Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Pompano Beach, Florida – Southern Specialties, Inc. announced the company’s Mexican asparagus and Brussels sprouts shipments have moved into good volumes.
“ Our asparagus from Caborca, Mexico are looking very good. We are pleased with the quality and volumes that are crossing into the U.S.,” says Carlos Solf, director of procurement for the company. “We continue to experience excellent year over year growth in this region. This is a great time to set up promotions with our account managers. We can offer both 11 pound and 28 pound cases direct from San Luis, AZ or from our Pompano Beach, FL distribution facility.”
The Mexican asparagus season should run until mid-April.
The company also ships Brussels sprouts grown in this region, The Brussels sprout season will run until early June.
Southern Specialties is a grower, importer, processor and shipper of a variety of specialty products grown in Central America, South America, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The company distributes from its Pompano Beach, Florida headquarters, and facilities in San Luis, AZ.
Here’s a round up of the most active produce shipping areas in the Western states including the Pacific Northwest apple, potato and onion loading opportunities, as well as movement from the deserts of California and Arizona, including Mexican crossings at Nogales.
Pacific Northwest Shipments
Washington apple shipments easily lead national fresh produce volume with about 2900 truck load equivalents being moved a week, mostly from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
A note of caution is offered when loading Malheur County, Oregon and Western Idaho onions. Some freeze damage is being reported to product coming out of storage, which resulted from cold weather moving in before the harvest was completed last fall.
Potatoes and onions are being shipped from Southern Washington’s Columbia Basin and the adjacent Umatilla Basin of Oregon. There are nearly 750 truck load equivalents of potatoes and onions being shipped a week.
Arizona Shipments
Mexican vegetable crossings at Nogales are led in volume by tomatoes (vine ripes, romas and grape) averaging nearly 1650 truck loads a week and volume continues to increase. Bell peppers and cucumbers are accounting for nearly 1400 truck loads weekly. Zuchnni squash along with much smaller volumes other varieties are averaging nearly 500 truck loads a week. Additionally there numerous other veggies being loaded as well, ranging from sweet corn to eggplant, among others.
Mixed loads involving multiple pick ups and drops are inevitable this time of the year and often the first partial loading begins in California before that last one occurs in Arizona. Thus it’s hard to discuss one state without the other.
This is the most active time for shipments from the Yuma area. Head lettuce and romaine are together accounting about 750 truck loads with much smaller amounts of various leaf lettuces, cauliflower and broccoli.
Yuma vegetables – grossing about $6100 to New York City.
California Shipments
Many of the same items coming out of Yuma are coming out of California’s Imperial Valley located less than 90 minutes to the West of Yuma.
Otherwise most California loading opportunities are in the San Joaquin Valley and to the south. Both of these regions are shipping heavy volumes of oranges. In the Bakersfield area world leading carrot shipper Grimmway Farms leads production. About 450 truck loads equivalents of carrots are being loaded each week. In Ventura County over 375 truck loads of celery is being shipped. At the Port of Los Angeles around 400 truck loads of Chilean grapes are arriving weekly.
Idaho Potatoes
Steady shipments of America’s most famous spud are amounting to over 1500 truckload equivalents.
Idaho potatoes from the Upper Valley and Twin Falls and Burley areas – grossing about $5300 to New York City.
BALTIMORE – Gotham Greens announced the official opening of its new, 100,000 square foot hydroponic greenhouse outside of Baltimore. Reimagining a portion of the former Bethlehem Steel Mill located in Sparrows Point, this is Gotham Greens’ seventh greenhouse nationwide and its first greenhouse that will provide a year-round supply of fresh produce to retail, restaurant and foodservice customers across 10 states throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.
The greenhouse will produce more than six million heads of lettuce annually and bring the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based, privately held company’s total annual production to more than 30 million heads of lettuce nationwide. This includes Gotham Greens’ new regional favorite Chesapeake Crunch inspired by the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which helps to filter and to protect drinking water for local residents.
“Gotham Greens is a brand dedicated to changing how people think, feel and interact with their food,” said Viraj Puri, Co-Founder & CEO of Gotham Greens. “We’re excited to introduce our line of leafy greens, herbs, sauces, dips and dressings to even more people up and down the East Coast. By conducting our first harvest during the cold winter season, this underscores our commitment to growing and delivering high-quality, long-lasting and delicious produce all year round.”
Gotham Greens’ produce is grown using hydroponic systems in 100 percent renewable electricity- powered greenhouses that use 95 percent less water and 97 percent less land than conventional farming. The new greenhouse features the company’s latest technological advances, including proprietary data-driven control tools to develop the highest-yielding, most energy efficient indoor farming system on the market today.
Over the past 10 years, the company has helped to create and to popularize the greenhouse-grown produce category among retailers and consumers. In conjunction with its rapid expansion across the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, New England and Midwest regions, Gotham Greens recently introduced a refreshed visual identity and packaging design that positions the company as a forward-thinking, innovative food brand.
“Given the global issues surrounding conventional agriculture, it is important that we continue to stand out in a field of greens in the produce aisle,” Puri said. “Our thoughtful approach to resource conservation and our brand mission are at the forefront of the design strategy, while our refreshed branding makes it even easier for consumers to shop for high-quality, local produce.”
Gotham Greens is creating 60 full-time green jobs in Baltimore and has partnered with the Baltimore County Department of Economic and Workforce Development and the Center for Urban Families to host hiring events. The company will sponsor a local mobile Pantry On The Go on March 11 in partnership with the Maryland Food Bank to provide fresh produce and other pantry staples to its neighbors facing food insecurity. The event also will serve as a local job fair, recruiting for year- round clean manufacturing jobs in a neighborhood facing high rates of unemployment.
The company’s Baltimore greenhouse will serve as a resource to educate local residents and visitors on the benefits of sustainable, indoor farming by hosting free guided tours, as well as field trips for schools, universities and other local community organizations.
For more information on Gotham Greens, its greenhouses and its products, please visit gothamgreens.com.
About Gotham Greens
Gotham Greens is a pioneer in indoor agriculture and a leading produce and fresh food company. Through its national network of climate-controlled, data-driven greenhouses, Gotham Greens grows and sells long-lasting, delicious leafy greens and herbs along with a line of fresh salad dressings and pesto sauces to retail, restaurant and foodservice customers year-round. Founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gotham Greens now operates 500,000 square feet of hydroponic greenhouses across five U.S. states with more than 300 team members.
The Canadian province of Ontario has approximately 3,000 acres of greenhouses divided about equally between tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers.
The Ontario Vegetable Greenhouse Association in Lemington hopes there will be an additional 350 acres or so within the next couple of years. The uncertainty stems from pot legalization in Canada in 2018. Cannabis demand apparently is so high it has put a crunch on availability of work crews and materials used in building greenhouses.
Expansion of some vegetable greenhouses has been put on hold until builders can catch up.
In 2019 the greenhouse vegetable industry expected a 9 percent growth rate, but it ended up being less than 2 percent.
Some operators with heated, well-lit facilities produce nearly year-round, but others will start picking in late winter. Cucumbers loadings got underway the last half of February and tomatoes begin in the middle of March, while bell peppers will start towards the end of March.
Mastronardi Produce Ltd. of Kingsville, Ontario reports even with favorable weather there simply isn’t enough sunlight hours this time of the year, which limits production. Having high-tech lighting in greenhouses does help.
Mastronardi has expanded its acreage for specialty tomatoes as demand continues to increase.
Pure Hot House Foods Inc. in Leamington received over 265,000 plants in early January.
The grower/shipper started picking its first crop of long English cucumbers in early February works with a number of growers across all regions each season for a consistent supply of conventional and organic tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and purple baby eggplant.
AMCO Produce of Leamington grows beefsteak tomatoes and seedless cucumbers the year around as well as bell peppers under lights.
The 35-year-old company has over 100 acres of greenhouse product and sees a 10 to 15 percent increase in volume this year.
By Grimmway Farms
BAKERSFIELD, CA — Grimmway Farms, a global produce leader and the world’s largest producer of carrots, is shipping regionally through its Lake Park, GA processing facility. It is currently loading carrots and organic vegetables across the Southeast region and Eastern Seaboard. The California-based company is offering conventional and organic carrot products in addition to almost 20 varieties of organic vegetables.
“Cal-Organic is trialing a host of commodities in limited volumes from our Southeast growing region. For the first time, we’re offering an array of premium quality organic leafy greens, herbs, root vegetables and carrots and we plan to expand this regional planting next fall,” said Bob Borda, Vice President of Organic Sales at Grimmway Farms.
In addition to Cal-Organic vegetables, Grimmway is offering conventional and organic baby carrots as well as conventional and organic fresh, cello and jumbo carrots in a full range of pack sizes. The company is also offering conventional and organic industrial peeled chunk carrots. Grimmway expects supply of organic vegetables and carrots to run through April with conventional carrot products loading through May.
Grimmway’s Lake Park facility provides a great option for regional customers. “We are pleased to provide our partners with faster shipping times and fresh, local produce during this season of regional availability,” added Eric Proffitt, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Grimmway.
Grimmway is loading carrots and organic vegetables from the Lake Park facility Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 11:30 pm and on Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm (EST) by appointment only. To book a loading appointment, please call 866-328-6867.
About Grimmway Farms
Family-owned and headquartered in Bakersfield, California, Grimmway Farms traces its roots to a produce stand opened by the Grimm brothers in the early 1960s. Grimmway is a global produce leader and the world’s largest producer of carrots. Grimmway supplies more than 65 organic, USA-grown crops and brands include Cal-Organic Farms and Bunny-Luv. For more information, visit www.grimmway.com
The Peruvian table grape season is being wrapped up by Divine Flavor of Nogales, AZ as the importer switches to Chilean grapes.
Divine Flavor’s Chilean grape program lasts into April, when production switches to Jalisco, Mexico.
Early varieties from Chile include thompsons, sugraones, sweet globes and other greens.
Chile exported about 50 million boxes last year, about 60 percent of which went to the U.S.
The Chilean grape season could be down as much as 15 percent this season, in good part due to drought conditions. Still, the company sees decent volumes in the coming months.
“This year, we’ll have more Muscat Beauty, which is a great tasting hybrid,” Gonzalo Mery of Santa Elena, a Chilean grower that supplies Divine Flavor, said in a press release. “We’ve also planted more autumn crisp and sweet globe, both being specialty and high-flavored greens.”
Peruvian growers for Divine Flavor have also planted more highly-flavored varieties. Agricola Don Ricardo plans to plant more Jellyberries and Gummyberries.
“This movement and our decisions are being backed up by data and testing blocks trials,” Arturo Hoffmann, commercial manager for Agricola Don Ricardo, said in the release. “Next season, we anticipate having 85 percent of our production to be of the specialty, high-flavored varieties.”
California grows and ships nearly 100 percent of the three major U.S. tree nut crops — almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
Golden State growers and shippers are reporting volume may be down on some varieties, but quality of all three is excellent. And despite fewer shipments predicted this season, there should be adequate supplies.
Mariani Nut Co. of Winters, CA sees the popularity of nuts continue to grow as consumers seek healthier snacks choices> Additional nuts are cited as being tasty and convenient. Good heart health is often linked to both almonds and walnuts.
The Almond Board of California in Modesto reports this year’s almond crop already has set a record as the state’s 7,600 almond growers will produce up to 2.5 billion pounds of almonds on 1.2 million bearing acres. This represents a light increase from last year’s production.
Almonds easily lead California’s nut shipments. Over 80 percent of the world’s almonds are grown in California, with about 70 percent of the state’s production being exported.
The almond association attributes the popularity of almonds to health/lifestyle, the growing worldwide middle class and the fact that almonds are a very stable nut with good shelf life and versatility.
The USDA reports walnuts rank second in total nut shipments. However, walnut shipments are predicted to drop around 7 percent this season from last year’s 596.7 million pounds. Sill, adequate supplies are seen.
Walnut consumption continues to increase due to desirable health benefits and the growing trend toward plant-based eating. Some observes predict consumers will likely see walnuts included on more restaurant menus and store shelves in the form of walnut ‘milks,’ plant-based meat alternatives, flours, snack items and more.
It is estimated California supplies two-thirds of the world’s walnut trade.
Nichols Farms of Hanford, CA reports pistachios are the third-ranked tree nut with 487.5 million pounds during the 2018-19 season. Even though a 20 percent drop in volume is seen this season, not shortage is predicted.
The company cites pistachios as being attractive to consumers due to the higher protein, plant-based snacks, and the flavor.
There are 12 percent more fresh apples remaining in U.S. storages to be shipped this season as of February 1st than at this same time a year ago.
Fresh apples in storage across the U.S were 12% higher on Feb. 1 than a year ago, according to the U.S. Apple Association’s monthly MarketNews report.
The U.S. Apple Association reports there are 87.9 million 42-pound bushels, in storage, a little over 4 percent of the five-year fresh apple numbers.
Apples in storage for processing markets on February 1st totaled 34.9 million bushels, a 20 percent increase from the same time last season. Overall fresh/processing apples in storage February 1st were 122.8 million bushels, a 14 percent increase from the past season, and 4 percent above the five-year average.
The leading fresh variety apples, in millions of bushels, in storage February 1st were:
- Red delicious: 19.13
- Gala: 18.72
- Fuji: 11.16
- Granny smith: 11.04
- Honeycrisp: 8.32
- Golden delicious: 5.88
The availability of Cosmic Crisps dropped from 175,238 bushels to 44,762 bushels.
Mexican fresh produce volume will be down well into March because of fewer plantings, the shift to other vegetables and bad weather. And by this late in the winter shipping season, volume tends to gradually wind down anyway.
Foul weather and cold temperatures have plagued major Mexican growing areas since late last year.
Sun Fed of Rio Rico, AZ has no doubt there will be less volume in the coming weeks. The company has many crops in the Guaymas Sonora area being affected by the cold.
Sonora is a Mexican state, in the northwestern Mexico region. Sonora borders the states of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south, and Baja California to the northwest.
Some growers lost entire crops. As a result, shortages many be felt well into April. Products most affected at Sun Fed by weather include soft squashes, cucumbers and green bell peppers.
Likewise, Ciruli Bros. of Rio Rico relates volume is “way, way down with no short term recovery in sight.
In early February, for example, Ciruli Bros. usually has seven coolers running, but only had four in operation. Vegetables that normally would be ready for harvest the first week of March, we up to two weeks behind in growth.
Items affected in the northern part of Mexico include zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and romas.
Divine Flavor LLC of Nogales, AZ described January as “rough,” but was still hopeful for good volume with conventional and organic mini peppers as well as bell peppers, grape tomatoes and roma tomatoes.
The company grows a lot of its vegetables in greenhouses or high-tech hothouses, most of it in the Culican, Sinaola area of West Mexico. The operation also has squash and mini peppers in Sonora and bell peppers and grape tomatoes in Jalisco.
However, Divine Flavor reports the cold weather in Sinaloa and Sonora has even adversely affected its greenhouse production.
Fresh Farms of Rio Rico reports the Sinaloa region received 10 to 12 inches of rain around Christmas, resulting in a “disaster” for crops.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Nogales noted even before the weather challenges, many growers planted fewer romas and round tomatoes because of uncertainty about the tomato suspension agreement last summer and not knowing if they would have to pay tariffs. This resulted in a lot of growers shifting to bell peppers and cucumbers.
It certainly isn’t that good, but here are your best bets for fresh produce loading opportunities in the Eastern Time Zone.
Florida
It is Florida hands down, but even here you are looking at multiple pickups and multiple drops in most cases.
Nearly 750 truckload equivalents of Florida tomatoes are being shipped weekly. This is mostly the mature greens, with much smaller volumes found with grape (cherry) and plum tomatoes.
Strawberries from the Plant City, FL area are averaging about 575 truckload equivalents a week. There are modest amounts of fresh grapefruit and oranges, with even smaller amounts of other citrus amounting to around 475 truckload equivalents weekly.
There also are lesser amounts of cabbage, sweet corn as well as a new crop of red potatoes just getting underway.
Florida produce shipments primarily from central and southern areas – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
Port of Philadelphia
Chilean fruit arrivals by boat at Philadelphia are averaging around 750 truckloads a week. This consists mostly of table grapes although there are some peaches, plums and nectarines.
Michigan
Not much here except apples from the Grand Rapids area in the western part of the state, as well as some onions.
North Carolina
Sweet potatoes by shippers mostly in the Eastern part of the state are averaging over 200 truckloads a week.