Archive For The “News” Category
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Young consumers are more likely to buy peaches than older people, and those 18- to 24-year-olds prefer crisp, firm peaches with good flavor, a new University of Florida study shows.
In fact, people aged 51 to 68 are the least interested in buying peaches. Those of that age who do buy peaches prefer sweet, melting-texture peaches. Although they did not study the reason older people don’t like peaches as much, UF/IFAS scientists think older consumers may have repeatedly bought poor-quality peaches in the past, triggering an interest in other fruits.
Overall, consumers want sweet, tasty peaches that melt in your mouth, she said.
In the newly published study titled: “In Pursuit of the Perfect Peach,” Olmstead led an experiment in which 300 consumers took an online survey, then sampled peaches at two Florida farmers’ markets.
The study showed the “ideal peach” depended on combinations of fruit qualities. Peaches labeled as “so sweet … no sugar was needed” were most likely be purchased, reflecting what previous UF/IFAS research has found about strawberries and blueberries.
Furthermore, like the prior UF/IFAS research on blueberries, even though peaches are known to contain antioxidants, consumers buy them more for their taste than their nutritive value, the study showed.
Although consumers wanted sweet, absolute sugar concentrations, there is something other than sweetness that leads to overall liking, the study showed. It could be acid content and aromas, Olmstead said.
Most consumers prefer melting peaches, but small segments also like crisp and firm fruit, the study showed.
by Columbia Marketing International (CMI)
Wenatchee, WA – Despite some of the earliest shipments on record, a smaller Washington apple harvest is driving tighter supplies and higher prices—particularly on larger-sized fruit and managed varieties. The result has been slower sales on many traditional varieties as supermarkets look to fill shelves with high demand new crop apples like Honeycrisp and Ambrosia.
Washington State apple shipments through November 2nd are 19.3% below the same period in 2014, but nearly 9% higher than two years ago. Early season predictions of smaller-sized fruit and supply reductions, particularly in Gala, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious are proving to be accurate.
Apple category growth continues to be propelled by the newer managed varieties and brands. The overall decline in apple category performance was offset by double digit sales increases among many emerging varieties. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Ambrosia™ Sweetango and KIKU® brand apples all posted strong sales increases over last year for the four-week September start-up period.
Some traditional popular apples showed significant sales declines. Gala (-8.0%), Red Delicious (-16.9%), Golden Delicious (-12.1%) and McIntosh (-9.9) all lost sales dollars in September compared to the same period last year.
Don Patella, Regional Marketing Director for CMI, noted that McIntosh sales dropped by nearly 10% year over year despite having one of the lower retail price points in the category. Conversely, Ambrosia had the largest sales increase in the category while selling at roughly $2.40 per pound, one of the higher retail prices of any apple in the month of September.
Fresh apples are the No. 1 fruit consumed by children.A new study, called Fruit Consumption by Youth in the United States, published in the online journal Pediatrics, surveyed more than 3,100 youth from ages two to 19 years, examining fruit consumption and differences by age, gender, race and poverty status.
The study found that nearly 90% of total fruit intake came from whole fruits (53%) and 100% fruit juice (34%), according to the study. Apples, apple juice, citrus juice and bananas make up about half of total fruit consumption, according to the study.
Fresh apples accounted for 18.9% of total fruit consumption among children, according to the study, and apple juice accounted for about 10%.
“This is fantastic news,” said Wendy Brannen. director of consumer health and education for the U.S. Apple Association, Vienna, Va. “The great thing about this study that has come out in Pediatrics magazine is that it has been repeated everywhere from CNN to U.S. News and World Report to local and regional morning shows from Chattanooga to New York City, and the exposure for us is priceless.”
Brannen said the study, which has been covered by dozens of media outlets since it recently came out, will encourage families to consume more apples.
The study said apple juice accounted for 16.8% of fruit consumption for children ages two to five years, but that fell to 8.8% for children six to 11 years old. On the other hand, fresh apples represented 22.4% of fruit consumption for children six to 11 years old, but just 8.8% of total fruit consumed for two- to five-year-olds.
While Maine cranberry shipments are not considered to be a major player among states that have cranberries, this season it did produce an estimated 2 million pounds of fruit.
Although this year’s cranberry harvest was good, prices were unusually low, making for a “depressing” market, according to a cranberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “The price was … horrendous for water-harvested berries,” said Charles Armstrong, of the extension.
About 84 percent of all cranberries in Maine are wet harvested, which involves flooding the bog and collecting the ripe berries when they float to the surface. According to Armstrong, the “break-even point” for wet harvesting requires getting about 35 to 40 cents per pound for the berries. For the 2015 season, however, the price dipped to between 12 and 20 cents a pound. In contrast, at $1.50 to $2.50 per pound, prices were good for dry harvested berries, which are picked by hand or raked mechanically.
But only about 16 percent of Maine’s crop is dry harvested because the market for fresh cranberries it is relatively small compared to the market for processed cranberries, which are wet harvested for making juice and cranberry sauce.
Some growers cut their losses and did not harvest this year because of the low prices. About five of the approximately 30 cranberry growers in Maine declined to harvest a total of about 25 acres. The biggest costs in cranberry farming are associated with trucking and processing the fruit . Fuel and manpower are other costs avoided by not harvesting.
Canned pumpkin has become scarce in supermarkets in Illinois. This is a huge concern for Thanksgiving.
Nestlé, whose Libby brand of pumpkin filling is the largest in Illinois, has said their yields of sugar pumpkins have declined as much as a third this year, due to the amount of rain in the summer. Pumpkins require 90 to 120 frost-free days and, since they are a warm-season annual, are harvested from September through October.
Once Nestlé ships all their canned pumpkin, used specifically for pies, they will not have any to distribute until the new year. However, there is concern that the issue may be more long-term and there may also be a shortage in 2016.
Illinois is, by far, the top sugar pumpkin producing state in the nation, with more than 19,800 acres harvested in 2014.
Canadian Cranberry Shipments
Amid a record season for Canadian cranberry shipments, most of Canada’s cranberry production is exported to the United States. In recent years, Quebec surpassed British Columbia as Canada’s biggest cranberry producer. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. account for a much smaller share. While the vast amount of fresh cranberries are shipped for the U.S. Thanksgiving, a relatively small amount will be for Christmas.
Cranberries are the largest agricultural food product in the state, with an annual crop value of $99.8 million. The industry provides 6,900 jobs and total economic benefit of more than $1.4 billion, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association’s 2015 report.With the climate expected to warm in the decades to come, farmers can expect more insects and more fungal and other plant diseases. The cranberry grows best in temperate climes, DeMoranville said, and long, hot sunny days produce smaller berries that don’t get top prices.
Studies have shown that Cape Cod cranberry growers can expect conditions similar to those now experienced in New Jersey, at the southernmost range of the plant. That area has the highest level of rotted berries, Wick said. The winters also have to be cold enough for ice to form over the flooded bogs so farmers can apply sand that seeps down in the spring and forms a new bed for the plants.
“Eventually, if it got hot enough, you would come to a time when you couldn’t grow cranberries, what may happen is that the entire industry just shifts north,” DeMoranville said.
In essence, that has already happened, as newcomer Quebec overtook Massachusetts in 2013 as the No. 2 cranberry growing region.
The continued decline of Florida’s commercial citrus industry, as reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently, surprised nobody.
Total citrus acreage continued its 19-year decline with another 3 percent fall in grove land to 501,396 acres compared to 515,147 acres last year. Those groves also had 2 percent fewer trees since 2014 with a total of 66.9 million trees, down from 68.1 million trees a year ago.
“These are the lowest numbers in the series across the board,” said Candi Erick, administrator at the USDA’s Florida Field Office in Maitland, which oversees the annual citrus census.
Erick was referring to the 49-year census series back to 1966, when the USDA began its current aerial survey method. USDA officials met with a growers’ advisory board at the Florida’s Natural Growers Grove House.
The new survey showed 12,343 acres of new citrus groves planted over the year, the highest total since 2009, but the increase was not enough to overcome the loss of 26,094 grove acres since 2014, she said. On the bright side, Erick said, most of the acreage removed was probably abandoned or marginally productive groves.
Of greater concern to growers is the decline in the value of the citrus crop.
The USDA reported the preliminary on-tree value of the 2014-15 Florida citrus crop at $1 billion, a 12 percent decline from a revised value of nearly $1.2 billion in the 2013-14 crop. A year ago, USDA had valued the 2013-14 crop at $946.5 million.
Because of rising costs and declining value, the 2014-15 season was a tough one economically for most growers, said Larry Black, a Fort Meade-based grower and president of Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest growers’ trade group. Grove caretaking costs have risen to about $2,200 per acre, triple the costs just 15 years ago.
In 2014, certified and exempt organic farms in the US sold a total of $5.5 billion in organic products, according to a report published by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The top 10 states in terms of sales accounted for 78 percent of total US organic sales, with California being the leading state with sales of $2.2 billion.
The selection of organic products sold by US farms in 2014 was diverse and ranged from dairy to proteins, fruits & vegetables and grains. Lettuce and apples rank 4th and 5th in the top five commodities in organic sales with a value of $264 million and $250 million respectively. They follow after milk, eggs and broiler chickens.
Organic producers are able to get their products from farm to table more efficiently as their products don’t travel far to the consumer. Almost half was sold within 100 miles of the farm and two percent was sold internationally.
Almost 40 percent of survey respondents indicated they intend to increase their organic production within the next five years.
As a veteran I 
had about as good a duty as you get. My first 18 months was in the Philippines. I was editor of a base newsletter at the Cubi Point Naval Air Station, plus I had an additional job as editor of the officer’s club newsletter at nearby Subic Bay. That meant $100 extra per month for an E-2 grade sailor right out of boot camp. As icing on the cake I had full access to the officers club since I interviewed and photographed acts performing at the officer’s club ranging from Johnny Mathis to the Ink Spots. From the Philippines I spent 2 months on a heavy cruiser based out of Norfolk, VA before transferring to a submarine base in Groton, CT, where I served in the public affairs office on the admiral’s staff, which included doing a Navy news program on local radio.
I point this out because today is Veteran’s Day – and I want to honor those that are the real heroes. I could have easily received duty where I may have been killed in a Vietnam jungle as 50,000 American heroes did, including a handful of friends I grew up with. I well remember flying home for leave from a U.S. Air Force base in the Philippines to Anchorage Alaska on a medivac flight that was filled with injured service men from Vietnam. Now those are real heroes.
I’ve often thought that young people in America who have never spent time in poor countries, where poverty and sickness are rampant, often don’t really appreciate what they have here in the United States.
So here is to the real American heroes, our service men and women who serve and have served so valiantly to protect and preserve the freedoms we enjoy in this great country. God Bless you. —
JO2 Bill Martin, USN
REEDLY, CA – Youngstown Distributors is offering consumers even more reasons to say, “I love pomegranates” with new additions to their pomegranate product line. Their organic and conventional pomegranate arils have new packages ranging in convenient sizes that customers are sure to love!
Organic pomegranate arils are now available and packed in 16 oz., 8 oz., 5.3 oz. and 4.4 oz. packages. Consumers will be able to enjoy the nutrition, along with the flavor that the fresh organic arils have to offer, by simply opening the package and adding to their favorite recipe or eating by the handful.
New conventional arils are also available in cups, offered in 4.4 oz. and 2 oz. sizes and sold as individual cups or 4-packs. These cups are perfect for children and adult lunches, on-the-go consumers looking for a healthy alternative to traditional snacks, or as a flavorful addition to any meal.
“Pomegranates are more popular than ever, and our new aril products help meet that demand,” says Youngstown Distributors’ President, Mike Forrest. “Consumers are looking for convenience and nutrition; these new package options, offer both to consumers without having to sacrifice nutrition for convenience.”
Youngstown Distributors also offers whole pomegranates, and they are currently supplying Early Wonderful variety fruit from California. Product availability for Wonderful variety whole pomegranates will begin soon, starting in October and continuing through April. Learn more about all of Youngstown Distributors’ product offerings, by visiting them at PMA booth 2111.
About Youngstown Distributors
Youngstown Distributors is a year-round supplier of whole pomegranates and pomegranate arils along with California Stone Fruit. They value their strategic partnerships, which allow them to supply high quality product year-round.