Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
The Chilean Citrus Committee estimates that global citrus exports from Chile will reach 383,000 tons this season, a 4% decline from 2023. According to the figures provided by the Committee, clementine and mandarin volumes will decline by 35% and 9% respectively. Oranges will decrease by two percent, with lemons increasing by 33%.
Peak citrus volumes in the U.S. will commence in June and continue through October.
The Committee forecasts clementine volume of 40,000 tons, which is 35% less than the 2023 season. States Monserrat Valenzuela, manager of the Citrus Committee, “This is a result of water restrictions in the main clementine-producing areas of the Coquimbo region (Region IV).” Of the 4,000 hectares of clementines planted in Chile, 70% of them are concentrated in Region IV.
Meanwhile, mandarin volume is expected to reach 160,000 tons, a decrease of 9% from last year. Orange volume will be similar to 2023, with a two percent decrease to 93,000 tons. The only category with anticipated growth is lemons, which is expected to grow by 33% to 90,000 tons.
Regarding the overall anticipated decrease of 4% for Chilean citrus exports this season, the president of the Citrus Committee, Juan Ortúzar, comments, “We are building an industry better adapted to climate change, with a strategy aimed at facing new production challenges, and with a focus on more sustainable production.”
There are 27,813 hectares of citrus orchards in Chile, distributed between the Atacama and O’Higgins regions. The Metropolitan Region has the largest planted area, reaching 8,361 hectares. As for the total planted area, lemons lead with 9,199 hectares nationwide, followed by mandarins with 7,800 hectares and oranges with 6,600.
The U.S. Apple Association released its May 1 apple holding report, which shows 53 million bushels of fresh-market apples. The association said this is 33% more than inventories reported in May 2023 and 30% more than the five-year average for inventories.
USApple also reports processing apples at 23 million bushels, 36% more than inventories from last May and 36% more than the five-year average.
This is down from the 124.4 million bushels from its Dec. 1, 2023 holdings report.
Washington leads the country with 62,272,381 bushels of fresh and processing apples, higher than the five-year average of 48,302,250 bushels as of May 1.
New York follows with 5,786,262 bushels of fresh and processing apples. The Empire State’s five-year average as of May 1 is 4,024,774.
Michigan comes in third with an inventory of 3,669,000 bushels of fresh and processing apples, which is also higher than the state’s five-year average of 1,933,200 bushels.
Red delicious fresh and processing holdings lead apple varieties with 11,744,443 bushels, which is on par with the five-year average for the variety of 11,920,823.
Honeycrisp is next with an inventory of 10,929,357 bushels of fresh and processing apples. This is up from the five-year average of 5,899,102 bushels of fresh and processing apples.
Granny smith comes in third with 9,389,762 bushels of fresh and processing apples in holdings, which is higher than the 7,003,534-bushel five-year average for the variety.
Gala sits in fourth with an inventory of 9,312,343 bushels of fresh and processing apples. This figure holds steady with the five-year average holdings for the variety of 9,281,365 bushels.
Fuji comes in fifth in holdings with 6,826,807 bushels of fresh and processing apples, which is similar to the five-year average for the variety of 6,415,417 bushels.
Some cherry shippers in the Pacific Northwest expect their 2024 season to be the longest and largest in the region.
Superfresh Growers, one of the largest producers in Washington, announced their cherries should be in season as early as late May and extend into August.
The Washington cherry season usually ships from June to late August.
Last year, the company added a third cherry facility, which they say will enhance their ability to deliver cherries to retailers and consumers alike. The company grows cherries from the Canadian border to Hood River, OR.
“Superfresh Growers is proud to uphold our position as the Northwest’s longest and largest cherry crop for the past two seasons. Anticipate nothing less as we gear up for another successful harvest,” said Destiny Nash, Cherry Sales Lead.
“The addition of the third packing line last year optimized our turn-around times from orchard to retail partners. With a notable 30% increase in production capabilities, we are poised for continued growth and success.”
The latest census from the USDA shows the state had 43,429 acres of cherry production in 2022.
It is springtime in the Santa Maria Valley and a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables are being shipped.
Babe Farms of Santa Maria, CA will have a good selection of specialty root vegetables, baby head lettuces, friseé, fennel, celery root and Baby Butter Cakes lettuces.
The company reports mostly favorable weather resulting in good condition and quality on all of its products.
Beachside Produce LLC, of Nipomo, CA is known for its broccoli crowns but also grows cauliflower, celery, cello lettuce and a full line of Western vegetables as well as a variety of Asian vegetables in a partnership with Pismo-Oceano Vegetable Exchange of Oceano, CA
Above average rainfall has disrupted some of the growing season, but weather improvements is getting the season back on a more predictable track.
Corona Marketing of Santa Maria is loading strawberries as well as squash, chili peppers (starting in July) and green beans this spring. Overall volume is expected to be similar to a year ago.
Pacific Coast Produce of Santa Maria began strawberry shipments in March and will continue into the summer.
Pacific Coast Produce started its summer vegetable program, which consists of eight kinds of chili peppers and includes conventional and organic green and yellow squash, in early May and continues through November.
The company’s core products are broccoli, celery and cauliflower. Quality is excellent on all commodities, and volume will be similar to last year.
Gold Coast Packing Inc. of Santa Maria specializes in value-added items, ranging from small-format 12-ounce packs of broccoli florets to 2-pound packages of items that are more specific for retail.
Gold Coast also is developing salad kits for retailers. That program was launched last summer with Costco with a Better Than a Burger salad kit.
The company also offers broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, spinach, Brussels sprouts, cilantro and various product blends.
California’s Santa Maria growing area includes up to 50,000 acres of farmland in the Santa Maria Valley, which is made up of acreage in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and additional land outside the valley.
Commodities are led by Strawberries, followed by cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce and avocados. There has been a decrease in vegetable acres planted in recent years and an increase in strawberries,
Strong supplies of Southern Hemisphere citrus is expected by fresh
fruit importer-exporter Salix Fruits of Philadelphia. It recently launched summer citrus program, marking the start of the lemon, mandarin and orange season in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a news release.
“This year, we anticipate a recovery in citrus volumes from nearly all origins,” Alejandro Moralejo, CEO of Salix Fruits, said in the release. “After last year’s climatic challenges, such as the El Niño phenomenon in Peru, we are prepared for a significant increase in our supply to all our destinations, including the U.S., Canada, India, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Russia.”
Salix says the season began in March-April with early mandarins, which will continue until October.
“Lemons will be available from March to September, while oranges, starting with navels and continuing with valencia types, will be available from May to October. Grapefruits will be available from May to August, and Tahiti limes will be available all year round from Colombia and Peru,” Moralejo said.
With offices in different countries, Salix Fruits says it’s able to source products from throughout the Southern Hemisphere based on its customers’ preferences.
“From Argentina, lemons are our main product for all markets,” said Moralejo. “For the U.S., we source other citrus fruits like oranges and mandarins from Chile, Peru and Uruguay. Also, South Africa is one of our main citrus origins for all the destinations.”
Ocean freight rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels and supply volumes have increased this season, the release said.
Georgia peach shipments are making a major rebound from last year’s devastating season. Loadings got underway in early May and have just moved into good volume.
Industry optimism is based on a full Winter of productive dormancy and a long, cool Spring of perfect weather. Combine these growing conditions with well-rested fruit-bearing trees in their prime and you’ve got a sweet recipe for the best summer of succulent Georgia peaches in multiple decades. These conditions are also key in providing premium sizing and vibrant color to the fruit. Georgia Peach Council growers will be picking over 50 varieties of beautifully blushed peaches across 10,000 acres of manicured orchards. Good volume should continue into mid August.
Duke Lane, president of the Georgia Peach Council, as well as Will McGehee, marketing director of the Georgia Peach Council have expressed optimism on large crop with good quality.
About Georgia Peach Council:
The Georgia Peach Council is the proud supporter of Georgia’s commercial peach farms, including Lane Southern Orchards, Pearson Farm, Dickey Farms, and Fitzgerald Fruit Farms. Today, over 50 varieties of peaches are grown statewide. Each year, Georgia produces over 130 million pounds of peaches, between mid-May and mid-August. For more information about Georgia peach background, health information, recipe ideas and more, visit https://gapeaches.org/.
California hit a volume record for the week ending April 27th shipping over 9.8 million trays of strawberries. The last time California hit even close to that number was back in 2018 at 9.7 million trays in late May, according to Bobalu Berry Farms of Oxnard in a news release.
The week ending May 11th there were still over 9.3 million despite a little rain hitting northern districts. Bobalu expects to see peak numbers for the next several weeks as the northern districts increase their weekly volume. This is all good news for providing a great opportunity for promotions nationwide as “Strawberry Month” reigns during the month of May. June volume will be similar and the company expects see another peak in strawberries from California during this coming month.
CROP UPDATE
Oxnard continues to see optimum weather keeping our fruit size and volume steady. We also benefit from our on-site processing facility keeping our fields clean and diverting lesser quality fruit to the freezer when needed. We will continue to ship from Oxnard during the month of May and focus on highest quality and maintain our three-day harvest rotation.
The fields still look great, the plants are very healthy, and the fruit has excellent flavor with these mild daytime and night time temperatures.
We have enough acreage in Oxnard allowing us to maintain our volume levels there as we wait for our Santa Maria fields to transition into peak by early to mid June. Our Santa Maria program is primarily on the westside of town so this region follows the same harvest trend as the Watsonville/Salinas region. The plants in Santa Maria are setting up to provide some excellent fruit.
Once these ranches in Santa Maria hit peak volume numbers, they will carry us well into the fall before our fall crop kicks in.
A bountiful harvest of California strawberries has arrived for California Giant Berry Farms of Watsonville, CA as the company shares news of giant volumes of its cornerstone product. The berry purveyor’s high yields and volumes of excellent quality fruit ensures peak promotable volumes of California strawberries throughout the coming months.
“Our season started off strong, with healthy plants from the beginning,” said Nick Chappell, director of sales at California Giant Berry Farms. “Despite some fruit culling due to rain early in our season, our plants have otherwise seen optimal growing conditions — which translates into the high-quality, sizeable, and flavorful fruit California Giant is known for.”
Out of the Santa Maria region, California Giant is reporting sizeable, high-quality conventional and organic fruit. The region is currently peaking and will continue to produce abundant harvests throughout the month. The Watsonville and Salinas growing region is seeing week-over-week increases in volumes, with estimates projecting substantial harvested volumes now and spanning to late-June. The region’s ranches are reporting excellent quality and flavor, alongside sizable fruit.
As the spring season gains momentum in California’s Central Valley, Bee Sweet Citrus is highlighting star ruby grapefruit as a key variety in the company’s seasonal citrus lineup.
“Grapefruit harvest in the desert is wrapping up, and we’ve recently begun harvest in the Central Valley,” Bee Sweet Citrus Director of Harvesting and Grower Relations Randy Stucky said in a news release. “While the crop estimate is down from last season, the quality of the fruit has been excellent — with good external blush and internal color.”
Star ruby grapefruit is known for its deep red color and sweet, tangy flavor. The Fowler, Calif.-based company says that with few to no seeds, this variety is less acidic than other grapefruit varieties and complements healthy breakfast and snack recipes.
Avocado shipments from Mexico in 2024 for avocados is forecast to be up 5% over 2023, according to a new USDA report.
The Mexican avocado annual report, issued in early April, pegged the country’s avocado production in 2024 at 2.77 million metric tons, up from 23.65 million metric tons in 2023 on strong export demand.
Exports will continue to grow in 2024.
he U.S. is the top market for Mexican avocados, accounting for 81% of total export shipments. The U.S. is followed by Canada, Japan and Spain.
Mexican avocado output has grown dramatically in the last decade, fueled by global demand for avocados. The USDA said production grew nearly 75% between 2014 and 2023, reaching 2.65 million metric tons and making Mexico the No. 1 avocado producer globally.
Mexico’s avocado exports totaled 1.4 million metric tons in 2023, up 17% compared to 2022 exports of 1.2 million metric tons.
“The past five years have seen a significant increase in avocado production, especially in the Valley Region of Jalisco, as producers diversify their crop mix to include avocados, or completely eliminate corn, wheat, and pasture area in favor of avocado orchards,” the report said.
With planted area growing 46% between 2014 and 2023, the government of Mexico estimates Mexican avocado planted area (i.e. area with mature, productive trees) at nearly 636,500 acres in 2023, up 2% from 2022.
Mexico is the No. 1 avocado supplier to the U.S., the report said, accounting for 89% of U.S. avocado imports, followed by Peru (6%) and the Dominican Republic (4%).
Mexico’s 2023 avocado exports comprised 96% fresh product, 3% guacamole and 1% pulp for further processing. The December to February timeframe accounts for 33% of exports, with the Super Bowl being one of the biggest demand drivers for Mexico’s avocado exports to the U.S.
Avocados ranked fourth in value among Mexico’s agricultural exports in 2023, after beer, tequila and berries.
Sunkist Growers of Valencia, CA is one of the state’s largest lemon shippers and is expanding its volume by adding multiple organic lemon growers this season to meet consumer and customer demand for year-round supply.
The company also has increased its lime volume by expanding it list of growers.
Noting increasing lemon and lime demand compared with pre-COVID levels, foodservice demand continues to regain its footing following the pandemic.