Archive For The “News” Category
by Idaho Potato Commission
EAGLE, Idaho – The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) recently released the latest addition to its series of highly memorable television commercials starring the Real Idaho® Potato Farmer Mark Coombs in search of his famed Big Idaho® Potato Truck. In this fourth spot, Farmer Mark sets off on a mission with his bloodhound, Otis to find his missing truck after he sees college football sideline reporter, Heather Cox with his truck on the local news.
The “Missing” commercials featuring Farmer Mark made their debut four years ago during the first Big Idaho® Potato Truck Tour.
“Pairing our two largest marketing campaigns has proven to be highly successful,” says Frank Muir, President and CEO, IPC. “By featuring the Big Idaho® Potato Truck in our ads, we are essentially promoting the tour ten months out of the year. And, we know the campaign works because almost everywhere the truck travels, folks who have seen the commercial tell the traveling Tater Team to go home!”
The new commercial made its national debut during the Boise State University vs. University of Washington football game on September 5 and began running regularly in mid-October on national cable networks including The Food Network, CNN, Headline News, Fox News, The History Channel and The Cooking Channel. The commercial will air through early February and generate more than 550 million audience impressions.
Heather Cox, a college football sideline reporter who has been working with the IPC for three years made a cameo appearance as herself in the commercial. During football season, the Idaho resident helps generate excitement for Idaho® potatoes among college football fans and spud lovers across the country. Currently she is helping the IPC promote its first online tailgating recipe contest.
The Big Idaho® Potato Truck just completed its fourth cross-country journey. The tour began in 2012 as a one-year campaign to celebrate the IPC’s 75th anniversary and it was apparent from the start, based on the reaction from consumers, the industry and the media, that the truck would not be retiring anytime soon. Today, it’s a solid part of pop-culture that has visited 48 states, met millions of folks across the country and generated billions of media impressions.
To view the commercial online, please visit the IPC’s YouTube Channel.
The Golden Gate Wholesale Produce Market will undergo a major renovation effort that will include a solar installation and other infrastructure, environmental, food safety, traffic and sustainability improvements for the first time since it was built in the 1960s.
Located in South San Francisco, the renovation is the most extensive in the market’s 53-year history and is designed to meet the changing needs of businesses located at the market and customers who shop there. By strengthening the market’s infrastructure and advancing its commitment to sustainability, it plans to create a better experience for everyone who works at or visits the market.
Located across the freeway from San Francisco International Airport, this 742,000-square-foot facility, is the largest and busiest produce terminal in Northern California. The state-of-the-art enhancements are planned over the next year and include new solar/energy efficiency upgrades, cold chain food storage management and worker safety systems, as well as smoother traffic flow within the facility.
Twenty-three independent and family-owned businesses operate at the market, including wholesalers, jobbers, commission merchants, brokers, foodservice distributors, processors and one restaurant. More than 15 million packages move through the market each year.
(While this story doesn’t apply to produce trucking directly, in reality it really does. The PACA system in the U.S. fails to provide protection for produce truckers in the event of a dispute involving problems ranging from claims to rejected loads and unfair deductions from the load. In effect, the trucker has little recourse in a dispute, but to seek remedy through the court system, which can be very expensive, time consuming and not very practical. Currently, the best solution is deliver to reputable produce receivers. It also helps to deal with shippers, truck brokers, logistic companies, etc.
that will back you in an unfair claims dispute. HaulProduce.com for decades has called for PACA to include produce trucking, but the produce industry, which has very close ties with the USDA, which administers the PACA, has strongly opposed it.)
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association and the Canadian Horticultural Council applaud the commitment from the Liberal Party of Canada and Liberal Agriculture Critic Mark Eyking to establishing a Canadian mechanism comparable to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act(PACA) in the United States and to restoring Canada’s preferential access to PACA programs.
“CPMA raised this issue when we met with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau last September, where he committed to resolving this critical problem for the produce industry,” CPMA President Ron Lemaire said in a press release. “We are thrilled that he is following through on this commitment and that the Liberal Party recognizes the importance of a strong produce industry that can continue to provide fresh, healthy food for Canadians.”
“Growing and selling fresh fruit and vegetables is risky, which makes this commitment to ensuring strong, equitable payment protection tools, both in Canada and when exporting to our largest market, all the more important,” Anne Fowlie, executive vice president of the CHC, added in the press release. “We are grateful of the Liberal Party’s support of those who bring fresh fruits and vegetables to our tables every day.”
The lack of payment protection in Canada is the number one issue for fresh fruit and vegetable growers and sellers across Canada. The industry has long advocated for a PACA-like trust in Canada. The highly perishable nature of fresh produce makes the industry uniquely vulnerable during bankruptcies, risking financial ruin for those affected.
Produce sellers in the United States have PACA, which provides a deemed trust mechanism that ensures that growers and sellers are paid should a buyer go bankrupt or simply refuse to pay for the product they receive. Canada had been the only country whose exporters were granted the same protections as U.S. companies under PACA.
The U.S. revoked Canada’s special access due to the lack of similar trust protection and the lack of progress in fulfilling the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council commitment to establishing a comparable approach in Canada.
Long vulnerable in Canada, the situation became more urgent after the decision last fall made exporting to the U.S. a much riskier enterprise for Canadian companies, who currently send 40 percent of all produce grown in Canada to U.S. customers.
Since Oct. 1, Canadian companies trying to recover unpaid bills have had to post a bond of double the value of their claim to move forward with a formal claim under PACA. Many cannot afford to do so and must simply walk away from what they are owed, a decision several have already had to make.
CHC and CPMA have been asking all parties to commit to resolving this issue in their platforms this election. A limited statutory deemed trust, like the PACA model, is a no-cost solution and the most effective means to resolve the issue. Other options would result in high cost to both sellers and government, while still providing ineffective protection.
by Columbia Marketing International (CMI)
Recently released crop estimates for the 2015 Washington state apple shipments predict a decline of 10.5% from the record harvest in 2014. According to some industry experts, the predicted decline in the overall crop is a reflection of significant changes occurring at the orchard level.
The report released last week estimates significant production increases in Honeycrisp and sharp declines in Red and Golden Delicious—two apples that have been icons of Northwest apple growers for more than 50 years.
The late summer crop estimate is issued each season by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. This year’s report reveals a total apple shipments estimate of 125,210 million cartons compared to a 140 million box crop last year, a decline of over 10%. The report predicts in the coming year that production of Honeycrisp will leap by 33%, Red Delicious will drop by 26.2% with Goldens declining by 24.5%. Gala is predicted to decline by 3.5%, Fuji will drop 5.8% with Granny Smith production unchanged.
According to Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing at CMI, the industry report reflects significant changes growers have made over the last few years in response to market conditions and shifting consumer demand. “Market prices for apples send very clear signals to our growers on what varieties they should expand and which apple trees should be removed,” said Lutz. Lutz says that it is not uncommon to see a decline in total production in the year immediately following a bumper crop like the Washington industry experienced in 2014.
Lutz added that production trends at CMI are consistent with the statewide estimate. “Our growers are reporting they expect production declines in Reds and Goldens to be larger than the state average,” he said. “We will have significant increases in Honeycrisp, particularly from newly planted orchards with high-colored fruit, so we’re really excited to bring these apples to our customers.”
“The hidden news in the 2015 crop report is that newer variety apples continue to make up for the erosion in production of the legacy varieties,” said Lutz. “CMI growers have made huge investments so that we have plenty of high-colored Honeycrisp on the way. To maximize the success of this variety, we’re introducing our new Happy Bee™ Honeycrisp pouch bag program, which will drive retail excitement this Fall. We’ll also have significant increases in production of our popular branded apples like Ambrosia™, KIKU® and Kanzi®.”
Lutz says organic apple and pear production also appear to be a bright spot in the coming year. “CMI leads the organic apple and pear category with our #1 Daisy Girl brand. Our growers estimate that in the coming year our production of our Daisy Girl Organic apples and pears will jump by about 10%.” He added, “That’s great news because organics have been the hottest growth driver in the category.”
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Columbia Marketing International (CMI) is one of Washington State’s largest growers, shippers and packers of premium quality cherries, apples, pears and organics. Based out of Wenatchee, WA, CMI delivers outstanding fruit across the U.S.A. and exports to over 60 countries worldwide.
By Full Tilt Marketing
New York, NY— What began as a grassroots effort to celebrate the nutritional benefits of kale as a trending superfood, has grown into a worldwide movement. This year will mark the third annual National Kay Day, which is today.
In recent years, kale’s popularity has grown in both supermarkets and on restaurant menus. In fact, Whole Foods Market now buys and sells more kale than all other greens combined and other retailers have reported triple digit sales increases. This growing interest in kale has growers and manufacturers excited about the opportunity to promote not just kale, but all leafy greens.
This year’s celebration will include online and offline events, including signature events in New York City. The day will kick off with the kale army making an appearance on the Today Show plaza and hosting a kale tasting for media influencers. The day will continue with the founders celebrating a kale lunch with students at a local NYC Public Elementary School, then joining sponsor San Miguel Produce to kick off a Cooking with Kale series at Manhattan’s Food & Finance High School and end with the signature kale party.
In addition, to consumer events, National Kale Day has touched 10 countries, retailers, restaurants and schools with some of the largest school districts in the country including New York Public Schools and Los Angeles Public Schools planning to serve up kale. Dr. Ramsey remarked, “I have been a proponent of brain foods like kale in my practice for years, and there is nothing more exciting than seeing the potential to reach kids early on in their lives and teach them about healthy foods in a fun way.”
National Kale Day is a public event of grassroots volunteers established for the celebration and promotion of the health benefits and culinary versatility of kale.
Full Tilt Marketing is a consulting firm with offices in the Southeast and Midwest. The firm specializes in produce and food marketing. Working with commodity boards and grower/shippers, Full Tilt assists clients with new product development, brand management, retail promotions, online marketing, social media and marketing communications.
The popularity of organic products with consumers has reached an all-time high, according to the Organic Trade Association, in Washington, D.C. The group issues an annual survey on organic sales trends.
The industry is expecting growth to continue, as organic becomes “more mainstream and conventional grocers continue to increase their interest in the industry.
In 2014, traditionally conventional grocers not only increased their interest in organic but they also indicated they would continue to carry organic products. For example, Safeway was mentioned as having established itself a veteran with its O organic line. Major retailers, such as Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, and Costco have declared their interest in organic as a part of their future growth strategies.
“Obviously, the numbers show tremendous growth, with consumers driving organics as a whole, and that’s not going to change,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of the OTA.
Batcha emphasized the only restraint on the category is supply.
“We hear from folks across the supply chain that the limiting factor is the availability of product, and we’re seeing so many retailers not only getting into organics but making it a strategic priority,” she said.
That includes regions in which organics had not been big sellers in the past, including the Midwest and Southeast, Batcha said.
“Our expanding customer and grower base goes to prove that organics is not going away,” said Cherie France, marketing manager with Porterville, Calif.-based Homegrown Organic Farms.
Batcha pointed to markets in the Southeast, in which 68% of households are purchasing organics, as showing unprecedented sales of organics.
Recently aboard the International Space Station, astronauts got a rare treat: fresh lettuce. In space, food is freeze-dried, prepackaged, and often not very tasty.
NASA’s Veggie Project had on goals – to bring salad to space. The result was red romaine lettuce.
“It’s just one of those things that we have to learn if we’re going to step into the solar system and go to Mars,” says Trent Smith, the Veggie project manager. “How will you grow your plants?”
It turns out, farming in space is not as simple as you’d think. First, there’s the problem of water. On Earth, gravity pulls it down toward the roots, but in space, it can ball up in the corner of a pot and leave the roots high and dry. Smith’s team has developed a solution: a “pillow” of aerated clay, to which you add water. The clay provides structure for the roots to spread out in zero G.
Second, plants also need fresh air to breathe. On Earth, wind keeps fresh air coming, but inside the space station, there is no wind. So fans must constantly circulate air.
Finally there’s the issue of light. The space station is whipping around the Earth fast: “Every 90 minutes there’s a new sunrise, so for a plant, that would be extremely confusing,” Smith says. The Veggie team added some artificial lights to keep the orbiting lettuce on an Earthly schedule.
The system took years for engineers on Earth to develop. But growing Monday’s salad on the space station didn’t take long at all.
“July 8 it started. We had 33 days of growth, and the plants were just fantastic, I mean, big, large leaves,” Smith says.
The astronauts went with a simple balsamic dressing and reported that the space salad tasted out of this world.
This wasn’t the first time astronauts had grown lettuce in space. Last year, astronauts grew an equal amount of tasty greens. They were frozen and returned to Earth for careful analysis — though Smith suspects the crew at the time may have sneaked a bite: “I am fairly certain we didn’t get all the lettuce home last time,” he says.
This lettuce could be just the tip of the iceberg. There are plans for cabbage, cherry tomatoes and even potatoes. As we leaf into the final frontier.
About 12% of all produce sold in the U.S. is organic, according to a new study — almost double the amount found in another study.
SPINS, a market research firm for the organic and natural foods industry, arrived at the 12% figure through analysis of IRI Shopper Network bar code data from 100,000 U.S. households, according to a news release from the Washington, D.C.-based Organic Trade Association.
The SPINS figure is significantly higher than FreshLook Marketing retail scan data, which found that organic accounts for 6.9% of total produce sales.
Dick Spezzano, president of Monrovia, CA.-based Spezzano Consulting, said he’s never heard a number as high as 12%.
At some of the specialty retailers Spezzano works with, up to 15% of their produce is organic, but at more conventional retailers the numbers are lower.
“Safeway’s goal is 10% — some of their stores are 8%, some 12%. Kroger is about 8% or 9%, and I’m guessing Wal-Mart is lower than that.”
But double-digit annual growth in organic produce sales is real, Spezzano said, and within about two years, the 12% share could be reality. Growers are getting better at growing organic, he said, and as a result, the price gap between organic and conventional is shrinking.
Earl Herrick, owner and president of Earl’s Organic Produce, San Francisco, can only guess at organic’s share of total produce sales, but he does know business is booming.
“Eight percent, 10%, 12% — what do I know? But we definitely agree that the market is vital, strong and continues to grow.”
Earl’s has enjoyed 15% annual growth in recent years, Herrick said.
New SPINS data also claims that all categories of organic food accounted for nearly 5% of total U.S. food sales.
Organic produce sales account for more than 36% of all organic food sales, according to SPINS. Organics’ share of all produce sales has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to SPINS.
Organic food sales totaled $35.9 billion in 2014, 11% more than the year before, according to a new Organic Trade Association survey conducted by Nutrition Business Journal.
Between 68% and 80% of households in U.S. southern states and almost 90% of households on the West Coast and in New England purchased organic in 2014, according to the survey.
More than 200 companies responded to the survey, according to the association.
It’s common knowledge and has been for decades that the majority of truckers, especially long haul truckers oppose have higher weight limits since the last weight increase from about 73,280 pounds to 80,000 pounds occurred 30 years ago. The primary reasons drivers are against putting more weight in their trailers are pretty obvious.
First of all, the added weight results in greater wear and tear on their equipment. Added weight also results in increased consumption of diesel fuel and less miles per gallon. Equally important is the guys and gals behind the wheel of big rigs realized hauling more weight with the negatives just mentioned, certainly doesn’t mean they will be receiving more money in the form of higher freight rates.
This said, the rest of the information below is mostly what is coming from the other side of this issue.
New federal legislation that would give states the option to raise the Interstate system truck weight limit to 91,000 pounds for vehicles with six axles is supported by 32 organization such as United Fresh Produce Association, the National Potato Council and groups representing other industries such as food, manufacturing, beverage and forestry industries.
The group sent a letter in support of heavier trucks to Chmn. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The legislation was introduced by U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., and is called the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 3488, known as SETA). Supporters claim the bill that is consistent with safety concerns and say heavier trucks won’t harm highways and bridges. They also state the legislation would result in fewer trucks to move more product in a safe way, thus reducing truck traffic.
With nearly 70% of all U.S. freight moved by trucks and total freight tonnage expected to grow nearly 25% over the next 10 years. This legislation claims it will increase truck capacity by 13% without adding more vehicles and ultimately reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
They also state the higher weight limit would reduce transportation costs for fresh produce.
“With trucking being the overwhelmingly dominant mode of domestic transport for fresh fruits and vegetables, it is imperative that our industry be able to move commodities by promoting efficiency and cost-savings, as well as safety and maintaining infrastructure as much as possible,” read a statement issued by the United Fresh Produce Association.
This will be a key component of the transportation message that United Fresh will deliver to Congress at the Sept. 28-30 Washington, D.C. Conference by United Fresh.
The letter previously mentioned referenced a recent study revealing a 91,000 pound truck with six axles can stop at the same distance traveling at 60 miles per hour as its 80,000 pound counterpart with five axles. NPC believes the study proves that truck weight reform is a commonsense and safe approach to lower the number of truck miles driven, improve highway safety and reduce wear to pavement. Rep. Ribble plans to offer H.R. 3488 as an amendment to the transportation act for highway funding.
Fresh produce price inflation will be low again in 2015 as it resists California’s drought, the USDA’s Economic Research Service has forecast.
The agency recently reported fresh fruit prices will increase just 2.5% to 3.5% this year, and fresh vegetable prices will rise 2% to 3%.
In May, the USDA said fresh fruit prices rose 1.7% compared with April, but were down 5.7% from May 2014. Fresh vegetable prices were 0.2% lower in May compared with April but up 1% compared with a year ago, according to the USDA.
For all food items, the Consumer Price Index for food was unchanged from April to May but 1.6% above year-ago levels.
In 2014, food price inflation was close to the 20-year historical average of 2.6%, despite the effect of the drought in the Southwest and California.
While the ongoing California drought could have “large and lasting effects on fruit, vegetable, dairy and egg prices,” the USDA at this time projects overall food-at-home inflation of about 1.75% to 2.7%.
If oil prices continue to fall or remain low this year, projected decreases in production and transportation costs may be passed along at the retail level, according to the USDA.