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Monday, March 10, 2014

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Fyffes and Chiquita merge to create world’s largest banana company
Chiquita is to merge with Fyffes to create the world’s largest banana company with about $4.6 billion (€3.3 billion) in annual revenues. The name will be changed in ChiquitaFyffes and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange but domiciled in Ireland. ChiquitaFyffes will have an operating presence in.....

Job Offers:

• SunSelect Produce LP, General Manager - Tehachapi, CA
• SunSelect Produce LP , Assistant Grower -– Tehachapi, CA

Daan van der Kooij, Jokofruit:
"Shortage of Chilean apples in bigger sizes expected"
Chilean apples have turned out significantly smaller this year. "The complete harvest has turned out 1 to 2 sizes smaller than previous years". Explains Daan van der Kooij of Jokofruit from Rotterdam. In turn they receive apples from Combifruit/Santiago from their own brand Master-D this year. In the.....

Fulgencio Spa:
"Progressive growth required for Cherry tomatoes to remain a speciality"
In the Spanish city of Granada, autumn temperatures were warmer than in the previous year and this advanced the Cherry tomato harvest by two to three weeks, which consequently resulted in 20% larger production volumes."Due to the larger volumes and to a longer Dutch and Belgian tomato season, the beginning.....

UK: Stores race to sell strawberries
Waitrose has declared itself the winner with its produce grown in glasshouses in Chichester arriving in-store today but Tesco is close on its heels with its strawberries, also grown in West Sussex, arriving tomorrow.The growers are putting the early ripening down to the mild winter, meaning the fruit is.....

2013 tough year for Russian fresh produce imports
Due to a number of factors, 2013 was a difficult year for many of Russia's fruit and vegetable suppliers. Bad weather negatively impacted some crops while restrictions on fresh produce shipments to Russia from several regions of origin limited supplies. Many companies in Moscow also experienced problems with.....

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Spain: Artichokes in need of promotion to open new markets
So far in the campaign, between 80 and 90% of the white artichokes grown in Murcia have been purchased by the processing industry, reaching prices of up to 0.50 Euro/kilo in auction, especially the smaller calibres, while the larger calibres (between 18 and 24) are shipped to France and, to a lower extent,.....

Sipo
Italy: Weather conditions make it difficult to select produce
This year the weather has been particularly variable, a thing which companies that have crops in various regions, like Sipo, know full well. Sipo in fact produces and processes vegetables from Emilia-Romagna, Puglia, Abruzzo, Lazio, Toscana, Veneto, Campania and Marche.Stefano Pezzagli, technical manager,.....

UK Fruit and veg sales decreased dramatically
Sales of fresh fruit and vegetables decreased rapidly last year, with salad items seeing a rise in popularity attributed to 2013’s warm summer and the recent mild winter.Britons bought 91,000 tonnes fewer vegetables and nearly 40,000 tonnes less fruit in 2013 than the year before, although price rises mean.....

With a shelf life of around four weeks, it is ideal for export
Spain: Living lettuce has a promising future
Based in the Spanish province of Navarra, the company Endinava, which has over forty years' experience in the production and sale of endives, decided to be innovative with the cultivation of living lettuce, taking into account the usually short shelf life offered by conventional lettuce."Traditionally,.....

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Per capita vegetable production in Asia-Pacific rises by 25%
Per capita vegetable production in Asia and the Pacific has increased some 25 percent over the last decade. Yet, while Asian countries produce more than three-quarters of the worlds vegetables, they and other producers worldwide will need to dramatically increase their vegetable production by 47 percent to.....

North America

USApple: Four reasons why apples are heart healthy
An apple (or two) a day keeps not only the doctor – but the cardiologist – away. USApple is reminding people that eating apples can be one of the most convenient and accessible ways to fight many of the factors that contribute to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.Here are four.....

The Nature Fresh 2014 green beefsteak tomato season set to begin
The Green beefsteak tomato will lead the way to the start of the 2014 greenhouse production at Nature fresh Farms in Leamington Ontario. Foodservice distributors and retailers have experienced increased demand for the green fruit and continue to see consumer interest rise on this old time classic.The.....

North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission
Savor Your Sweets recipe contest winner announced
The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission announced the winners of the Savor Your Sweets recipe contest, a promotion with independent restaurant operators in the southeast inviting chefs and consumers to look at sweet potatoes in new ways. The winners, Cuban Sweet Potato Tacos and Sweet Potato Rice Pudding,.....

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Fear not, guac lovers!
US: There is no avocado shortage
Rumours began to circulate that Chipotle, a popular Mexican food chain restaurant, would be pulling guacamole from its menu because of skyrocketing avocado costs associated with the current drought situation in California."The supply for 2014 is projected to be above last year and last year was a great year.....

Historical look back at Florida's Victorian pineapple market
Captain Thomas E. Richards believed the growing of 'pines' for northern markets would be a profitable venture in the 'perfect' soil of the Eden region of the 1880s. He acquired the necessary leafy top part of the plant for cultivating, called pineapple slips. By trial and error, Richards discovered that.....

Bart Charetier, Herwi: "Huge impact on chicory trade"
Container delays in New York harbour for months
December's storm and the severe weather conditions in North America have had an enormous impact on the shipping trade to New York and particularly for fruit and vegetables. Bart Charetier from Herwi/Alpimex explains, "It all began with the storm at the start of December and ships encountered huge delays and.....

2013 Cargo thefts tie record high, average loss falls
The number of cargo thefts in the United States last year remained the same as it was in 2013, tying the highest level on record, according to a newly released report.The logistics security services provider, FreightWatch International, says even though the number of incidents remained steady at 951, the.....

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'Power Your Lunchbox' pledge
Produce for kids® announces new digital program for back to school
Produce for Kids has announced a new, innovative digital marketing program taking place this fall. The Power Your Lunchbox Pledge will encourage families to take a pledge to pack healthier lunchboxes utilizing participating produce companies¹ products. The program's promotion will be leveraged through social.....

Icebergs likely to become fruit and vegetable greenhouses
A group of French architecture students have proposed generating energy from the fresh water melting from icebergs and use it to grow fruit and vegetables within these huge masses of ice. The resulting produce would supply Greenland's market, which currently has to import almost everything its population.....

Central America

Mexico: Avocado and lime distribution in Michoacan is back to normal
Michoacan's federal deputy, Ernesto Nuñez Aguilar, said that lime and avocado production and distribution in Michoacán was gradually returning to normal conditions because criminal gangs have lost control over basic commodities thanks to the security strategy established by the federal government. "We're.....

Mexico: Michoacan will export berries to the Chinese market
For the fourth year in a row, Michoacan ranked first in Mexico's production value, with incomes totalling 40 billion pesos, 1.5 billion of which come from berries.Ramon Cano Vega, Michoacan's Secretary of Rural Development, met with berry producers and officials of China's National Secretariat for Health.....

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Guadalajara, Mexico, 10-12 March-2014
International Blueberry Organization Summit 2014 promises packed programme
Leading representatives from the global blueberry business will come together to discuss market demand, production potential, export opportunities and varietal research at the International Blueberry Organization’s (IBO) fourth annual summit next week.“The three-day event gets underway on Monday with the.....

Bananitos represent Guatemalan agriculture
Searching for a name that captures the unique ties that the baby bananas, or Bananitos, they produce have to their native country of Guatemala, CAISA came up with the Tropic502 brand. The company, which was founded in 1999, is now in their seventh year of exporting the unique baby bananas.“In 2006, we began.....

South America

Peru: The Panama disease extends to banana plantations in La Libertad
The Panama disease, a type one fungus, ended with more than 170 hectares of banana from the Gros Michel variety in the last ten years in the district of Chocope in the region of La Libertad.The Gros Michel variety was the most exported and traded variety at the national level in the sixties because it had.....

Ecuador: Banana producers ask the EU to reduce tariffs
Banana producers from Ecuador have urged the government to accelerate efforts to achieve a free trade agreement with the European Union, as it would improve the competitiveness of Ecuadorian fruit. The FTA would benefit the country by reducing tariffs, stabilizing a compact demand with Europe, and it would.....

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Brazil: São Paulo's mango production down 50%
São Paulo's mango growers are facing difficult times as they are having serious productivity problems because of the weather. Additionally, the low production has also affected prices.According to Canal Rural, the intense cold weather and last year’s rains affected production, so producers might have losses.....

Chile: New risk model to combat the Kiwi's PSA
A project, financed by the FIA and the Kiwi Committee, aims to develop a new model that would allow farmers to know their land's risk level and give them all the relevant technical knowledge to contain said risk.This pioneering model in Chile takes into consideration climatic factors, crop variety, the.....

Asia

Afghanistan could be self-sufficient in potatoes with proper storage facilities
Afghanistan would be self-sufficient in potato if proper cultivation and storage strategies were introduced in central Bamyan province, an official said Tuesday.Provincial agriculture department said more than 1,400 storages had been built throughout the province which had the storage capacity of 25 percent.....

Israeli fruit seized in Saudi
Saudi authorities confiscated nearly 140 kg of persimmon fruit produced in Israel in line with the Gulf kingdom’s policy to ban the entry of any product from the Jewish nation.Newspapers said health inspectors seized the fruit boxes carrying Israel production names at the central market in the northern Saudi.....

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FAO calls for increase in vegetable production
Per capita vegetable production in Asia and the Pacific has increased some 25 percent over the last decade. Yet, while Asian countries produce more than three-quarters of the world’s vegetables, they and other producers worldwide will need to dramatically increase their vegetable production by 47 percent to.....

Europe

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mainly produce apples
German website Proplanta.de report that fruit growers from the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have in the last year across 3,115 hectares, harvested top fruit, soft fruit, and strawberries. The bureau for statistics in the state announced that 1,535 hectares, almost half the total area, was used for.....

More and more farmers using drones in France
Thanks to a startup company, farmers are starting to use drones to dose manure and maintain watering levels, whilst scientists are getting help with their research. The drone, developed by the start-up Airinov, can be seen at the Inra stand at the Salon d'Agriculture. A video shows a farmer using it-.....

Conference pears appeal to German supermarkets and consumers
For the second time the campaign 'Conference, always a good idea!' has run successfully in Germany. Thanks to over 700 shop floor tastings and cooperation from various outlets since mid 2012, many German consumers have been able to sample and become familiar with this tasty pear.Tasting is very.....

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Jos Koedooder: "Beetroot could go in any direction"
Cabbage market waits longingly for demand from Russia
The sales of red and white cabbage are difficult. This is according to open ground vegetable trader Jos Koedooder from Bovenkarspel. "There is still far too much cabbage and not enough demand. Much has to be done for white cabbage if we want to sell it all. We are all waiting for the East Block but the.....

La Marsalina
Italy: Increasingly difficult to distinguish high-quality strawberries
"Fluctuating temperatures caused uneven blossoming ans stressed plants. This year, in fact, there is a higher percentage of deformed fruit," explains Sebastiano Pellegrono from La Marsalina cooperative.The cooperative owns 3 hectares of polytunnles, 90% of which are destined to the Camarosa variety (plugs.....

Germany: Harvest of asparagus in 2013 breaks all records
The vegetables growers in the German free state Thuringia have harvest 33,395 tonnes of root vegetables from 1,052 hectares in 2013. Reports the German website Proplanta.de.The harvest turned out 2,649 tonnes c.q 9 percent higher than the small harvest of the previous year but 6,348 tonnes c.q 16 percent.....

Brussels about to ban Bulgaria’s favourite tomatoes
Some of the most popular Bulgarian vegetable varieties may soon find themselves banned from production and sale in the EU.If the document is accepted without changes, the output of Bulgarian small growers will be threatened, and they themselves - denied the right to produce and market some of the most.....

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Basile de Bary (Assosementi)
Italy: Innovations reach Italy when they are no longer new
"The seed market in Italy is worth €650 million, 180 of which are made up of the vegetable sector. On a total of €320 million, €125 million are represented by imports, whereas on a total of €230 million, exports represent €85 million," explained Basile de Bary (in the photo) fromAssosementiduring.....

Germany: Fair trade on the rise - particularly for quality organic
Nürnberg - The increased range of Fairtrade products in supermarket chains and discounters in Germany ensures that revenues have increased, reports German website Proplanta.de. "The Fairtrade brand in the German market has been responsible for a large part of this," said Dieter Overath from the TransFair.....

Italy: First International Garlic Congress
The first International Garlic Congress was held in Madrid on 25th-26th February 2014.Between producers, researchers and technicians from various parts of the chain, 100 took part.In addition to Spain - the host country - another 25 countries attended, among them, France, Italy, England, Holland, Ukraine,.....

Refrigerated containers set safety standard
Gone are the days where a refrigerated unit was a 20ft container with a fridge pack attached. In today’s offshore environment it is it about quality and reliability and the safety of the people working with our kit from dock to deck, explains Greg Spence, managing director of Reftrade UK.Reftrade UK is.....

Vegetables from Binghausen for sheikhs in Dubai
Even in the land of the sheikhs, vegetables from the German region of Twistringen are wanted. The company 'Gemüse Meyer' delivers frozen ingredients for the dish 'Leipziger Allerlei,' deep frozen vegetable mix and more to Dubai, said company spokesman Dominik Willkommen.The company from middle class.....

Netherlands: Vroegop-Windig converts to Twitter
In the fruit and vegetable sector, only a handful of companies are active on Twitter. Vroegop-Windig in Amsterdam, best known as a wholesaler and importer of potatoes, vegetables, fruit and exotic, has recently converted to Twitter. According to marketing employee Marjoram Okkinga, it was a step that could.....

Germany: Sea buckthorn berries and blueberries dominate berry cultivation in Brandenburg
The Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg has indicated that in 2013 in the German state of Brandenburg berries were grown by 48 companies on an area of 529 hectares (2012: 473 hectares). Reports the German website Proplanta.de.Just as in 2012 sea buckthorn berries were the most commonly grown in.....

Italy: 50-years experience in fresh produce storage NAV-system
Cold storage and controlled atmosphere units, refrigerated warehouses, customised designs, personalised technical and financial advice and guaranteed delivery. NAV-system has 50 years experience in the sector and is the perfect choice to build a new refrigerated warehouse or update an old one.Located in.....

Thiele Technologies, Inc, acquires Symach Palletizers BV
Symach will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thiele Technologies. There will be no change in the marketing or distribution of products, and world-wide distribution and execution capabilities will be expanded within Thiele’s existing facilities.Symach’s equipment expands offerings for both the Flexible and.....

Pepino celebrates 35 years
Started by Uwe-Jens Lornsen as an importer of tomatoes from Eastern Europe, Pepino Frugt Skandinavien now imports a variety of fresh produce items from all over the world. This year marks their 35th year of doing business and this week Uwe-Jens will celebrate his 75th.....

Germany: oranges popular in 2013, as well as apples and bananas
Over the last year each German household bought an average of 19 kg of apples. This was almost a fourth of the total purchase of fruit of 86.7 kg per household, the German Landvolk-Pressedienst reported. This means that the German consumers bought slightly less fruit than in 2012. This was mainly due to the.....

Less juice in babyfood
German investigation institution for child nutrition (FKE) has realised it's 'food plan for a baby's first year', said the German website oekotest.de. By following up it's nutrition plan, it guarantees healthy nutrients.What has changed? The recommended amount of juice in vegetables, potatoes or meat, was.....

Oceania

IBISWorld :
AU: Last 5 years has been tough on apple, pear, stonefruit growers
The apple, pear and stonefruit growing industry in Australia has been through tough times. Over the past five years, farmers have struggled to produce healthy crop yields and industry revenue has suffered. According to IBISWorld industry analyst Brooke Tonkin, “adverse weather patterns, difficult trading.....

AU: Riverina's citrus industry bouncing back
A spike in demand for juicing oranges has given the Riverina's citrus industry a much-needed confidence boost.Growers in south-west NSW are harvesting their valencias and a number have indicated processors will take all of the fruit they have grown on their farm this year.Griffith farmer Louie Sartor says.....

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AU: Rain still playing havoc with Victorian fruit crops
Rain that fell earlier in this month is still causing problems for some dried fruit growers in north-west Victoria.Falls of up to 70 millimetres were reported in some areas, which left many growers hoping for cooler conditions to dry things out.Stephen Bennett, a dried fruit grower at Merbein, near Mildura.....

NZ: Seeka to sell 20 percent stake in Opotiki Packing back to company
Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, the fruit grower and coolstore and packhouse operator, has agreed to sell back its 20 percent stake in Opotiki Packing and Cool Storage as part of its response to the PSA outbreak that devastated the industry.The $3.2 million, or $3.76 per share conditional sale needs approval.....

Africa

Cool Africa Logistics 2013:
Africa import, export shipment reliability likely to deteriorate before getting better
After more than 2,000 incident updates since its launch in January 2013, Portoverview.com Africa's Editor Victor Shieh highlighted the main current challenges facing shippers to and from Africa earlier today at the Cool Logistics Conference in Cape Town, Africa.Shieh commented: "1,957 incidents were recorded.....

World

Onions appreciated for their quality at Gulfood Dubai
This year the Food Fair Gulfood took place from the 23rd till the 27th of February in the Dubai World Trade Centre. For the first time the Dutch onion industry performed a collective promotion. Madeline Daane represents the onion industry on behalf of Frugi Venta. She is very happy with the way the Fair is.....

Volumes up by 26%
Big shift in South African grape destinations in recent years
South Africa is well renowned for its vast and plentiful fruit growing capabilities. In 2012, 6.3 million tonnes of fruit was produced in the country, covering all the key categories such as top fruit, citrus, tropical fruit, soft fruit, and grapes.Citrus is one of the main categories produced in SA, with.....

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USQ research
Purple carrots, plums help people lose weight
Purple foods may be the key to unlocking the obesity crisis, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health disasters, according to new USQ research.Laboratory tests showed that when purple carrots and the queen garnet plum were introduced to test subjects eating a high saturated fat,.....

Retail

Cerberus Capital to buy Safeway for $9 billion
USA's second largest supermarket chain, Safeway, is being sold to an investment group led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, for a reported $9.4 billion.Under the terms of the deal, Safeway will merge its brands with that of Albertsons, which is the fifth largest grocer in the US......

Metro IPO plans in doubt due to Ukraine crisis
The stock valuation of German hypermarket chain Metro has taken a heavy hit over the past week, and the retailer's plans to launch an initial-public-offering of its Russian unit has been thrown into doubt due to the fallout of the current situation in Ukraine.Over the weekend, Metro shares fell by over 5% in.....

Dubai retail giant to expand investments in Egypt
Leading Dubai retail developer Majid Al-Futtaim (MAF) will expand its investments in Egypt by around LE16.5 billion ($2.3 billion) over the next five years, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industry and Investment said on Sunday.According to the statement, the company intends to build four shopping.....

2013 a successful year for SPAR Austria
Trade group SPAR had another successful fiscal year in Austria for 2013, continuing the multiple year positive development: an increase in turnover of 2.9% was made both at home and abroad, reports the German website Gabot.de. The total sales turnover in all company branches - food, sports and shopping.....

Rewe director fears damaging price war with discounters
In the battle to increase market share, discounters are putting pressure on food manufacturers for better deals. Rewe director Alain Caparros fears that there is a damaging price war about to start within the sector, reports German weekly, 'Der Speigel', on its website.Discount market leader Aldi has this.....

US: Freshness replacing convenience as reason for choosing supermarket
Fresh and healthy has replaced convenience as the reason many consumers choose to shop at the supermarket that they do, industry executives said here, on Thursday at a session sponsored by Supermarket News at Expo West in Anaheim, Calif."For 100 years the supermarket model has been based on convenience," Jay.....

FreshPlaza Funny

This neighbourhood is really going downhill