to the product line more than 20 years ago.
Harrod & Hensley Tomato Co. of Hermitage, AR in Bradley County, is known nationally as a prime tomato-growing region, shipping round, grape, heirloom and roma tomatoes. The fifth generation family owned company normally has the first tomatoes shipped of Arkansas.
The company also sells tomatoes for four or five other growers.
The state’s tomato loadings continue into the first week of July.
West Coast container imports plunged 22% compared to a year ago in April, while volumes on the East Coast declined by 20%. This is according to online The McCown Report by shipping expert John D. McCown.
Los Angeles had the biggest drop in April last, down 25%, while the eastern Port of Charlston’s imports fell by 28%.
This comes as the Pacific ports have continued to be burdened by ongoing labor negotiations, thus shifting inbound volume to East and Gulf coast ports.
“If economic conditions improve and we get a labor deal in place, that will definitely help drive our volume,” Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles, told The Load Star.
The executive also noted the port is currently working at 70% capacity and quoted the unstable state of the global economy as well as the labor issues as the main causes for the slide.
This April was the eighth lowest volume month since the pandemic first began to affect container volumes in March 2020.
The figures still represent an improvement over the previous month, which showed a record 32% decline in imports.
In a May 2 column by McCown, the executive stated that, however grim the latest numbers may seem, the situation could soon be reversed as both inbound and outbound volumes are expected to rise.
“Reasonable estimates show we will need additional terminal capacity in 25 years equal to 5.4 times the biggest U.S. port’s current volume and in 50 years that will be equal to 16.1 times that port’s current volume,” McCown said in his report.
Naturipe of Watsonville, CA will have strong supplies of berries throughout the spring and summer of 2023 from different growing areas.
The company was underway in early May with peak supplies of California strawberries that will last through the summer months. Good volume should continue as well with blueberries this spring and summer.
Naturipe blueberries will source from diversified farming regions in the spring, which include Mexico, California, Florida and Georgia, and then will transition in the summer months into its farms from New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
The company will continue to have good raspberry volumes from its farming regions across Mexico. Blackberries are now in peak supplies from Georgia and North Carolina farms for late spring and early summer.
Jalisco entered the U.S. market for the first time , on June 28, 2022, 29 years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) opened the doors for Mexico, the world’s biggest producer of avocados, to import the fruit into the U.S.
Jalisco Avocado Exporting Producers Association reports before exports to the U.S. began, Europe accounted for about 30% of its exports, Japan 31% and Canada with 33%, totaling around 115,000 tons of avocados divided among the three countries.
With the opening of the U.S. market, 50% of total exports are now destined for the U.S., with Canada and Japan going down to around 19%, while European exports have reduced drastically to around 8%.
The association notes European exports decreased due to logistical issues with the pandemic, both in terms of time and costs. In some cases, this affected the quality of the arriving fruit, reducing costs, which is why Jalisco exporters have decided to allocate more of their fruit to the U.S. which has because less risk.
For the U.S. market, the fruit travels for less than 24 hours, while the European market transit can take up to 25 days.
Avocados from Jalisco complement Michoacan (the main producing region), because the season starts in July, and usually, between May and July, there is not enough volume from Mexico to supply the U.S. market.
So the new exporting region intends to fill up that gap so Mexican avocados are available to the U.S. year-round.
New facility is strategically located near the Port of Savannah and will allow Lineage to process up to 1.4 million pounds of produce per day
Facility brings Lineage’s total investment in Chatham County to over $100 million and expands the Company’s growing footprint in Georgia
PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. –Lineage Logistics, Lone of the leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers worldwide, today celebrated the grand opening of its newest facility in Port Wentworth, Georgia.
Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth is strategically located near the Port of Savannah, the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind in North America and the third busiest container gateway in the U.S.
The 220,000-square-foot facility offers cross-docking services for products to enter and exit the facility on the same day if needed, reducing storage time, creating cost efficiencies, and ensuring consumers receive fresh produce faster. The facility has 23 inbound and outbound lanes that can process more than 40 trucks daily, moving up to 1.4 million pounds of produce per day.
“Today, the demand for port-centric temperature-controlled storage has never been greater and our Fresh solution offerings at Lineage have never been more robust. Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth will allow us to expand our Fresh offering to new and existing customers and also provides the needed capacity to improve market conditions,” said Jim Henderson, Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development at Lineage.
“The opening of this new facility is a critical step for Lineage as we continuously work to reimagine the world’s food supply chain. We are honored to further our long-standing partnership with Georgia Ports Authority and look forward to building our presence in the state of Georgia, an essential hub for trade and innovation.”
For the past two years, Lineage has worked closely with the Savannah Economic Development Authority, Georgia Ports Authority, and the city of Port Wentworth to construct the Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth facility in addition to its port-adjacent facility on Tremont Road in Savannah. The Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth project resulted in a $78 million investment alone that created 65 new jobs, bringing Lineage’s total economic investment in Chatham County to over $100 million. To date, Lineage’s footprint in Georgia spans over 3 million sq. ft.
Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth was designed to address the overwhelming influx in imports of fresh produce to ports in the Mid-Atlantic that lack the space to keep up with the demand. With proximity to the Port of Savannah, the new facility will enable Lineage to deliver larger quantities of fresh produce more efficiently to serve customers across the Southeast.
“With increasing demand for fresh produce capacity in Savannah, this new, state of the art facility is a welcome addition,” said Griff Lynch, Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority. “Lineage Logistics’ suite of services, such as cold-retreatment and onsite CBP inspections, will save time, help prevent loss and, ultimately, bring fresh food to market faster.”
Leaders from Lineage, business partners from the state of Georgia, community leaders from the city of Port Wentworth, and leadership from Georgia Ports Authority attended the facility’s grand opening.
About Lineage Logistics
Lineage is one of the leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers worldwide. It has a global network of over 400 strategically located facilities totaling over 2 billion cubic feet of capacity which spans 20 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Lineage has industry-leading expertise in end-to-end logistical solutions, an unrivaled real estate network, and develops and deploys innovative technology. This helps increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and most importantly, as a Visionary Partner of Feeding America, helps feed the world. In recognition of the Company’s leading innovations and sustainability initiatives, Lineage was listed as No. 3 in the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, named a Deloitte US Best Managed Company in 2022, the No. 1 Data Science company, and 23rd overall on Fast Company’s 2019 list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies, in addition to being included on Fortune’s Change the World list in 2020. (www.lineagelogistics.com)
In the end, many expected that the supply chain would recover, and market prices would drop to normal and we are already seeing progress. While the floods and crop damage in the Salinas Valley have caused a noticeable ripple in the supply chain, the California produce community will adapt and adopt innovative technologies and water management strategies to continue to handle drastic weather issues in the future. This is not the first or the last disruption that California farmers have faced. Whether it’s a drought or a flood, California growers will continue to bounce back and move forward.
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Patrick Prior graduated with a BA from the University of Portland. After graduation, he commissioned as an active duty officer in the US Army. After serving as a Transportation Officer for 4 years, he joined the Allen Lund Company in the Fall of 2019 and currently works in the LA Sales office as a Transportation Broker. patrick.prior@allenlund.com
New Jersey fruit and vegetable volume over 2022 due in large part to more favorable weather.
“Last year, New Jersey saw a late-spring freeze that affected the harvest of blueberries, peaches and some apple varieties that were in bloom when the cold hit,” said Joe Atchison III, assistant secretary and director of marketing for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. “This year, we are seeing heavy blossoms and fruit set and expect full crops with good availability throughout the season.”
New Jersey grows more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables on about 70,000 acres, Atchison said.
Some of the primary spring vegetables are asparagus, spinach, leafy greens, herbs and lettuces. Jersey also is known for blueberries, peaches, peppers, eggplant, sweet corn, squashes and, especially, Jersey tomatoes in summer.
The state had a mild winter with little to no snowfall across much of the state. Mild temperatures continued into spring, and there were no damaging frosts.
Consalo Family Farms of Egg Harbor City, NJ was able to begin harvesting two to three weeks ahead of schedule because of the warmer weather. Full production of lettuce started in early May, and an early start on blueberries also is expected.
The company also ships Little Smoochies items, including grapefruit, clementines, lemons and limes.
Good quality is reported for radish, parsley, cilantro, spinach and kale.
The company’s volume should be up compared to 2022.
The operation offers a full line of New Jersey produce, which also includes herbs, cooking greens and wet vegetables.
Schiller Park, IL – Optimal temperatures and growing conditions are resulting in peak production of Sun Belle blackberries and Green Belle organic blackberries from central Mexico through late May. Premium proprietary varieties Aketzali and Amelali, as well as the new Erandy variety, provide consumers with large, shiny, flavorfully sweet blackberries.
“The sunlight and beautiful spring weather on our farms are producing abundant volumes of extra sweet berries, sure to delight consumers and move retail sales,” said Sun Belle President and Founder Janice Honigberg. “Packed on the farm, our blackberries then go to one of our five distribution centers where they are carefully inspected to ensure the highest quality product for our retail partners and their customers.”
Sun Belle markets and distributes blackberries year-round. The company imports the Aketzali, Amelali and Erandy varieties from Mexico from August through mid-June, and markets excellent University of Arkansas varieties from Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Arkansas throughout the summer.
SUN BELLE and GREEN BELLE are leading brands of premium quality conventional and organic blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, golden berries, cranberries, pomegranate arils and red currants. Sun Belle operates five distribution centers nationally, including Schiller Park, Illinois; Jessup, Maryland; Oxnard, California; Miami, Florida; and Laredo, Texas.
