Posts Tagged “feature”
One of the most active produce shipping areas in the United States is the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
Numerous vegetables and tropical fruits from Mexico are crossing the border at McAllen, Tx and this area is only going to see increasing volume in the years to come. More warehouse space is being build to receive Mexican produce shipments and to act as consolidation and distribution centers.
Perhaps the largest volume item crossing the border – particularly this time of the year – are Mexican avocados, spurred in part by this Sunday’s Super Bowl. It has become a huge snack for people watching this event. This year over 285 million pounds of avocados will be imported to the United States; that’s over 7,125 truck loads!
Another leading item is actually coming out of South Texas. Grapefruit shipments are averaging about 400 truckloads a week, while Texas oranges amount to about half this volume. There are Texas cabbage loads coming out of the Winter Garden District near San Antonio.
Still, most of the produce volume is with Mexican produce shipments crossing the South Texas border. Items range from broccoli to carrots, roma tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries and watermelons, among others.
South Texas produce shipments – grossing about $3200 to Chicago; $2800 to Atlanta.
Here’s an outlook on loading opportunities for imported mangoes and watermelons for the next few months.
Cool weather has slowed watermelon shipments in Mexico crossing the border into the U.S., both at Nogales, AZ and South Texas until the middle of March. The good news is Mexican watermelon shipments could be up 20 percent from last year by the last half of March.
Mango shipments could be light until March, when Mexico and Guatemala start shipping in volume.
Peruvian mango volumes were increasing on a limited basis in the second half of January.
At the same time Ecuadorian mango imports to the U.S. should wind down by the end of January. About 8.9 million boxes of Ecuadorian fruit had shipped to the U.S. as of January. 10th.
Peru is expected to ship about 8.9 million boxes to the U.S. this season Through January 10th, about 1.6 million boxes of Peruvian fruit had been received, 21 percent less than was projected for that date.
Mexican mango exports should start arriving at American ports in mid-February and Guatemalan exports about a week later.
Peruvian mango imports will likely peak in early February at U.S. ports before tapering off. Imported mango loading opportunities won’t likely return to seasonal norms until Mexico and Nicaragua ramp up in the middle of March.
Mexican mixed vegetables and melons crossing at Nogales, AZ – grossing about $4100 to Chicago.
Citrus, mixed vegetables, melons, mangos and tomatoes from South Texas and/or Mexico – grossing about $5200 to New York City.
Here are produce shipping updates for Colorado potatoes, as well as for vegetables from the California and Arizona desert areas.
Colorado potato shipments are steady and averaging about 800 truck loads per week. Potato acreage in the San Luis Valley is up 8 percent in 2014 to 53,700 over 2013’s 49,700 acres.
San Luis Valley potato shipment totals through December 2014 are very similar to the previous year, with 10,579 loads having gone out with the end of the year 2014 compared to 10,529 in 2013. Truck shipments of fresh were at 2,654, up from 2,614 the previous year.
Colorado potato shipments – grossing about $2200 to Chicago.
Desert Vegetable Shipments
A couple of weeks of above-normal temperatures since the middle of January have helped bring on vegetables supplies – and shipments – in the western desert areas of California and Arizona. In fact this week plenty of sunshine and highs mostly in the lower 70s are predicted.
In early- to mid-January, there were very light supplies of Iceberg lettuce as well as most other vegetables. But high temperatures in the 70s in Yuma, AZ, and California’s Imperial Valley brought on fields more quickly and increased shipments.
However, it is still the middle of winter with almost three months of weather yet to play out. Although the harvest is ahead-of-schedule there is the potential for supply and shipping gaps if the weather cools off and growing time takes longer.
Desert vegetables – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
When the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market opened in the South Bronx of New York City nearly half a century ago, there were high hopes it would be a rail delivery heaven. Even to this day, there are still those who have that dream.
When the 113-acre produce complex opened in 1967 plenty of receivers were anxious to try trains attracted to the lower freight rates. However, within five years, there had been a dramatic drop in rail usage. As late as 1972 Salinas Valley produce companies were shipping vegetables to Hunts Point via rail. Today, no Salinas Valley veggies are transported on tracks.
Hunts Point had become notorious for claims, whether justified, or not. Many of those claims no doubt were justified, because it was taking the rails so long to deliver the highly perishable produce. In reality, wholesalers using rails were shifting heavily towards trucks after WWII and this only excelerated as the interstate highway system development began in the 1950s. The popular so-called unit trains, practically became history.
Some rail tracks on Hunts Point over the years have actually been covered by buildings as lack of space became more critical.
Even today, some New York politicians and some in the private sector are pushing to increase rail usage, primarily based on reducing highway traffic and environmental reasons. For example, there is a push to have long haul trucks deliver produce to New Jersey and they “ferry” it over to New York. However, that would add an extra day before the perishable products are delivered. Each added day reduces quality and the value of produce.
Hunts Point has received a federal grant as well as monies from New York City totaling about $22 million to upgrade rail siding and a transfer dock at the market. Still, trucks will continue to be the main source of transportation. Why?
If nothing else, consider this. Despite Hunts Point receiving between 2,500 and 3,000 rail cars yearly, rail cars often take up to 18 days to arrive at the market from the West. Piggybacks regularly arrive in about six or seven days. A single driver owner operator commonly arrives in five days. — Bill Martin
(This is the second of a four-part series based upon my visit to Hunt Point on Dec. 4, 2014)
As the world’s largest fresh produce Terminal, the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market has about 130,000 trucks a year delivering fresh fruits and vegetables to its wholesale distributors.
With nearly $2.5 billion in annual sales, Hunts Point serves as a distribution hub for 20 million people in the New York City metropolitan area that covers about a 50-mile radius. At any one given time there are about 8,000 people on the market, located in the South Bronx. The wholesalers also distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to Canada and as far south as Florida, plus a number of other markets east of the Mississippi River.
The big rigs begin rumbling onto the market when it opens to truck traffic at 9 p.m. on Sundays and closes at 3 p.m. for its daily clean up. The Hunts Point gate fee for big rigs is $20.
Ironically, Hunt Point opened in 1967 primarily as a rail terminal, but now an estimated 75 percent of the produce delivered is by truck, with the balance by piggyback trailers. The majority of that “pig” freight is potatoes, onions and carrots.
Still, it is shipments by truck that allow Hunts Point to operate as efficiently as it does. Yet the volume of produce arriving at the facility continues to increase, and the 48-year-old complex has outgrown its capabilities to handle all the product it needs. As a result, wholesalers on the market own or lease about 1,000 refrigerated trailers for storage purposes. — Bill Martin
(This is the first of a four-part series based upon my visit to Hunt Point on Dec. 4, 2014)
Apple Shipments
With the arrival of the New Year about 113.5 million bushels of U.S.-grown fresh-market apples had yet to ship, 16 percent more than at the same time last year. The amount of apples remaining in storage is also 26 percent higher than the five-year average.
Washington state accounted for 100.4 million bushels of fresh-market apples still in storage, while Michigan had 4.9 million bushels, New York 4.2 million bushels and Pennsylvania 1.3 million bushels.
The holdings of all major apple varieties were up from Jan. 1, 2014 ranging from red delicious to galas, fujis, granny smiths, golden delicious, Pink Lady and Honeycrisp.
Washington apple shipments are amounting to about 2,500 truck load equivalents a week from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys, with a much smaller volume in pears.
Washington apples/pears – grossing about $4600 to Chicago.
The state also is shipping about 700 truckloads of onions per week from the Columbia Basin and the adjacent Umatilla Basin in Oregon. The same area also is shipping about one-half this volume in potatoes.
Washington/Oregon potatoes and onions – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
In Michigan, there is adequate equipment from apple haulers, but shortages of trucks for hauling onions.
Michigan apple shipments grossing about $2600 to Atlanta, while onions are paying about $500 less per load.
An early January freeze has hampered harvest and reduced shipments of Southern Georgia greens. Also, here’s an update on Florida citrus shipments.
Georgia Produce Shipments
Greens in Georgia were damaged by freezes the week of January 4th, with temperatures in the Norman Park shipping region hitting the low 20s. By the week of January 11th, shipments had taken a hard hit. One grower/shipper was picking just 2,000 to 4,000 boxes of greens a day, down from the seasonal norm of 8,000 to 10,000. Some operators were affected more than others.
Harvest was taking much longer because instead of picking greens by the bunch, workers were picking leaf by leaf, sorting out undamaged from damaged product. Georgia greens shipments should be back to normal around January 24 – 28.
South Georgia greens and cabbage – grossing about $3000 to New York City.
The cold weather didn’t reach down to Florida, and damage greens there.
Florida Citrus Shipments
Florida orange shipments continue to decline.
On January 12, the USDA forecast midseason and late season orange production declined 5 percent from the December 10th report and fell 2 percent from the previous season.
Grapefruit and tangerine production remained unchanged.
In the newest report, the USDA forecast Florida non-valencia oranges, which include early, midseason, navel and temple varieties, to decline 4 million equivalent cartons to 48 million cartons and valencias to fall 1 million cartons to 55 million cartons.
Navel production remains unchanged at 1.5 million cartons.
On grapefruit, total production is forecast at 15 million cartons and tangerines are forecast at 2.5 million cartons.
Overall, Florida growers are forecast to harvest 121.3 million equivalent cartons of citrus, down from last season’s 124 million cartons and considerably lower than the 169 million carton 2009-13 average.
While about 96 percent of the state’s oranges ship to processed channels, 65 percent of its navels, 63 percent of its tangerines, 40 percent of its grapefruit and about 10 percent of its overall citrus ship fresh.
Florida citrus shipments – grossing about $2300 to Chicago.
Desert vegetable shipments out the Arizona and California deserts continue to be lower than normal, but if you do load any product check the quality of what is being put in the truck.
Supply and quality issues will complicate the remainder of the California and Arizona lettuce deals, and prices should stay high as a result, because of shipping gaps.
You also are paying more for lettuce at the supermarket. Cartons of lettuce at shipping point are more than triple what they were this time last year (now $25.50-28.50 for cartons of film-lined 24-count iceberg).
The shipping gaps are hard to predict because some shippers are harvesting, while others may be in a gap due to when they planted, etc. Gaps also are affecting romaine, head lettuce, etc. at different times.
This problem is expected to last weeks, if not months. For example there are about 12 weeks left for shipping lettuce out of Yuma. It is beginning to look like the shipping gaps, and quality problems will be around until the seasonal shift takes the harvest back to Huron, Santa Maria and Salinas.
If colder than normal weather is prevelant in the coming weeks it could further delay or reduce lettuce volume – and shipments.
Yuma vegetable shipments – grossing about $7200 to New York City.
It’s that time again. Time to look at getting a fresh start on another year. Odd thing is even though many people plan on making some sort of New Year’s resolution few, if any, will follow through with it.
So for 2015 why not go with the flow and start out with a resolution you know you have a good chance of keeping. Let’s set the bar low. I’m tired of always “raising the bar.” Let’s lower it for a change. One thing I’m going to do is get ready for the obvious upcoming “Zombie Apocalypse.” Now that’s a low bar. Who would have thought back in the 60’s that here in the modern 21st century we would be facing a horde of zombies. Now I’m not against all zombies. fter all, I was married to one for several years.
You would think that the TV and movie writers could come up with something better and be more creative these days. Zombies have been around for as long as vampires and werewolves have. They are as old as Godzilla himself. Zombies have been the subject of films and horror shows from about 1918. They are also a part of Haitian Voodoo, and people even believe they exist today. I know one thing for sure. You can’t turn on the TV today without a plethora of zombie shows on all kinds of channels and at all times of the day. I’m expecting those libtards on “The View” to have some zombies on so they can complain about how the average zombie is oppressed by our capitalist society.
After all, zombies have always been exploited by those big Hollywood types. You know the ones I’m referring too. The ones who got hacked at Sony and had their e-mails reveled that showed how much of a racist and bigot they really are. The great 1959 Ed Wood movie Plan 9 from Outer Space had actor Tor Johnson playing the part of a crazed zombie. Tor was always good in those memorable roles. White Zombie, a 1932 film, starred Ed Wood’s favorite actor Bela Lugosi. You may recall that Bela was famous for his role in the 1931 film Dracula.
The 1968 film Night of the Living Dead was perhaps the greatest zombie movie of all time. It crossed a vampire with a zombie and created what is now known as the blood sucking vampire-zombie that we have today. Zombies seem to hang around railroad yards and truck stops a lot. And for some strange reason you can never outrun a zombie. Regardless of how slow they may stumble and drag their feet, their victim always seems to fall and never be able to get up in time. Odd thing how zombies never seem to stumble or fall themselves.
One thing I have always wondered is why you only see zombies roaming about out at night. You would think that if you only had one eye, as many zombies do, that it would be easier to walk about in the daylight.
If I was a zombie I would hang out at fitness clubs. With all that sweating and stuff at fitness clubs people would think that I just had a hard workout. You could sneak up behind your victim when they are on the tread climber with their music playing in their ear and CHOMP! There, you got them.
My dentist told me that several of his patients actually believe in zombies. I guess if you believe that big government is the answer to the problems in your life, then zombies aren’t much of a stretch. On thing I know for sure is that zombies can be blown away with a Smith and Wesson. So if you need a good news years resolution, then getting ready for the zombie apocalypse should be at the top of your list. There are always some good deals on anti zombie guns right after the new year.
Make sure you get a nice large caliber. Something in a 44 or 45 would be nice! See you all at the range.
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
Cherries posted the highest growth in the fruit category, with dollar sales increasing 16.9 percent and volume increasing 36.7 percent, according to United Fresh Produce Association Q3 2014 edition of the FreshFacts on Retail report, which examines overall retail trends in produce. Overall findings show fruit and vegetable volume remaining steady compared to the previous year, while dollar sales increased slightly due to a small increase in average retail price, during the quarter. Produced in partnership with the Nielsen Perishables Group and sponsored by Del Monte Fresh Produce, FreshFacts on Retail measures retail price and sales trends for the top 10 fruit and vegetable commodities, as well as value-added, organic and other produce categories. The Q3 2014 report also features a more detailed look at the berries, citrus and packaged salad categories, as well as produce in the deli. Highlights of Q3 FreshFacts on Retail In addition to cherries posting the highest growth in the fruit category, the report’s other key findings revealed:
- Packaged salad posted the highest growth in the vegetable category, with a 9.1 percent increase in dollar sales and volume increasing 6.8 percent.
- Value-added fruits posted average weekly dollar and volume sales growth of 10.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
- Average weekly dollar and volume sales for snacking vegetables both increased by double digits compared to Q3 2013.
- Shoppers continued to seek out organic produce, resulting in significant dollar and volume sales increases for organic fruits and vegetables.
The Q3 quarterly FreshFacts report also features a spotlight on consumer demand of value-added convenience produce items. Multiple convenience items experienced double-digit growth, including fresh-cut fruits, mixed melons, snacking vegetables and value-added vegetable side dishes.