September proved to be a month full of disasters as countries across North and Latin America were battered by an onslaught of hurricanes. The unrelenting natural disasters caused significant damage to crops in the east coast of the United States, Mexico, Peru and many other countries caught in the trajectory of the Hurricanes.
While not affected by freakish weather, India and Italy saw production drop in their onion and kiwi crops, respectively. Some good news amidst all the misfortune however, was North-western Europe seeing an increase in potato production and Australia pulling off a significant deal which could boost their production in India and see their blueberries make a splash in the Indian market.
Despite all of the chaos, Asia Fruit Logistica carried on in September, bringing industry experts together from all over the world, including us at Fresh Plaza, for our annual photo report.
Hurricanes batter North and Latin America
Grapefruit grove. Photo credit FDOC
Hurricane Maria trajectory
As if two weren't enough, Hurricane Maria followed shortly after, nearly wiping out certain crops across the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Martinique, and Puerto Rico were among the hardest hit, with crops like bananas, papaya, mango and coffee all seeing damage. The Department of Agriculture in Puerto Rico estimated that
Maria had wiped out an astounding 80% of the value of total crops.
Italian kiwi & Indian onion production down, NEPG potato production up
North-western-European Potato Growers (NEPG) had better fortune.
NEPG estimated the total potato production at 27.9 million tons for the five NEPG countries (Belgium, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Great Britain). The total potato production was up 11.5 % compared to the 5-year average and 13.5% higher than the total yield last year.
Joint venture expands AU blueberry production in India
Indian importers IG International Pvt. Ltd. (IG) signed a joint venture agreement with Mountain Blue (MB) to grow high quality blueberries in India, under the name BerryLife.
Asia Fruit Logistica
A bit of respite from the chaos over the remainder of the month, Fresh plaza visited Asia Fruit Logistica and created our annual photo report of the conference. Asia's importance to the global industry is growing, and the Hong Kong Asia Fruit Logistica Exhibition grew alongside it, this year by 25%.
The development of the Chinese market was one of the drivers of this growth, along with increasing exports from South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to eager markets in Asia and South-east Asia. You can see our full
Photo report of Asia Fruit Logistica here.