Posts Tagged “feature”
Between January and August, Peruvian blueberry exports reached $343 million in FOB value, registering a 14 percent drop year-on-year. According to Peru’s Exporters Association, the decrease was mostly due to weather factors.
According to the ADEX Data Trade Intelligence System, the United States took a 49 percent share of overall shipments, confirming its position as the top destination market for blueberries.
Between January and August, Peruvian blueberry exports reached $343 million in FOB value, registering a 14 percent drop year-on-year. According to Peru’s Exporters Association, the decrease was mostly due to weather factors.
According to the ADEX Data Trade Intelligence System, the United States took a 49 percent share of overall shipments, confirming its position as the top destination market for blueberries.
However, the U.S. percentage also saw a 23 percent decrease compared to last year’s figures, as Peruvian volumes continue to be hindered by El Niño. In August, Peruvian domestic production fell by 52 percent.
The Netherlands and China complete the top three destinations for Peruvian blueberry exports this season, with a respective 20 percent and 10 percent share of shipments.
Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad continue to lead production. But these growing areas also post major decreases: Piura’s volumes dropped 80 percent, Lambayeque’s by 79 percent and La Libertad is down 50 percent year-on-year.
Agroexports Manager Claudia Solano Oré assures that ADEX already has a strategy to boost the sector, as weather woes continue to stall production.
ADEX will be visiting associate companies to learn more about their challenges, in hopes of providing support.
The Netherlands and China complete the top three destinations for Peruvian blueberry exports this season, with a respective 20 percent and 10 percent share of shipments.
However, the U.S. percentage also saw a 23 percent decrease compared to last year’s figures, as Peruvian volumes continue to be hindered by El Niño. In August, Peruvian domestic production fell by 52 percent.
Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad continue to lead production. But these growing areas also post major decreases: Piura’s volumes dropped 80 percent, Lambayeque’s by 79 percent and La Libertad is down 50 percent year-on-year.
Agroexports Manager Claudia Solano Oré assures that ADEX already has a strategy to boost the sector, as weather woes continue to stall production.
ADEX will be visiting associate companies to learn more about their challenges, in hopes of providing support.
Prima Wawona of Cutler, CA, the largest stone fruit producer in California’s Central Valley, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection recently, hoping to facilitate the sale of the company.
The company pointed the filing at “significant headwinds, including increased costs and weather-related impacts, that have combined to make our existing capital structure unsustainable.”
Reuters reports that the company, owned by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners, has about $679 million in debt, and plans to sell its business in bankruptcy, according to bankruptcy court documents.
Prima farms peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots on its 18,000 acres in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
If no buyer emerges, Prima will pivot to a debt restructuring or a liquidation of its business, according to court documents.
The company was formed from a 2019 merger of Gerawan Farming Inc. and Wawona Packing Company. The company had over $300 million in sales revenue in 2022, with 60% of that coming from the sale of peaches, according to court documents.
Maine potato growers and shippers are expecting average shipments for their crop in the 2023-24 season.
Cambridge Farms of Presque Isle, ME experienced average yields during harvest, although it may have a little more volume. The company has
russet, white, red and yellow potatoes.
Green Thumb Farms Inc. of Fryeburg, ME sees its volume being up slightly this year with good quality.
The Maine Farmers Exchange in Presque Isle describes this season’s potatoes as a mixed bags with some operations being up in volume. size and yields, while others are down. Rains and cloudy weather are cited as reasons.
Maine potato loadings got underway with the start of November.
Irving Farms Marketing Inc. of Caribou, ME has added a new storage unit to the 40,000-square-foot packing facility it opened last year. The new refrigerated, humidity-controlled storage facility will hold 55,000 hundredweight units.
The company is moving away from round white potatoes and offering more russets as well as red and yellow potatoes.
Volume and yields should be similar to last year.
The Table Grape Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) has released its first estimate for the 2023-24 season, projecting five percent growth in exports. This is based on information provided by the Committee’s member companies, which represent 82% of Chile’s total table grape shipments.
The Committee is forecasting 63,780,328 18-pound boxes. As ASOEX President Iván Marambio states, “This projected growth is due primarily to an increase in the production of new varieties, which will represent 63% of Chile’s total fresh grape exports this season, close to 40 million boxes.”
The Committee projects that within the next two years, 70% of grape shipments will consist of new varieties. This is a significant increase from 55% during the 2022-23 season.
The U.S. continues to be the main destination market for Chilean table grapes, despite challenges that are delaying the approval of the Systems Approach protocol for exports. For the upcoming 2023-24 season, the U.S. is projected to take 56% of overall shipments. Asia and Europe follow with 19% and 16%, respectively.
The Committee’s coordinator, Ignacio Caballero, notes that green grapes will experience the most growth. “We expect an increase of 16% in green grape volume over the previous season, with impressive increases in Sweet Globe, Autumn Crisp and Arra 15 varieties,” he states.
Exports of green grape varieties are projected to be around 22.9 million boxes, of which 74.4% will be new varieties.
Shipments of red varieties are expected to exceed 24.9 million boxes, of which 74.1% will correspond to new varieties. Timco, Allison, and Sweet Celebration are some of the main standouts among the red varieties.
As for black grapes, exports will be around 6 million boxes, with 76.5% new varieties, including Sable Seedless, Sweet Favors, and Sweet Sapphire.
The first shipments of Chilean grapes are scheduled for mid-November.
LOS ANGELES – POM Wonderful, the worldwide leader of California-grown pomegranates and the No. 1 pomegranate juice in North America, today launched its nationwide campaign, “Real Life is Scary: Protect Yourself With POM.” The campaign aims to empower consumers to fortify their defenses against free radicals – the unstable molecules that can cause damage to our bodies over time – by protecting themselves with the antioxidant power of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice.
In a series of comedically spooky ads, the health antagonists – manifested by ghosts, aliens, and vampires – represent free radicals that pop up in everyday locations: business elevators, the laundromat and movie theaters. With every sip of POM Juice, the polyphenols in POM protect the protagonist against the chaotic free radicals.
While the human body naturally maintains everyday levels of these free-radical molecules, external factors including smoking, stress, and environmental pollutants can escalate their production. Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals and can reduce damage over time.
“The past few years have brought an even greater awareness to our health,” said Margaret Keene, chief creative officer at Wonderful Agency. “Through this campaign, we wanted to bring a lighthearted approach that shows how these moments are made easier when you have an antioxidant defense, highlighting POM’s health benefits in an imaginative yet relatable way.”
The campaign was developed by The Wonderful Company’s in-house creative team at Wonderful Agency led by Keene. The spots were filmed in Prague and directed by Randy Krallman.
“I’m excited to bring a new approach to our marketing that is playful and promotes the well-being of our consumers,” said Benal Serin, senior vice president of marketing at POM Wonderful. “In a time when consumers are looking for better-for-you options, POM Juice is the Antioxidant Superpower® and a daily defense against free radicals. We hope to educate and inspire consumers to take control of their health.”
The campaign will run on targeted in-stream on connected TV, digital and mobile, linear TV, and cinema, as well as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and at select Spotlight Cinema theaters.
For more information, and for the latest updates on POM Wonderful, please visit POMWonderful.com or @POMWonderful on Instagram.
About POM Wonderful
POM Wonderful is the largest grower and producer of fresh pomegranates and pomegranate juice in the United States as well as the worldwide leader in fresh California pomegranates and pomegranate-based products including our 100% pomegranate juice, healthy juice blends, and teas. We grow, handpick, and juice our own pomegranates to ensure the highest quality. POM Wonderful is part of The Wonderful Company, a privately held company with a portfolio that includes other No. 1 brands such as Wonderful® Pistachios, FIJI® Water, Wonderful® Halos®, JUSTIN® wine, and Teleflora®. To learn more about The Wonderful Company, visit www.wonderful.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To view the current Corporate Social Responsibility report, visit www.wonderful.com/csr.
U.S. Valencia orange shipments will be up 23 percent 2023-24, at 20.85 million boxes, an increase from 16.91 million boxes in the previous season, according to a USDA crop forecast.
The increases are expected to be led by a 35 percent growth in Florida Valencia orange production, which is projected to be at 13 million boxes next year, from 9.65 million boxes in 2022-23.
Florida production of non-Valencia oranges is expected to be up by 22 percent, at 7.5 million boxes, from last season’s 6.7 million boxes.
This will result in a nationwide increase to 44.95 million boxes for non-Valencias, up from 43.2million boxes for the 2022-23 season. California non-Valencia production will be more or less flat: 37 million boxes as opposed to 36.5 million boxes in the previous season.
Florida grapefruit production will be 5 percent higher: 1.9 million boxes, up from 1.81 million boxes in 2022-23. California’s grapefruit crop is expected to be down to 3.5 million boxes from last season’s 4 million boxes. Texas will see a slight drop, to 2.2 million boxes from 2.25 million boxes.
California navel orange production is expected to be up by 1 percent this season, at 74 million, according to a forecast issued by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
The CDFA report notes fruit set was much higher in Fresno County (360 per tree, from 2022-23’s 245) at that time. Fruit set for Tulare and Kern county was down over the previous year.
The CDFA report also predicted a California Cara Cara production of 7 million cartons.
For tangerines and mandarins, the USDA forecast is 23.5 million boxes, down slightly from 24.18 million boxes last season. California accounts for practically all of the drop, as well for total national production.
Lemon production is pegged at 24.5 million boxes, down from 27.9 million boxes last season. The drop is largely due to lower California production: 23 million boxes as opposed to 26.5 million boxes in 2022-23.
By Steve Hull, ALC Special Projects
I recently celebrated my 27th anniversary working at Allen Lund Company. So far, my career has included many different job titles and roles, from transportation broker to management positions and now to my current role as special projects business analyst. I’ve seen firsthand how the use of data in the supply chain has grown and evolved over that time span.
When I started as a transportation broker working in the Los Angeles branch office in 1996, emails were rare, and the internet was still a ‘new thing’ we were all trying to figure out. Customers tendered loads to me via fax machine, and tracking and tracing a load amounted to a phone call every few days from the driver. If there were problems after hours, the drivers all had my home landline phone number to call! And we gave directions to drivers via atlases and the trusty Thomas Guide. The only real data we used was either counting up the piles of paperwork on your desk or tallying how many loads you helped a trucker haul in a month.
Things evolved when I was promoted to assistant manager in the Portland, OR, branch office in 1998. To help be more connected to data and information, I convinced the team we needed to upgrade to mobile phones and then Palm Pilots a few years later. That way, we could better monitor pickup and delivery ETAs and update our customers.
Then, as general manager of the Portland office in the early 2000s, data-driven principals really took off. Analytics around load volumes, pricing trends, and metric-driven scorecards started to be commonplace. We started using customers’ TMS modules, and ALC brought our solution to market in AlchemyTMS. Fax machines and print-outs went away, and e-faxes and digital PDFs became the norm. We also eschewed the room full of filing cabinets in favor of hard drives and servers. When the iPhone came out in 2007, I knew right away that the future had arrived! The ease at which you could pull up data to share with your customers was (and is) astonishing.
I held that branch manager title for 20 years, and then it was time to hand off those responsibilities and put my experience to use in a new way. In early 2022, I took on the role of business analyst within ALC’s Special Projects team. I now work daily with our team of talented folks who help keep our broker’s eyes and ears aware of all the requirements of our customers and carriers. Dashboards, scorecards, maps, and spreadsheets are the tools of our trade. And we’re preparing for the future as well. APIs and AI programs will surely play a big role in what’s to come in the next decade.
Data has proven to be the key to success for many parts of the supply chain in my past 27 years, and I’ve enjoyed my front-row seat to this proliferation of information. I can’t wait to see what comes next!
*****
Steve Hull is a business analyst working for the Corporate office, and has been with the Allen Lund Company for 27 years. Hull is a graduate of the University of Southern California, completing a dual major in political science and U.S. history.
steve.hull@allenlund.com
The first monthly citrus crop forecast for the 2023-24 harvest season has been issued by the USDA. The federal agency estimates Florida orange production at 20.5 million boxes this season, which represents a 30% increase from last year.
This comes as the Florida citrus industry begins closing the door on what has been a very difficult year, with multiple weather incidents stalling production.
In 2022, the state was severely impacted by Hurricane Ian, which caused flooding and crop damage due to harsh winds. This year, Hurricane Idalia left a similar count, with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service putting damages at an estimated $447.9 million.
Florida’s 2023-24 fiscal year began July 1, and with that came more than $65 million in funding from the Florida Legislature to support Florida citrus. This investment includes $38 million to support grower research and replanting of citrus trees.
The Chilean Blueberry Committee of ASOEX, together with iQonsulting, have estimated a volume of 82,000 tons of fresh blueberries for the 2023/24 season. This represents a six percent decrease in fresh exports from the previous year. Updated estimates will be released throughout the Chilean Blueberry season.
Explains Andres Armstrong, executive director of the Chilean Blueberry Committee, “The decrease is due in large part to ongoing varietal replacement that is taking place within the Chilean blueberry industry. Growers have uprooted 2,876 acres of old varieties with lower productivity and poor postharvest life, and have replaced it with 1,450 acres of new varieties. We now have a total of 44,654 acres, which is two percent less than 2022, but the move toward new varieties is incredibly positive for the industry.”
Armstrong added, “Newly planted varieties comprise 20% of the planted area and we expect that this will only increase in the coming years.” He went on to communicate that varieties that have good productivity but are weaker post-harvest are being diverted to the frozen market, an attractive alternative for some producers.
The executive director of the Blueberry Committee explained that the strategy adopted by the Blueberry Committee and its associated companies is focused on renewing varieties and generating more efficient production management and logistical services. This will facilitate the arrival of consistent quality fruit to the markets at competitive costs.
There have been reports of Peru’s volume decline due to the impact of El Niño, with some discussion about how this might impact the overall market and Chile, more specifically. Armstrong emphasized that the Chilean blueberry industry is not speculating on what might happen with Peruvian supply in December and January. He commented, “We have a unique opportunity to show our global markets that Chile is a necessary part of their global blueberry supply, and that is what our exporters are focusing on.”
Regarding the effect of El Niño on Chilean blueberries thus far, Armstrong noted that it would appear to be minimal. The intense rains in regions with a significant acreage of blueberries occurred before flowering, so there is little impact on production. Also, the lower accumulation of cold hours, a phenomenon that has strongly affected blueberry production in Peru, will have a lesser impact in Chile since it occurred in regions that produce small volumes of blueberries. The Chilean Blueberry Committee is continually monitoring the impact of weather conditions on blueberries and will issue any relevant updates to keep their global customers informed.
It was less than two months ago shipments to the East Coast through the Panama Canal were not expected to be serious delayed. However, this has apparently changed.
Because of restrictions imposed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in late May, some import shipments from Asia to the U.S. East Coast were expected to be delayed as the annual Christmas season traffic gridlock occurs.
“Christmas goods urgently shipped from Asia into the East Coast, may not arrive in time,” British-American Shipping CEO Paul Snell tells AJOT.com
Faced with an unprecedented drought this year, the ACP announced a cut to the draft restrictions for ships transiting its larger neopanamax locks by six feet. Transits were also slashed by 20% to just 32 vessels a day.
Last September PhilaPort reported liner operators should reserve their transits ahead of time and have a priority to pass the many bulkers and tankers waiting in the anchorages at both sides of the waterway.
While current restrictions only affect vessels sailing at deep drafts, leaving out the conventional reefer segment, the logistic issues that are expected to arise during holiday season could still show an impact on fruit imports.
PhilaPort notes there will be vessels out of sync, out of alignment, and potentially all arriving at one time. So, it will be harder to control the schedule and it will be harder to maintain schedules both in and out of the U.S.