Posts Tagged “feature”
Peruvian citrus exports are building as the season moves further into March. Volumes are seen as being similar to last year when movement increased 2 percent. This season about a 5 percent increase is forecast.
Procitrus, Peru’s Citrus Producer’s Association, points out mandarin exports, represent 81 percent of all fruit in the category. Behind mandarins are oranges with 11 percent of all citrus exports and limes with 7 percent.
Main primary export markets for Peruvian citrus remain the U.S. – with 35 percent market share – the U.K. – 19 percent – and Holland – 16 percent. While these markets remain pretty consistent for the industry, exporters continue looking for new markets.
Weather also looks to be favorable for the season and the industry anticipates strong quality and quantity.
Los Angeles, California – Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit on the planet. Native to the warm climates of Southeastern Asia, each fruit on average grows to be about 50 pounds and contain hundreds of editable fruit pods. The unique flavor of these pods has been described as a blend of mango-pineapple-banana and juicy fruit gum! However, these tasty fruit pods are difficult to extract as spiny, sticky antennae-like filaments surround the fleshy pods of fruit, not to mention the unwieldy size of each fruit.
Jackfruit is gaining interest among professional chefs as a unique ingredient and now Melissa’s makes this unusual fruit available to the retail consumer in a no-mess, 8 oz. container of all fruit pods. Because of the pods’ meaty texture, Jackfruit has become a popular meat substitute cooked just like meat, though it can also be enjoyed uncooked out of hand or as a flavorful component in a fruit salad.
Melissa’s Produce is the leading U.S. variety distributor of specialty and organic fresh produce and products. The company imports exotic fruits and vegetables from around the world. Melissa’s Produce can be contacted at 1.800.588.0151 or at www.melissas.com.
Setting the stage for another outstanding vine-ripe tomato season, Oceanside Pole is currently offering high quality, and highly anticipated Brussels sprouts.
Oceanside Pole Brussels sprouts complement the legendary grower’s much-anticipated round and roma pole grown tomato crop, tuning up the soil while extending the opportunities for the workers on the farm.
Thanks to the cool night temperatures and foggy, salt air, Oceanside Pole grows some of the best coastal sprouts in California, which are offered through the first week of June. The multi-generational family farm will also ship its popular vine-ripened tomatoes by the end of June through to the first week of November.
“Retailers continue to look forward to Oceanside Pole’s tomato season and this year is no exception,” Oppy’s Senior Sales Representative James Galindo said. Oppy is the exclusive marketer of the Oceanside Pole brand, selling on-location at the farm through the season. “The reputation of these tomatoes precedes itself, making them highly-sought after and rightfully so — their taste, texture and shelf life are truly exceptional.”
As the last remaining pole tomato producer in California, Oceanside Pole takes pride in their on-the-vine ripening process, which allows for a greater flavor profile compared to gas-ripened tomatoes while maintaining a strong shelf-life. Customers have also taken note of this superior quality and demand continues to grow, with West Coast Tomato Growers, owners of the Oceanside Pole tomato brand, increasing tomato acreage again this year, after expanding their operations in 2017.
About Oppy
Growing, marketing and distributing fresh produce from around the globe for more than 160 years, Vancouver, BC-based Oppy discovers and delivers the best of the world’s harvest. With over 50 million boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables grown on every continent moving through its supply chain annually, Oppy offers popular favorites from avocados and berries to apples and oranges year-round, alongside innovative seasonal specialties. Over the years, Oppy has introduced North Americans to a number of items across its diverse produce range, including Granny Smith, JAZZ and Envy apples, as well as green and gold kiwifruit. Go to oppy.com to learn more.
About Oceanside Pole
Growing for three generations, the Singh family is the last remaining pole tomato producer in California. Since 1939, they have tended vine-ripened tomatoes on the same land with the knowledge and expertise that can only come with time. Grown on an idyllic property near the historic Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, the Singh family has a calm, almost spiritual approach to growing their produce. The fresh, salty air and bright sunshine makes it seem like a calling—only with such a deep sense of care and determination can exceptional produce be harvested time and again. Go to oceansidepole.com to learn more.
A new global marketing campaign by The California Walnut Commission of Folsom, CA creates The Power of 3, that has a simple message: three handfuls of walnuts a week can help improve nutrition.
The campaign focuses on walnut’s essential fatty acid, omega-3 ALA, and asks consumers to share the nut’s health message with three others through February, which is American Heart Month. It’s the first campaign of its scale for walnuts, according to a news release, with promotions in the U.S., Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Consumers in each country will be directed to a global landing page on the commission’s website, https://walnuts.org/power-of-3/.
Digital and social media content, a sweepstakes, recipes and snack ideas, pop-up events, samplings and more will be used to spread the nutrition campaign, according to the release.
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.
By The Wonderful Company
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Wonderful® Pistachios, The Original Plant-Based ProteinTM, launched a new multimillion-dollar marketing campaign to further resonate with the growing number of people adding more plant-based protein to their diet. The campaign emphasizes that the best protein is grown on trees, not bred or developed in a lab.
Today’s savvy consumers have changed their perspective to reduce the amount of meat they consume, and it’s more than just a passing trend. A majority, 55%, say their change is permanent, according to HealthFocus data.
At the same time, Mintel data confirms 75 percent of people are adding more protein to their diet. To attract these protein-seeking shoppers, new retail display bins—hitting store floors early this year—will stand out at point of purchase, drawing attention to the plant-based origins of Wonderful Pistachios and offering a solution to those hungry for a plant-protein-powered snack.
“As more consumers make changes in their diet to eat less meat, but simultaneously crave more protein, Wonderful Pistachios represents the perfect snack because it’s a real, whole food containing six grams of plant-based protein per serving,” said Adam Cooper, senior vice president of marketing, The Wonderful Company. “When it comes to plant-based protein, you can’t beat the original, and our new campaign drives that message home.”
The new integrated campaign features print ads, social media, digital, public relations, emails, and Wonderful Pistachios retail bins featuring imagery of pistachio trees. The bins provide retailers a lift in sales and will propel the campaign throughout 2020.
The brand will promote plant-based messages at events throughout the year, Wonderful Pistachios influencers will continue to share plant-based protein benefits with their followers, and Wonderful Pistachios will host a live virtual symposium dedicated to sharing the latest trends on plant-based protein with retailer partners, supermarket dieticians, and other nutrition experts.
These efforts continue the momentum from the Plant-Based Nutrition Leadership Symposium, which was hosted by Wonderful Pistachios in April 2019, and drew an exclusive audience of nutrition experts for an immersion into plant-based nutrition science, culinary applications, and leadership dialogue, while celebrating pistachios in a plant-based context.
The entire campaign will ensure consumers know Wonderful Pistachios is among the highest protein snack nuts, and, unlike meat, protein-powered pistachios are naturally cholesterol free and offer fiber.
For more information about Wonderful Pistachios, please visit GetCrackin.com, Facebook at /WonderfulPistachios, and Instagram at @WonderfulPistachios.
About Wonderful Pistachios
Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds is the world’s largest vertically integrated pistachio and almond grower and processor. Grown in California’s Central Valley, our high-quality nuts can be found in the produce department of grocery stores across America.
Known for our iconic Get Crackin’® campaign, Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds is part of The Wonderful Company, a privately held $4.6 billion company.
The Wonderful Company is a privately held $4.6 billion global company dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world. Its iconic brands include FIJI® Water, POM Wonderful®, Wonderful® Pistachios, Wonderful® Halos®, Wonderful® Seedless Lemons, Teleflora®, JUSTIN® Wines, JNSQ™ Wines and Landmark® Wines.
The Wonderful Company’s connection to consumers has health at its heart and giving back in its DNA. To learn more about The Wonderful Company, its products and its core values, visit www.wonderful.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To view the current Corporate Social Responsibility report, visit www.wonderful.com/csr.
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.
A book published last May titled “Celery Juice: The Most Powerful Medicine of Our Time Healing Millions Worldwide,” is being given at least partial credit for the vegetable leading fresh produce retail sales growth last year.
Strong celery demand in 2019 pushed prices above $60 f.o.b. a carton in April. This year. the celery shipping point prices (f.o.b.) have generally been under $10 per carton in California, still about 15 percent higher than at the same time a year earlier.
Retail sales growth numbers (conventional and organic) in 2019 reveal celery retail sales rose 25.6 percent in 2019, compared with 2018 sales, according to Category Partners of Idaho Falls, ID. Category Partners describes itself as “…a strategic insights company focusing exclusively on the fresh industries in the retail grocery channel. We understand the uniqueness of producing and selling fresh products, along with the unique data and consumer trends it generates.”
Year-over-year sales growth (for conventional and organic) for other commodities) were:
- Broccoli: 8 percent;
- Raspberries: 7.7 percent;
- Blueberries: 7.7 percent;
- Onions: 7.6 percent;
- Avocados: 7.6 percent;
- Lettuce: 7.3 percent;
- Packaged salads: 5.6 percent;
- Herbs and spices: 5.2 percent; and
- Watermelons: 4.3 percent.
“There were only seven categories that were above average in both volume and price, and celery was clearly number one,” the company reported.
Celery volume sold was increased 9 percent in 2019, which means demand was thriving. Conventional celery was up 8.4 percent in sales and organic celery was 12 percent higher for the year. Organic celery accounts for about 9 percent of the total celery category, compared to 5 percent for the organic share of the entire produce department.
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.