As August is moving along, kids are back to school, summer is passing by, and fall is quickly approaching, the time is near. Pumpkin season. Here in Georgia, that harvest calendar runs from September 15th through November 15th , only a short five weeks!
Pumpkins are a part of the gourd family, which includes watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, zucchini, and honeydew. Northern Georgia has the lion’s share of acreage, over 600, of the pumpkin crop, though southern farmers are picking up the pace to join their neighbors to the north. Illinois does hold the
record as the pumpkin king, in 2020 they increased the area used to grow pumpkins to 15,900 acres, producing over twice as many as their next closest competitor!
In the next few weeks, drivers will begin positioning down to the southeast, pack their bags, finish pre-trips and start their engines. It has been a hot summer in the South, and many of us are hoping for a cooler fall and smoother roads to travel. Depending on the size of the crop, the harvest will move up
from Georgia and head north and the drivers and workers will follow.
Allen Lund Company has been hauling pumpkins out of Georgia for decades now, working with many of the same drivers’ year in and out. We have built some close relationships, knowing about their trucks,
where they came from, their family, and what their plans are for Halloween. Family is important to us here at Allen Lund. This fall take a day, carve a pumpkin, spend some time laughing and smiling with your loved ones and make sure to thank the farmers who grew it and the drivers who moved it for you!
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Derek Robinson is a business development specialist in the Savannah office and has been with the Allen Lund Company since 2015. Robinson attended Savannah Technical College, specializing in Aviation Structural Mechanics.
ATHENS, GA – Carrier Transicold has rolled out new capabilities for its digital platform, now rebranded as Lynx® Fleet, giving North American refrigerated trucking operations more comprehensive monitoring capabilities for their refrigerated trucks and trailers.
The new Lynx Fleet offering enhances the prior web-based application with an at-a-glance view of refrigerated truck and trailer performance parameters. These visual indicators help fleet managers easily monitor transport refrigeration equipment utilization, improve operational efficiencies and maximize uptime by spotting and averting potential equipment issues.
Formerly called eSolutionsTM , Lynx Fleet for North America’s refrigerated trucks and trailers is part of Carrier’s award-winning Lynx global ecosystem, which applies advanced internet of things (IoT) analytics, machine learning and various big data technologies to connect the cold chain in the cloud, automate key processes and deliver real-time visibility and insights throughout the cargo’s journey.
“Lynx Fleet continues to open up broad possibilities for value-added capabilities,” said David Brondum, Director of Telematics, Truck Trailer Americas, Carrier Transicold. “Our exclusive dashboard is a terrific example. From temperatures maintained in cargo areas to refrigeration equipment performance, Lynx Fleet monitors and collects scores of inputs from every asset – thousands of data-points fleetwide. It then distills, analyzes and consolidates much of this mission-critical data into different insights so fleet managers can quickly spot assets that may require special attention.”
Prioritized based on customer input, the initial rollout provides key insights: • Low Fuel Level – Provides visibility to refrigeration units that require fuel, helping to avoid emergency call outs for refueling and engine priming. • Low Battery Voltage – Identifies the number of units in service that may have battery issues, which could result in an emergency call out if not addressed soon. • Active Shutdown Alarm – Alerts to critical alarm conditions that will cause a refrigeration unit to shut down, helping fleets to prevent load loss. • Door Metrics – Assists fleet in understanding the number of times cargo doors are opened over a period of time to help manage fuel costs and temperaturecontrol issues. • Asset Run Hours – Helps fleets balance asset usage and manage maintenance based on engine run hours and other factors.
“Each insight displays summary information for the entire customer fleet that can be drilled down to isolate and display details about specific units, as needed,” Brondum explained. “Over time, fleets will be able to customize their dashboards to display whichever pieces of information are most essential to their operations.”
Hardware used with the Lynx Fleet platform is factory installed on Carrier Transicold X4™ series and Vector™ 8000 series trailer and rail refrigeration units. Dealer commissioning and data plan are required. The Lynx Fleet “monitor and enhanced control” data plan includes the diagnostic dashboard and insights, along with premium capabilities for data downloads, remote software updates and more.
Lynx Fleet data can be easily shared with most major transportation management systems (TMS). For fleets with custom data platforms, Carrier Transicold offers growing API (application programming interface) capabilities that facilitate the integration and display of data collected by Lynx Fleet.
For additional details about Lynx Fleet turn to the experts in Carrier Transicold’s North America dealer network.
Carrier Transicold Carrier Transicold helps improve transport and shipping of temperature-controlled cargoes with a complete line of equipment and services for refrigerated transport and cold chain visibility. For more than 50 years, Carrier Transicold has been an industry leader, providing customers around the world with advanced, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable container refrigeration systems and generator sets, directdrive and diesel truck units, and trailer refrigeration systems. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation.
Portal Portuuario reports a majority of observers expected the growth of Peruvian vegetable exports to continue this year.
However, between January and May 2022, vegetable shipments totaled $365 million, showing a drop of 3 percent compared to the last year.
Asparagus and artichokes accounted for 63 percent of the exports.
Asparagus, so far this year, has added a total of 46,570 tons valued at $131 million, 2 percent less in volume and 7 percent less in value, becoming the product that drove the reduction.
Artichoke shipments reached 13,420 tons for $35 million, 35 percent more in volume and 43 percent more in value.
Until 2016, vegetable shipments had sustained a growth of 7 percent on average each year, reaching a maximum value of $839 million, a record for Peru.
The following two years, 2017 and 2018, were complicated due to “El Niño Phenomenon”, causing vegetable exports to contact by 2 percent on average each year, reaching a value of $798 million.
Despite this, Peruvian vegetables recovered and in 2019 reached $845 million, 6 percent more than the previous year.
The positive effects were repeated the next two years, despite the pandemic. Exports increased 7 percent on average during 2020 and 2021, breaking a record by adding $973 million last year.
This trend came to an end in 2022 with a 3 percent contraction.
The Oppenheimer Group’s Oceanside Pole label is increasing its roma crop this season, according to a news release.
With nearly 2.2 million cases of rounds and over 1.6 million cases of romas expected to be picked from one million poles on 800 acres near Oceanside, CA, Oppy is now shipping the Oceanside Pole label.
The case count of romas grown on poles is up 500,000 compared with last year, Oppy’s senior sales representative James Galindo said in the release. “Oceanside Pole label romas are quickly becoming recognized as the best out there — particularly for their deep red color and firmness,” Galindo said in the release.
Peak volume picked up the middle of August, and will continue until the end of October.
Oceanside is the only large-scale pole-grown operation remaining in California, the release said. The growing method raises fruit off the ground to improve airflow and quality while naturally ripening on the vine, and as they travel to stores, according to the release.
Oppy is packing in 22-pound two layers, 25-pound volume fill and 15-pound single layer boxes, RPCs and a 5-pound club pack.
According to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, people are usually wrong when ranking how well they eat, particularly when they think their diet is healthy.
USDA and University of Central Arkansas researchers looked at data from 9,757 American adults who were asked to complete a food survey and rate their diet on a scale from “poor” to “excellent.”
The researchers wanted to find out whether a single, simple question could be used as a screening tool for nutrition studies — to replace or complement the detailed dietary questionnaires commonly used in nutrition research, the American Society for Nutrition reports. Previous studies have found that self-rated health is a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality, but there is scant research on whether self-rated diet quality is predictive of the actual quality of one’s diet.
Researchers then evaluated participants’ eating habits and graded them (from A to F) based on the Healthy Eating Index which assigns points for eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and protein. It also gives points for avoiding processed foods, refined grains and sugar and saturated fat.
Results showed that 85% of participants inaccurately rated their own diet, almost all of them by ranking it as healthier than it really was, the American Society for Nutrition reports.
Lead author of the study Jessica Thomson, a research epidemiologist with USDA, said most adults overrate the quality of their diet, sometimes to a substantial degree.
Meanwhile, 71% of participants ranked their diet as good, very good or excellent. However, only 12% of the participants’ diets ranked that highly in terms of “healthy eating.” The study showed 70% of the participants’ diets were given an F, but only 6% of people self-assessed their diet as such.
What’s Missing?
Researchers said the difference between the ideal healthy diet and what people were actually eating was typically a lack of whole grains, greens, legumes, seafood and plant-based protein, and too much sodium and saturated fat.
But what they were getting right was the importance of protein.
Further research could shed light into what factors people consider when asked to assess their diet quality, Thomson said.
“It’s difficult for us to say whether U.S. adults lack an accurate understanding of the components of a healthful versus unhealthful diet or whether adults perceive the healthfulness of their diet as they wish it to be—that is, higher in quality than it actually is,” Thomson said in a release. “Until we have a better understanding of what individuals consider when assessing the healthfulness of their diet, it will be difficult to determine what knowledge and skills are necessary to improve self-assessment or perception of one’s diet quality.”
California’s Central San Joaquin Valley grape shipments started last month and high quality with steady loadings are seen with volume similar to 2021. April’s initial crop estimate forecast 95 million, 19-pound boxes.
Top Brass Marketing of Bakersfield, CA expressed excitement about this season’s central valley grape season.
Grapeman Farms of Los Angeles began picking right after the 4th of July holiday, starting with a couple different varieties. It has ramped up over the following weeks, getting into peak shipments in August.
California table grape season traditionally runs May through January, with the southern Coachella district getting the early season start.
Fowler Packing of Fresno, CA, opened the table grape season in mid-July with Flames, and had all three colors going by August 1st. It hit peak production the middle of August and will carry that all the way through October into the middle of November. Fowler’s brand, Samsons, will end the season with Allisons and Autumn Kings, wrapping up just before Christmas.
A daily serving of freeze-dried strawberry powder, equivalent to one cup of fresh berries, lowered total cholesterol by almost 3% and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol by almost 5%, according to a new study.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study recently published by the Journal of the American Nutrition Association strengthens the body of research that has already demonstrated a cholesterol-lowering benefit for strawberry consumption, according to a news release.
The study was conducted with 40 men and women, aged 35 to 60. The participants were overweight or obese and had elevated serum cholesterol but no additional illness or chronic disease, the release said. During three periods of four weeks each — separated by a two-week washout period — participants received 40-grams of freeze-dried 100% strawberry powder (the high dose), 13-grams of freeze-dried strawberry powder (the low dose) or a control powder. Participants were instructed to consume the powder once per day and to maintain their usual diet and exercise routine.
There was a significant main treatment effect for the primary outcome of serum LDL cholesterol and for total cholesterol. In post-hoc analyses, low-dose strawberry supplementation resulted in a 4.9% reduction in LDL cholesterol compared to the high-dose but not compared to the control, and a 2.4% reduction in total cholesterol compared to the high dose and 2.8% reduction compared to the control. No additional significant effects were noted. The authors were unable to explain the lack of a dose-response effect, the release said.
Clinical trials have previously linked strawberries — a source of many bioactive compounds, including fiber, phytosterols and polyphenols — to several markers for cardiovascular disease, the release said. In another study of obese and overweight adults, daily consumption of strawberries significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, small LDL particle concentrations, and decreased lipid peroxidation.
Strawberries have also been linked to decreases in markers for oxidative stress, inflammation and diastolic blood pressure, the release said.
The Pennsylvania State University led the study in cooperation with the University of Arizona, Tucson; Lafayette College; and Texas Tech University. The study was supported by the California Strawberry Commission, which also provided the strawberry powder.
Applewood Fresh® of Sparta, MI, a premier fourth-generation grower, packer/shipper of Michigan-grown apples is counting down the days to the start of their flavorful harvest, with Rave® in August.
Rave® is only available for a limited time each year. “Look for Michigan Rave® harvest and shipping around August 19th, with fruit available through October” said Scott Swindeman, President, Managing Owner of Applewood Fresh. “With the new acreage coming into production and good growing conditions, the 2022 crop looks to give us a very good increase in volume of over 50% from last season, which gives our customers opportunity for promotions” said Brian Coates, VP of Sales, and Business Development.
Applewood Fresh offers bulk packaging in Standard and Euro Tray pack Cartons, as well as some packaged options; 2 lb. pouch and tote bags which fit the current trend of increased packaged sales in the apple category. “Retailers should promote packaged fruit and merchandise in lead-off positions in their produce departments to drive sales. Customers are looking for quick grab and go solutions as they navigate the store to expedite their shopping trip,” said Brian.
Outrageously juicy with a refreshing snappy zing, Rave® apples are part Honeycrisp and part MonArk. They have that infamous Honeycrisp bite but harvest a few weeks earlier than other apple varieties. MN55 cultivar apples were bred naturally through traditional cross-pollination methods by David Bedford at the University of Minnesota’s apple breeding program. The company has grown the juicy, early season Apple for the past five years. Availability is expected to grow exponentially in 2023 and beyond.
Alsum Farms & Produce of Friesland, WI and grower partner, Trembling Prairie Farms Inc. of Markesan, WI is in full swing harvesting new crop Wisconsin Celery starting this week with the season expected to go through the first week of October. Located in the muck soils of Green Lake County, Trembling Prairie Farms is a family farm owned and operated by John and Connie Bobek along with their four children in Markesan. For the past decade the Bobek family has been growing and packing locally grown celery serving the Midwest retail and foodservice markets.
In 2012, Trembling Prairie Farms started with 3 acres of celery and today has expanded to over 45 acres. The farm starts with a celery variety that grows well in the Wisconsin climate. Peak freshness, a milder flavor and snappier crunch are all advantages of this locally grown celery variety.
The process of growing celery starts in local greenhouses in late February to early April and is then transplanted in 12 different plantings. Celery planting begins on May 1 with the goal of the last planting to be in the ground by July 1. Trembling Prairie Farms Wisconsin Grown Celery is available for distribution with ample volume of all sizes and packs available for the next 11 weeks, including:
24 count naked or sleeved
30 count naked or sleeved
36 count naked or sleeved
18 count celery hearts
“We’re happy to be able to bring our locally grown Wisconsin Celery to the market,” says John Bobek, farmer and owner of Trembling Prairie Farms. “Whether paired with peanut butter as a healthy kid-friendly snack, or chopped in a salad for an outdoor gathering, Wisconsin Celery offers a fresh taste for consumers looking for locally grown in the Midwest.”
Two medium stalks of celery offer many nutritional benefits including vitamin C, potassium and 2 grams of fiber all for only 20 calories. In the U.S., consumers eat on average six pounds of fresh celery annually. With its many nutritional benefits and versatility this crunchy, fiber-filling vegetable is delicious and good-for-you.
Trembling Prairie Farms is a grower of Wisconsin red potatoes, yellow and red onions, and celery on 500 acres of rich muck soil in Green Lake County. Trembling Prairie Farms, a family owned and operated business, has grown to become a major supplier of Wisconsin-family farmer grown vegetables serving retail and foodservice markets.
About Alsum Farms & Produce
Alsum Farms & Produce Inc. is a leading fresh market grower, packer and shipper of Wisconsin grown potatoes, onions, and provider of fresh, quality produce. Established nearly five decades ago and headquartered in Friesland, Wis., Alsum Farms & Produce is a vertically integrated family-owned farm, packing facility and logistics company providing quality produce. Committed to sustainability and stewardship of the soil, Alsum Farms grows 3,000 acres of Wisconsin Healthy Grown® Certified Alsum Potatoes along with pumpkins.
Walmart, like other mass and grocery retailers, is always working to make the supply chain process run smoother, and with its fresh produce freight, time is of the essence.
To make transportation more efficient and hassle-free, the Bentonville, Ark., mass retailer has partnered with Platform Science to implement two technology tools for a better driver experience and to provide real-time visibility to the everyday operations of more than 12,000 drivers, according to a news release.
Platform Science is a telematics infrastructure and transportation technology company that is outfitting every Walmart Private Fleet cab with an intuitive, interactive tablet device that fully integrates with NTransit, a driver workflow application developed by Walmart’s product and technology teams.
This customized onboard computer system provides private fleet drivers with an improved, high-tech driving experience, provides the business with real-time visibility and provides shoppers with what they want, where they want it and when they want it, the release said.
This innovation will provide drivers:
Better visibility: Walmart staff will know where the assets are within the fleet to ensure freight arrives on time and in the correct location. Stores can anticipate load arrival times and effectively plan the days and labor around truck deliveries. Shoppes will see shelves stocked in-store and more accurate inventory of products available online.
Enhanced communication: Walmart’s onboard technology helps drivers communicate more closely with stores by integrating with store applications, providing a more seamless delivery process. As the driver approaches a store, the geolocation feature detects the driver’s location, sending push notifications to store the associate’s handheld device, allowing them to plan for a quick unload and turnaround. Walmart can also deploy secure audio messages directly with drivers to ensure they receive important information while they are on the road.
Productivity and retention: By removing manual touch points, Walmart’s goal is to create a frictionless workflow so drivers can spend more time driving the truck and less time waiting at fulfillment centers or store deliveries. Platform Science and NTransit integrate seamlessly to coordinate scheduling and navigation, so drivers can hit the road to their next destination without keying it in. Like any job, unplanned activities sometimes require the driver to do more than steer the truck. This new system creates accountability by allowing drivers to communicate what they accomplished on the road. That way, they are compensated for any miles and non-driving activities beyond what was initially planned.
Initial feedback has revealed the Platform Science and Walmart collaboration has increased driver satisfaction, according to the release. The retailer will continue improving and evolving the onboard systems based on that feedback, from both drivers and store associates.
