Archive For The “News” Category
By Iyer Amruthur, Business Development Specialist, ALC San Antonio
The Legend of Topo Chico has a near and dear place in every Texan’s heart as the premier choice for natural sparkling mineral water. From an ancient story of an ailing Aztec princess whose father, Movtezum I Ilhuicamina, searched far and wide for a cure; wise priests told the king his daughter must bathe in the mystical waters to the north of them. The tribe embarked on a search, for health.
The king took his daughter to the springs by a mole-shaped hill called Topo Chico. After bathing in, and drinking the waters, legend has it that she was immediately cured. Now we see this same spring as one of the most popular sources of beverages in the world! Topo-Chico began selling its mineral water to the U.S. in the 1980s, with its primary market being the Mexican-American communities.
Texas was the biggest consumer of the Topo Beverage, and soon it developed a cult following which exploded in 2010. With retro-green-tinted bottles, and a mythical location in one of Monterrey, Mexico’s inactive volcanoes, they took the market by storm. That is until they closed one of the biggest deals in their history.
In 2017 Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drink company acquired Topo Chico for 220 Million Dollars. With the added supply chain, marketing, and business expertise they were able to expand their sales by 25% in the first quarter. Before the acquisition, 70% of all Topo Chico sales were in Texas but with Coke’s distribution network, they were able to easily reach areas they were unable to before. Soon they started to pop up in convenience stores, additional Walmart’s, and even Costco.
Coke understands the effect the supply chain can have on companies. One thing that the company recognized about Topo-Chico is that the following was cult-like, it was based in certain demographics, and it had a certain image people loved. As Kellam Mattier, a VP of innovation at Coke said, “It’s important for us to maintain the relevance with the core Topo Chico fan base while introducing the brand to new people.” This helps the original company, traditionally regional, to bring that same company feel to the whole nation.
Now with 2021 on the horizon, Coke will debut Topo Chico’s first Hard Alcoholic Seltzer in Latin American cities and will be launching in the U.S. in 2021. This shows the perfect synergy, and what happens between a loved brand, and an expert distributor. Logistics has a lot of the focus on trucks, but before trucks even hit the road, someone needs to make routes, orders, and deals. This is what Coke brings to the table, and why you may see Topo Chico in a store near you soon.
With the bottled-water industry booming to $16 billion in 2017, the market was shifting slightly away from soda. In this gap today, Topo-Chico fits perfectly and is growing just like the legend from long ago.
Iyer Amruthur is a business development specialist in the ALC San Antonio office and has two years of logistics experience. Iyer attended The University of Georgia where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, with a minor in Communications.
U.S. citrus imports grew significantly during the third quarter of the year while volumes of other key fruits during the period such as avocados and bananas saw declines, according to the USDA.
Total imports of fresh citrus between June and September this year rose by 20 percent over 2019 to $682 million. Easily the largest increase in citrusy came from mandarins with imports soaring by 55 percent to $225 million.
Both Chile and Peru were responsible for the dramatic increase. Both have seen strong growth in soft citrus volumes in recent years. South Africa and Uruguay also increased shipments. Limes and oranges both rose by 10 percent to $134 million and $123 million, respectively, while lemons saw a 3 percent decline to $95 million.
Limes came almost entirely from Mexico, while the increase in oranges was driven by South Africa and partially offset by a decline from Chile.
Meanwhile, avocado imports experienced a huge decline of 26 percent to $531 million during the quarter. This decline was driven both by Mexico, whose volumes fell by 24 percent to $424 million, and Peru, whose shipments fell by 22 percent to $102 million.
Chilean imports in the third quarter last year were $20 million, just $1 million. Colombia, meanwhile, managed to roughly double its shipments from 2019 to $4 million. Banana imports fell by 7 percent to $457 million, driven by Guatemala’s volumes falling by 9 percent to $220 million.
Costa Rica and Ecuador saw declines of 11 percent each to $91 million and $43 million, while Honduras saw a 15 percent increase to $41 million. Blueberry imports remained stable at $183 million, with a sharp increase from Peru offset by an equally sharp decrease from Canada.
Pelion, S.C. – WP Rawl, the premier grower, processor and shipper of leafy greens honored fallen military heroes by participating in Wreaths Across America Day this December.
WP Rawl’s dedicated truck and trailer traveled from Pelion, South Carolina to Columbia Falls, Maine to pick up thousands of fresh evergreen wreaths to be placed on the headstones of veterans – a symbol used for centuries to recognize and honor the fallen.
Each year National Wreaths Across America Day takes place in over 1,600 locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad continuing the tradition by participating in annual wreath-laying ceremonies.
For the first time in five years of participating, the company picked up wreaths for two national cemeteries in their home state of South Carolina. Over 28,500 wreaths were delivered to Fort Jackson and Beaufort National Cemetery for the headstones of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Beaufort National Cemetery held a parade on Saturday, December 19th where trucks were escorted into the cemetery with a crowd of cheering volunteers. WP Rawl driver and Army veteran, Craig Ruff had the honor of delivering both loads of wreaths. “It was an honor as a peace time veteran to retrieve a load of wreaths from Maine and then to deliver them to the two national cemeteries,” said Ruff. “It was a humbling experience and great joy meeting all of the folks that want to honor our military heroes. I am grateful for WP Rawl for giving me the opportunity as an employee and veteran. Thank you! I am packed and ready for next year!”
“In a year of so many uncertainties, we were happy to be able to continue the tradition of supporting Wreaths Across America.” said Ashley Rawl, vice president of sales, marketing and product development. “What better way to support our local heroes then by showing our thanks to the many men and woman who are to thank for the many freedoms we have today.”
WP Rawl has supported the Wreaths Across America organization throughout the years by donating services, sponsoring wreaths and sending employees who volunteered to lay wreaths on fallen veterans’ graves.
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About WP Rawl
Dating back to 1925, WP Rawl is a fourth generation family farm which has grown to become a grower/shipper/processor, specializing in year-round bulk and value-added leafy greens and vegetables in the Rawl®, Nature’s Greens® and Palmetto Gardens® brands.
A huge shout to all of you truck drivers across America. As you cross this great nation through rain, shine and snow, you keep this country moving!
Wishing each of you a Merry Christmas and God’s blessings on you and your families.
Thank you for your service.
The Hass avocado association Prohass of Peru expects Hass exports could increase about 10 percent next year
Website Agraria reports exports in 2021 could rise to about 400,000 metric tons (MT), up from the 365,000 MT exported this year. The crop for 2020 marked a 26 percent increase from the previous year, which was a 15 percent decline.
The increase in 2020 is due to new orchards coming into production and maturing. In 2020 around 4,942 acres of production were added onto the 79,074 acres already planted, and more are expected to be planted next year.
The new hectares are concentrated in the north of the country, in the Olmos Irrigation project.
Estimated damage to the Honduran banana industry from Hurricanes Eta and Iota has been lowered since hitting the Central American country just two weeks apart in November.
An industry representative reports only around 9,143 acres of plantations have been damaged or lost due to flooding, down from the original estimate of 19,768 acres.
The Association of Independent Banana Producers reports preliminary estimates showed Eta and Iota had impacted 6,227 acres of plantations in the key Sula Valley region, which lies along along the Aguán River. This equates to more than $55 million in losses.
In addition, multinational Chiquita has reportedly lost 2,965 acres.
Bananas are Hondura’s second-largest export, generating more than $500 million a year. The country ships primarily to the U.S. and Europe.
U.S. surging imports are fueling record high freight costs and logjams at seaports, but transportation executives expect the rally to lose steam with a second wave of Covid-19 restrictions.
Reuters news agency reports container shipping companies got stung late last year and early this year when the pandemic halted trade around the world, and they question whether the U.S. import boom can be sustained.
“Let’s not get carried away,” Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Germany’s Hapag Lloyd, was quoted as telling reporters. “This is just a spike that no one has foreseen in an unusual period. There will be a correction to that.”
U.S. consumer confidence ticked up in September, when retail sales accelerated. Still, consumers are eating through savings, layoffs are mounting and the country just set a record for new COVID-19 infections.
“Everything depends on the demand and how the second wave of COVID affects the world economy,” Aristides Pittas, CEO of shipping company Euroseas, said at a Capital Link virtual event.
In recent weeks, the cost of transporting goods from Asia to the United States – one of the world’s biggest retail markets – topped $4,500 per 40-foot container unit (FEU), the highest recorded level, data from S&P Global Platts Containers showed.
“We are sold out. The ships are 100 percent full. The containers are 100 percent full. You can’t get a container,” Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Japanese container group Ocean Network Express (ONE), said at a recent International Chamber of Shipping virtual event.
Inland exporters in the U.S. and several European countries, as well as Asia are being affected by a container shortage, reports Seatrade Maritime News.
U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) chairman Michael Khouri emphasized the issue of shipping lines not supplying containers to agricultural exporters inland in the U.S.
“Some ocean carriers, not all, have stated that they will no longer reposition empty containers to the U.S. interior agricultural areas. Instead, they are expediting empties back to Asia,” he said. “This abandonment of a significant U.S. export industry, the American agricultural industry, is shutting them out of global markets,” he told the virtual Global Maritime Conference.
The FMC is looking at possible actions it could take.
“We are looking into all potential responsive actions, including a review of whether such ocean carriers’ actions are in full compliance with the Shipping Act and more specifically the various “Prohibited Acts” sections of the Act,” said Chairman Khouri.
Research by FraunhoferCML and Container xChange shows the shortage is being exacerbated by the lengthy periods empty boxes spend in depots, an average of 45 days. In China and the U.S., the number of days empty containers spend in depots is considerably higher at 61 to 66 days.
Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd, a global leader in container shipping, has stopped accepting 40- foot reefer container booking for empty pick-up from depots in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and the Czech Republic until the end of the year. In Hamburg, it has also stopped container booking for empty pick-up for 40-foot GP units until the end of the year.
“Our aim is to support all confirmed export bookings but it might come to booking cancellations in individual cases.” “We do our utmost to avoid such cases and to serve all our customers as best as possible. We expect the situation to remain extremely tight over the next weeks,” Hapag-Lloyd said in a customer advisory.
Imports of fresh produce remain strong as container volumes at PhilaPort’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminals are up 5 percent, maintaining an eight-month surge.
The increase at the Port of Philadelphia leaves it as the only East Coast port to grow cargo volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release.
“We are extremely proud of our results,” Jeff Theobald, executive director and CEO of PhilaPort, said in the release. “This proves that the infrastructure work we have done, in conjunction with the hard work of our longshoremen, terminal operator, Greenwich Terminals, and commercial support from Holt Logistics, is already paying off.”
The Packer Avenue Maine Terminal handles a variety of cargoes, but is known for handling and distributing refrigerated cargoes.
Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics, said the company is on track to reach double-digit growth in refrigerated cargo volume this year.
“Consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables remains at an all-time high,” Holt said. “We remain ready to meet this demand and provide a safe and efficient supply chain for our clients.”
A project to deepen the Delaware River main channel is complete.
“And now that we have this and other major infrastructure improvements in place, developers are taking notice.” Sean Mahoney, director of marketing at the port, said. “They are continuing their investments in new distribution warehousing in South Jersey and Lehigh Valley.”
More fresh potatoes are being purchased by consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting sales in most fresh categories and pushing sales of all potato products, including frozen, to five-year records.
Potatoes USA’s latest retail report charts the category’s growth from July through September as consumers continue to spend more at retail and less on food eaten outside of the home.
“Total store potato sales increased by 13.6 percent in dollar sales and 10.6 percent in volume sales, compared to the same time frame in 2019,” according to a Potatoes USA news release. “These sales levels are also the highest they have been for the past five years.”
The sales and volume information comes from Chicago research firm IRI.
The fresh category saw growth in numerous categories in the three-month period:
- Overall fresh sales are up 16.4 percent in terms of dollars, and 10.6 percent in volume, despite retail price increases;
- Medley, petite and yellow purchases had volume increases of more than 20 percent;
- Five-pound bags still lead as the most-popular size, but 10-pound bags saw the largest increases, with 22 percent higher dollar sales and 20.4 percent volume increase; and
- Bags larger than 10 pounds grew in dollar sales, but were the only category to fall in volume sales, at about 9 percent.
Frozen potatoes had the largest growth from the same three-month period in 2019, with almost 24 percent higher sales in dollars and 20 percent higher volumes. Deli sides is the only category at retail that declined compared to 2019, but the decline had slowed compared to the previous three-month period, according to the IRI numbers from Potatoes USA.