Posts Tagged “feature”
By The NPD Group
The recently released Harvard study on the health benefits of eating nuts just confirmed what health conscious consumers already know, that nuts are good for you, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. NPD’s food market research finds that nuts rank among the top 10 snack-oriented convenience foods for U.S. consumers motivated by health and weight needs.
Nuts are a popular snack for breakfast and morning snack but are eaten throughout the day by health and weight conscious consumers who want a nutritious, natural, better-for-you snack, according to NPD’s Snacking in America report, which examines long-term attitudes and behaviors about snacking as well as snack selection drivers. Consumers who are motivated to choose nuts and other better-for-you snacks based on health and weight needs tend to be seniors and empty nesters, adult females, and higher income households.
The consumption of nuts is not limited to the health and weight conscious. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. households have nuts or seeds on-hand and 19 percent of individuals eat nuts at least once in a two week period, finds NPD. Nuts are consumed primarily as an in-home snack but are often incorporated into morning, lunch, and dinner meals. In addition to its choice as a healthier snack, nuts are also popular among consumers looking for a filling or a quick, convenient snack.
“Whether to meet the needs of the health and weight conscious or as an easy grab-and-go snack, nuts are a popular choice among snackers,” says Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst. “Food manufacturers and retailers have a variety of options and audiences for marketing nuts.”
It’s New Year’s Day and pardon me if I reflect a bit on the past year.
As for this website, HaulProduce.com, I can’t thank each of you enough for visting the website. Apparently you are finding it useful in your business. That was my whole purpose in launcing this site nearly two years ago.
I receive calls on a regular basis, and in many cases when you are looking for produce loads. Some of you call under the impression I am either a carrier, logistics company or a truck broker – none of which I pretend to be. Haul Produce.com, much like the radio reports I did for nearly 20 years (known at the Produce Truckers Network) provided produce reports on loading opportunities, quality of product you’d be hauling and a general idea of what kind of a gross freight rate you should receive.
Our number of visits to the website continue to increase. It has a relatively new feature, where you can subscribe for free, which continues to have more people in the trucking industry signing up. With the free subscription, you receive an e-mail consisting of a paragraph relating to the most recent post. If that bit of information interests you, you can click on the e-mail link and read to the whole story.
Again, thank you for your support. If you know of a fellow trucker or someone in the trucking industry who may benefit from the HaulProduce.com website, please let them know about us.
God bless you, your family and business in the New Year. — Bill and Vivian Martin
“Save the best for last” is not only a good quote, but it is also a very good principle to live by. The idea being that you should always finish with the best. A lot of my friends have commented on how they have had more fun in life as they have gotten older. While engaging in a similar conversation recently, I paused to think a bit more about the recent comments I had heard, and then I wondered why getting older was viewed so differently by so many people.
On one hand, aging brings with it the typical aches and pains of the passing years, and on the other hand it brings with it a freedom of the social pressures that years of living in the rat race has produced. After a decade of retirement I can truly say that it has, so far, been the best years of my life. Maybe it is the freedom to do what you want when you want , or maybe it is the social freedom of not having to care or worry about much of anything, with the exception of a beer shortage of course. And another aging phenomenon is the fact that the older males of our species seem to attract younger women as we age.
Now don’t get me wrong, getting old is not for the faint hearted. It takes some planning and preparation to enter this phase of life properly. Not everybody is cut out to be a senior citizen. The first thing you have to do is deal with the inevitability of it. Regardless of how many face lifts, boob jobs, tummy tucks, butt lifts, or surgery you have, you are still going to age. And if you don’t watch out you can easily end up looking like “The Joker” in the Batman movies. Just ask Joan Rivers. You have to admit that Jack Nicholson looks better as The Joker than Joan does, even with all the help from her surgeon. Somehow I just can’t help think Joan would have been better off learning to deal with getting older.
Getting older has an enormous potential for enjoying life. For one thing, older people can get away with a whole lot more, and nobody knows what you’re really up to. The younger crowd is clueless about your motives and they think you are just senile. One of the best military tactics is to get into a position where your enemy underestimates you. Then you have the advantage.
Being the older person in a younger group commands a bit of respect. When the younger ones get in a pickle you just smile and politely say “been there, done that” and they think you have the wisdom that the years visibly show.
Advanced age provides a new set of social opportunities as well. Younger women don’t view you as a threat. You’re kind of like the old neutered squirrel who lives in the great big pecan tree. You can now hang out with the babes without getting into trouble with your wife. After all, your wife knows you’re harmless, and at your age you deserve a little change in latitude.
I have found it’s always good to take up a little drinking as you get older. This does require that you learn something about booze. For that you should join some social drinking clubs. They provide a knowledge base for social drinking that you can share with the younger folks. This gives you an air of sophistication and class that you probably never had when you were younger. Be creative in your old age. Don’t be afraid to come up with interesting things to do. Party a lot, and never take anything too serious. Nothing is more of a turn-off than a serious old codger carping about some meaningless trivia.
Always smile a lot and try to look empathetic. Women and liberals love empathy. Never mind that empathy never solved any problems in life or put a man on the moon. That’s not the point. Empathy is “in” today, so practice some empathetic facial expressions in the mirror to use when the need arises.
One final note. Always give big tips. You can’t take it with you, and you sure don’t want to leave much for your children. Too much will take away their sense of accomplishment and self worth. If you wake up some day and find yourself feeling sorry for yourself because your getting older, just follow my advise above. And if you get into trouble just remember the disclaimer in fine print….
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
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.
About halfway through December, California strawberry shipments were already assured of another record-setting season in 2013. Mostly truck loadings have put out more than 193 million trays of berries, up from 191 million in 2012. Thus, with the year ending, California strawberry shipments will definately have its seventh record-setting year in the last eight seasons.Shippers had loaded over 193 million trays as of December 13, topping the 191 million trays produced in all of 2012. Shipments continued an upward trend that began in 2006 with five straight record-setting seasons. A cold and wet spring in 2011 caused the streak to be broken, but growth in shipments has continued since.
A big reason has been an upsurge in acreage. Growers planted on 40,192 acres this year, up from 37,732 in 2012. Another factor was the use of new University of California-developed varieties that yield more fruit per acre.
However, what California had in quantity this year, too often was lacking in quality.
Strawberries are a year-round fruit in California, as winter harvests move south with the sun. The peak season is in the spring and early summer, when all three of the state’s major growing regions — around Watsonville, Santa Maria and Oxnard — are producing berries. About 85 percent of the nation’s strawberry shipments originate in California.
Some growers are switching to organic production. Organic acreage went from 1,776 in 2012 to 2,532 acres this year.
Most California strawberry shipments are now coming out of Ventura County and Orange County.
Southern California produce shipments, including strawberries – grossing about $6800 to New York City.
Hunts Point Wholesale Produce Market is the largest produce terminal in the world, moving 3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables from 55 countries and 49 states through its stalls each year. The 113-acre complex has more than 1 million-square-feet of shop and storage space, houses 42 merchants, employs 10,000 people, and generates $2.4 billion in sales annually.
Hunts Point, located in the South Bronx, serves New York City and the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), bringing fresh produce to an ethnically diverse population of more than 23 million. The terminal facility sells to retailers, secondary wholesalers, restaurants, and other foodservice outfits.
For over 10 years Hunts Point has faced a challenge due to operating in a 1960s-era facility that’s both in need of repair and has been outgrown.
Storage is limited, and the layout was built for smaller trucks than today’s 53-foot trailers. Infrastructure (including electrical needs) is inadequate, and the cold chain is a challenge. Over the past several years, there’s been questions, if rebuilt, is there enough room on the existing campus to accommodate a new market that will last the next 50-plus years.
PRODUCE FREIGHT RATES
A combination of fewer trucks due to the economy reducing the number of owner-operators and carriers, plus fuel costs led to what wholesalers claim were record freight rates last summer.
“Freight has been very rough,” says Hunts Point wholesaler Jim Hunt. “Up until July Fourth, freight out of California to New York was astronomical, in the $8,500 to $9,000 range. Also, trucks were hard to come by, and this is something we will have to deal with going forward.”
“It gets broken down as a function of the delivered cost,” explains Hunt. Hypothetically, if freight is $8,000 or $9,000 for a 20-pallet truck, the f.o.b. price is $5 per box. And if the freight is another $5, this puts the merchant in at $10. “If you’re trying to make 15 percent, you have to gun for $12 and fall short at $11,” he said.
“If freight were to continue to go up the way it has, it would be unsustainable for the produce industry,” concedes wholesaler Matthew D’Arrigo. “But the beauty of our industry is that we don’t have government regulations setting freight rates; we have the laws of supply and demand.
By American Pistachio Association
FRESNO, Calif. —According to a long-term women’s health study recently published, women in the study who ate a one-ounce serving of tree nuts two or more times a week had a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those studied who did not include nuts in their diet. This is the first study to measure the association between pancreatic cancer risk and nut consumption. Pistachios were among the tree nuts included in the study.
More than 75,600 women were followed in the widely-recognized Nurses’ Health Study. It shows that those who consumed a 28-g (1 oz.) serving of nuts two or more times per week, significantly reduced their risk of developing pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause for cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
Results of this large prospective cohort study can be found online in the British Journal of Cancer. The lead author is Ying Bao, MD, ScD, from the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Dr. Bao states these results were independent of established or suspected risk factors for pancreatic cancer including age, height, obesity, physical activity, smoking, diabetes and dietary factors. Also, participants could have no previous history of cancer.
In addition to pistachios, the nuts consumed by the women in the nurses study included almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts and walnuts. Documentation began in 1980 with follow up every four years through 2010. The study also showed that women with more frequent nut consumption were generally leaner, more likely to exercise, and less likely to smoke. Earlier studies have linked tree nut consumption to a reduced risk for diabetes.
The long-running Nurses’ Health Study was funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health. This study specifically examining the association between tree nut consumption and pancreatic cancer was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation. It was also supported in part by a micro-grant from the Biomedical Research Institute at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. State cancer registries also helped with the study. The sponsors did not participate in the design and analysis or any other parts of the study or approval of the manuscript.
Pistachio Facts
Pistachios are nutrient rich and full of antioxidants, vitamins, protein and fiber. A one-ounce serving of pistachios equals 49 nuts, more per serving than any other snack nut. They are cholesterol free and contain just 1.5 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of fat per serving, the majority of which comes from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. In addition, they contain a significant amount of potassium, 300-mg per serving.
About American Pistachio Growers
American Pistachio Growers (APG) is a non-profit voluntary agricultural trade association representing more than 550 grower members in California, Arizona and New Mexico. APG is governed by a democratically-elected board of directors and is funded entirely by growers and independent processors with the shared goal of increasing global awareness of nutritious American-grown pistachios. American pistachios are the “Official Snack” of USA Water Polo, big mountain snowboarder and 2013 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Jeremy Jones, British pro cyclist Mark Cavendish and Miss California. For more information, visit AmericanPistachios.org.
Consumption of wild blueberries can help blood vessel function and health, according to new research conducted by European researchers.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in a study supported by the Alpro Foundation Grant and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, published the report last September.
The Wild Blueberry Association of North America in Portland, ME donated blueberry test materials (typically freeze dried powder of whole blueberries) for the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Reading in Reading, United Kingdom, University Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany, and the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
The findings are the first to link wild blueberry polyphenols, natural compounds that are present in goods volume in wild blueberries, to improvements in vascular function in healthy men, according to a news release from the WBANA.
“Importantly, even the lowest amount of wild blueberries tested in the study, equivalent to 3/4 cup of wild blueberries, was able to improve endothelial function, which is an amount easy to incorporate into a daily diet,” Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, from the Division of Cardiology, Pulmunology and Vascular Medicine at the University of Dusseldorf, said in the release.
“The simple message is eat your fruits and vegetables in all the colors,” said David Bell, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission. Bell said the research on health benefits may perhaps be true for cultivated blueberries, but researchers only studied wild blueberries.
Less than one percent of Maine’s wild blueberries are sold fresh, with nearly all the harvest frozen. Maine’s growers harvest about 86 million pounds of wild blueberries annually.
Bell said there are many more health studies “in the pipeline,” with more studies using clinical human trials and also delving into the “why” behind apparent health benefits.“What I think we are figuring out is that blueberries are up regulating some (positive) genes and down regulating other (negative) genes,” he said.
Here’s hoping each of you are able to spend Christmas with those closest to you. What a gift to be able to love and be loved.
When the folks are opening a Christmas gift this year, it most likely was delivered to your city or town by truck.
The DOT reports trucks moved 73.7 percent of the country’s freight in 2012, carrying $10 trillion worth of the country’s $13.6 trillion in freight.
The figuress come from the DOT’s recently released Commodity Flow Survey, which is done about every five years.
Trucks also carried 70 percent of the tonnage moved in 2012, hauling 8 billion of the 11.7 billion tons shipped last year.
The for-hire trucking industry carried $6.6 trillion in freight — 48.5 percent of the total — the CFS says, while private trucks hauled 25.2 percent, or $3.4 trillion.
Trucks were slightly edged by rail, though, in ton-miles last year, as rail moved 44.5 percent and trucking moved 38.1 percent. Ton-miles is a measurement of weight multiplied by distance shipped.
Over half of the total tonnage moved in 2012 went less than 50 miles, while shipments traveling fewer than 250 miles accounted for more than 60 percent.
The CFS is only conducted every five years, with the first coming in 1993, and the subsequent ones coming in 1997, 2002, 2007 and last year. Final data from the survey will be released in December 2014.
Meanwhile, consumers show remember that whether it is the Christms tree at the home, the toys under that tree, or the furniture, or produce and other food in the refrigerator, chances are it came by truck.
To HaulProduce.com subcribers, sponsors and others who visit this website, this is wishing you the best Christmas ever! God Bless.
— Bill Martin
There will be about 7 millions fewer boxes of Washington state apples shipped from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys this season, but it still should end up next August being the second largest crop of all time.
Last year’s record apple loadings hit 128.2 million fresh boxes, and is competing with larger New York and Michigan shipments, after devasting freezes hit those states in 2012.
As of December 1, 28 million boxes had been shipped compared to 31.5 million at the same time last year and 25.3 million two years ago. Loadings are still clipping along at 2.7 million boxes per week and should remain at that level into spring, possibly peaking around 3 million per week in January.
The crop’s current standing at 113.3 million boxes is up .1 percent from the November 1 storage report, down 5.5 percent from the August 1 forecast of 119.8 million boxes and pff 11.7 percent from the record 128.2-million-box 2012 crop.
Exports are down 10 percent from a year ago at 8.4 million boxes as of December 1 compared with 9.4 million at the same time in 2012 and 7.8 million in 2011.
Mexico and Canada are Washington’s largest apple export markets.
Mexico normally takes 10 million to 11 million boxes annually but hit 13.6 million last year. Canada averages 5 million to 6 million and last year took 6.35 million boxes.
Thus far this season, Canada is at 1.2 million boxes and Mexico is just getting started at 1 million
Washington state apples – grossing about $6700 to Orlando.
Florida always has light produce volume in the fall and the winter, but the Sunshine state’s produce loads has been even lighter this year. After a tumultuous fall which brought lighter shipments with central Florida’s tomatoes, volume is finally, a long last, picking up. Still, don’t expect spring like volumes.
Yet, the higher volume has actually led to some rate increases.
Florida tomato shipments out of Immokalee have been just okay in terms of quality, but apparently have looked pretty good compared to the early stuff out of the Palmetto-Ruskin area.
Heavy August and September rains stunted yields and certainly did not help the quality in the early fall. As late fall growing conditions become more favorable with moderated temperatures and lower humidity levels, volume and loading opportunties showed some improvement.
Fall tomato shipments yields were down 30 to 70 percent from normal depending on plantings, but the Palmetto-Ruskin region has been increasing.
The quality of the central Florida mature green tomatoes is reported good and Florida is now entering the time of year — early winter is when you should be hauling the best quality tomatoes that have been available in awhile.
Central Florida usually starts in early October with grape and cherry tomatoes and begins harvesting mature-greens by early November.
Central Florida freight rates have increased 10 to 15 percent to places such as New York, Philly and Boston due to increasing volume with tomatoes, strawberries out of Plant City and exisiting light production of veggies.
Central Florida produce – grossing about $3000 to New York City.