Posts Tagged “feature”
WENATCHEE, WA: Furthering its dedication to being a leading fruit grower, packer and shipper in Washington State, CMI Orchards, LLC, is pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with Yakima Fruit and Cold Storage Co.
This partnership will significantly expand CMI Orchards’ manifest by adding over 3 million boxes of exceptional quality apples to CMI’s diverse sales portfolio. CMI President Bob Mast shared, “With this partnership comes tremendous opportunity to increase our daily shipping capacity with the expansion of packing facilities and high-density acreage. This added volume will enable significant growth for both companies and provides a robust portfolio to carry CMI and Yakima Fruit into the future.”
“This is all a part of a long-range plan for strategic growth to better serve our growers as well as our expanding customer base,” said Mast. “The design began to unfold back in 2018 when CMI Orchards added Pine Canyon Growers as a grower, packer and shipper. Pine Canyon Growers has been a fantastic addition to our manifest and now our progress has enabled us to team up with another great partner in Yakima Fruit.”
“Yakima Fruit has a highly desirable manifest that we are excited to add to our offerings, including exceptional early Honeycrisp among other key varieties,” said Mast. According to Mast, the partnership was executed on March 20, 2020, and has immediately added additional core varieties to CMI’s selling power. Varieties include Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Cosmic Crisp®, Red Delicious, Pink Lady®, Gala, Fuji and Golden Delicious apples.
Mike Wilcox, President of Yakima Fruit, is excited that the partnership has been completed and said his company had considered many sales and marketing teams to team up with. “At the end of the day, there was no better choice than CMI,” Wilcox said. “CMI has proven time and time again they are innovation leaders, paving the way with many of the top-selling branded apple varieties in the U.S.A.” Wilcox added that he has always had tremendous respect for the CMI group, and the points of difference that CMI brings to the table to help retailers drive sales. “Having a strong core manifest is equally important, which is the value that Yakima Fruit adds to this partnership, as you have to be able to take care of customers’ everyday needs as well as bring something new and exciting to the table to keep apples exciting,” he said.
Mast reports that in addition to high production orchards, the Yakima Fruit partnership brings an opportunity to strategize on future plantings with available unplanted acreage to best meet the needs of CMI’s retailer and consumer preferences for both apples and cherries. “CMI is thrilled with the opportunity this blank slate provides and is eager to look into early cherry varieties, licensed branded apples and cherries, as well as high flavor, high quality core apple varietals.”
“This partnership will greatly increase CMI’s ability to service our customer base with fruit on a year- round basis. We are excited to have additional premium fruit to offer our customers and to continue to supply the highest quality fruit that we can, serving the needs of the market,” said Mast. “CMI is already known within the industry as being an innovator and leader for new branded items and organics, and this partnership will enable us to continue to pioneer advancements in these areas while expanding our fruit supply, meeting the needs of all of our customers. “We are very proud to welcome the Yakima Fruit team to the CMI Orchards Family and look forward to a long-lasting partnership,” Mast said.
CMI Orchards, founded in 1989, is the sales and marketing arm of McDougall and Sons, Columbia Fruit Packers, Double Diamond Fruit Company, Highland Fruit Company and Pine Canyon Growers. With 9 warehouses locations throughout the State of Washington, this new partnership will add one additional packing shed, greatly increasing CMI’s production capacity and efficiencies.
Yakima Fruit was incorporated in 1949 by the Cohodas Brothers Company of Michigan, a wholesale produce distribution company with branches throughout Michigan and Wisconsin. Following World War II service with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Herbert L. Frank relocated to Yakima, Washington to assume management of the recently acquired packing and storage facility. Subsequently, Yakima Fruit was managed by Lawrence C. Frank and then Michael C. Wilcox, a third-generation grower with sales and marketing experience. In April 2018, a majority interest in Yakima Fruit was acquired by Pioneer Partners LLP, an investment subsidiary of the Hancock Natural Resources Group.
Georgia Vidalia onion shipments are underway and loadings should be similar to a year ago.
There are 9,373 acres on onions in the ground, which is similar to 2019 crop acreage, which was about 2,000 acres down from 2018.
The Vidalia Onion Committee reports more onions are being grown on less acreage. There are about 80,000 to 110,000 onion plants per acre being cultivated by hand to produce the 5 million to 7 million 40-pound equivalents shipped every year.
In 2019, the Vidalia onion industry produced 5.3 million 40-pound equivalents. There is a six to eight-week harvest period for fresh onions, and then about half the crop, or 3 million to 3.5 million bushels, is shipped from cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage through summer.
Last year was one of the best shipping season in Vidalia onion history and the industry has hopes for the same results this go around.
Every year the Georgia Department of Agriculture sets an official start date for the season after hearing from a 13-member advisory panel of the Vidalia Onion Committee of growers. This year’s start date was April 16.
California strawberry shipments could exceed last year’s volume thanks to increased plantings and higher yielding varieties.
Strawberry growers planted nearly 27,000 acres of strawberries for winter, spring and summer production this year, about 1,000 acres more than 2019.
The California Strawberry Commission of Watsonville, CA. reports the combination of increased acreage and the introduction of high-yielding varieties offers growers the potential of producing more than last year’s 202 million plus trays.
Ventura County accounts for 19 percent of the state’s acreage, Santa Maria has 35 percent and Watsonville has 45 percent.
As of March 9, the state had shipped nearly 8.5 million trays of strawberries compared to 4.3 million trays at the same time last year.
Well-Pict Inc. of Watsonville, CA was picking in Oxnard the second week of March and the area hit a peak at the end of March.
Santa Maria began loadings in late March, but the crop was slowed due to earlier weather issues. The areais now entering peak shipments.
Meanwhile, Watsonville shipments are ahead of schedule this year.
Red Blossom Sales Inc., Salinas, CA started shipment from Santa Maria the second week of March 9 but was planningt to start picking in Watsonville around April 30, as usual.
Bobalu Berries of Oxnard started its strawberry season in Ventura County and will be shipping from Watsonville in May.
Truck rates from Ventura County have plunged in recent days from 15 to 30 percent, depending on the market. Oxnard rates have dropped over 20 percent – strawberries and vegetables to New York City – about $6200; down 30 percent to Atlanta – now about $3900.
By Tracy Lewn
Vice President of Sales and Operations
Allen Lund Company
We are living in unprecedented times. It is probably safe to say that in our lifetime, none of us have been faced with a global challenge the likes of COVID-19. It is at times overwhelming – both emotionally and practically speaking. For the better part of nearly eight weeks now, most of us have been inundated with a barrage of mostly negative information and data, coming at us from every angle and every source. In the context of our essential industry, that of arranging and providing transportation and logistics for all kinds of businesses, the reports of impact have varied from doom and gloom, to mixed, to positive.
I am thrilled to report that the Allen Lund Company is bucking the trend of a downturn during this economic anomaly, as our company is realizing some very positive impacts. Where it is reported that others are losing market share, losing customers, cutting their workforce or otherwise struggling, we have consistently grown over the past two months and in fact, are currently looking to hire and looking to expand. We have pivoted, when, where, and how we needed to pivot to meet our customer’s new and unique challenges.
We figured out very quickly how to make working remotely a seamless move. So much so, that even when presented with this particular challenge of having as many as two-thirds of our workforce switch to working from home, our volume has grown tremendously during this time. We are privileged to have such a strong foothold and strong reputation in the perishable and refrigerated transportation segment and with over 44 years in business, our company has a wealth of experience and expertise both at the back of the house as well as the front. We are focused, we are flourishing and we are fortunate.
It is an interesting position to write from; one whereby what we are hearing and reading about mostly contradicts what we are feeling and seeing within our organization. We are facing the daily challenges COVID-19 is bringing to our marketplace, and we are meeting them head-on and with great success.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t tip my hat to our highly reliable and dedicated carrier network, many of whom have been with us for nearly all of our 44 years and who help make our success possible. We are always grateful for these relationships, but even more so these days. It is very rewarding and humbling to know how much good we are doing to help our country’s supply chain and food supply keep moving, in unison with these great carriers of ours.
We wish all of our colleagues, associates, customers, and carriers, health, and safety as we endure this unthinkable situation together. Please let us know how we can help you.
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Tracey Lewin is VP of Sales and Operations, and has been with the Allen Lund Company 31 years. Lewin started with the Allen Lund Company’s accounting department and in 1991 transferred to the Los Angeles refrigerated division; was promoted to assistant manager in 1997, and promoted to manager in 2011. In 2019, she was promoted to her current position.
By Bolthouse Farms
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Building on its 100 plus years of carrot farming heritage, Bolthouse Farms announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Arizona-based Rousseau Farming Company’s carrot operations. This move, part of Bolthouse Farms long-term growth plans, further demonstrates its vision of Plants Powering People and its mission to feed and nourish people.
“This acquisition will help us scale to serve our customers better by bringing more fresh and healthy, locally grown carrots to them in the Southwest,” said Bolthouse Farms CEO Jeff Dunn. “We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the Rousseau family and are committed to partnering with companies that share our core values of sustainability, product quality and customer service. We look forward to continuing to grow our businesses and support the industry together.”
From a strategic standpoint, the acquisition will allow Bolthouse Farms to focus on providing customers more locally grown carrots as part of their regional strategy and “four corners” growing approach – Washington, Georgia, Eastern Canada and now Arizona, in addition to California. It will also bolster Bolthouse Farms’ plans for innovation in the carrot space. While the Company is already equipped when it comes to automation, processing and packing advancements, the Company plans to refine the product, introduce new varieties and optimize the growth cycle and supply chain.
Bolthouse Farms and Rousseau Farming Company both share rich histories in farming. The Bolthouse family started carrot farming in 1915 in Grant, Michigan and by 1950 established itself as a leading supplier in the Midwest—today, Bolthouse Farms is one of the top carrot producers in the U.S. with a reputation for flavor and quality. Similarly, the Rousseau family has been putting fresh produce on tables since 1892 and remains committed to providing consumers with locally grown produce more than 120 years later.
Will Rousseau, owner of Rousseau Farming Company, and a fourth generation Salt River Valley farmer concluded, “My family has focused on providing fresh produce for the American table for more than 125 years, and I believe partnerships like this are what will help us continue to evolve and certainly see us through another 100 years.”
Rousseau Farming Company’s name for carrot operations is not expected to change as a result of the acquisition. Additionally, Rousseau Farming Company will retain ownership of all other produce operations. The terms of the deal, which has been in development for the past few months, are not disclosed, as both companies are privately held.
About Bolthouse Farms
For more than a century, Bolthouse Farms has been known as the innovation leader in growing and distributing carrots and high-quality, innovative branded products. Employing more than 2,200 people and headquartered in Bakersfield in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley, Bolthouse Farms is one of the largest carrot growers and distributors in the U.S. Guided by its vision – Plants Powering People – the Company produces and sells super-premium juices, smoothies, café beverages, protein shakes, functional beverages and premium refrigerated dressings, all under the Bolthouse Farms® brand name. Visit Bolthouse Farms or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Total apples remaining to be shipped from U.S. storages has remained consistently high so far this year, holding steady at 15 percent up from a year ago-on-year.,
As of April 1st in the U.S., there were 81.7 million bushels of apples in storage, up from 71.3 million last year. This year’s figure is also 8 percent above the five-year average.
Fresh apples in storage specifically were registered at 58.7 million, which is also 15 percent up last year. But it is only fractionally higher than the 2017 figure for April of 57.7 million.
Apples for processing in storage came in at 23 million bushels, up 12 percent from a year ago, and slightly below the 23.5 million registered at the same point in the 2017 season.
Breaking down fresh apples in storage remaining to shipped by varieties as of April 1:
Fuji is at 7.7m bushels (6.2m in 2019, 7.2m in 2018) Gala is at 12.3m bushels (9.8m in 2019, 10.7m in 2018) Golden Delicious is at 4.3m bushels (2.3m in 2019, 3.8m in 2018) Granny Smith is at 8m bushels (6m in 2019, 10.1m in 2018) Honeycrisp is at 4.5m bushels (3.8m in 2019, 3.3m in 2018) Pink Lady/Cripps Pink is at 2.9m bushels (2.9m in 2019, 3.3m in 2018) Red Delicious is at 13.6m bushels (15m in 2019, 15.6m in 2018)
By Sarah Kuta
At the end of a long day, it’s tempting to order a large pizza or grab a drive-through cheeseburger for dinner. But, if offered cash, you might be persuaded to eat fruits and vegetables instead (or at least add them as a side dish).
That’s what researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found to be true when they studied the effects of stress and incentives on fruit and vegetable consumption. The results of their study, titled “Stress and number of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed: Buffering effects of monetary incentives,” were published in October in the Journal of Health Psychology.
These results are an important contribution to the growing body of literature about the psychology of incentives and other public health topics. More broadly, the findings support the implementation of health programs that incorporate incentives—for example, companies that offer lower health insurance premiums for employees who exercise or visit the doctor for preventative care.
“What we know is that people tend to eat less healthy when they are stressed,” said Angela Bryan, professor of psychology and neuroscience and one of the study’s co-authors. “We wondered if we associated a more positive thing with healthy behaviors, is there any way we might be able to offset that stress effect? So, if you see a carrot less as something like, ‘Ugh, gosh, I have to eat a carrot’ and more, ‘I get paid to eat a carrot,’ does that mitigate the effects of stress on healthy eating?”
To get an answer to those questions, Bryan and graduate students Casey Gardiner and Sarah Hagerty asked a group of 128 participants to record their stress levels and the number of fruit and vegetable servings they ate each day for three weeks. Some study participants got paid $1 for each serving of fruits and vegetables they ate, up to $5 per day, while other participants received no incentive.
The experiment confirmed that people ate fewer servings of fruits and vegetables on days when they reported feeling stressed. But, notably, participants who received cash incentives maintained their daily fruit and vegetable consumption, even when stressed.
The incentives, in essence, shielded the participants from the negative effect stress would typically have on their diets. Even the researchers were surprised at the clear link between cash, food choices and stress.
“Obviously, we had the hypothesis that incentives might buffer the effects of stress and diet, but I didn’t think it would be this clear,” said Bryan. “I thought there might be a glimmer of something going on, so when we actually saw the effects and the size of the effects, I was pretty stunned.”
The researchers noted in their paper that future studies might improve upon their design by using a more objective measurement method, rather than having participants self-report. Future research might also track participants over a longer period of time to measure whether—and for how long—they kept up the healthy behaviors.
On a more personal level, the findings suggest that we should find ways to reward ourselves for making healthy choices—watching TV as a reward for eating fruits and vegetables, for example.
A small increase in California cherry shipment is expected this season over last year, assuming heavy rains or other adverse weather conditions such as the heavy rainfall that devastated much of the crop last May.
Flavor Tree Fruit Co., which is the marketing arm of Warmerdam Packing LLC of Hanford, CA reports California cherry loadings will arrive five or six days earlier this year.
Flavor Tree ships about 700,000 boxes of cherries, amounting to about 10 percent of the California volume.
Flavor Tree is just starting to pick cherries, which is a typical start time, but five or six days earlier than last year.
Stemilt Growers LLC of Wenatchee, WA has Chinchiolo Stemilt in Stockton, CA and notes the California cherry crop looks promising.
Stemilt’s 2020 Californiacherry shipments should start the last week of April or in early May. Stemilt expects to have a 40- to 50-day season in California.
Primavera Marketing Inc. of Linden, CA plans to start its 2020 cherry season the week of April 27. The company accounts for about 20 percent of the total volume for California cherries and will wrap up its season sometime between early and mid June.
Last year’s industrywide California cherry volume was headed for the biggest crop in history, but record rains in May “demolished the crop.
At one point, there were 10 million to 12 million 18-pound box equivalents of cherries on the trees, but only about 5.7 million were packed.
California’s record cherry crop came in 2017, when growers picked 9.6 million boxes.
Some observers see a possible crop this season of 6 million to 7 million boxes — an increase of 10 to 15 percent, slightly above the 6.5 million box 10-year average.
Florida ships a nation-leading one-third of the country’s fresh market tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, over 20 percent of the fresh market sweet corn and snaps beans, as well as more than 12 percent of the squash, and over 10 percent of the fresh market cabbage, according to USDA.
Springtime mean the heaviest volume for Florida with loadings of bell pepper, squash, cucumbers, chili peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes, cabbage, broccoli, greens, new crop fresh potatoes and a number of other items.
L & M Companies of Raleigh, N.C. has a strong presence in Palatka, FL, and the ships broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, greens, squash, onions, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes.
Florida is also a primary supplier of Spring vegetables to the major centers of the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest and sometimes as far west as Texas and the Rockies.
Mack Farms of Lake Wales, FL ships the first new crop of potatoes available in early in February and points out other potato produce regions as still shipping storage spuds from last fall.
Mack Farms was among the pioneer growers of seedless watermelons more than 50 years ago, before turning his small acreage in Alabama into the 3,500-acre Lake Wales flagship fields for the growing operation.
The company currently concentrates on early-season potatoes and watermelons grown in four states.
“We grow yellow, red, white and fingerling potatoes,” says Leger. “The potato program has stayed the same since I came here in 2012, and the company has been here since 1967.”
Mack’s Florida vegetable shipments starting in March includes broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, radishes, greens, beans, spinach, squash, corn and tomatoes.
All of those except broccoli are available in April, when carrots are added to the mix.
During the Spring months, Duda Farms Fresh Foods of Belle Glade, FL is shipping corn, celery, organic celery, cello radishes, value-added radishes, Romaine, Romaine hearts, cello lettuce, green leaf, red leaf, endive, and escarole. All product is grown, packed and shipped out of the Belle Glade Farm.
FOLSOM, Calif. — According to a new epidemiological study, women in their late 50s and early 60s who consumed at least two servings of walnuts per week had a greater likelihood of healthy aging compared to those who did not eat walnuts. After accounting for various factors that could impact health in older adults, such as education and physical activity, walnuts were the only nut associated with significantly better odds of healthy aging.
In this study, which was supported by the California Walnut Commission, “healthy aging” was defined as longevity with sound mental health and no major chronic diseases, cognitive issues or physical impairments following the age of 65. Researchers found a significant association between total nut consumption (including walnuts, peanuts and other nuts) and healthy aging, but the link was particularly robust for walnuts.
By 2034, for the first time ever, older adults will outnumber children. Baby boomers (those 65 and older) are expected to make up 21 percent of the population, with more than half being women. The significance of this demographic turning point in our country’s history is clear – research that examines the aging process, including simple, low-cost interventions like healthy food choices, will be especially crucial to healthier lifespans.
Previous research from primary investigator Dr. Francine Grodstein, formerly of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has found that eating walnuts may have a positive impact on reducing the risk for physical impairments in older adults as well as cognitive decline. Additionally, others in the same research group have found decreases in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes – all conditions that become more common as we age. There is no one solution to slowing down the effects of aging, but adopting the right habits, like snacking on a handful of walnuts, can help.
In this study, Grodstein looked at data from 33,931 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) to evaluate the association between nut consumption and overall health and well-being in aging. Between 1998-2002, female nurses in the NHS were asked about their diet (including total nut consumption); evaluated for chronic diseases (such as cancer, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease); and assessed for memory concerns, mental health and physical limitations (including daily activities like walking one block, climbing a flight of stairs, bathing, dressing oneself and pushing a vacuum cleaner). Of the study participants, 16% were found to be “healthy agers,” defined as having no major chronic diseases, reported memory impairment or physical disabilities as well as having intact mental health.
Although previous research has connected a healthy diet, including walnuts, to better physical function among older men and women, this study only included women. More research is needed to understand if these results hold true among men. Additionally, participants were not assigned to eat walnuts or other foods; they were simply asked about their dietary choices. It is possible that subjects misreported their dietary intake since this information was collected by questionnaires. As an observational study, this does not prove cause and effect. However, this research sheds light on simple habits that can influence health during later years in life – such as eating walnuts.
The California Walnut Commission (CWC) supported this research. The CWC has supported health-related research on walnuts for more than 30 years with the intent to provide knowledge and understanding of the unique health benefits associated with consuming walnuts. While the CWC does provide funds and/or walnuts for various projects, all studies are conducted independently by researchers who design the experiments, interpret the results and present evidence-based conclusions. The CWC is committed to scientific integrity of industry-funded research.
The California walnut industry is made up of over 4,800 growers and more than 90 handlers (processors). The growers and handlers are represented by two entities, the California Walnut Board (CWB) and the California Walnut Commission (CWC).
California Walnut Commission
The California Walnut Commission, established in 1987, is funded by mandatory assessments of the growers. The CWC represents over 4,800 growers and approximately 90 handlers (processors) of California walnuts in export market development activities and conducts health research. The CWC is an agency of the State of California that works in concurrence with the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).