Posts Tagged “pears”
Record shipments of highly perishables, but high rate paying cherries are 
getting underway from Washington state, along with apricots and onions, and joining the late season apples and pears.
Cherry loadings start in limited volume from the Yakima Valley, but tonnage quickly increases. 23 million boxes are forecast to be shipped from Washington state, which should break the previous record by 3 million cartons….Apricot loadings are close behind starting in mid June, with peak movement occurring the first half of July.
The Evergreen state continues to ship apples and pears from the 2011/12 season, and remains the heaviest volume for produce. About 1,750 truck load equivalents of apples and pears are being shipped weekly from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys.
Onions from the Walla Walla Valley should get underway the week of June 18th. The Walla Walla onion shipping area is located in Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon. Primary shippers are located in or near Walla Walla, WA and Hermiston, OR.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $6000 to Philadelphia.
NOTE: Apples, pears and apricots can be loaded on the same truck, but oder from the fruit can be absorbed by potatoes, onions and some other items. Source: TransFresh “Fresh Produce Mixer & Loading Guide.”
There are fruits and vegetables being shipping from a number of California 
districts. As strawberry volume declines from Ventura County, there’s good volume from Santa Maria, as the Salinas Valley gears up to get rockin’. The same can be said for Salinas vegetable tonnage, which is building as well. Southern California is shipping citrus, plus there are avocados and tomatoes from shippers located between L.A. and SanDiego. Mexican tomatoes are crossing the California border at Otay Mesa. Coachella Valley grape loadings are on the rise and should be peaking most of June.
CALIFORNIA RATES RATES ARE ON THE RISE. WE’RE APPROACHING THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN THE PRODUCE INDUSTRY STARTS PAYING FOR ITS SINS OF LOOKING FOR THE CHEAPEST TRUCK, KICKING OVER LOADS FOR WHICH THEY’VE PAID TOO MUCH FOR PRODUCT AND GENERALLY BEING BAD BOYS TO TRUCKERS.
While Nogales is pretty much finished with vegetables from Mexico, Mexican grapes crossing the Arizona border are hitting full stride.
In Washington state, there’s light volume of potatoes from the Columbia Basin and the nearby Umatilla Basin in Oregon, but onion shipments are about finished….About the only thing that leaves in Washington are Yakima Valley apples and pears.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $4900 to Cleveland.
Mexican grapes from Nogales – about $4100 to Chicago.
Southern California produce – about $7600 to New York City.
Supplies of refrigerated a equipment are tightening some as we get further into 
spring. How big a shortage of trucks for hauling produce will be this year will start to reveal itself in the weeks ahead and should be really interesting by late May and onward through the summer.
In Florida, blueberry loadings from Central and North Florida are now in good volume and hauls are available into June….Meanwhile, Georgia “blues” are right behind Florida. Good Georgia blueberry shipments should be available by next week….Back to Florida, rates for hauling watermelons out of the southern part of the state have jumped 20 percent in recent days. Vegetable volume from Florida continues to be heavy.
In South Texas, vegetables continue to be loaded, combined with a lot of veggies and tropical fruit from Mexico crossing the border into Texas. Cantaloupe shipments have started from the Rio Grande Valley. There’s still no overall damage reports on storm-hit watermelons in South Texas. There will be fewer loads, but who knows how much less? Loadings are light, but will be increasing and continue into mid-June.
In California, the Imperial Valley is quieter with the seasonal end of vegetable shipments. However, cantaloupe shipments will start in mid-May….About 300 truckload equivalents of carrots are being shipped weekly from the Bakersfield area.
Southern California continues to ship good volumes of avocados, strawberries and citrus…..The Santa Maria district, along with the Salinas Valley will become more active with produce shipments in the weeks ahead.
In Washington state, there are steady loadings of apples and pears from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys.
Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Southern California produce – grossing about $5000 to Chicago.
South Texas produce – about $4800 to New York City.
South Florida veggies – about $3600 to New York City.
Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of 
diabetes, according to a new U.S. study.
These fruits are loaded with flavonoids, a natural compound present in certain fruits, vegetables and grains, which some research has tentatively tied to heath benefits such as a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
“People who ate a higher amount of “blues” or apples, they tended to have a low risk of type 2 diabetes,” said An Pan, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health who worked on the study.
The findings show an association, he added, but don’t prove the fruits, themselves, prevent diabetes.
March can be one of the more frustrating months if you haul fresh produce. 
We are getting there, but certainly haven’t arrived. Several major shipping areas are starting to wind down, while others are still trying to ramp up with spring volume. A great example is in the West. Winter shipments of lettuce and other veggies from the deserts of Arizona and California provide loading opportunities during the winter, but are entering a transition period, where shipments will be moving northward to the Huron area of the San Joaquin Valley, following closely by Salinas. There’s now light volume with vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower from Santa Maria and Ventura County. Strawberry volume in Southern California is ramping up, but certainly not there yet.
Florida is similar in that vegetable volume is increasing, but won’t be hitting seasonal numbers until early April.
The steady, more consistent shipments are with hardware items ranging from apples, pears, onions and potatoes from the Northwest, potatoes from Colorado and Wisconsin; sweet potatoes out of Lousiana, Mississippi and the leader — North Carolina.
By this time next month we should be seeing significant increases in loading oppportunities, particularly from California and Florida, with rates rising accordingly.
Yakima Valley apples and pears grossing – about $5500 to Atlanta.
South Florida vegetables – about $2200 to Baltimore.
Some of the best loading opportunties this time of year are out of the Northwestern United States – namely with Washington state (apples, pears, potatoes and onions) and Idaho and Oregon (onions and potatoes). While the onions and spuds may pay a lower freight rate than fruit, this region at least has good volume in late winter.
Washington’s Yakima and Wentachee valleys continue shipping a lot of apples and lesser amounts of pears. Apple loadings are averaging about 2,500 truckload equivalents per week, with pears loading around 400 truckload equivalents weekly. I use the term “equivalents” in the Northwest since a heavier percentage of produce is shipped by rail than most regions.
There also are onions being shipped from Washington’s Columbia Basin, as well as the nearby Umatilla Basin in Oregon. The two areas combined are averaging around 670 truckload equivalents per week being shipped….The Western area of Idaho and adjacent Malheur County of eastern Oregon is loading about 750 truckload equivalents of onions weekly.
Idaho easily remains the largest shipper of russet potatoes, but has been increasing shipments of red potatoes in recent years. Most produce is originating out of the Upper Valley and the Twin Falls-Burley District. The state is shipping over 1,550 truckload equivalents per week.
Washington apples/pears are grossing about – $6000 to Miami.
Washington’s Columbia Basin potatoes/onions – $3800 to Chicago.
Idaho/Oregon onions – $1600 to Los Angeles.
Idaho potatoes – $5300 to New York City.
When everything we seem to buy anymore is going up in price, two items that should be bucking the trend are pears and kiwifruit. Both are now in abundance.
Wholesale pear prices have actually dropped a little from last season coming of Washington state. The question is whether you’ll see any lower prices at retail. Retailers love to pay less for product, yet pocket the savings for themselves. Much of it depends on how much competition the retailer is facing. I’ve tried 3 varieties of pears so far this season. The Bartlett pears were tasty and juicy; yum, yum. However, the Bosc variety and Red pear was not nearly as good.
I recently wrote about kiwifruit from New Zealand and Italy with NZ winning the taste competition. Now kiwi from California is in abundance and it’s really good in quality and taste. While retail prices on many produce items are climbing, kiwi continues to be one of the best buys in the produce department.
When it comes to getting produce loads out of the Northwest this time of the 
year, we’re looking primarily looking at apples, pears, potatoes and onions. The fruit is primarily in Washington state, while the potatoes and onions are not only in Washington, but in Idaho and Oregon. When talking truck load equivalents, keep in mind this includes loads by rail, which are heavier from this region than most. In the Yakima and Wantchee valleys about 4,300 truck load equivalents of apples and pears are being shipped weekly. In Washington’s Columbia Basin and the Umatilla Basin in Oregon, both spuds and onions are being loaded. Potato movement from the Twin-Falls-Burley area of Idaho is around 2,000 truck load equivalents per week.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Washington fruit – about $4100 to Chicago.
Washington potatoes – about $2300 to L.A.