Eggplant also is known as aubergine, or guinea squash, while the berry fruit, scientifically referred to as Solanum melongena, is a staple in cuisines around the world (via Brittanica). It is one of the most diverse fruiting plant families there are, and eggplants come in a range of colors and sizes — from deep purple to white or striped; and from 4 ounces to 1 ½ pounds (via Daily Record) — their diversity matches in variety to the many ways in which the fruit is prepared around the globe.
French ratatouille, Italian eggplant parmigiana, Middle Eastern baba ghanoush, Greek moussaka, Chinese spicy garlic eggplant, and South Asian eggplant curries are just a few examples of eggplant’s worldly reputation. So it may come as a surprise to learn that, of all the places the eggplants are enjoyed far and wide, the place that grows the most of them is much closer than you may think — located right in the USA.
According to Harvesting History, eggplants have been cultivated for thousands of years. Originally harvested in China and India, the fruit gained popularity when it was first introduced to people in Southern and Eastern Europe. However, when eggplants made their way to the Americas during the 1500s, they didn’t catch on quite as quickly. This was because, as members of the Solanaceae family, eggplants are closely related to the belladonna, a plant that has been nicknamed the “deadly nightshade” for its poisonous berries.
For Americans, the eggplant and all of its family members — including tomatoes, potatoes, and bell peppers — were considered guilty by association. It wasn’t until the latter part of the 19th century that the population started to embrace the fruit’s extensive varieties. In the beginning, there was only one type of eggplant: The white eggplant; the color of it is where the Daily Record says it got its name. However, the fruit’s variety was widened when hybridizers started to develop eggplants that wouldn’t bruise during shipment, creating the large, deep purple eggplants that are commonly found today, along with the Indian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese varieties.W
Being tropical plants, eggplants are very sensitive to cold weather — even more so than their infamously finicky cousins, tomatoes. For this reason, eggplants are typically grown as annuals, which Britannica defines as any plant whose life cycle is completed in one growing season. For eggplants, this is during the warm months of the year — making their peak season between July and October.
Eggplants are widely grown across the United States. However, there are less than 7,000 acres dedicated to the fruit’s production each year in places like California, Florida, and Georgia. While yields vary depending on temperature and growing conditions, per the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, producers average about 28,000 pounds of eggplants per acre — generating an average gross income of more than $17 thousand per acre and providing more than enough to support the one pound of eggplant each U.S. citizens consumes on average every year.
Nicknamed “The Garden State,” New Jersey’s reputation for its vast farmland can be legitimized in the state’s production of eggplants alone. According to the Daily Record, New Jersey is responsible for providing 66% of the world’s eggplants, making it the top producer of eggplants in the world. Harvesting 849 acres each year, New Jersey stands ahead of other leading producers like California, Florida, and Georgia.
The state’s well-draining sandy-loam soil — a gardening soil made up of sand, silt, and clay, according to Southern Mulch – and warm summers provide the perfect conditions for eggplants to thrive. With harvests reaching 900 or more bushels a day during peak season, New Jersey yields about 16 million pounds of eggplant, valued at $6 million (via New Jersey Spotlight News). With the majority grown in South New Jersey, most of the state’s eggplants are shipped to the rest of the U.S. and Canada. Varieties include Italian, regular, Sicilian, Indian, striped, white, and fairy tale eggplants for all to enjoy in many different eggplant recipes.
By Yanni Mathelier, Transportation Broker,ALC Orlando
On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm. Maximum sustained winds were around 150 mph as it hit the Southwest coast. Bringing in close to 20 inches of rain to the state with tons of flooding which ruined many homes, infrastructure, and farm fields. The Orlando office deals with many produce customers shipping out of Florida. The impact of Hurricane Ian has caused many customers to either lose crops and deal with flooded fields or have to replant for the next season. Missing a season in the farming industry can be devastating, detrimental to the farmer, and takes a hit on the transportation industry, therefore affecting consumers.
The question that follows: Is Florida’s citrus industry on a ticking clock? We will soon start to see a rise in citrus prices and lower production numbers. This is something in transportation we must follow as it could negatively affect the capacity in Florida, and as discussed before, the trickle-down to the customer would be inevitable.
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Yanni Mathelier is a Transportation Broker and began his career at the Allen Lund Company in March of 2022. Yanni has been in the transportation industry since January of 2021. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration.
Mexican blueberries are on the road to Philadelphia while Peruvian blueberries are already arriving at the Philadelphia seaport.
Procacci Bros. Sales Corp., of Philadelphia observes young Peruvian blueberry fields seem to double in production every year. Now those plants are starting to bear fruit.
In addition to Mexico and Peru, Procacci imports Argentine, Chilean and Columbian blueberries.
Peru’s blueberry export volumes have exploded over the past four years.
By late September and early October, good volume will be arriving atNorth American ports.
Sunny Valley International Inc., in Glassboro, NJ, reports blueberry imports from Peru has ramped up and is now in full volume. This is expected to run throughout the fall and winter. Fruit size is good and quality looks strong.
Sunny Valley sees typical timing on the Chilean season, which will begin in late November or early December, running through March or April.
Sunny Valley, reports the Argentine blueberry crop was gaining steam in mid-September and is to run through November or into December.
Pandol Bros., Inc., of Delano, CA, confirms Peruvian blueberry imports into the U.S. started in early September. It notes there was a production increase of early Peruvian blueberries. Next, September supplies from North American growers were not that high creating a demand for imports.
Finally, there are the international exchange rates, making it more attractive for Peruvian growers to ship to the U.S., versus less attractive currency returns from Europe.
Beaver said typical timing is expected on the Chilean deal, which will begin in late November or early December, running through March or April. “This should be an excellent crop.”
For Sunny Valley, the Argentine blueberry crop was gaining steam in mid-September and is to run through November or into December.
Maitland, FL: Florida’s November tomato crop will be smaller than normal due to the impact of Hurricane Ian, but Florida will remain a significant supplier from now through December. The weather since the hurricane has been ideal, allowing growers to quickly recuperate fields. This means that even those farms that sustained damage will be able to harvest a portion of their crop, according to the Florida Tomato Committee.
The storm had no impact on tomato production in North Florida, which will have steady volume from now through mid-November. As the harvest moves south to Central Florida, supplies will be lighter than normal due to the impact of the storm around the Palmetto and Ruskin growing areas. November volume will be down, but there will still be tomatoes available. Central Florida production is expected to ramp up through December. The storm’s impact was less severe in the Southwest Florida growing regions around Naples and Immokalee, which will help offset reduced volume in Central Florida. Production in Southwest Florida will steadily increase starting in December.
Plantings for South Florida’s winter tomato crop have continued as normal with no impact from the hurricane.
Florida’s citrus, vegetable and melon production suffered the greatest financial losses in Hurricane Ian, according to Christa Court, director of the program and assistant professor in the UF/IFAS food and resource economics department. IFAS is the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida.
University of Florida economists predict the combination of seasonal crops, livestock, nursery and aquaculture products potentially lost as a result of category 4 Hurricane Ian will likely be valued between $787 million and $1.56 billion.
Preliminary IFAS estimates are that losses to Florida citrus due to Ian will be in the range of $147- to $304 million. The variance depends on the level of fruit drop, damage to branches, and impacts due to heavy precipitation and flooding.
Vegetable and melon losses are estimated to sustain significant production total between $208- and $394 million. Vegetable and melon impacts are heavily dependent on the ability (or inability) to replant damaged or destroyed crops.
Horticultural crop losses may fall in the range of $154- to $297 million. Field and row crops face as much as $160 million in losses and animals and animal products losses could be as high as $222 million. The estimated top level of cumulative losses for these categories is $1.56 billion.
“Even though the coast – an area with comparatively less agricultural production than inland areas – bore some of the worst impacts of the storm, the strong winds and heavy rains battered a wide swath of the peninsula that includes over five million acres of agricultural land,” IFAS’ Court indicates. “This estimate only accounts for production losses, or changes in expected revenues for the current calendar or market year; citrus, for example, had not yet begun harvesting, and some fall vegetables, like tomatoes and peppers, were already planted.”
Some commodities were already looking at lower expected production due to a hard freeze event in January that affected much of the same acreage, she added.
“Southwest counties that got hit the hardest by Hurricane Ian have remained in rescue and recovery mode; we anticipate our assessments will not be complete for several weeks,” Court indicates in IFAS’ release. “Our preliminary estimate is a range, a wide range, to account for many of these unknowns. What isn’t destroyed might have diminished yield or quality, which will not be apparent for weeks or months, and then even more effects can appear in the long-term.”
Court said the survey will remain open for an undefined amount of time. The program will release a full report once analyses are completed.
Peru is predicted to export 71.5 million boxes of table grapes this season, an 11 percent growth compared to last season, according to Agraria, based on figures from the Association of Producers of Table Grapes of Peru (Provid).
Peru is now the second largest exporter of the fruit globally.
“This shows that the Peruvian industry has been able to respond to the demand of the more than 50 international markets it reached with a diversified and quality offering, which makes us recognized as highly reliable suppliers,” said Provid.
The association noted that some of the factors supporting this growth are the extended production window, which begins with Red Globe in June and ends in March, followed by seedless grapes in September until March in Inca and April in Piura.
Shipments of California Navel oranges for the 2022-2023 season is forecast at 1.52 million tons (38.0 million boxes), up 19 percent from last season.
The initial forecast is based on an objective measurement survey conducted in California’s Central Valley from mid-June to the beginning of September. The objective measurement survey indicated fruit set was up 47 percent from last year but the average fruit size was down 2 percent from last year.
Imported mangos arriving in the U.S. from Brazil launched the South American season mango season in mid to late September. This was followed by mangos from Ecuador in late September and early October. Mangos from Peru started arrivin and Peruvian mangos will start arriving in November.
The National Mango Board report mostly 9’s, 10’s and 12’s, with varieties including Tommy Atkins, Kent, Keitt, Palmer, and Ataulfo.
Panorama Produce Sales of Mommaroneck, NY, which has 20 years of experience importing mangos from South and Central America, agreed the quality of mangos coming out of South America this season looks promising
The volume of South American mangos appears normal.
Continental Fresh of Miami, FL, which specializes in tropical imports from Latin America, notes that there could be a perfect window for Brazilian mangos.
In response to an announcement of a merger between national grocery chains, Kroger and Albertsons, the National Grocers Association (NGA) of Washington, D.C. has released the following statement:
“A merger of the nation’s top two grocery chains should raise serious questions about a single supermarket giant gaining unprecedented dominance over the nation’s food supply chain,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO.
“A merger would not only put smaller competitors at an unfair disadvantage, but also increase anticompetitive buyer power over grocery suppliers, which ultimately would harm consumers. It is our expectation that this deal will receive rigorous scrutiny from federal antitrust enforcers.”
NGA filed comments in April of this year to the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s January 18, 2022 Request for Information on Merger Enforcement. NGA issued a White Paper in March of 2021 about the anticompetitive impacts of buyer power on the grocery supply chain.
About NGA
NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
It is difficult to beat the nutrition that fresh fruits and vegetables deliver in each bite, according to a recent analysis by market research company Numerator, which confirms a growing number of consumers, especially younger shoppers, agree.
This report forecasts in the next five years, U.S. shoppers will prioritize unprocessed, fresh produce consumption to support wellness goals. This back-to-basics health focus would mean increased demand for fresh produce, exceeding fresh fruit and vegetable category growth of the past five years.
Increasingly, shopper habits will reflect a focus on healthy eating choices grounded in food-as-medicine over vitamins and supplements. With millennials raising families, immigration bolstering U.S. population growth and Gen Z consumers gaining purchasing power, health trends focused on nutritious diet choices will accelerate in the next five years, according to Numerator.
In its “Population Preview: The Next Trends by the People Who Drive Them” report, Numerator delivers purchasing analysis and insights, predicting U.S. consumer behavior for the next five years, sourced from first-party, consumer behavior information and U.S. Census data.
“Although consumers find vitamins and supplements important, younger households have become more focused on what they consume [versus] how they supplement,” said the report. “As millennials age, we could see health be defined as fresh produce and alternative meats, and a rise in products meant to offset fatigue and deliver convenience.”
Additionally, Gen Z and Millennials spend a larger share of their grocery dollars (+8%) on produce than older generations and 69% of Gen Z shoppers claim they monitor food and beverage choices, said the report.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population grew by only 0.1% in 2021. Declining birth rates, coupled with an uptick in deaths, have resulted in the slowest population growth rate since the founding of the nation. As the U.S. population shifts older, U.S. Census modeling predicts foreign-born households are likely to drive population growth in the next five years.
According to Numerator’s analysis, these first-generation immigrant households will prioritize scratch cooking and source a diverse range of flavors, revealing yet another opportunity to market fresh fruits and vegetables to an evolving U.S. demographic.
