Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Texas produce growers are currently harvesting and shipping melons, citrus and other crops to supermarkets mostly throughout the Eastern half of the country.
When the Lone Star State producers of fresh fruits and vegetable are not in season, Texas is the major route for fruits and vegetables from Mexico.
Many Texas produce operations also have relationships with the growers in Mexico.
For example, in 2016, two-thirds of all the fresh produce sold in Texas was grown in Mexico. Texas grows $900 million of 60 different produce items on 117,000 acres. There are 26,000 acres of watermelons, and 22,000 acres of grapefruit out of a total of 29,000 acres of citrus.
As of 2018, Texas had a population of 28 million people and has the third highest growth population rate of all the states at 1.8 percent per year.
J & D Produce Inc. of Edinburg, TX is a grower-shipper in the Rio Grande Valley and has been shipping kale during the winter for over 25 years to the northeastern U.S.
The company estimates 20 percent of what it grows is distributed in the Lone Star State, while the other 80 percent is shipped out of the state wholesale terminal markets and retail distribution centers, mostly east of the Mississippi River.
Texas is so important in grapefruit and orange production that when California’s largest grower-shipper wanted to fill out their portfolio of year-round citrus, they looked to the Lower Rio Grand Valley.
Wonderful Citrus of Los Angeles grows and ships Texas grapefruit and oranges. While volume during the past five years has been flat, new plantings of grapefruit and oranges were launched a few years ago. The company is now expecting shipments to increase over the next several years.
Wonderful citrus is now the largest red grapefruit grower in Texas, accounting for 50 to 55 percent total share of volume this winter season.
Although Florida remains the orange juice king despite struggles with citrus greening disease, California and Texas are by far the leading fresh market citrus producers with a combined total of nearly 300,000 acres,
The 2018-2019 Texas vegetable shipments experienced problems due to weather factors during the growing season and will conclude in the middle of April. Excessive rains in the Rio Grande Valley, including the Winter Garden district west of San Antonio, made for difficulty in planting schedules, and then later with harvesting, packing and shipping.
In 2016, U.S. fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico reached about 10 million metric tons, with a total value of about $12.4 billion, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service statistics, which accounted for 43 percent of all U.S. fruit-and-vegetable imports from all countries.
About half of all the fresh produce coming into the country from Mexico does so through Texas. Each year, 255,000 truckloads cross the border from Mexico into Texas. At the Pharr International Bridge south of McAllen alone, 157,000 loads of produce come in every year, which is a little more than Nogales, AZ.
Tomatoes account for nearly 30 percent of all the vegetables imported from Mexico, while avocados, watermelons and limes make up more than half the volume of fruits.
Over the previous 12 years, fresh produce from Mexico has grown significantly each year, the biggest items being tomatoes, avocados, limes, mangos and broccoli. Mangos and limes are very close in volume and one or the other can lead in volume from year-to-year to rank number 5 in imports. The volume of both is now larger than sweet peppers.
Bee Sweet Citrus of Fowler, CA is shipping heirloom navel oranges until June.
“Unlike other citrus varieties, heirloom navels are never compromised by acidity,” Bee Sweet Citrus director of communications Monique Bienvenue said in a news release.
The release said heirloom navels are grown in older citrus groves, and the same farming methods that were used to grow Washington navels over a century ago are used to grow heirlooms now.
The release said the heirloom navel is a selection of a parent Washington variety, which was the first navel variety brought to America from Brazil in 1870.
“Heirloom navels set a very high standard for other easy-peel varieties,” Bienvenue said in the release. “Its high brix levels make them perfect for numerous snacks and desserts, and we encourage everyone to try them while they’re in season.”
Tropical fruit grower, packer and shipper WP Produce, Miami, is kicking off its 2019 season with green-skinned avocado varieties to be available the year round.
Green-skinned avocados are experiencing a surge in popularity, according to the company, which markets fruit under the Desbry brand.
In a press release WP Produce noted the non-hass varieties, instead of being used for guacamole, have a firmer texture and are perfect for salads, smoothies, toast, sushi and in soups.
The company sources from growers in Florida and imports from the Dominican Republic, and packs them at a new facility.
“Because we own the land we farm and have strong relationships with our growers, we can ensure a consistent supply of produce throughout the season,”
Desiree Morales, vice president of WP Produce, said in the release. “Our customers have come to depend on the care we take in selecting and packing our produce.”
The company has farms in the Valdesia and Ocoa regions of the Dominican Republic, and partners with growers in the Cambita and Puerto Plata regions, according to the release.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the International Executive Service Corps are educating consumers on the Dominican green-skinned fruit.
“We are very excited for the work being done to promote green skin avocados in the U.S.,” said Christopher Gonzalez, vice president of sales at WP Produce, said in the release. “Consumers are becoming more and more interested in exotic, tropical produce, and green skin avocados are really starting to see a surge in popularity, especially with the continued demand for avocados as a whole. Consumers want to try the next big thing in avocados.”
Decent strawberry shipments are finally taking place from the Plant City area of Florida after a slow start during the past month or so. However, it will be February 1st before volume hits a peak.
Although there is no official government acreage estimate for the 2018-19 season, some observers believe total acreage is around 10,000 to 11,000 acres. However, for the 2017-18 the USDA reported planted acres totaled 10,800, while harvested acreage was 10,700 acres.
The USDA said Florida strawberry growers had an average yield of 225 hundredweight per acre. Total production totaled 2.41 million cwt.
Hot weather last fall resulted in smaller strawberries and less volume although that situation started improving in mid December.
USDA shipment statistics show so far this season, conventional Florida strawberry shipments totaled 8.73 million pounds through December 8th, down 43 percent compared with the same time a year ago, when 15.1 million pounds had been shipped.
Total loadings of Florida conventional strawberries during the 2017-18 totaled 240.8 million pounds, according to the USDA.
Strawberry shipments were in a lull in mid-December and decent volume did not occur until after the New Year.
Wish Farms of Plant City, FL reports acreage in Florida could be off a little, perhaps 5 percent — compared with a year ago. Hillsborough County, FL has about 10,000 acres and Manatee County at about 1,000 acres.
While Florida strawberry volume is building, it is not expected to hit real good levels volume until the week of January 20th, which puts shippers in a good position for the important Valentine Day’s (February 14th) demand.
LGS Specialty Sales of New Rochelle, N.Y., is importing more Spanish fruit including lemons, clementines and Vanilla Persimmons, also known as rojo brillante.
LGS also imports and distributes citrus, grapes and avocados. The Spanish fruit is grown in the Valencia and Murcia regions. The company imports lemons from Spain year-round.
“Spain’s Mediterranean climate consistently grows exceptional fruit and we are excited to export more of their products to provide the U.S. market with top-quality produce year-round,” Rebekah McMurrain, persimmons category manager at LGS, said in a news release. “Both Spanish lemons and ready-to-eat Vanilla Persimmons are favorite varieties in Europe and we are pleased to offer them to U.S shoppers.”
The Vanilla Persimmon, a hybrid of the hachiya and fuyu varieties, is available now through February, according to the release. Like the fuyu, it is ready to eat.
California Avocados
California avocado shipments for the 2018-19 season are expected to plunge by nearly 50 percent compared to the 2017-18 season.
The California Avocado Commission 2018-19 preseason crop estimate for all varieties is 175 million pounds, with 167 million pounds of the hass variety.
The lower volume is due to various weather factors including a severe heat wave in July 2018.
Because of the expected drop in shipments, most avocado loads will be destined to California and other western markets.
Shipments will be building into March with peak availability from April through August.
Gloucester Marine Terminal LLC based in Gloucester City, NJ received its first arrival of fresh Chilean fruit three weeks ago when the M/V Baltic Jasmine unloaded nearly 2,500 tons of Chilean grapes, plums, nectarines and other products.
Weekly service for Chilean winter fruit will continue through April.
“Having the first vessel is a responsibility that we take seriously,” Peter Inskeep, of the Gloucester Marine Terminal, said in a press release. “We have placed a huge emphasis on the culture of food safety, and once again our terminal has been awarded the highest SQF Level II certification. This means that the delicious products that pass through our hands from Chile, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Morocco, Central America and South Africa are guaranteed safe handling.”
The M/V Baltic Jasmine is part of the fleet owned and managed by Baltic Shipping, a long-time customer of the Gloucester Terminal.
“The 2018/2019 fruit season promises to be a good one, and this means increased consumer access to lots of fresh and healthy products from our partners around the world,” Eric Holt, with Holt Logistics Corp., said in the release.
Mexican avocado imports by U.S. importers will remain strong in 2018-19. A new report from the USDA notes Mexican hass avocado production is forecast at 1.9 million metric tons or more for marketing year 2018-19.
By way of comparison, production estimates for the 2017-18 season are about 2 million metric tons, according to industry estimates.
Mexico’s Michoacán region is the world leader in avocado production and accounts for 80 percent of total Mexican avocado volume.
Total area planted for Mexican avocados for 2017-18 is about 571,000 acres, up a little more than 5 percent from about 540,000 acres in 2016-17.
Export outlook
Mexico’s avocado exports for 2018-19 are forecast to be close to 1 million metric tons, according to the report. That is similar to 2017-18, according to the USDA report.
Exports have been increasing over the past few years, and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar has helped international sales in general.
The USDA report said the U.S. is the top importer from Mexico, consuming between 74 and 79 percent of total Mexican exports. About 6 percent of exports are sent to Japan and 7 percent to Canada.
About 45 packers in Michoacán are eligible to export avocados to the U.S., according to the report, while other producing states have concentrated on exporting to Japan, Canada, France and Spain.
While Mexican hass exports to the U.S. have increased with year-round access to all 50 states, the USDA report said exports to Canada, Japan and Europe have also risen.
The USDA report said a price dispute between producers in Michoacán and packing companies caused growers to cease harvesting activities Oct. 29 for approximately two weeks.
The report said an agreement was reached to end the strike on November 14,th when the parties along with the Mexican government agreed to have public reports of market information including:
- Product exported;
- Product sent to domestic market;
- Volumes sold; and
- Destination
Growers in Michoacán generally sell their fruit on the spot to a packer in terms of pesos per kilo.
“The intention is to have transparent commercial value information of the avocado trade,” the USDA report said. “Parties agreed that market prices will be adjusted according to the supply/demand principle.”
Mexican producers said the strike caused a deficit of 38,000 metric tons in the U.S. market, but that resumption of packing was expected to erase that shortage within a few weeks, according to the USDA report.
There were 16 percent fewer U.S. fresh apples remaining to be shipped as of December 1st compared to a year ago, according to a new report from the U.S. Apple Association.
Total fresh apples in storage totalled 103.3 million 42-pound cartons, down from 122.9 million cartons last year and 11 percent less than the five-year average holdings of 116.7 million cartons.
Apples in storage for processing were off even more sharply, with 25.5 million cartons down 44 percent from a year ago and off 42 percent from the five-year average.
Red River Valley Potatoes
By Ted Kreis, NPPGA Communications
As we near the halfway point of the Red River Valley fresh potato crop shipping season, marketers are pleased, especially when comparing this year to last year.
The good fortune started early in the season when a heavy snow cover protected about 4,000 acres of unharvested potatoes from the very cold temperatures that settled in for a few days after the snowstorm.
The color and quality of this year’s crop is excellent and supplies are much more manageable after a nearly 10 percent cut in fresh acres in the Red River Valley.
Demand is strong. Big potato crop losses in Wisconsin and Canada has pushed more business to the Red River Valley.
Last year’s biggest problem, without the doubt, was the truck shortage. It was responsible for lost sales, higher freight rates, backed-up inventory which in turned caused falling prices and higher shrink later in the season. This year trucks have been much more available and nobody knows exactly why, but we are all hoping it continues through the second half of the season.
The Star Group Tomatoes
The Star Group of Voorhees Township, is producing tomatoes in a new greenhouse facility in Culiacan, Mexico.
The Big Taste brand roma tomatoes are entering the market the U.S. market through McAllen, Texas, and Nogales, Ariz., according to a news release.
The company will be shipping the romas, beefsteaks, grape tomatoes and slicer cucumbers through the winter from the new Culiacan facility.
Other Big Taste branded products from The Star Group in Mexico are tomatoes on-the-vine, grape tomatoes and Big Taste berries.
Here’s a shipping update on three companies in the Western U.S.
Peppers Plus LLC of Rio Rico, AZ began shipping peppers December 1st, and will continue shipping Mexican vegetables into the spring.
While the company will continue shipping green, red, yellow and orange blocky Bell peppers, it has discontinued shipping mesh-house bells. Meanwhile the operation increased from 100 to 112 acres of peppers this season.
Peppers Plus also is shipping hard shell squash and will continue until about June 1st. Peppers should wrap up in mid May. The company has been expanding its growing operation on average of 10 to 15 percent per year.
Fresh Farm is Shipping
Fresh Farms’ winter vegetable program “will be up ten percent for every item,
The operation has been shipping green Bell peppers, pickles, eggplant and hard squash since mid November and should continue with good volume until May.
The firm’s English cucumbers will be shipped until mid-April.
Fresh Farms’ green bean shipping started earlier this month and was soon followed by yellow and bi-colored sweet corn.
The company’s organic program this season includes zucchini, yellow, butternut and spaghetti squash, as well as American and English cucumbers and green beans.
Sunions
Shipments of Sunion onions has got underway in its second season.
Sunions, a long-day sweet onion variety grown in Washington and Nevada, was developed by Nunhems Vegetable Seeds and is distributed by Generation Farms of Lake Park, GA; Onions 52 LLC of Syracuse, UT and Peri & Sons Farms Inc. of Yerington, NV.
Unlike other long-day onions, Sunions actually become sweeter and tearless in storage, according to a news release.
Sunions are released for sale using a certification process that includes a sensory panel with the authority to determine Sunions ship dates, and the panel uses three separate tests for both flavor and tearlessness before releasing Sunions for shipping.
Grape shipments from California are moving in record volume as the season approaches a conclusion.
Between October 13th and November 30th, California grape shipments totaled over 27.7 million 19-pound boxes to domestic and export markets. The USDA report the number beats the previous seven-week record during that time frame set in 2013.
California grape grower-shippers also broke the record for the three-month shipping period from September 1st to November 30th, with over 55 million boxes of grapes, according to the California Table Grape Commission. The previous record was also set in 2013.
Shippers also set a new record for the five-week period of September 8th to October 12th.
Shipments are expected to continue through the end of January.
Romaine E.coli
The Food and Drug Administration has named Adam Bros. Farm in Santa Barbara County, California as one potential source of the E. coli outbreak linked to romaine — but it cautions that the finding does not explain all the illnesses in the outbreak.
Investigators found E. coli in the sediment of an irrigation reservoir used by Adam Bros. Farm, but the FDA continues to search for other sources of contaminated product.
“While the analysis of the strain found in the people who got ill and the sediment in one of this farm’s water sources is a genetic match, our traceback work suggests that additional romaine lettuce shipped from other farms could also likely be implicated in the outbreak,” FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb and deputy commissioner Frank Yiannas said in a statement. “Therefore, the water from the reservoir on this single farm doesn’t fully explain what the common source of the contamination (is). We are continuing to investigate what commonalities there could be from multiple farms in the region that could explain this finding in the water and potentially the ultimate source of the outbreak.”
The investigation has produced records from five restaurants in four states, with those restaurants sourcing from 11 distributors, nine growers and eight farms, according to the FDA.
Currently, there is no one company that is a part of all the supply chains being investigated.