Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Ample shipments of North Carolina vegetable are expected in the months ahead.
L&M Cos. of Raleigh, NC reports fresh produce shipments include cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, bell peppers, chili peppers, summer squash, hard squash, tomatoes, onions, and red, yellow and sweet potatoes.
The region has had slightly cooler and slightly more wet than usual weather. Overall, growing conditions have been very good for vegetables, potatoes and onions.
Vegetable, supplies look to be steady and uninterrupted through the transition up from Georgia all the way through the North Carolina season. Potato and onion shipments look to be above average this season.
Cabbage loadings will be higher on the front end of the vegetable season for L&M, while chilies and hard squash will be plentiful later in the season.
In addition to conventional volume, the company offers organic options for broccoli, tomatoes, squash, peppers and cabbage.
Salinas, CA – Naturipe’s blackberry growing season in Georgia recently started mid-May and will last through early July with high-quality, delicious berries. Peak volumes are expected through the month of June.
Large volumes of this blackberry peak will come from Patten Berry Farm in South Georgia where Michelle Patten has been farming for 20 years. Michelle is a pioneer of blackberry growing in this region and has expanded her operations 10-fold since starting her business. When Michelle started growing blackberries, she had four children under the age of five and was inspired to instill in them the important lessons of hard work, pride of ownership and perseverance. Patten Berry Farms’ success comes from Michelle’s passion for, and dedication to, growing delicious Georgia blackberries. Michelle is proud to grow for Naturipe and bring high-quality blackberries to market.
“These sweet, firm and jet-black berries are a crowd favorite. With a strong supply expected, production will be steady through early July with our growers anticipating their first pick in mid-May,” says Jim Roberts, President of Sales. “Summer blackberries are a key component of a retailer’s berry patch display and Naturipe is primed and ready to supply promotable volumes.”
About Naturipe:
Naturipe is a farmer-owned producer and marketer of nutritious, best tasting, premium berries and avocados that has been an industry leader for more than 100 years producing healthy, deliciously fresh, frozen, and value-added products.
United Apple of Lyndonville, NY has been in the agriculture business for over four generations with orchards and growing partners in western New York.
The company came out of the winter season in a really strong, healthy position relative to the overall condition of the orchards after last fall’s harvest. The volume of the eastern regional crop was relatively modest last season.
This year there has been plenty of rain, keeping the soil and ground water table in a strong position. There also was not have excessive heat, which took its toll on the size and quality of the Northwest apple crop last season.
New York had relatively moderate conditions this winter and no harsh temperatures or frost in the spring. This resulted in trees full of buds that are ready to go into all out bloom in a few weeks. The company also expresses similar optimism for its growers in the Midwest.
United Apple anticipates traditional eastern varieties of Cortland and MacIntosh as well as mainline varietals of Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Red Delicious will be in good supply. Club varieties – EverCrisp, RubyFrost, and SnapDragon – will see a larger volume this season as young trees are maturing and producing more fruit.
United Apple Sales is a leading northeast grower, packer, shipper, and marketer of domestic apples, pears and cherries. The company started with its initial farm in 1905. Over the past 11 decades, it has evolved into an integrated produce company that also has import and export capabilities to offer full-year supply and merchandising services to retail, wholesale and canning and juicing companies. United Apple is a member of a select group of orchardists growing new apple varieties: EverCrisp, RubyFrost and SnapDragon.
While the popularity of avocados in 2022 remain, prices have been sky high and volume has been a problem.
RaboResearch released a report on the avocado market estimating shipping-point prices will decline gradually Cinco de Mayo behind us. It is the second largest driver of avocado consumption in the U.S.
“Nevertheless, we estimate that from May to mid-summer, prices will remain higher on average than in 2020 and 2021,” writes lead author David Magana, fresh produce analyst with Rabo AgriFinance, the part of the global Rabobank Group that serves U.S. agricultural producers.
“Starting from late summer, prices are likely to decline below the prices observed in 2021 but remain higher than those of 2020.”
The report says the second half of 2022 should see increased volume from Mexico, both from the main supplying state of Michoacan, but also new exports from Jalisco. Volume from South America should also increase.
This summer, California is expected to harvest higher volume than last year. Shipments from Peru to the U.S. will also likely rise considering the disruptions in Europe with the conflicts.
The report gives historical perspective, showing how availability has risen in the U.S. from 1 billion pounds in 2005-06 to 3 billion in 2020-21, and per capita consumption has grown to more than 9 pounds, more than three times of that in Europe, which has changed the strategies of supplying nations.
Heavy volume strawberry shipments continue from California following the Mother’s Day holiday and the trend is continuing this week as strong demand from retail sales continues.
In fact strawberry loadings are increasing this week from the Salinas/Watsonville are and are expected to continue at a similar pace next week, before showing a decline prior to Memorial Day, May 23 – 27. Quality is reported to be excellent with 90 to 95% color.
Shipments out of Santa Maria, CA, are increasings thanks to warm weather, Good quality is reports, although some “green shoulders” is being reported.
In seasonal decline, Oxnard, CA, strawberry shipments are all but finished as the season concludes. Quality is reported to be only fair, with some bruising.
Plenty of domestic pears remain in storages this season. There are more apples as well, but the percentage of amounts remaining pale compared to pears. The vast majority of the fruit remaining to be hauled is in the Pacific Northwest.
Pear stocks have increased significantly compared to April 2021 in the U.S., while apple stocks have also increased in the U.S., although at a slower rate.
The World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) released its apple and pear stock figures from April 1, 2022, which showed that pear stocks increased by 45.6 percent, hitting 73,215 tons in April 2022.
In particular, Anjou and Red Anjou pears increased their stocks by 45.2 percent and 93.3 percent respectively, while Bosc pears also saw inventories grow by 15.1 percent compared to figures recorded in the same month last year.
In the U.S., apple stocks were up 4 percent on the previous year too, standing at 1,014,826 tons. Increases in supplies of varieties such as Cosmic Crisp (+290 percent), Granny Smith (+48.8 percent), and Pink Lady (+24.1 percent) balanced out the decreases detailed in other important varieties, namely Fuji (-22.7 percent) and Red Delicious (-11.3 percent).
LOS ANGELES, CA – Pacific Trellis Fruit, the year-round importer, grower, marketer, and owner of the Dulcinea® Brand, is gearing up for a successful Mexican table grape season. Since the company’s inception in the grape industry in 1999, they have experienced year-over-year volume growth for its conventional and organic varieties.
“The crop out of Mexico this year is up nearly 20%, which relates to around 25.5 million boxes,” says Earl McMenamin, Senior Sales Executive. “Pacific Trellis’ 2 million boxes of volume this year will account for around 20 high-flavor varieties which will begin packing the second week of May.”
The company’s robust line-up for the Mexican season consists of conventional and organic red, green, black, and specialty varieties. Pacific Trellis’ specialty grapes kick off the last week of May with Tawny Red, a red seedless variety cross between a Red Globe and Flame. Tawny Red is a large, round berry with great crunch and skin color that varies between dark red and crimson. The Tawny variety is followed closely by Sweet Celebration and Sweet Globe, two high-flavor berries, which begin the first week of June. Pacific Trellis’ grape program is rounded out with organic red and green varieties, which will start in May, with all colors ready for shelves the first week of July.
“Our Mexican grape season has a tremendous advantage as it provides non-interrupted service and a bridge from the import season right into California production,” comments McMenamin. “Our team prides itself on smooth varietal transitions for our customers.”
Pacific Trellis’ entire Mexican table grape production filters through their primary warehouse in Nogales, Arizona. From Nogales, inventory is shipped to secondary warehouses in southern New Jersey and the Central Valley of California. All three centers have customer fulfillment abilities, giving Pacific Trellis reliable national distribution. This season’s grapes will be packed under the renowned Dulcinea® brand, with various bag and clamshell options for retail partners.
Learn more about Pacific Trellis Fruit by visiting their website https://www.pacifictrellisfruit.com/.
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About Pacific Trellis Fruit
Pacific Trellis Fruit is one of North America’s top year-round growers and importers of premium fresh fruit, including melons, grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, citrus, and cherries. It partners with growers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay, as well as domestic farmers across the United States.
Its corporate headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA, with sales offices in Fresno, CA, Gloucester, NJ, and Tucson, AZ. Pacific Trellis owns and manages the renowned Dulcinea® brand. Dulcinea® is the pioneer of the Pureheart personal seedless melons as well as the Tuscan Style Cantaloupe, and Pacific Trellis has recently expanded the brand to pack grapes, citrus, and cherries. In 2020, Pacific Trellis fruit became the exclusive marketer and distributor of the KISS line of melons./
Salinas, CA – Naturipe’s California strawberries are in peak production with the high-quality and flavorful berries consumers expect from Naturipe. Peak volumes are starting now and expected to last through June.
This season, Naturipe Farms is set to have its highest volumes of strawberries, as all California regions are in full production. Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Watsonville-Salinas are producing at peak volumes with great quality and supplies. We have a mix of proprietary and U.C. varieties to bring our customers the best of both worlds!
“This year’s California strawberry crop is peaking just in time for National Strawberry Month. We are seeing great quality and delicious flavor on these sweet and juicy berries. We are thrilled to be offering strong promotable volumes heading into May,” said Jerry Moran, Vice President of Sales for Naturipe.
About Naturipe:
Naturipe is a farmer-owned producer and marketer of nutritious, best tasting, premium berries and avocados that has been an industry leader for more than 100 years
Avocado shipments to U.S. markets have been anything but normal this season for a number of reasons. And the bottom line there have been fewer of them.
You may have noticed significantly higher retail prices for avocados and there are reasons why, even though there has been around 63 million pounds being shipping weekly in the U.S.
During the week of April 25, distributors were quoting $75 for a carton of 48-size avocados from Mexico FOB Laredo, TX, which is the crossing point for most of Mexico’s production.
During the week ending April 24, the 62.9 million pounds packed and shipped during the week was the second-largest week of the calendar year, only exceeded by the first week of March when 63.8 million pounds were moved. Looking at total volume for the year compared to 2021 shows through April in 2021, U.S. shipments of avocados topped 967 million pounds. This year, only a little more than 800 million pounds have made it to market in that time frame, a 17 percent drop in volume.
The market price for avocados has been very strong since January, but it received an unintended bump from the USDA in mid-February and has been steadily climbing ever since. During Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 12-13), shipments from Mexico were suspended because of a threat to a USDA inspector who was conducting inspections in a Michoacan packingshed. The week-long suspension impacted shipments for two weeks with Mexico only sending about 40 million pounds to the U.S. market during that period, which was only about 40 percent of what typically would have been shipped.
The high volume 63.8-million-pound week occurred after shipments were once again allowed, but the shortage created heavy demand and prices started rising. In March, it was mostly in the $50s for the largest size while in early April, the FOB was in the $60s. Easter week always results in a significant drop in supplies from Mexico as that heavily Catholic country observes several holy days with no work. During the week ending April 17, Mexico only sent 21.7 million pounds to the United States, its lowest week of the year except for the suspension week.
Projections on volume reveal the market may stay right where it is through May and possibly well into June. This is when Peru starts to move into volume shipments to the U.S. market. The Hass Avocado Board projects, U.S. weekly volume of 50-55 million pounds in each week of May.
In May, Mexico’s volume is expected to decline from about 40 million pounds the first week of the month to about a 30-million-pound pace by the end of the month. California’s volume is expected to increase from an average of less than 9 million pounds per week in April to 13 million pounds a week in May. The current projection calls for Peru’s volume to hit close to 5 million pounds per week at the end of May before ascending to double-digit weekly volumes in June and reaching for 18-19 million pounds on a weekly basis in mid- to late July.
Peruvian avocado exporters are predicting more than 230 million pounds will come to the U.S. market this season, mostly from mid-June through August, but continuing into October.
Del Rey Packing Co. of Fallbrook, CA, is anticipating Peru might get started earlier with volume shipments to the United States because of the very strong market.
The Chilean Citrus Season kicked off in the last week of April as the first shipment of clementines set sail for the U.S. market. As the largest citrus exporter in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile will be supplying clementines, mandarins, navels, and lemons to the U.S. market, with heaviest volume starting in June and continuing through October.
The current total Chilean Citrus forecast across categories is as follows:
- Clementines: 45,000 tons
- Mandarins: 120,000 tons
- Navels: 90,000 tons
- Lemons: 90,000 tons
Logistical and climatic issues have impacted overall volume, resulting in an anticipated 12% decrease from 2021. Nonetheless, Juan Enrique Ortuzar, president of the Chilean Citrus Committee, remains optimistic about the industry’s future. “We are facing a challenging season in many respects, but citrus has grown into an incredibly strong, year-round category. Chilean citrus volume has increased by 25% over the past five years. With our quality proposition, we believe there will continue to be growth opportunities.”
The U.S. received 88% of all Chilean citrus exports in 2021, with 97% of clementines and mandarins shipped to the U.S. Volume will be lower this year (especially for clementines, where a volume decrease of 35% is anticipated), but the U.S. will continue to receive the majority of Chilean citrus exports.
Retail promotions will be the key focus for the Committee. According to Karen Brux, Managing Director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, “This season, perhaps more than ever, it’s crucial that we work closely with the trade on flexible, targeted programs to drive sales. Having encountered numerous logistical issues over the past year, we’ve learned how to implement flexible programs that can be turned on and off quickly. The ability to be fast, nimble and creative will continue to be important during the citrus season.”
To this effect, the Citrus Committee is developing a new branded campaign that will include digital ads, influencer posts and virtual demos, as well as programs with shopping apps like Shopkick. With the return of more and more in-store merchandising opportunities, the Committee will also implement in-store programs that highlight the superior taste, nutrition, and convenience of Chilean Citrus.