Posts Tagged “feature”
Imported fresh produce arriving at U.S. ports continues to grow in popularity. While most of it arrives by boat, virtually all of it is delivered to final destinations by trucks across North America.
Exotic and tropical fruits grown outside the U.S., such as mangoes, papayas and pineapples have contributed to an increase in fruit imports and increased popularity. Imported fresh fruits have increased just about 10 percent in the decade prior to 2001-2003.
However, the volume of fresh imported apples actually fell slightly between 2001-2003 and 2011-2013 because the U.S. apple industry was increasing volume and offering more apple varieties, particularly during the late season to compete against apple imports from the Southern Hemisphere.
The proportion of fresh pears supplied from imports also has fallen slightly in the last decade, but at 18 percent it is still more than twice that of fresh apples.
Foreign exporters of fresh apples, pears and sweet cherries have been improving the quality of their products to effectively compete against American grown produce.
However, U.S. producers haven’t been sitting on their laurels, making their own improvements. U.S. exporters of fresh apples have increased the volume of exports by 67 percent between 2001-2003 and 2011-2013 and the average price by 87 percent.
Pear exporters have increased volume by 16 percent and average prices by over 83 percent.
Sweet cherries differ from apples and pears in that virtually all imports come from the Southern Hemisphere (mainly Chile) in the winter months and do not overlap with the domestic shipping season. In that case, the U.S. has been able to expand both its exports and imports dramatically — exports by almost 100 percent and imports by over 70 percent.
Analysis suggests that U.S. fresh apples, pears and sweet cherries face little direct threat from foreign suppliers of their own products in the U.S. market.
The rising popularity of exotic and tropical fruits grown outside the U.S., such as mangoes, papayas and pineapples has contributed to an increase in fruit imports. On average, one-third of all fresh fruit consumed in the United States from 2011-2013 was imported. This represented an increase of over 10 percent in market share compared with a decade earlier, 2001-2003.
The share of fresh apples imported actually fell slightly between 2001-2003 and 2011-2013 as the U.S. apple industry has continued to expand the volume and diversity of apple varieties available in the late season to compete against apple imports from the Southern Hemisphere.
Port of Long Beach and Southern California produce – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
Walnuts have 21 percent fewer calories than what is currently assigned to it by the USDA, according to a recent study.
One serving (1 ounce) of walnuts contains 146 calories, which is 39 calories less than the 185 calories assigned to the product, the USDA reports. Since late 19th century, the calorie value for the walnuts has been derived from the Atwater system that calculates the metabolisable energy of many foods.
The recent research discovered that the metabolisable energy of walnuts was 21 percent less than that established by the Atwater general factor system.
For the study, the USDA studied 18 healthy adults. Each participant was assigned randomly to follow two diet regimens: a controlled diet without walnuts, and a controlled diet with 1.5 servings (42g) of walnuts, each followed for a 3-week period.
Assigned diets to each participant, walnuts, fecal and urine samples were collected and calories were measured and this measurement was used to calculate the metabolisable energy of the walnuts.
“Our results could help explain why consumers of walnuts do not typically gain weight. And given the numerous potential health benefits of consuming walnuts, including reduced risk for cancer, cardiovascular and cognitive diseases, our results could potentially help alleviate any calorie-related concerns consumers might have with incorporating them into their everyday diet,” the USDA reported.
In earlier research too, it has been established that walnut provides benefits to health. Recently a study by researchers from the Life Sciences Research Organisation in the US showed that consuming two handfuls of walnuts daily could help stave off cardiovascular disease.
The study claimed that intake of about 60 grams of this tree nut everyday lowers total cholesterol levels in the body, thus cuts a person’s risk of heart attack.
Touted as the world’s healthiest food, walnut is a rich source of numerous important nutrients such as omega-3s, fibres, vitamins, protein and minerals as well as the heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.
El Nino is adversely affecting many produce shipments in North America.
Unseasonable heat brought on an early, heavier-than-normal shipments for the Florida strawberry season, which started before Thanksgiving and lasted through Christmas. Now strawberry shipments are in a lull and are not expected reach decent volume by Valentine’s Day, February 14th, which is a popular event for the fruit. Assuming shipments ever get on “normal” track this season, loadings should continue through March.
Changing weather patterns are impacting fruit and vegetable production across North and South America, and it is not just field-grown produce that is being affected.
The El Niño phenomenon has played a major role in the various weather patterns and is affecting production on all items ranging from beefsteak, cluster, heirloom and roma tomatoes as well as grape tomatoes, mini roma grape tomatoes and medley tomatoes. Additionally, there are long sweet peppers, mini sweet peppers, bell peppers, seedless cucumbers, mini seedless cucumbers and baby eggplant, among others.
Lower than normal temperatures in combination with lower light levels reduce yields across the board for greenhouse grown produce during the spring and summer out of Canada, and during the winter in Mexico.
Mexican vegetables through Nogales – grossing about $3000 to Chicago.
While weather related issues continue to adversely affect produce shipments around the country, keep your fingers crossed shipments are getting back towards a more normal track in the deserts of Arizona and California.
The unprecedented run of low shipments and shipping gaps appears to be over, with the possible exception of celery. This means higher volume and more consistent shipments of various types of lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.
Since the week of January 11 it has been warmer and temperatures are in the mid- to high 40s for lows and the highs are in the high 60s to low 70s. Let’s hope the good desert weather continues.
Meanwhile, much of Central and Northern California have been hit with above-average rain since the beginning of the year, something the desert areas were spared for the most part.
Growers in the coastal California valleys (Santa Maria and Salinas), which will be shipping the majority of the nation’s vegetable crops in the spring are having a few problems getting into the fields to plant. The shift in lettuce production to Santa Maria typically occurs around April 1. Those fields harvested in April need to be planted this month. If the storms continue, that could be an issue.
There’s complaints about a lot of low produce freight rates now. Just look at the desert, which is grossing under $2 per mile.
Desert vegetable shipments – grossing about $5800 to New York City.
Nearly 60 percent of the fresh produce imported from Mexico crosses the City of Pharr (TX) International Bridge.
Being the only full service commercial bridge in the region, means more and better services, infrastructure and technology to get produce loads processed at point of entry, before being unloaded at one of dozens of warehouses in the area.
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge is one of the most important U.S.-Mexican border ports of entry and is experiencing phoenominal growth in traffic. No end to growth is in sight.
The City of Pharr has a project that is still in the design phase known as the Border Safety Inspection Facility Connector (BSIF). This project will allow certified companies, vetted by the federal government, along with empty trucks, to bypass the importation process. The goal is to be more efficient by reducing wait times and speed up the inspection process. The project is expected to be completed late this year.
Mondays and Fridays are the busiest, and most congested days, at the Pharr Bridge.
The Pharr Bridge ranks number one in volume for truck loads of avocados and number two in tomatoes for Mexican produce to be distributed mostly throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada.
Due to the new Mazatlan-Matamoros super highway, also dubbed Supervía, travel for trucks hauling produce and entering the Pharr port of entry can save as much as 600 to 700 miles of travel when delivering to Midwest and eastern U.S. and Canadian markets. Connecting Mazatlán and Sinaloa, Mexico to Pharr, Texas, this new route for produce transportation provides a more direct route to receivers. It also saves $1000 to $3000 in fuel costs, depending on the price of diesel, and nearly 16 hours in travel time round-trip.
The state of Sinaloa is what some call the breadbasket of Mexico with about 70 to 80 percent of Mexican fruits and vegetables originating from this state. Pharr, Tx has seen a significant rise in the number of importers and brokers who are based in Arizona, but are opening satellite facilities in Texas.
Lower Rio Grande Valley citrus and Mexican produce crossing the border – grossing about $2400 to Atlanta.
Research has shown a rhubarb-based drug could help fight against cancer. According to this research, an orange-coloured chemical in rhubarb, parietin, has powerful anti-cancer properties.
Parietin can zap cells in leukaemia as well as lung, head and neck tumours, however healthy cells will remain untouched. This is significant as many of the debilitating side-effects of chemotherapy, from nausea to hair loss, are caused by healthy cells suffering collateral damage.
Scientists in the US found parietin after searching for chemicals that would block a protein called 6PGD which helps cancers grow. Scientists carried out an experiment which showed that parietin killed diseased cells taken from a patient with the blood cancer acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Half of the cancerous cells were destroyed within 48 hours.
Scientists from Emory University in Atlanta have shown it is possible to alter the chemistry of parietin to make an even more powerful compound. This drug slowed the growth of tumours that were growing on mice but were made up of human cells, but more work and tests are needed to confirm that the rhubarb-based drugs are free of side-effects.
Even though rhubarb is only just being discovered in Western medicine, the plant has been a staple of Chinese traditional medicine for centuries. It is claimed it can aid everything from digestion and acne to burns and appetite.
Unfavorable Chilean weather has resulted in arrivals of grapes being well behind a year ago, while favorable weather has increased arrivals of mangoes from Peru and Ecuador.
Chilean table grape arrivals on the East Coast have been well below the year-to-date arrivals from a year ago, which had itself suffered from a short supply of early season grapes. Usually, there are late domestic supplies from California and Peruvian product to lessen demand for light volume early arrivals from Chile. However, California wrapped up shipments early this season and Peruvian seedless grape inventory on the US East Coast is depleted.
Imported Chilean table grape arrivals on the East Coast will be nearly 50 percent lower than last year through the same date. This has resulted in only 2.6 million cases of Chilean table grapes arriving the first two weeks of the season. More steady arrivals and heavier volume will occur in February.
Mango Imports
Both Peru and Ecuador are shipping higher volumes of mangoes than projected due to favorable weather conditions. Peak mango shipments (imports) from Peru mangoes will continue arriving at U.S. ports though January.
Mangos are available in the US year-round and imported from four other countries besides Peru and Ecuador:
- Mexico has the largest mango season, starting at the end of January and continuing through September.
- Guatemala’s season starts in March and extends until May, sometimes early June.
- Haiti supplies mangos from April until July.
- Brazil’s season lasts from August through November.
North America’s leader in banana imports and other fresh fruits and juice concentrates, is doubling its contingent of ship-to-shore gantry cranes and renovating antiquated berths near the mouth of the Christina River. The Port of Wilmington also is examining long-term prospects for new terminal development on the Delaware River.
AECOM has been contracted by The Delaware State Port Corp. (DSCP) to develop a master plan including examination of potential future port development along the Delaware River. The primary site currently under consideration is located just south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the twin spans that carries Interstate 295 over the river.
A $24 million contract has been signed by DSPC to have two new rail-mounted gantries in operation by the end of 2016, to join the two cranes already on rails that are to be extended to serve Christina River berths 1 through 5. The port’s 100-ton-capacity Gottwald mobile harbor crane would then be able to be moved to Berth 7.
Additionally, a $10 million grant via the USDOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery competitive grant program is being used to kick-start rebuilding of berths 5 and 6, which date back to the founding of the Port of Wilmington back in 1923.
The depth at the Christina River berths is nearly maxed out at 38 feet, even with twice-a-year dredging.
Thus, although fruit operations benefit from the industry-leading 800,000 square feet of on-dock temperature-controlled warehouse space at the Christina River terminal plus additional nearby nonunion chilled facilities. Future plans call for development along the Delaware River, where a project for channel deepening to 45 feet is nearing completion.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans that include fruits and vegetables at the top of the list for a healthy diet have been released for 2015 to 2020.
Issued every five years, the guidelines not only provide the latest scientifically supported dietary advice, they often shape government policies on a range of food issues. The USDA department of Health & Human Services released the recommendations along with an updated MyPlate MyWins program.
The document recommends a diet based on a variety of nutritious foods like vegetables, fruits, grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy, lean meats and other protein foods and oils, while limiting saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars and sodium.
Americans are urged to eat a variety of vegetables, including dark green, red and orange, legumes and starchy vegetables. The recommended amount of vegetables in the Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern at the 2,000-calorie level is two-and-a-half cup-equivalents per day. For fruits, it’s two cup-equivalents per day, with at least half coming from whole fruits.
“The Dietary Guidelines provide science-based recommendations on food and nutrition so people can make decisions that may help keep their weight under control, and prevent chronic conditions, like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell.
Here’s an update on the amount of fruit remaining in storages around the country for fresh apple shipments, as well as another look at declining Florida citrus loadings.
The amount of domestic U.S. fresh apples remaining in storages totaled 90.5 million bushels on January 1, 20 percent fewer than last year at the same time. However, the January total was similar to the five-year average of 90.7 million bushels, according to the U.S. Apple Association, Vienna, Va. Washington accounted for about 76.6 million bushels of those still in storage, New York 5.7 million bushels, Michigan 4.5 million bushels and Pennsylvania 1.3 million bushels.
Washington’s Yakima Valley apples and pears – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
Florida Citrus Shipments
While about 96 percent of the Florida’s oranges are shipped to processers, 65percent of navels, 63 percent of tangerines, 40 percent of grapefruit and about 10 percent of the state’s overall citrus is shipped fresh.
Navels, grapefruit and tangerines showed declines in the latest USDA report on Florida citrus production. The USDA reported January 12 no changes in other orange production, noting navels declined 100,000 boxes to 1 million cartons.
Grapefruit production declined 700,000 cartons, with most of the losses coming in red grapefruit, which saw a 500,000-carton decline. On tangerines, decreases in early and midseason fruit, the fallglos and sunbursts, as well as the later season honeys lowered production 200,000 cartons.
Fruit droppage on oranges, however, is reported to be high across all varieties as well as with grapefruit and tangerines. Droppage is at 32 percent for the non-valencias, well above the maximum and for valencias, is reported to be the highest in more than 50 years.
In other words, Florida citrus shipping woes continue, primarily due to disease problems.
Florida citrus and vegetables – grossing about $2500 to New York City.