Archive For The “News” Category
The Tampa (FL) Port Authority plans to construct a refrigerated warehouse, which apparently touched off a battle between another Tampa Bay port over which one would dominate the fruit importing business.
The TPA plans to invest $20.8 million in a cold storage and transload facility at the port of Tampa Bay.
The warehouse would mark the port’s return to the fruit importing business and is viewed as competition by neighboring Port Manatee in Palmetto, FL.
Port Manatee officials expressed concern that the other port would try to dominate fruit handling after the authority voted to authorize construction funding.
The port’s projects to deliver goods directly from ship to market and would include a 50-60 car capacity rail siding that could help the port better serve Midwest customers.
“Port Tampa Bay has the unmatched capacity to build unit trains,” a PTA spokesman said. “Part of the port’s overall growth strategy is to be able to serve shippers in the state of Florida with alternative, cost-efficient transportation solutions, so that they will not have to use out-of-state ports for their shipments.”
The port handles approximately 8 million tons of containerized cargo each year with tropical fruits and vegetables among its biggest items, according to port information.
The port’s 207,000 square feet of refrigerated space is used by Coral Gables, Fla.-based Del Monte Fresh Produce NA Inc., and Fresh Quest Produce Inc., in Plantation, Fla.
Responsible for handing nearly a third of all cargo moving in and out of Florida, the Tampa port port’s yearly 36 million net tons of volume is dominated by dry and liquid bulk items.
At 521,825 million net tons, general and containerized cargo accounts for less than 2% of its business.
The USDA has published its vegetables yearbook and the document updates per capita statistics for fresh vegetables and give other valuable insights. The spreadsheet for fresh market vegetables updates trade and other supply statistics through projected numbers for 2014:Imports supplied 27.9% of U.S. fresh vegetable use, up from 26.7% in 2013 and 24.4% in 2010;
- Exports account for about 6.6% of U.S. domestic production, down from 6.6% in 2013 and 6.7% in 2010;
- Per capita use of fresh vegetables (all per capita stats are farm weight) 141.6 pounds in 2014, up from 140.7 pounds in 2013 but down from 144.3 pounds in 2010;
Some of the bigger gainers in fresh per capita use:
- Asparagus per capita 1.6 pounds, up 14% from 1.4 pounds in 2013;
- Carrot per capita at 8.5 pounds in 2014, up 6% from 8 pounds in 2013
- Cauliflower per capita at 1.5 pounds in 2014, up 15% from 1.3 pounds in 2013;
- Sweet potatoes per capita at 7.5 pounds in 2014, up 12% from 6.7 pounds inn 2013;
- Bell peppers 10.6 pounds in 2014, up 6% from 10 pounds in 2013;
The USDA states:
- Mexico accounts for 69% U.S. fresh vegetable imports by value, compared with 18% for Canada, 4.5% for Peru and 2% for China.
- Mexico provides 76% of hothouse tomato imports, compared with 22% from Canada, 0.88% from Guatemala and 0.24% from the Dominican Republic;
- For onions, Mexico supplies 71% of U.S. imports, followed by 13% for Peru, 9% for Canada and 2% for Chile.
The emergence of such brands as Kroger’s Simple Truth, Supervalu’s Wild Harvest and Aldi’s Simply Nature highlight how the private label category is evolving. Manufacturers and retailers have tried to address consumer concerns about wellness and nutrition with more affordable healthy food options, and several retailers have built private label brands around a position of affordable healthy eating.
“Store brands have moved far beyond cheap generic knock-offs to become trusted, quality lines that can compete effectively with national brands,” said David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts. “They usually have higher profit margins for retailers than name brands, help differentiate a retailer from competition, and help build consumer loyalty.”
Private label accounted for almost a fifth of the $530 billion total food and beverage market dollar sales in 2013. In its report “Private label foods & beverages in the U.S., 8h edition,” Packaged Facts estimated retail dollar sales of private label food and beverages were $102 billion in 2013, up about 2%. Food products accounted for approximately 80% of the private label segment’s sales.
Looking ahead, the market research firm projects retail dollar sales of private label food and beverages will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 4% and reach $122 billion in 2018. The increase is due in part to the segment’s attractiveness to consumers seeking to eat healthy on a budget. Sales of private label food are expected to reach $98 billion.
Natural and organic private label brands have been around for a number of years led by Safeway’s O Organics, Stop & Shop and Giant’s Nature’s Promise, Food Lion and Hannaford’s Nature’s Place, and Supervalu’s Wild Harvest. The brands continue to expand and update with a focus on healthy product attributes.
Other retailers have evolved natural and organic positions to more modern wellness brands that shift focus from product attributes to lifestyle enhancement. Kroger’s Simple Truth, Target’s Simply Balanced, and Aldi’s Simply Nature all attempt to provide consumers with solutions for taking care of themselves and their families. The brands cross many food and beverage categories with affordable, nutritious products that are natural or organic, and free of artificial ingredients. Kroger has invested heavily to build Simple Truth and the company stated in the first quarter of 2014 it expected the brand to reach $1 billion in sales this year.
S. Katzman Produce Inc. is purchasing the unites of Morris Okun Inc.on the Bronx, N.Y.-based Hunts Point Terminal Market.
It continues a trend of fewer but larger wholesalers on the world’s largest produce wholesale terminal market. In 1967 there were 125 wholesalers. Today, there are 40 wholesalers, but it soon will be 39.
Katzman, which also operates Katzman Berry Corp., contracted to buy Okun’s 16 units on Row B after purchasing five units on Row D in late January, said Steve Katzman, president.
The purchase expands Katzman’s market presence from 21 units to 37 units on the 262 unit terminal,
Okun owner Roni Okun has decide to retire. The Okun name will not be retained.
Katzman Produce owns 100 vans storing produce alongside the terminal and Katzman said the purchase should help easy some of the market’s space headaches.
“This will help us tremendously in the expansion of our business,” he said. “We will have more refrigeration space and have plans to modernize the units. This will help us with not having to double-handle product and helps by not breaking the cold chain.”
Distributing a full line of fruit and vegetables to retailers and foodservice purveyors throughout the Tri-State region, Okun began operations in 1926 as a small family-owned venture on the old Washington Market in south Manhattan.
A fourth-generation family company, Katzman sells conventional, organic and specialty produce to retailers, restaurants, distributors and caterers throughout the Northeast as well as to customers in Canada, Europe and the North Atlantic.
Katzman’s produce lineage traces to 1890 when Samuel Katzman sold bunched greens and other vegetables from a horse and wagon.
The Katzman operation is also a partner with Top Banana LLC in Top Katz Brokers LLC.
Scout Logistics Corporation, North America’s leading perishable logistics specialist, is pleased to announce the promotion of Mr. Jamie Klayman to Vice President. Jamie, a 8+ year veteran in the business, will be responsible for continuing to build sales within the North American market with specific focus on interstate loads transitioning from the Western states and Texas, to major international produce hubs throughout North America.
Previously, Mr. Klayman has served as Sales Manager – US Freight, where he led his team to record sales in 2014. Furthermore, Mr. Klayman played an integral part in Scout Logistics’ recent accreditation as one of Canada’s 50 Best managed Companies.
“With Jamie’s promotion, Scout is looking forward to continued growth throughout the North American Market and a renewed focus on interstate freight,” said Lorne Swartz, President of Scout Logistics Corporation. “He is well known and respected in the industry and his outstanding ability to manage both client and carrier needs seamlessly, only strengthens our position in this market. His promotion is well deserved and is a result of his hard work and outstanding contributions to Scout’s exceptional growth.”
Jamie has almost a decade of produce logistics experience managing ground shipments for some of North America’s largest chains. “I am excited to take on this opportunity and increase Scout’s presence in the US market”, said Jamie.
About Scout Logistics Corporation
Scout Logistics is one of Canada’s largest non-asset based transportation providers. Founded in 2011, Scout has built a reputation for providing customers with best-in-class customer service, superior on-time delivery, and transformative technological applications. Scout transports over 500 million pounds of refrigerated goods each year, and has quadrupled its revenue since inception. To learn more about Scout, visit www.scoutlogistics.com.
If you end up in jail in this town, you better like being a vegetarian. One of America’s toughest – and best sheriff’s, Joe Arpaio has a say when it comes to the decision to change Maricopa County’s prison menu to a much more produce-conducive diet.
“They may not like the food, but if they don’t, the other alternative is to not go to jail,” Sheriff Arpaio said in a Phoenix Business Journal report.
And if that doesn’t work, bring in PETA spokeswoman and celebrity Pamela Anderson to dish the food. The Bay Watch star and animal advocate stopped by to serve lunches and promote the change, expressing her hope that other facilities would follow Mariposa’s example.
“We’re saving a lot of lives and I think it’s very helpful and encouraging to get people to eat compassionately and make non-violent choices,” Anderson said, according to the Kansas City Star.
From the business aspect, Sheriff Arpaio told the Phoenix Business Journal that the produce-charged vegan menu is not only a healthier option, it saves the county an additional $200,000 a year in food cost.
The jail system began the shift in diet provisions in 2013 with a focus on vegetarian, however the county contract still permits meat purchases, according to a Yahoo report from the time. Those contracts will expire in May of 2017, and whether or not they will be renewed is still a debate that continues.
While there appears to be local controversy with the county’s food suppliers and those advocating on behalf of inmates who do not necessarily want to be vegan, one thing is for sure; being served by the Baywatch star certainly helped the inmates eat their veggies.
Seven public meetings over the last two years to develop recommendations for federal agencies have been held by an expert committee that has recommended Americans eat more plant-based food, including fruits and vegetables.
“Now that the advisory committee has completed its recommendations, HHS and USDA will review this advisory report, along with comments from the public — including other experts — and input from other federal agencies as we begin the process of updating the guidelines,” said Health & Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a joint statement.
Notably, the committee found that the consumption of fruits has remained low, but stable, for the U.S. population. Vegetable intake has declined, particularly among children and adolescents.
Soon after its recent release, the report was criticized by the meat industry for its move away from recommending lean meat dishes.
“We appreciate the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recognition of the important role that lean meat can play in a healthy balanced diet, but lean meat’s relegation to a footnote ignores the countless studies and data that the committee reviewed for the last two years that showed unequivocally that meat and poultry are among the most nutrient-dense foods available,” said North American Meat Institute President and CEO Barry Carpenter.
A consumer advocate, however, praised the committee for its latest recommendations.
“The committee has boldly stated that a sustainable diet, higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods, is better for both our health and the planet than the current American diet,” said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The DGAC has always urged greater consumption of fruits and vegetables, but the recommendation to eat less red and processed meat deserves to be in the final Dietary Guidelines for Americans — and not excised at the behest of the meat industry.”
by Transportation Intermediaries Association
Orlando, FL – The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) is pleased to announce the release of the TIA & United Fresh Produce Association’s joint Broker-Shipper contract. This is the latest model contract offered exclusively to TIA members. All of TIA model contracts are exclusive to TIA members and can be found under the member’s only section of the TIA website.
The two organizations began working on the model agreement over six months ago with a small working group consisting of members of both organizations. On the importance of the model agreement and both organizations working together, TIA and United Fresh member Kenny Lund notes:
“Shippers and logistics companies worked together to create a model contract that is fair to both parties. Now, United Fresh Produce Association and TIA have taken it to the next level by adapting the model contract for produce transportation. Once again it is a balanced and it will save member companies time and money when they use it”
“I am very proud of the time commitment by members of both associations to put this model contract together. The level of expertise in the working groups was impressive and has led to a helpful document.”
TIA member James Lee, Vice President, Legal Affairs for Choptank Transport speaks about the importance of TIA and United Fresh Produce Association creating this model agreement:
“In today’s age, transportation contracts are a necessity. As produce is an exempt commodity, and produce transportation is unregulated per se, the importance of United Fresh Produce Association and TIA coming together to create a fair and ethical model contract to be used by both shippers and logistics providers cannot be stressed enough. I am proud to be even a small part of the membership from both organizations who contributed their time, energy, and expertise in order to make this happen.”
In addition to the TIA-United Fresh Produce Association Broker-Shipper model agreement, TIA is pleased to announce updated versions of the Co-broker, Broker-IMC, and Broker-Forwarder model agreements.
TIA Contracts Subcommittee Chairman Chip Smith, Chief Operating Officer for Bay and Bay Transportation speaks about the importance of TIA developing these model contracts.
“TIA model contracts help level the playing field for the contracting parties by eliminating over-reaching clauses commonly promoted by one side or the other while comprehensively covering all the critical contract elements. By promoting industry best practices, we help advance the professionalism and fair trade for all.”
Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA)
TIA is the professional organization of the $162 billion third party logistics industry. TIA is the only organization exclusively representing transportation intermediaries of all disciplines doing business in domestic and international commerce. TIA is the voice of transportation intermediaries to shippers, carriers, government officials and international organizations.
While the Nogales port of entry has under gone major upgrades during the past couple of years, there’s concerns that although trucks from Mexico are crossing the border more efficiently, once they get into Arizona, there’s gridlock getting out of town to deliver loads of fresh produce to points across North America.
Last January, for example, two 18-wheelers collided on Grand Avenue in route to Nogales and nearby Rio Rico warehouses. Traffic was brought to a screeching halt. The upgrades to the border crossing allows for more inspections to be made faster, but the growing gridlock getting to distribution warehouses, not to mention leaving town, causes plenty of headaches for produce handlers and produce truckers alike.
As a result Nogales produce shippers as well as the locally based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas are pushing state and federal government officials for major upgrades that would allow big rigs to get from the border to Interstate 19 without running into any traffic lights or making the steep climb onto the highway from Mariposa Road.
The state of Arizona has budgeted $6 million for a feasibility study. Some estimates for the total project have ranged from $60 million to $150 million.
Supporters are calling for construction of a “fly over” bypass allowing trucks to get from the border to Interstate 19. In addition to the flyover, the project would include improvements to Exits 12 and 17 in Rio Rico, the exits for many of the Nogales area’s distributors.
The Nogales port of entry now has a capacity for 4,000 vehicles a day, but even during peak times of the year, only about 1,800 vehicles are crossing daily.
(The purveyor of this website has written off and on for decades about railroads hauling produce. More specifically, stories about how the rails often lacked an understanding of perishables transportation, as well as not making it a priority. If the following lawsuit has merit this could prove to be another example of the risks involved in transporting perishable fruits and vegetables by rail.)
A multi-million dollar federal lawsuit against BNSF Railway Co., blaming the railroad for the failure of the refrigerated rail service for fresh produce has been filed by Steven Lawson, former president and CEO of Cold Train, and Mike Lerner, former managing member of the company. Both claim they had to shut down their rail service for fresh produce because BNSF failed to meet its promise for 72-hour delivery times.
Seeking $1 million in damages, the case was filed in federal court in Spokane, WA recently.
The lawuit alleges that the 72-hour “on-time percentage” steadily dropped from 92% in August 2013 to 3% in April 2014 because BNSF was favoring oil and coal over fresh produce in its scheduling. This resulted in Cold Train losing most of its fresh produce business, including apples, onions, pears, potatoes, carrots and cherries, which was more than 70% of the company’s business, the complaint alleges.
“The shutdown of Cold Train was caused by a significant slowdown in BNSF’s service schedules on its northern corridor line beginning in the fall of 2013 because of increased rail congestion as a result of BNSF hauling larger volumes of oil and coal from the Northern Plains region,” according to the April 7 news release.
A spokeswoman for the railroad said as of April 8 BNSF had not been served with the complaint and therefore its officials could not comment on specific allegations.
“But any suggestion that BNSF would intentionally seek to cause harm to any customer runs completely contrary to how BNSF conducts business,” BNSF communications director Amy Casas said.
“BNSF did experience well documented service issues following unprecedented demand levels and historic winter weather events beginning late in 2013, but we worked to remedy those situations and regularly communicated with our customers throughout the period so that they could anticipate when service would improve and plan accordingly.”
Cold Train shipped approximately 300 containers a month in 2011, according to the release. By 2013 it was shipping 700 per month with a goal of 1,000 per month by the end of that year. BNSF required the Cold Train to acquire a minimum of 111 refrigerated containers.
“BNSF also required the Cold Train to ship a minimum of 95% of the Cold Train’s entire container movements with BNSF, effectively prohibiting the Cold Train from using other carriers,” according to the news release.
By May 2012, Cold Train had 175 containers in service with another 100 on order for delivery in January 2013. Cold Train continued to purchase and lease containers, and by September 2013, the company had over 400 refrigerated shipping containers in service.
“In March 2014, representatives of Cold Train and Federated Railways Inc. met with BNSF representatives in Fort Worth to discuss the Cold Train’s business and its future with BNSF. At the meeting, BNSF continued to encourage Cold Train and Federated to proceed with the sale. Immediately after the meeting, Federated provided Cold Train a $1.25 million capital infusion based solely on that meeting, and announced that it was acquiring Cold Train,” according to the news release.
Ultimately Federated withdrew its offer to buy Cold Train. Lerner and Lawson contend they had to “walk away with nothing” from a business that had been worth more than $30 million before April 2014.