Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
A 14 percent increase over last season is forecast by The Peruvian avocado industry. If it holds this will mean a total of 630,000 tons in production for this season.
The Peruvian Association of Hass Avocado Producers (Prohass), projects a record season.
The Peruvian season occurs between March and August with about 500 to 600 containers a week.
A main cause for the production increase is the addition of 24,000 new producers, covering approximately 49,420 hectares. These growers have a maximum of four productiveacres, with a yield between 2 to 8 tons, which did not exist before.
This is in addition to the production of medium and large companies, ranging from 24 acres to more than 98,840 acres.
According to official data from Prohass, for the current season, they plan to export approximately 630,000 tons. The primary destination is Europe, followed by the United States, Asia in third place and South America, mainly Chile and Argentina, in fourth place.
Melon shipments in the U.S., as well as from Mexico and Central America got off to a slightly later start than usual this spring in many, but growers are reporting good quality.
Sol Group Marketing Co. of Pompano Beach, FL has peak loadings from November through mid-May. The company sources cantaloupes, honeydews, personal-size watermelons and seedless watermelons from Central America.
Stella Farms LLC of Scottsdale, AZ wrapped up its southern Mexico watermelon season in early April and now is launching it season from Guaymas, Mexico. Hermosillo, Mexico starts in late April, about 10 days later than usual, due to cool, wet weather.
Melons from Sonora, Mexico will cross through Nogales, AZ., and be distributed throughout the western U.S. Acreage in Sonora will be down from last year, so there will be less production in April and May.
Stella Farms will ship out of Florida until mid-June. About 90% of the company’s watermelons are seedless.
Weather in Florida has been warmer than normal, so the harvest started earlier than usual.
Stella Farm expect good watermelon shipments from Florida throughout.
Green Life Farms LLC of Indio CA will have good volume of Mexican seeded and seedless watermelons, which will be similar to last year.
The company, which typically starts its spring season the first or second week of May, won’t get started until about May 20 this year, because of unfavorable conditions in Mexico.
Grower/shipper Dixondale Farms of Carrizo Springs, TX got off to a poor start this season when it lost its first 100 acres to a hailstorm in mid March.
That will delay the start until June 10. Harvest usually begins right before Memorial Day.
CAC forecasts the avocado crop for fiscal year 2022-23 at 257 million pounds, which is a slight decline from the 2021-22 yield of 276 million pounds. The agency predicts that the hass variety will account for 243 million pounds of this year’s crop, with lamb hass weighing in at 7 million pounds and Gem at 6 million pounds.
While harvest timing will depend on weather and market conditions, CAC saw volume ramping up in March and reach peak availability from April through July. The season typically winds down around Labor Day.
Eco Farms of Temecula, CA who has a partnership with The Oppenheimer Group of Vancouver, BC expects a good crop this season. Calavo Growers in Santa Paula, CA; and Index Fresh in Corona, CA also express optimism over a slightly smaller overall crop, but with better sizing than a year ago.
California avocado shipments typically receive a boost from Cinco de Mayo and American summer holidays such as Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
Long time major grower-shipper of Mexican tomatoes and vegetables, Delta Fresh, is adding table grape shipments to its wide ranging list of vegetables.
Delta Fresh, based in Nogales, AZ for the first time this spring will be shipping grapes from the Sonoran production areas of Guaymas, Hermosillo and Caborca. Delta Fresh is working with an existing grower.
Delta Fresh reports in the past it didn’t have the right infrastructure and team to be in the grape business. However, with the firm’s modern, already huge Nogales warehouse facilities, have expanded and the sales and food safety staffing has grown to accommodate the new business.
This spring Delta Fresh is also expanding its line with watermelons, cantaloupes and asparagus. Asparagus shipping was underway in March. The melon season began in late April.
Mexican table grape growers expect 2023 grape shipments to be slightly more than last season.
Most Mexican grape shipments normally occur from mid-May through mid-July. Loadings last year were particularly strong results due to lower volumes of early season cherriesin the U.S.
At a recent meeting, Mexico’s Sonora table grape growers association (AALPUM) estimated 21.7 million boxes for the 2023 season, with just over half in green grapes. That would be up 1.3 percent over last year’s 21.4 million boxes.
Producers report a sharp drop in red globe varieties, a variety that has been falling out of favor for some time.
Decreased volumes of summer fruit in the U.S. — due to prolonged bad weather in California — also could help create demand this season for Mexican grapes.
The first shipment of the 2023 New Zealand kiwifruit season recently departed the Port of Tauranga carrying around 2,500 tons (more than 600,000 trays) of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit to customers in Japan. It should arrive there any day now.
The Southampton Star is the first of 53 charter vessels Zespri will use this season to deliver around 145 million trays of green, SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit to more than 50 countries this year, according to a news release.
Charter vessels will be responsible for delivering around 72 million trays of this season’s New Zealand-grown fruit to Zespri’s global consumers. This season’s charter program includes two vessel services to the West Coast in the U.S., three services to northern Europe, seven to the Mediterranean and 41 to Asia. An additional 73 million trays of kiwifruit will be shipped using container services, according to the release.
Huron iceberg and leaf lettuce out of the San Joaquin Valley is getting under way this week as a few suppliers start harvesting.
Some desert regional shipments will remain available for two to three more weeks, while other areas such as Oxnard, CA will also have limited volume before the Salinas ‘Valley and Santa Maria Valley finally start .
Huron supplies are about 10 to 12 days behind schedule to due to consistently cold and rainy conditions over the past two months. Iceberg lettuce quality is very good; case weights will be light as production begins.
Romaine and green leaf quality also looks good overall, but there is some damage from insects and there elevated dirt at the base of the heads. Case weights for 24-count romaine will be in the lower than normal.
The official packing date of Monday, April 17th has been set when shipments of Vidalia onions from Southeastern Georgia can start.
The pack date was recently announced by the Georgia Agriculture Commissioner and Vidalia Onion Committee.
Vidalia onions are available for a limited time each year, between April through early September. The pack date is determined by soil and weather conditions during the growing season, which contributes to high quality Vidalia onions. The produce is produced in 20 Georgia counties.
“For the 2023 season, we have 10,000 acres of Vidalia onions planted in the production area,” said Vidalia Onion Committee Chairman Cliff Riner. “Over the past few years, sweet onion sales have continued to increase, with Vidalia onions being a big part of the market. We’re looking forward to another great season this year.”
With normal yields, 10,000 acres of onions should produce what is considered a normal sized crop.
For more than 80 years, Vidalia onions have been hand-planted, harvested and cured by growers. The Vidalia Onion Act of 1986 established their growing region in South Georgia and trademarked the “Vidalia onion” name. Vidalia onions are grown from a distinctive Granex seed, then packed and sold on or after the official pack date annually.
Texas spring sweet onion shipments are shaping up favorable as some competitive production areas finish their shipping seasons. This could result in a shortage of supplies, which Texans are hoping to fill from the Rio Grande Valley.
The Onion House of Weslaco, TX reports Idaho and Oregon onion shipments are winding down, while onion loadings out of Mexico are 2,000 loads ahead of last season. This could result in lower volume on towards the end of Mexico’s season.
Favorable whether in South Texas resulted in the harvest starting a little early in March, although peak shipments will be in April.
The company’s optimism also is bolstered since it sees the end of the Texas season facing good marketing conditions heading into May as cold weather in both California’s Imperial Valley and Georgia’s Vidalia district should result in later than usual starts for harvest.
The Onion House expects a good shipments of both red and yellow onions from Texas in April and will augment it with some loadings of white onions and organic onions from Mexico.
Mission Produce of Oxnard, CA has shipped 14 percent more avocados during its fiscal first quarter of 2023 for the period ending Jan. 31, 2023, compared to the same time last year.
The company attributes its growth during economic uncertainty and fluctuations to its unmatched global network of distribution, ripening and other assets. This growth also outpaced the avocado industry as a whole.
In total, Mission sold 152.3 million pounds of avocados during the first quarter, a press release stated. Higher volume was driven by greater output from Mexico. The company’s gross profit also increased by $8.5 million during the first quarter compared to the same period last year, to $9 million.
For the second quarter of the fiscal year 2023, Mission is expecting volumes to be higher versus the prior year, primarily to a larger Mexican harvest, which is 20 percent higher compared to the prior harvest season.