Posts Tagged “feature”
Blueberry shipments in most seasons are coming from different areas of the USA and Canada, but weather factors have resulted in a lot of “blues” maturing at the same time….With other produce, California navel orange shipments will soon replace valencias….The Eastern Shore is shipping watermelons.
Blueberry Shipments
Blueberry loads have been available at the same time this year from New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia during parts of the season.
Blueberry shipments have double over the past 20 years, not only because people love eating the fruit, but there has been countless publicity over studies touting the health benefits of “blues.” And in typical fashion, growers see a good thing, over plant, and prices fall (which is good for produce haulers and consumers, but growers).
Orange shipments
The California valencia season should wind down in October just as the navel shipping season begins. The navel orange crop looks slightly smaller than last year, when 90 million 40-pound cartons were trucked to markets.
East Coast
Watermelons continue to be shipped from the Delaware, Maryland, and the eastern shore of Virginia. Melons tend to start getting ify this late in the season and quality problems can certain be cropping up if the shipping areas have had to much rain. Just a word of caution.
Delaware/Maryland/Virginia watermelons – grossing about $2300 to Chicago.
Michigan blueberries and vegetables – about $2100 to Atlanta.
It’s looking like there will be more apples to haul during the 2013-14 season than last year’s huge crop. The major difference will be other major apple shipping states will be offering a lot more loads. Last year, it was primarily Washington state having any apple volume.
Nationwide new apple shipments could be anywhere from 250 and 252 million bushels, compared to the 215.7 million bushels produced nationwide a year ago. Bad weather conditions in 2012 for New York state cost apple haulers about half of its loading opportunties. Michigan was hit much harder as it shipped only 2.738 million bushels in 2012, compared to the state’s five-year average of 16.238 million bushels. This season Michigan apple shipments should come back with a vengence topping 26 million bushels.
The Michigan apple harvest got under way last week with paula reds, with ginger golds following closely behind.. It is a pretty normal start for fruit from Michigan’s Fruit Ridge, which produces 70 percent of the state’s apples.
California Grapes
California growers ship over 70 varieties of table grapes and the vast majority of those graped will be transported to markets across the USA and Canada from August through October. Record loads are predicted to be shipped by refrigerated trucks this season, mostly from the San Joaquin Valley.
Chilean Avocados
At various USA ports on both coasts, one the big items for the new season are avocados being imported from Chile. It is predicted that trucks hauling the product from ports to north American market will transport 30 to 35 percent mor of the tropical fruit than last year.
Last season was a record breaking year for Hass avocados, with shipments, mostly by truck, topping 1.5 billion pounds. For 2013, loadings are projected to increaseby another 10 percent to 1.65 billion pounds.
San Joaquin Valley grapes, melons veggies, stone fruit – grossing about $7300 to New York City.
It may not be a Rocky Mountain “high” for many shippers in Colorado this summer or fall due to a winter than lingered on and on, combined with some drought conditions. In a nutshell most Colorado vegetable shipments will be okay, but not great, while Western slope peaches may not be worth a produce hauler’s time. Potato shipments will be off some from last season.
Vegetable loadings from areas such as Brighton, Eaton and LaSalle are running nearly a week and one-half late. We’re talking items ranging from potatoes and onions to sweet corn and cabbage.
The Rocky Ford area is loading peppers, tomatoes, squash, carrots and green beans, among other items.
Colorado Fruit Shipments Hit
Colorado isn’t widely known for its cherry shipments, and will become even less so this year, thanks to a late freeze in May. While peaches fared better, it also will be significantly off — possibly by 30 percent. There will be some pear shipments into early October, and some apple loadings through at least Thanksgiving and possibily into December.
Colorado Potato Shipments
The Rocky Mountain state has about 49,700 acres of potato acreage for the 2013-14 shipping season, which is down over 5,000 acres from a year ago. Spud loadings get underway after Labor Day.
Gearing up for the new season of storage onions out of the Northwest, here is some information as produce haulers you might find interesting, if not helpful.
Oregon and Washington state, rank number one and number two respectively when it comes to shipments of onions out of storage.
In July 2012 the Oregon Department of Agriculture issued some facts and figures. In the 2011 season Oregon onions ranked 11th in the state’s top 40 commodities list at a value of approximately $92 million.
Oregon was ranked first nationally for storage onion production, accounting for 27 percent of total USA supplies.
The Pacific Northwest provides the nation with strong volumes of storage and non-storage onions. Oregon ranked first and Washington ranked second nationally for onion production during 2011. A total of 174.5 million hundredweight of storage onions were produced in 2011.
Onions grown in Malheur County are part of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion growing region and represent significant volume for the state. According to the 2012 Agripedia, published by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Malheur County accounted for 56 percent of Oregon’s total production.
The Pride of Washington State was released this past October. Washington ranked number two nationally for its production of all summer onions in 2011, accounting for 21.2 percent of national supplies. The commodity ranked number 16 among the state’s top 40 commodities during 2011, with an approximate value of production of $121.6 million.
In a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary says, “As our youngsters head back to school, USDA is committed to their future. We are taking new steps to expand rural education opportunities, ensure healthy and safe food for young people, and giving parents and teachers the tools and information they need to help our kids grow up ready to lead the world.”
The website is called MyPlate Kids Place, and is designed for children ages 8 to 12, according to a news release from the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
The site also can help parents and teachers make better food choices, according to the release. The website features games, recipes, tips, activity sheets and links to the ChooseMyPlate.gov website, according to the release.
One game offered is a word maze called “Have fun with fruits and vegetables” that includes the names of 14 fruits and vegetables hidden in the maze.
Recipes contributed by students include “Kickin’ Colorful Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa,” zucchini pancakes, passion fruit smoothies and “Garden Stir Fry.”
By Rabobank
Despite efforts by governments to promote the benefits of a healthy diet, consumption of fruit & vegetables in Western Europe and the US has declined over the past decade. A report by Rabobank cites lower incomes and perceived price increases, alongside strong competition from processed and convenience foods, as the major factors driving this trend. Producers, processors and retailers must all explore ways to inspire greater consumption of fruit & vegetables if the industry is to flourish.
Cindy van Rijswick, Rabobank analyst commented: “The challenge for the fruits & vegetables industry is to close the gap between what consumers say they want and what they actually do. Surveys have shown that, in principle, consumers are positive-minded about healthy eating, but in practice they are easily swayed by creative marketing of processed food and beverages and exhibit a strong bias for convenience products”.
On a household level there is a clear relationship between income and fruit & vegetable intake, meaning that in a tough economic climate, consumers become more susceptible to fluctuations in price. This impact can be exacerbated by the common misperception among consumers that unhealthy food is cheaper to eat than healthy food. Between 2006 and 2011, in both the EU and US, average consumer prices for fruits & vegetables in fact increased less than prices of the total food category, but consumption levels fell.
Processed foods have become a strong competitor for fruits & vegetables for different reasons: availability, taste, marketing, product range and convenience. Even when consumers do opt for a healthy choice, they will likely select processed foods in the ‘health and wellness category’ over a fresh option (despite the fact that research has found that two-thirds of US and half of all European products referencing fruit on their packaging contained no or only a trace amounts of fruit). It is extremely difficult for the fresh produce industry to match the sophisticated marketing efforts of processed health foods as most fresh products are sold unpackaged and unbranded.
There are three ways in which the industry must invest/evolve in order to boost consumption levels:
- Reducing inconvenience: Convenience is often cited as a barrier to consumption of fruits & vegetables, a claim that is supported by the increasing popularity of prepared (i.e. washed, cut, diced, sliced and packaged) products. The industry must continue to find innovative ways to boost convenience e.g. offering chopped vegetables that can be heated directly in the microwave without removing packaging
- Marketing based on more than health benefits: Most consumers are already aware that fruit & vegetables are good for them and governments are the best vehicle for promoting the benefits of a healthy diet. Therefore, the industry should focus on informing consumers about the convenience, taste, enjoyment and versatility of fruits & vegetables
- Better cooperation along the supply chain: keeping inferior quality products off the market is crucial to securing consumer buy-in. Short dedicated supply chains in which the brand owner is in control can enable partners to work together more closely to improve basic features, such as quality and freshness (e.g. by reducing the time to market or choosing the tastiest varieties)
While northern New Jersey is heavily populated, the southern part of the state is very much rural and agricultural. It also is is one of the top 10 states in produce shipments of several items, many which are being loaded on trucks now for shipments up and down the east coast, as well to Eastern Canada and even the Midwest, but mostly east of the Mississippi River.
The Garden state has 730,000 acres of farmland. New Jersey produce shipments make up 40 percent of the state’s agricultural shipments. For example it ranks 3rd in cranberry (mostly for processing), 3rd with bell peppers and spinach, 4th with peaches, 5th with blueberries and cucumbers, 6th in squash and 7th with tomatoes.
The state typically ships over 1,600 truckloads of blueberries a year. and about the same amount of peaches.
Its produce shipments started in late March and will wrap up in early October. Fall loadings from New Jersey range from apples to squash, sweet potatoes, greens, cranberries and broccoli and last until the first hard frost.
New Jersey volume is down some, plus crops are maturing later than usual due to weather factors.
Labor Day (September 2nd) produce shipments should see fair to good volume with watermelons, sweet corn, avocados and table grapes, among others.
Sweet corn loadings are originating from New York state, Delaware, Virginia, Michigan, Colorado and even from Canada. Don’t expect any barn busting volume on corn. Like many produce items this year, cool weather, rain and late planting have adversely affected volume, if not quality in some instances.
Watermelon Shipments
Watermelon shipments have followed a similar shipping path to corn. Watermelon volume has been lower than normal since July. For example, shipments have been off as much as 30 percent from Indiana, but has since improved some.
There also should be moderate shipments for Labor Day of watermelons from Missouri’s bootheal and parts of North Carolina. West Texas has light watermelons shipments in July, but have rebound with better volume for Labor Day.
California Grapes
As about any time of the year, California will be providing the best loading opportunities since it accounts for about 50 percent of the nation’s produce shipments. Salinas Valley vegetables are moving in moderate to good volume, plus the San Joaquin Valley has its seasonal mix of veggies, stone fruit, melons and grapes.
During the 2012 season, California harvested 100.1 million 19-pound box equivalents of table grapes. The estimate for this season, if holds, will mean another year for record grape shipments, with 106.9 million boxes predicted.
Bootheal of Missouri watermelons – grossing about $1800 to Atlanta.
North Carolina watermelson – $3000 to New York City.
Harvesting of pears in Washington state and Oregon got underway last week and there are light shipments taking place. Volume is increasing on a weekly basis.
California grapes are now in heavy volume.
The region is expected to ship about 19.4 million, 44-pound boxes of pears this season, which would be up about two percent from the 2012-13 crop.
If estimated pear shipments hold true for the season this would be 4 percent higher than the five-year average for loadings.
Pear volume for summer/fall pears from the Pacific Northwest is expected to be 4.7 million boxes, which would be about 5 percent less than 2012 season. Volume for Northwest winter pears is expected to come in at 15 million boxes. The total Northwest winter pear volume is anticipated to be approximately 15 million boxes, up 4 percent from 2012.
California Grape Shipments
After an early and fast start to the California table grape season, the rapid paces is expected to continue well past Labor Day. Shipping volume is running about two weeks earlier than normal.
During the 2012 season, California harvested 100.1 million 19-pound box equivalents of table grapes. Last April the preliminary estimate for this season was 106.9 million boxes.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Washington pears and apples – grossing about $6500 to New York City.
The Hunts Point Wholesale Terminal Produce Market that has been a dispute with New York will have to withdraw its April lawsuit against the city and refile it since the huge market did not follow the proper procedures, according to a story this week by Crain’s New York Business. The new lawsuit will include additional charges against New York City.
Hunts Points receives thousands of truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables from around the country and the globe each week. It is the world’s largest wholesale produce market.
“We made the decision to withdraw our [complaint], which we did yesterday, and we will inform the city that we are bringing a new action,” said Sid Davidoff of Davidoff Hutcher & Cinton, the law firm representing Hunts Point. We are essentially starting over with some new causes of action.”
The market’s owners—41 merchants who are part of a cooperative, have been in a standoff with the city’s Economic Development Corp. over a new 30-year lease to redevelop the 113-acre site.
The two sides basically haven’t talked to each other since January,mainly because of the merchants’ rocky relationship with the Business Integrity Commission, a law-enforcement agency that regulates public food markets among other industries.
The merchants sued BIC, which they say hired an unscrupulous security firm to investigate themerchants business and security practices.
“We believe we have a case,” Mr. Davidoff said.
A spokesman for the city agency said, “We cannot comment on the possibility of future litigation. All we know is that they filed a lawsuit, we moved to dismiss and in response to our motion they discontinued their lawsuit,” reported Crain’s New York Business.