Archive For The “News” Category
by Joseph N. DiStefano, Philly.com
Mexican ocean shippers met with South Jersey vegetable growers and Philadelphia-area port executives at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market on Essington Ave. in Southwest Philly recently to try and convince shipping lines to establish a regular sea import-export service between the Delaware River ports and Mexico’s chief Atlantic port of Vera Cruz.
The four-day Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic route would compete with deregulated North American trucking lines sending General Electric locomotive parts, Heinz pickles, Hersheys chocolates and Alcoa aluminum ingots and other Pennsylvania exports totalling $3 billion South to Mexico last year, while importing $3.4 billion of Mexican fruit, vegetables and electronics, including about one-quarter of the produce terminal’s yearly volume, says PennPORTS, the state-backed port advocacy group.
Mexico’s chief port administrator, Fernando Gamboa-Rosas, who calls Mexico “la panza del mundo” (Belly of the World) because of its Atlantic and Pacific ports and its high volume of farm exports; and Juan Ignacio Fernandez-Carbajal, director of the Veracruz port, which is the focus of a $5 billion expansion campaign designed to stimulate Mexican trade.
A new survey conducted by the Idaho Potato Commission revealed that 97 percent of Americans said they eat potatoes and more than 81 percent enjoy them as a side dish, snack or main course on average of three days per week.
“The Idaho Potato Commission’s marketing programs have one main objective – to increase Idaho potato consumption nationwide,” Frank Muir, president and chief executive officer of the IPC, said in a press release. “We were thrilled with the survey results, which found consumer attitudes toward potatoes shifting. America’s favorite vegetable is now consumed three times a week, up from two times per week in 2009.”
The survey also revealed that more men than women (84 percent vs. 78 percent) eat potatoes once a week, and that Midwesterners are more likely than those in other regions of the country to eat potatoes at least once a week (88 percent vs. 78 percent).
Regarding how consumers eat their potatoes, the survey showed that baked (29 percent) led the way, followed by mashed (25 percent), French fries (17 percent), hash browns (9 percent) and potato chips (5 percent).
Baked potatoes are favored more by those who are age 45 and up than by 18-44 year-olds (36 percent vs. 23 percent). More 18-44 year-olds than those who are 45 and older prefer French fries (21 percent vs. 12 percent).
When survey participants were asked which vegetable they crave most, potatoes were the clear winner. Nearly one quarter (24 percent) of the Americans chose spuds, followed by leafy greens such as lettuce, kale or spinach (20 percent), broccoli (14 percent), tomatoes (13 percent) or corn (11 percent).
Despite the growing “buy local” movement, 72 percent of Americans would eat Idaho potatoes over potatoes from other states, according to the survey.
The Idaho Potato Commission survey was conducted by Kelton between Jan. 7 and Feb. 3 among 1,000 nationally representative Americans ages 18 and over using an email invitation and an online survey.
By Larry Oscar
Today, March 20th, is the first day of spring. This means potential treacherous trucking due to weather.
The long cold winter of 2104 will be sorely remembered and it will be one for the record books for much of the country. The extremely cold temperatures coupled with high winds and a series of relentless cold fronts are nothing. It was Mark Twain who said, “If you don’t like the weather just wait awhile.”
It has been rather humorous to listen to the global warming lemmings droll on about “Climate Change.” With the history of Earth dating back over 4.5 billion years, and our entire sample of weather records only dating back about 100 years, it doesn’t take much in the way of common
When you see cirrus clouds, it usually indicates that a change in the weather will occur within 24 hours.
sense to realize that we are in no position to make any long range weather predictions.
But one thing we can predict is the unpredictable. When spring finally arrives we will be in a changing weather pattern that will go from one of the coldest winters on record to a period of warming. There will likely be a larger temperature change because of the lower winter temperatures, and this will mean a larger temperature difference in the arrival of warm fronts.
Spring storms will probably be more severe this year. There isn’t anything you can do to control the weather, but there is something you can do to be prepared. The first thing to do is to know the signs of potentially severe weather. Cool days with very warm humid fronts moving in are dangerous signs.
When you are trucking in the months from April through June you must observe the weather patterns, forecasts, and cloud formations. Very few things in life are more terrifying than being caught in the middle of severe and violent weather. Whether it is tornadic storms or high, straight winds, and 80,000 pound big rig can be tossed around like a toy.
One of the best ways to stay on top of the weather is to get your kids or grandkids involved in weather forecasting. Fortunately, there is a host of information on the web. The best website for learning the weather is a website developed especially for children. As it turns out this
If you see altocumulus clouds on a warm, sticky morning, be prepared to see thunderstorms late in the afternoon.
website was developed by meteorologist Crystal Wicker for children of all ages, and it is very informative for adults as well. Check it out, and learn a little forecasting. It just may keep and your family safe this spring, whether at home or on the road.
by Allen Lund Company
ALC Logistics, the software and logistics division of the Allen Lund Company, introduced a customized Transportation Management Software (TMS) specific for produce.
Built on a platform that has been in place for five years, the TMS produce specific solution is now available to the industry. The software enables companies to have control over their transportation spending and includes customized programming to fit each customer’s needs. Specific to produce, customer’s will have control over: load tendering, dock scheduling, spot pricing, and live load tracking.
The ALC TMS Sales team is headed by Kenny Lund, Vice President, Chetan Tandon, CIO, and providing sales and implementation, Kevin Peterson. “We are very excited to roll out this product, at what, we believe, is the right time to help those that transport produce,” stated Lund. He added: “38 years of experience transporting produce have gone into this software which adds visibility, creates efficiencies, controls costs and eases the challenges of produce transportation. There is nothing like it on the market; it works with your systems and adapts to your business processes to ultimately save you time and money.”
About Allen Lund Company: Specializing as a national third-party transportation broker with nationwide offices and over 390 employees, the Allen Lund Company works with shippers and carriers across the nation to transport dry, refrigerated (specializing in produce), and flatbed freight; additionally, the Allen Lund Company has a logistics and software division, ALC Logistics, and an International Division.
Established in 1976, the Allen Lund Company received the TIA 3PL Samaritan Award for 2011 and was placed in Transport Topics’ “2013 Top 25 Freight Brokerage Firms.” The company managed over 288,000 shipments in 2013. The NASTC (National Association of Small Trucking Companies) named Allen Lund Company the 2010 Best Broker of the Year. More information is available at www.allenlund.com.
Studies are tracking shifting trends in in shopping and spending that is resulting from the rise of a new generation of consumers who embrace different values and lifestyles. These are intersecting with the exploding digital landscape.
As consumers take advantage of ready-to-eat foods and meal solution offerings from grocery stores, quick-serve restaurants, food delivery and take away, shoppers are increasing eating out by actually eating in.
Recently released was the ninth edition of The Why? Behind the Buy, a report by Acosta Sales & Marketing. It found among other things, the concept of “grocerants” — grocery stores acting as restaurants — is on the rise. Contrary to some reports, eating at home is not passé. Rather, it has evolved to meet the needs of busier lifestyles, more sophisticated palates and consumers who have become accustomed to immediate gratification.
Millennials are most likely to use prepared foods for meal solutions, but overall:
- 77% of total U.S. shoppers reported eating out in the past month.
- 66% brought home prepared foods
- 65% bought food at a restaurant drive through
- 64% ordered food from a restaurant for pick-up/carryout
So, who’s still cooking at home? Most people, most of the time.
Beyond grocerants, research shows that technology use for grocery shopping is catching up to other retail shopping as more consumers, across generations, incorporate digital along their path to purchase. Among the top digital tactics are printing coupons online before shopping (30% of shoppers), loading coupons onto shopper cards from a website (26% of shoppers) and viewing a store’s digital circular (26% of shoppers).
According to a new study, pairing flavored sauces and spreads liked by children with vegetables will get them to eat vegetables regularly.
Researchers from the Arizona State University interviewed 29 preschoolers on how they felt about 11 different vegetables including whether they liked it or disliked it or had never tried it. They measured the effectiveness of paring vegetables like cauliflower and Brussels sprouts with sweetened and unsweetened cream cheese.
The children were divided in three groups, the first group received the vegetable with unsweetened cream cheese, the second group with sweetened cream cheese and the third group received without any cream cheese. After one week, the participants were served these vegetables without any cream cheese. By the end of 15 days the researchers saw that children who were served vegetables along with cream cheese liked them significantly more than those who were served plain.
Less than a quarter of children liked Brussels sprouts without cream cheese whereas more than 72 percent of children liked the vegetable when served with cream cheese.
Majority of children in the U.S. do not eat the required amount of vegetables and children vegetable consumption is mainly hindered by Neophobia or a fear of something new- a condition that is typical among children between the ages 2 and 5 years. The authors said that this strategy of paring food with something that children and adults already know and like will induce them to consume more fruits and vegetables.
Elizabeth Capaldi-Phillips, study author and psychologist at Arizona State University said, “This has the potential to change the eating habits of children, including eating more vegetables, and this in turn will affect childhood obesity.”
According to a previous research, children need to try new foods at least eight to 10 ten times before they get used to its taste. But the new study got the children to like the vegetables only after seven trials.
Washington-grown Kanzi brand apples are hitting retailers’ shelves on schedule, but production is limited. However, within five years growers expect to be able to ship half a million cartons annually.
This year’s crop is has turned out very well and doesn’t have the limitations the previous crop had in relation to a hail storm. U.S. Growers are adding trees to increase production and meet strong market demand. With the existing trees in the ground, and new plantings, it is estimated that within five years, production will hit nearly 500,000 cartons.
Even with that expanding production, demand is great enough to require imported Kanzi apples to supplement the domestic program. The imports are expected in spring after the domestic apples have sold out. Kanzi was originally developed in the European market by Greenstar Kanzi Europe and has features from its parents, Gala and braeburn apple varieties.
Kanzi is fresh bi-colored apple with a unique sweet-sour flavor, now grown in the Washington state’s Wenatchee Valley.
Kanzi, as a name, does not perhaps have the same gravitas as the old heritage apple varieties – yet. Fortunately this is a pretty good apple so we can let the name grow on us. Kanzi has been developed and marketed by Greenstar Kanzi Europe (GKE) and first came on to the market in 2006. Most supplies are from the Netherlands.
If you are a produce association, produce grower or shipper, or anyone else in the fresh produce industry looking for ways to market and promote your products, there may not be anyone better than this trucker, who has been a professional driver for over a quarter of a century, and hauls nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables.
Meet Lee Weaver, a driver for Alan DoBorde of Fayettville, GA.
Lee has logged over two million accident free miles during his career, and still runs about 100,00o miles a year.
The company driver not only is proud of his profession, but takes pride in the fact he is delivering such healthy, nutritious fresh food.
“I like hauling produce even though it sometimes can be a hassle,” he notes. “But you are picking up fresh fruit and you are delivering fresh fruit. I am being partly responsible for families having fresh produce on their tables at home. I am making a difference.”
Lee drives a beautiful red 2013 Kenworth powered by a 500 hp Cummins. He pulls a 53-foot Utility trailer with a Thermo King SB-210. His sleeper has all the amenities ranging from a refrigerator to microwave oven and flatscreen tv.
A resident of Roanoke, AL, Lee has a regular run originating in Georgia, where he pick ups produce. He’ll then truck to Texas, then over to Louisiana and up to Arkansas, before heading west to Los Angeles. After delivering and picking up in Southern Calfiornia, Lee heads back to either Georgia or Florida.
Lee has never owned his own truck and has no desire to take on the headaches associated with being an owner operator. At the same time he likes being an over-the-road driver, which pretty much allows him to be his own boss.
“You have to be responsible,” he says, “Plus you are not in the same place everyday. You are getting paid to see the world.”
A concern being on the road is the lack of attention to driving by so many motorists. It is a primary reason for accidents. Paying attention while driving is one reason this long haul truck has an impeccable driving record, covering so many miles over such a long period of time.
Recently Slate Magazine published an in-depth article which presented science based information on why parents can feed their kids conventional produce with confidence.
“What all this means for parents is that we should stop worrying so much about whether the apples we buy are organic produce or conventional—we should just start giving our kids more apples.” the article concluded. This conclusion is strongly supported by health experts, scientists, and environmental groups.
Featured in the publiction’s article were papers reviewed by peers, government data, interviews with scientists and provided information that may help consumers make better shopping choices for themselves and their families. But once again there were numerous negative comments and social media discussions in response to the content. We have seen this type of response and controversy before and it seems to continue despite general agreement about the safety of organic and conventional produce and that common fear based misconceptions about produce safety can discourage healthier eating.
So there is general agreement that the presentation of science based information to consumers is a positive thing, that generating misguided fears about residues is detrimental to efforts to increase daily consumption of fruits and veggies for better health, and that both organic and conventional produce is safe and we should all be eating more. It seems on the issues of most importance for consumers, there is more agreement than controversy.
Food transportation companies will be required to adhere to certain sanitation standards to prevent food from becoming contaminated during transit under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a recent article by Reuters.
Carriers and shippers under the rule would be required to properly refrigerate food, clean vehicles between loads and protect food during transportation.
The rule is the seventh and final plank of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, a sweeping initiative designed to reduce food-borne illnesses by giving the FDA greater powers to intervene before an outbreak occurs.
It would establish standards for vehicles and transportation equipment, transportation operations, information exchange, training and records.
“This proposed rule will help reduce the likelihood of conditions during transportation that can lead to human or animal illness or injury,” said Michael Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.
Excluded from coverage will be shippers, receivers or carriers whose operations generate less than $500,000 in annual sales. The rule also excludes food that is fully packaged and stable, and live food animals and raw agricultural commodities transported by farms.
The FDA proposes staggering the implementation of the rule based on the size of a business, ranging from one to two years after publication of the final rule. The proposed rule is open for public comment through May 31.