Posts Tagged “feature”
Peruvian blueberry exports for 2023-24 have been disappointing thus far this season.
Peru has exported 10,000 tons of blueberries through July, which represents a 25 percent decrease compared to the same period in the previous campaign, according to infoMercado, using figures from Proarandanos.
Proarandanos reported this drop was due to a lower production of blueberries because of the El Niño phenomenon, which causes high temperatures.
It had been projected that during the 2023-2024 campaign, which began in May and ends in April 2024, the amount of exports would show a drop, especially in its key period.
Proarandanos noted in early August it projected volume could fall in this season between 10 percent and 15 percent. But this figure needs to be updated.
In addition, one of the most affected varieties is Ventura, which is planted on 14, 826 acres. This represents about 35 percent of blueberry exports in Peru. The Ventura and the Biloxi variety have 60 percent of the planted area in the country.
Ventura is the most planted variety in Peru. So by coming late in its production, an impact on the export volume is evident.
| Sunday, September 10th through Saturday, September 16th is designated as National Truck Driver Appreciation Week for 2023. This is a time when America honors all the professional men and women truck drivers who are so vital to our way of life. They are the link in the supply chain that delivers the everyday needs of food items, manufactured goods, and just about every item in your home, office, or factory. It doesn’t matter if you live in a small town in central Kansas or New York City they have you covered. America has the most sophisticated supply network in the world, but it would grind to a halt without the truck driver. This week was created to remind all Americans these hard-working men and women deserve our respect and appreciation for all 52 weeks of the year. This year, let’s make the extra effort to extend driver courtesy when you see these big rigs making their way across the highways! We see truck drivers everywhere we go. Who are these road warriors that move over 10 billion tons of freight or about 70% of all the freight in the US? Here are some interesting facts about truck drivers. **94% are men, 6% are women, the average age is 49. **On average, they drive over 100,000 miles per year. **Celebrity truck drivers include Sean Connery, Elvis Presley, Rock Hudson, and Chevy Chase. **Truck drivers are the heroes who deliver the goods during pandemics, fires, floods, and national disasters that put themselves in harm’s way because that is what they are made of. Whenever you get an opportunity, take a moment to thank that hard-working professional driver for delivering the goods that help keep America the greatest nation in the world. Thank you, Drivers Bill Bess, Director, Carrier Development Allen Lund Company |
Daily prune consumption has promising effects on several biomarkers related to cardiovascular health, according to new research by the American Society of Nutrition (ASN).
The study was conducted in postmenopausal women and men 55 years and older, revealing that, in men, long-term prune consumption improved HDL cholesterol and the total cholesterol to HDL ratio, while decreasing oxidative stress and the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein.
HDL is commonly known as “good cholesterol”, and inflammatory biomarkers are released during tumor growth. They are highly associated with stages of cancer progression
Previous research has shown that daily prune consumption can support gut health, bone health, and weight management.
As for older women, consumption had no negative effect on various metabolic measures related to heart disease risk including total cholesterol, total triglycerides, fasting glucose, and insulin levels.
“We want to advance the research on this topic area to better understand how prune consumption relates to cardiometabolic health outcomes, especially in the aging population that often experiences an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease,” says Pennsylvania State University professor Mary Jane De Souza.
The results of both studies were presented at the ASN annual flagship meeting in Boston, MA recently.
“While all fruits and vegetables provide essential nutrients, prunes make for an easy, convenient and versatile snack or recipe ingredient that is accessible year-round and can help support consumers’ cardiovascular health goals,” adds Nutrition Advisor for the California Prune Board, Andrea N. Giancoli.
The ASN convenes researchers, practitioners, global and public health professionals, policymakers and advocacy leaders, industry, media, and other related professionals to advance nutrition science and its practical application.
The USDA has forecast U.S. apple total production for 2023 at 9.91 billion pounds, up 1% from 2022.
In Washington state, better growing conditions are leading to an expected 9% increase in production from the previous year, according to the USDA’s August production report. Washington’s apple output is estimated at 6.7 billion pounds, up from 6.14 billion pounds last season.
In New York state, a mild winter that weakened the cold hardiness of the apple crop followed by a very warm spring has caused the expected production to be the lowest since 2012, according to the USDA. New York apple production is estimated at 1.1 billion pounds, down 19% from 1.355 billion pounds a year ago.
In Michigan, there were no widespread spring frost damage events, and July precipitation enhanced fruit sizing, according to the USDA. Michigan apple production is estimated by the USDA at 1.15 billion pounds, 15% less than 1.36 billion pounds in 2022.
Early-season variety harvesting has begun in southern Michigan, according to the report.
By Makenna Christensen, ALC Logistics
Today, there are no container ships waiting offshore of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a far cry from the 109-vessel queue in January of last year, but this doesn’t mean we have solved the problems that led to the backup. It’s easy to blame the pandemic for these problems, but the reality of the situation is these ports were bottlenecks long before COVID-19. The explosion of demand during the pandemic simply exposed these weaknesses. Now, with cargo volumes down, we have an opportunity to review our game tape, identify our weaknesses and areas of improvement, and find innovative new ways to fix our broken system.
In April, the California Air Resource Board (CARB) voted unanimously to adopt the Advanced Clean Fleets rule. This legislation works hand in hand with the state’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule to “end the sales of traditional combustion trucks by 2036, creating a path to 100% zero emission medium and heavy-duty trucks on the roads in California by 2045.” This legislation also bars non-zero emission “legacy” drayage trucks from registering into the CARB online system after December 31st of this year. So much for learning from our mistakes…
Rather than collaborating with the private sector to bring about meaningful change, California is intent on forcing trucking companies to comply with unreasonable demands. Not only does the state lack the 157,000 chargers required to charge the estimated 180,000 medium and heavy-duty ZEVs expected to be in use by 2030, but it also lacks the energy required to support those chargers. The Wall Street Journal’s Jennifer Hiller explains, “As fleets add trucks they may need to draw an additional 6 to 8 megawatts of power or more”. Supporting this level of output would require infrastructure improvements that could take years. In the meantime, some electric fleets have turned to diesel generators to charge their trucks, while others are ordering legacy rigs that will be delivered before the January 1st cut-off.
One of the industry’s greatest weaknesses during the pandemic was a lack of flexibility. The ports were weighed down by labor disputes and overregulation slowed down the nation’s supply chain exponentially. I understand the value of reduced carbon emissions, but we need a chance to fix the current supply chain before we rebuild it.
Rather than leaning so heavily on electric trucks, California needs to focus on alternative green solutions, like hydrogen fuel, that do not rely on California’s already strained electric grid. While California’s regulations do recognize hydrogen fuel cell options, it widely follows the ‘electrify everything’ mentality. Further, California energy officials need to partner with the private sector to find innovative ways of cutting down our emissions while fixing the broken system that contributed to our nation’s supply chain crisis. If not, we have a recipe for disaster.
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Makenna Christensen graduated from Marquette University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Human Resources. She started working at the Allen Lund Company in July 2022, as a Software Sales Coordinator for ALC Logistics, the software division of ALC.
makenna.christensen@alclogistics.com
About 36% of American families have skipped meals due to financial reasons during the last year, reports the fourth wave of the dunnhumby Consumer Trends Tracker (CTT).
Additionally, the study discovered 40% of consumers shop at multiple supermarkets to find the lowest prices, 9% higher from a year ago.
The study also reveals that 30% of Americans in all age groups have skipped meals. In addition, 18-34-year-olds and 35-44-year-olds are the highest meal skippers of all age groups, at 38% and 37%, respectively.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the rate of food-at-home inflation is 7.1%, however, among surveyed shoppers, the perceived figure is 22.6%, more than 15 points higher than the official measure.
Similarly, perceived inflation has fallen 1.6% since November 2022, whereas actual inflation has dropped 4.9% over the same time period.
Among the 8,000-plus U.S. consumers surveyed online, dunnhumby found 62% of Americans would have difficulty paying an unexpected expense of $400. That percentage jumps to 75% for consumers aged 18-44 and 72% for families.
“Over this year-long study, we have seen a very troubling trend of nearly a third of all Americans and nearly 40% of younger Americans, skipping meals due to financial concerns. And wave after wave, our research has also shown that 18-44-year-olds are at the epicenter of a food and financial insecurity crisis that shows no signs of abating,” said Matt O’Grady, President of Americas for dunnhumby. “Unfortunately, the reduction in SNAP benefits, and the stubbornness of center store prices, there doesn’t appear to be relief in the short term for many Americans, especially those who are already food and financially insecure.”
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and West Virginia continue to stand out for having the highest rate of food (36%) and financial insecurity (70%) in the country. These states also have the highest proportion of children at home compared to other geographic regions in the U.S.
Over half of customers (53%) report social media sites have influenced their grocery purchases in-store or online. Families with children at home (75%) and households heavily engaged with loyalty programs (68%) are two groups even more likely to be influenced by social media. Across all age groups, 37% were influenced by Facebook, 31% by YouTube, and 24% by Instagram.
Fresno, CA – Hurricane Hilary delivered wind and rain to many of California’s table grape vineyards at peak harvest time for most of the 90 varieties grown in the state. The immediate aftermath of the hurricane brought additional rain and humidity to many growing areas, compounding problems and loss.
“The impact of the hurricane and its aftermath is devastating
and heartbreaking,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission. “To say that the grower and farmworker community is in shock is an understatement.”
With approximately 30 percent of the crop harvested when the hurricane hit, it is projected that 35 percent of the remaining crop – 25 million boxes – has been lost.
“The revised estimatefor the California crop is 71.9 million 19-pound boxes,” said Nave. “The last time the crop was
under 75 million boxes was 1994.”
Noting that it is typical for California to ship over 65 percent of its crop after September 1, Nave said that based on the revised estimate there are still over 45 million boxes of grapes the industry plans to ship.
“Reaching consumers at retail stores is a major focus of the work done
by the commission,” Nave said. “Partnering with retailers to get grapes on store shelves and to promote them to consumers is work that will continue throughout the season.”
The California fig harvest started several weeks ago and observers are reporting strong volume and high quality. Harvest will continue through November, according to the California Fresh Fig Growers Association.
Commercially grown fresh and dried figs in the U.S. are produced in California, where over 100 producers, marketers, farm managers and processors cultivate 9,300 acres of California figs around Madera, Fresno and Merced.
Trade association Avocados From Mexico has topped its previous record by over 2 percent for U.S. import volume.
Total U.S. import volume was nearly 2.5 billion pounds for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.
The association expresses confidence it will break the record again this year (fiscal 2024, running from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.)
The state of Michoacan appears to have a crop for this current year similar to the previous year, and import volume from Jalisco is growing exponentially, which means another record year if all goes as expected.
Promotions tied into Super Bowl weekend in early February was the biggest tentpole moment of the year resulting in excess of 250 million pounds of Mexican avocados imported in the weeks leading up to the big event. AFM also saw record-setting Cinco de Mayo promotions and shipments, with volume up more than 60 percent from 2022 and up 18 percent from 2021, which produced the previous record.
Mexico accounts for 85 percent of the avocados consumed in the U.S.
The USDA has estimated the U.S. national cranberry crop for 2023 at 7.62 million barrels, down 5% from the 2022 crop year. In Wisconsin, the largest growing state, the USDA forecast production at 4.6 million barrels, down 5% from last year.
Production in Massachusetts, forecast at 2 million barrels, is down 12% from last year, the USDA said.
Cranberry growers experienced cold temperatures, with below-normal precipitation and above-normal snowfall during the winter months.
In Wisconsin and Massachusetts, the winter freeze and early snow affected plant dormancy and froze out buds, the release said.
In the spring and early summer months, numerous frosts and hailstorms occurred during the growing season.
Growers in some areas reported severe frost damage, resulting in reduced crop growth and yield loss, according to the USDA.
In Oregon, the crop faced threats from the intensive heat and extreme weather in late June and mid to late July, and growers are concerned about fruit size. With good management practices, cranberry growers expect a good to average season despite the challenging weather during the bloom period, the USDA said.