Posts Tagged “feature”
California strawberry shipments in 2017 have already exceeded its 2016 record setter with a full month to go in the year.
By the middle of November California growers had packed 197.3 million crates statewide, exceeding the 196.8 million crates produced during all 12 months of 2016.
What is ironic about the shipping season is California experienced one of its rainiest winters on record in 2016-17, plus the heavy strawberry production area of the Salinas Valley, among others, had an exceptionally hot summer.
However, the rains helped to rinse away some of the salts that had built up in the top layer of soil during the drought.
Higher yields from newer strawberry varieties also contributed to the record crop. Growers planned to plant 36,141 acres of strawberries in 2017, off from 40,816 acres four years earlier.
California strawberry shipments take place the year around and basically follow the sun. During the peak shipping season, all of the state’s major growing regions — Oxnard, Orange County, Santa Maria and Watsonville are loading berries. Peak shipments are typically in the spring and early summer, but it came later this year due to spring rains.
Strawberry shipments in the early part of 2017 were adversely affected by big storms. The result was amazing with seasonal rainfall totals in many coastal areas being around 150 percent of normal. Luckily, growers for the most part avoided major damage from the storms.
A recent consumer survey revealed strawberries as America’s favorite fresh fruit. 32 percent of respondents identified strawberries as their favorite fruit, in the survey that did not provide a list of fruits from which to choose. Bananas (9 percent) placed second, while watermelons (8 percent) were the third favorite fruit in the U.S.
California is the leading strawberry shipping region in the world. The state also provides nearly 80 percent of the strawberries grown, packed, shipped and consumed in the U.S.
While California strawberries are currently coming mostly out of Santa Maria and Oxnard, this is a light volume time of the year. Mexican strawberry shipments are currently light as well, but is increasing in volume with the new shipping season.
Santa Maria strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $8000 to New York City.
A planned purchase of Associated Grocers of Florida for $180 million has been made by Supervalu.
AGF of Pompano Beach, serves independent retailers in South Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America and Asia, according to a news release. The company generated $650 million in revenue in its fiscal year ending last July.
Associated Grocers will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Supervalu when the deal is complete.
“Associated Grocers represents a great opportunity for us to further expand our wholesale business into another important region,” Mark Gross, president and CEO of Supervalu, said in the release.
The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close by the end of 2017.
Quarterly report
Supervalu generated $3.8 billion in net sales in the second quarter, up 35 percent from last year, according to a news release. The increase in sales came mostly on the wholesale side of the business, which saw a major increase in the wake of Supervalu’s acquisition of Unified Grocers, a move the company made last summer.
Supervalu reported a net loss from continuing operations of $25 million, partly due to costs of integrating Unified Grocers.
Gross profit was $428 million, or 11.3 percent of net sales, down from 14.1 percent last year. The company stated the decrease is mostly due to Supervalu shifting its business segment mix toward wholesale.
On the retail side, same-store sales were down 3.5 percent. Second-quarter retail sales were $1.02 billion, down 1.1 percent from last year.
“We continue to make tremendous strides in driving our strategy, evidenced by another quarter of strong growth from our core wholesale business which now represents over 70 percent of net sales,” Gross said. “Additionally, our results now include the benefit of Unified Grocers, where I’m pleased the transition is going well. We have a lot to be excited about as we turn our focus toward the back half of our fiscal year.”
Florida fresh citrus shipments should increase this season, despite the state’s expected 27 percent plummet in volume from a year ago, according to a USDA estimate in November. This would cut the crop to 50 million boxes.
The primary culprit is Hurricane Irma that hit Florida September 10th.
Florida grapefruit shipments are forecast to be 4.65 million boxes, down 40 percent from last year. The November forecast in down from the last one issued in October, but many in the Florida citrus industry believe actual harvest numbers will be even lower.
For long haul truckers of refrigerated products, this may not be all bad news. For example, DLF International Inc. of Vero Beach, FL expects to ship more fruit to the fresh market this season. The company’s October fresh volume doubled over the same period a year ago. At the same time it will be sending less product to processors.
Florida Classic Growers of Dundee, FL is the marketing arm of the Dundee Citrus Growers Association. It actually has more citrus than a year ago. The company has been shipping sunburst tangerines, which should continue into December. The firm’s grapefruit loadings got underway in early November and should continue into January. Florida navels and hamlin oranges began in early November, and may last through December. The valencia harvest for the cooperative should start in January and continue into June.
Seald Sweet LLC of Vero Beach is starting valencia shipments earlier than normal to help make up for early and mid-season varieties that had a shorter than usual season. Seald Sweet, which lost at least 30 percent of its oranges to the hurricane expects to ship a higher percentage of its citrus to the fresh market.
At IMG Citrus Inc. of Vero Beach, 35 percent of its fruit was lost to the storm. IMG had planned a volume increase prior to the hurricane because of maturing groves and the acquisition of additional acreage. Following Irma, IMG, sees its shipments declining 10 to 15 percent from a year ago. The company expects light volumes until the end of the year, but good volume coming with the New Year.
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Pleasanton, Calif., — DeltaTrak® announces the addition of a new data security feature to the FlashLink BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Wireless Monitoring Solution.
Good supplies of fresh vegetables and citrus is being predicted by observers from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas as they gear up for the holiday season.
Among the dozens of different vegetables are kale, cilantro and cabbage as well as mustard, collard and turnip greens. As far as citrus is concerned, grapefruit shipments got underway in early November, and several varieties of oranges should be ready by early December.
Vegetable shipper Frontera Produce Ltd., of Edinburg, Texas, began loading cabbage, its biggest vegetable item of the winter, last week. The company started its jalapeno pepper shipments in late October and the product should be available through mid-December, depending upon the weather.
Frontera volume should increase slightly on jalapenos, with shipments on other commodities remaining similar to a year ago. The firm began cilantro shipments the first week of November and will continue until mid-April.
Crescent Fruit & Vegetable LLC is a sister company of Frontera, which will load about the same volume of onions and watermelons as last year.
Another South Texas shipper, Grow Farms Texas LLC, located in Donna, will ship green, red and napa cabbage this winter, along with squash, eggplant, cucumbers and jalapenos and Anaheim chili peppers. Grow Farms will be loading green bell peppers until the first frost.
Rio Fresh Inc., of San Juan, Texas, was shipping about 20 wet vegetables by late October and early November that included herbs, parsley and beets. In early December the company should be shipping specialty vegetables such as bok choy, napa cabbage, leeks and spinach.
Citrus Shipments
Lower Rio Grande Valley citrus acreage for the 2017-18 shipping season should be similar to a year ago when it totaled 27,000 acres, with about 70 percent of this acreage being rio red grapefruit.
Grapefruit acreage in South Texas is expected to increase by 4,000 acres within 12 to 18 months.
South Texas and imported Mexican produce – grossing about $3100 to Chicago.
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By Category Partners
By Market Research Hub
Albany, NY — Fruit and vegetable processing industry has taken a new direction and is growing gradually with strong growth rate annually. Further factors such as rising consumer demand for fresh and healthy products that are easily available and need minimum preparation time are further fuelling the market growth. A new study, titled “Vegetables – U.S. – May 2017” has been freshly added to the vast repository of Market Research Hub (MRH), which analyzes the overall U.S. market current scenario of vegetables and fruits, along with consumer’s behavior which impacts the market positively. This study is a result of qualitative and quantitative research techniques that aim to drill down to the exact factors that are driving growth, restraining growth and creating new opportunities for growth.
As per the findings of a new study, the vegetable category has experienced stable growth over the past few decades, driven primarily by fresh vegetables and fresh-cut salad. Health concerns are the prime factor which has driven demand for fruits and vegetables as consumers look for healthier and more nutritious options for their diets. The fresh-cut segment has been able to profit as consumers believe fresh-cut is the healthiest format for processed fruits and vegetables. In line with growing health awareness and changing demographics, demand for fruits and vegetables is expected to increase in the long term.
Within the United States, fruit and vegetable production is a major business enterprise and mostly, it focuses on processed fruits and vegetables. Currently, this segment continues to make up a significant share of total fruit and vegetable consumption in the United States. Several types of processing such as drying, canning, freezing, and preparation of jams, juices, and jellies augment the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. The research finds that Vegetable sales grow 13% from 2011-16. As technology improved and consumer incomes increased, it became possible to provide fresh produce year-round. Factors such as income, aging of a population, market promotion, and consumer awareness of the importance of produce, contribute to increased fruit and vegetable consumption.
American consumers now expect fresh tomatoes, strawberries, and sweet corn every month of the year. In addition, a strong demand remains for processed fruits and vegetables. Fruit and vegetable consumption has been shown to be an important part of any diet leading towards good health. As per the research study findings, consumers indicate more interest in vegetables that are fresh, nutritious and natural. Due to this, vegetables category estimated to experience steady growth into 2021, heavily driven by fresh produce. However, frozen produce contains just as many vitamins as fresh even if consumers perceive it differently.
Vegetables emerge as the main offering in restaurant dishes and consumption of fresh vegetable similar to frozen and canned. It is a prime factor for the market growth. Total U.S. retail sales and forecast of vegetables, by segement, at current prices for the period 2011 to 2021 is also mentioned in the study.
Happy Thanksgiving! Come February HaulProduce.com will quietly celebrate its 5th anniversary of providing you with what I hope is information worth your valuable time ranging from active produce shipping areas, peak shipping periods, caution when needed about quality problems at shipping point, demand for refrigerated equipment, produce trucking rates, not mention health stories and other news related to perishables. Unabashedly this site is a proponent of healthy eating and promoting the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce is a daily part of my diet.
Today, there are nearly 1000 subscribers to HaulProduce and I cannot thank each of you enough. Since its inception nearly 1900 posts have been placed on this blog.
It has been three years now since retiring after 40-plus years traveling this great nation as a journalist writing about both the trucking and produce industries. It was this knowledge gained from both industries that led me to create the Produce Truckers Network back in the 1980s. At its peak it had over 60 radio stations across North America and also was on satellite radio for several years before its completion after 20 years on the air. The same concept exists today with HaulProduce.
Although officially, retired, this outlet allows me to continue to doing something I love – and at the same time provide something useful to our subscribers. At the same time it allows spending more time with my kids, grandson and my lovely wife of 49 years.
It is with all of this in mind I plan to fully enjoy Thanksgiving, to appreciate and give thanks for all the opportunities available in the United States of America.
I will thank the good Lord for all those “highway warriors” that deliver over 95 percent of the fresh produce to markets across this great nation, as well as being thankful for everyone else in the distribution chain from growers and shippers, to all forms of companies involved in the distribution chain. It certainly doesn’t end up on our Thanksgiving dinner table by magic.
May God bless each of you and have a blessed Thanksgiving.
— Bill Martin
New refrigerated containers have been ordered by Hapag-Loyd for export expansions…In Nogales, L&M has expanded its warehouse shipping facility.
Hapag-Lloyd is investing in 3700 refrigerated containers, which are used to ship food and other cargo around the world Of the total, 1,000 of the units have environmentally friendly refrigeration systems.
Another 1000 will also have controlled-atmosphere capabilities specifically for fresh produce.
The Maersk Container Industry Star Cool Integrated containers are being built in Maersk facilities in China and Chile.
“Working together with (Maersk Container), we have been able to refine (controlled-atmosphere) technology to offer our ExtraFresh Plus service,” said Niklas Ohling, senior director at Hapag-Lloyd, in a news release. “his service enables even extremely sensitive fruit such as blueberries and lychees to be transported to the desired level of quality and degree of ripeness.”
The new containers allows the company to expand the market reach of fresh fruits and vegetables, said Saren Leth Johannsen, chief commercial officer At Maersk Container, in the release.
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L&M Begins Winter Season with New Facility
By L&M
L&M’s Nogales location has moved and is now operating in a new, expanded facility. The new location features over 33,000 square feet of cold storage, including 8 ripening rooms for mature green tomatoes and over 9,000 square feet of office space. This allows L&M to service up to 24 loads at one time. We are happy to offer consolidation services for our customers, as well as in-and-out service year-round.
L&M is already shipping melons, zucchini, yellow squash, hard squash, eggplant and bell peppers. Mature Green tomatoes will be available in December and cucumbers are available year-round. L&M will be adding production on eggplant and hard squash out of Culiacan, Mexico.
L&M Nogales is now located at 1450 W. La Quinta Rd. The company is a grower and shipper of fresh vegetables, potatoes and onions, with farms and offices nationwide
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INDIANAPOLIS — The Produce Mom®, a passionate advocate for the fresh produce industry lead by Lori Taylor, announces a rebrand and name change to The Produce Moms.