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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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Russia considers ban on EU fruit imports
Russian veterinary and phytosanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor may ban fruit import from some EU countries within 1-2 weeks, said aid to the service’s chief Alexey Alexeyenko.“We consider limiting supplies from some countries such as Poland, Moldova and the Netherlands,” he told ITAR-TASS. Oriental fruit.....

Greenhouse grower charged for mislabeling Canadian vegetables
A Kingsville greenhouse operator has been charged with fraud for selling more than $1 million of non-Canadian – largely Mexican – vegetables that were falsely labelled as being from Canada to Ontario’s largest grocery chains, reports the Windsor Star.The charges were filed earlier this week by the Canadian.....

Fresh Del Monte profit rises
Fresh Del Monte Produce reported earnings per diluted share of $1.15 for the second quarter of 2014, compared with earnings per diluted share of $1.10 in the second quarter of 2013. Comparable earnings per diluted share were $1.19 in the second quarter of 2014, compared with comparable earnings per diluted.....

Exceptional returns for Chilean cherry growers
Unprecedented returns for cherry growers in the past five seasons.An analysis from Fedefruta revealed that in the third week of the year cherry growers received US$ 7.15 per kilo from exporters; a much higher figure than last year, when growers received US$ 4.07 per kilo. The fruit’s shipments went to.....

Shareholder meetings for Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Chiquita and Fyffes plan to complete merger before end 2014.
Chiquita Brands International and Fyffes today announced that the registration statement on Form S-4 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by ChiquitaFyffes Limited, was declared effective on Friday, July 25, 2014.The companies also announced that they have each scheduled shareholder.....

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DMS celebrates its 25-year anniversary
Kiwifruit company at top of its game
Western Bay of Plenty kiwifruit management company DMS has seen a substantial recovery in packing volumes for the 2013/14 season and has continued to increase its market share, as outlined in the company's latest annual report.The 2013/14 annual result announcement comes in the same month as DMS celebrates.....

Six million Kenyans may lose jobs if EU bans fresh produce
Local horticulture farmers risk losing access to the lucrative European Union (EU) market. This comes after threats from the EU that it would lock out Kenyan horticulture produce that has pesticide residues beyond recommended levels. Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei last.....

PROGNOSFRUIT 2014 - 6th to the 8th of August in Istanbul, Turkey
CSR and Sustainability in the apple and pear sector
For the 38th edition of PROGNOSFRUIT, the European’s leading annual event for the apple and pear sector, the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) and COPA-COGECA are joining forces with the Turkish Fruit Juice Industry Association (MEYED) to host the 2014 Prognosfruit Conference from the 6th to the 8th of.....

Agricultural losses from Typhoon Matmo reach nearly US$20 million
Taiwan's agriculture sector has suffered NT$594.9 million (US$19.73 million) in losses as of 5 p.m. Monday from the battering the island took from Typhoon Matmo on July 22, according to the latest Council of Agriculture figures.Citing statistics compiled by local governments, the council said eastern Taiwan.....

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Leonardo Odorizzi
Italy: After peaches and nectarines, are we looking at an apple crisis?
"At the beginning of June I stated my concern for the peach campaign, as prices were very low due to the second choice produce on the market, the lack of alternative outlets and competition from Spain," explains Leonardo Odorizzi (in the photo) fromOdorizzi."Unfortunately, it was already quite late and the.....

Costa Rica: Pineapple exports surpassed bananas between January and May
Costa Rica's traditional export products, coffee and bananas, are losing ground to newer crops, especially pineapples, as revealed by recent and historical market statistics. Pineapples exports actually surpassed bananas during the first five months of 2014.According to data from the Foreign Trade Promoter.....

Chinese ginger prices jump as output falls
Ginger prices in China have been rising this year as output has fallen, prompting repeated calls for the building of a better information system to protect the interests of both farmers and consumers.According to information on the trading platform of agricultural products, ginger prices were quoted at.....

North America

US (MI): Hard winter sets back sweet corn harvest
For many area residents, the peak of summer is epitomized by beach days, warm nights and sweet corn from Hulett’s Farm Fresh Market and Greenhouse, otherwise known as the Corn Man.This summer, however, the Corn Man has yet to open his doors.“It’s weather related,” said Todd Hulett, the Corn Man. “It was the.....

US: Late blight reappears in LI potato, tomato fields
Late blight, a fungal-like pathogen that affects potato and tomato crops, has been confirmed on Long Island for the sixth consecutive year.The first confirmed infection is estimated to have taken hold on June 13 in a potato field in the Riverhead area, with three more occurrences in tomato fields in the same.....

Canada: Strawberry season arrives a month late
Berry season near Winnipeg has been pushed back after our freezing winter and late spring.They’re the sweet taste of summer but this year the strawberries at Cormier’s Berry Patch in La Salle are a month late.“Winter was very cold as everyone well knows which resulted in a later spring, so the strawberries.....

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Canada: Dept. of Environment shuts down potato wash facility
RWL Holdings Ltd. was advised by the Department of Environment Friday morning to stop all releases of wash water from the property. The water stopped flowing by late morning.RWL will now put a plan in place to deal with the water issue, and have it approved by the department.“Over the last two months, too.....

US: Farmers in Central Wisconsin warned to look out for late blight
Agricultural leaders from UW-Extension received a report of late blight from a farm in Portage County. Late blight is a disease that can kill potato and tomato crops.The blight was found last week near Stevens Point, and leaders are worried about it spreading into Langlade County. Late blight can spread out.....

Newest fresh cut fruit line introduced at PMA Conference
Simply Fresh Fruit is introducing a new line of fresh cut fruit designed for the professional chef and caterer, making visually stunning ready-to-serve fresh cut fruit more accessible to professionals. Simply Fresh Fruit's Chef's Choice line includes Citrus Wheels, Pineapple Half-Rings, Mango Spears, Melon.....

New world record for watermelon display
Cub® Foods and Robinson Fresh® have teamed up to top the Guinness World Record for Largest Fruit Display.Robinson Fresh supplied and transported four truckloads of fresh MelonUp!® Pink Ribbon watermelon to the Cub Food’s store in Maple Grove, MN. The display was approximately 1,500 square feet in area and.....

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Awe Sum Organics Welcomes Jodi Carkner
Awe Sum Organics welcomes Jodi Carkner, formerly with CF Fresh and Northwest Farm Credit Service, to the team.Jodi studied at Cal Poly where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agri-Business as well as several awards recognizing her academic excellence. Upon graduation, Jodi moved to the Pacific.....

Central America

Yaqui Valley
Mexico: Potato producers expect favourable decision regarding injunction
After the Eighth District judge based in Los Mochis definitely suspended imports of U.S. potatoes to Mexico, producers of the valley are also expecting a favourable decision regarding the injunction that was filed.The manager of the Vegetable Growers Association of the Yaqui and Mayo, Renán Cruz Valenzuela,.....

Costa Rica: Pineapple exports targeted by drug trade
Costa Rica is the leading exporter of pineapples in the world, according to the country’s Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER). In 2013, pineapple exports generated US$834.2 million, which is 1.7% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).However, the international trade in fruits and other products is.....

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South America

Peru: Cape gooseberries reduce cellular aging
Dr. Martha Lopez Villar, director of EsSalud, said that the cape gooseberry, a fruit native to Peru whose scientific name is Physalis peruviana, helps minimize cellular ageing, due to its large number of antioxidants, combats high blood pressure, stress, anxiety and stabilizes the level of glucose in the.....

In conjunction with new ginger harvest celebration
I Love Produce donates $13,440 to local Peru village school
I Love Produce, a pioneer in importation of Organic Ginger from Peru took part in a new harvest celebration and ceremony to commemorate their donation of $13,440 to the local village school called the "ANTONIO RAYMONDI" secondary school. The school donation program was initiated by I Love Produce to give.....

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Asia

New variety of Indian mango named after Russia
International Mango Festival takes place every July in India and gathers mango plantation owners together. This is the last in the series of holidays dedicated to the “King of all Fruit” in India, and is organized by Tourism and Transport Corporation in Talkatora stadium in Delhi.The best fruit from all.....

Farmers feel the pinch after record cashew export
After a record export of almost Rs 5,000 crore last year, cashew exporters are finding the going tough this year with exports yet to pick up and prices of imported raw cashew ruling high.Cashew exports have dropped 15% in quantity and 6 % in value for three months ended June 2014 at 25,305 tonne valued at Rs.....

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Vietnam: Authorities to tighten control over disguised Chinese potatoes
Tens of tons of low quality potatoes from China are continuously sold as Da Lat home-grown potatoes when the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the highlands province of Lam Dong promised it would tighten control over potato sale to protect consumers’ benefits.The market management board of.....

Philippines: Northern Mindanao safe from coconut pests
Northern Mindanao is safe from harmful insects that attacked coconut plantations in Luzon causing millions of damages, a Philippine Coconut Authority (Philcoa-10) official said Monday.The outbreak, which started in the province of Batangas a month ago, was caused by pests that have invaded hundreds of.....

OOCL sees Q2 volumes rise 11.2% to 1.45m teu
Hong Kong line Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) had a good second quarter with total volumes rising 11.2% to 1.45m teu from 1.31m teu previously. Total revenues also increased by 6.8% to $1.50bn from $1.41bn in the second quarter of last year.Liftings rose across all segments including the key.....

Philippines: Significant drop in garlic price
Prices of domestic garlic have significantly dropped as of Monday, July 28, based on the price monitoring conducted by Sun.Star Davao at Bankerohan Public Market.Domestic garlic now costs P100 to P120 per kilo, more than a P100 drop as against the monitoring conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority –.....

Europe

Austrian grower producing over 100 tomato varieties
As a company advisor and risk manager, Josef Gangl made so much money that he was able to live a life of luxury. Nevertheless, the German farmer's son wasn't happy with his work. He quit his job and went back to his roots. Together with his father Josef and brother Stefan, he is now producing health food at.....

Italy: Pircinque and Jonica strawberries tested in California and Mexico
The agreement between Forlì's CRA-FRF and the Californian nursery company Sierra Cascade to test the Pircinque and Jonica strawberry varieties in California and Mexico is proving successful.Walther Faedi – CRA-FRF director – is quite pleased at how the plants (developed by CRA-FRF in collaboration with.....

Italy: Low supply drives strawberry prices up
High prices for strawberries despite the weather and the fact that it's the end of the season thanks to low supply."The strawberry market is similar to that of cherries, though we only have Italian produce available. Prices are high - €5-6/kg and the fruit looks nice with quite a good shelf-life," explains.....

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Organic food market returns to growth in Ireland
Recent consumer research by Irish food body Bord Bia highlights a return to growth in the retail value of organic food in Ireland for the first time since 2010.The Bord Bia study, funded by the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine and carried out by Ipsos MRBI, values annual retail sales of organic.....

Daan Dees: "Import boycott potatoes Russia important consideration in decision"
Terrapoint stops sorting, but expands storage and handling
From next August 1 onwards, Terrapoint will stop sorting and packaging potatoes and onions. The company from Breskens is expanding the activities surrounding storage and handling of these and other products or goods. That's announced by Daan Dees in a letter to relations. "The heavy competition from at home.....

Germans harvest almost 40% more cherries than last year
Last year Germans consumed on average 2.1 kilograms of cherries per person, reports the German website Proplanta.de. Per person cherry consumption has been stable for the past few years (2012: 2.3kg, 2011: 2.1kg, 2010: 2.3 kg). In 2013 in Germany sweet cherries and sour cherries grew on 7,400 hectares of.....

Rijk Zwaan to sponsor UK Brassica and Leafy Salad Conference
The Organisers of the UK Brassica and Leafy Salad Conference are delighted to announce that Rijk Zwaan will be sponsoring the prestigious conference dinner.The conference dinner is a popular event which gives the opportunity for the industry to get together after the conference and we are pleased that Guy.....

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French company launches fruit boxes delivered to offices
Befruits delivers boxes of fruits to companies in France for healthy and vitamin rich snacks that can be eaten in the workplace. A fashionable way to have a banana at work. Befruits is based in Provence and is an innovative concept that echoes the fashion of well-being in the workplace. Most of their.....

EU doubles import quotas on Moldovan agro products
The European Union has decided to double the import quotas on Moldovan products from Aug. 1, a Moldovan government statement said Monday.According to the statement, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos made the announcement Monday in a telephone conversation with.....

Italy: Indian fig campaign is starting
"We are ready to start the Indian fig campaign, although we are a few weeks late as ripening was slower due to the low temperatures. The campaign is looking good and grades are uniform. We are expecting a 20% increase in production for both the Agostana and Bastardone varieties," explains Paolo D'Angelo.....

Oceania

Parks Victoria deliver fallen apples for Melbourne Zoo’s biggest eaters
Elephants, apes and hippos at the Melbourne Zoo had Parks Victoria staff to thank for midwinter fruity boost to their diets last week.When a load of apples fell from a truck on the Monash Freeway last Thursday, Parks Victoria staff were quickly on the scene to clear the fruit where it had fallen on the Main.....

Africa

Kenyan farmers lobby to make macadamia new green gold
Macadamia processors are lobbying county governments in regions that produce the crop to come up with laws that ban the sale of immature nuts. The Nut Processors Association of Kenya ( NutPak) has raised concerns that immature macadamia do not reach their full weight, which means Kenya fares badly when.....

Egypt aims to reduce fruit and vegetable production costs by up to 40%
Egypt's Minister of Supply and Domestic Trade, Khaled Hanafi, announced that he will aim to reduce fruit and vegetable production costs by up to 40% through a specific strategy in coordination with the wholesalers.This would be achieved by reducing the number of intermediaries between producers, wholesalers.....

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World

Small is sometimes better in the vegetable world
Truman Capote famously told friends that the very wealthy eat better vegetables — tiny ones. So there’s another plus for gardening: It’s easier to eat the way the super-rich do.Not that smaller is always better in the world of vegetables. A cucumber picked undersize does not taste better than one allowed to.....

US, EU impose ban on PIA cargo service
The European Union and United States have imposed ban on the PIA cargo service over improper security arrangements, ARY News reported.The European Union (EU) and United States authorities have written a letter to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to stop the airlines’ cargo service in EU and the US due.....

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Peter van der Klift, Milestone Fresh:
"Limited availability of reefers will lead to greater shortage of equipment"
"Seasons come and go. It's often all or nothing. Many seasons have ended by now, while other seasons are just starting up again. In order to be able to guide all these seasons well, container shipping companies are working year-round to get the containers in the right positions, in order to service the flow.....

Qatar Air aims to be among top five cargo operators
Qatar Airway plans to expand its cargo arm to become one of the top five global operators by 2018 as it purchases freighter planes and adds space in the holds of passenger jets while expanding its Doha base.Qatar Air, ranked outside the top 10 last year by tonnes flown, has a freighter fleet of six Boeing.....

Retail

Leclerc vs Carrefour
Prices, brands, recruitment…. the hypermarket giants are fighting it out on all fronts.Michel-Edouard Leclerc said in an interview to Capital that “we are not obsessed in trying to overtake Carrefour, but according to indications from last month, we are now number 1 in France”. Yet whether Mr Leclerc likes.....

Falling food prices in Spain hit Q2 sales at Dia
Spain's discount supermarket group Dia squeezed costs in its second quarter to cope with aggressive price-cutting and low inflation in its home market and neighbouring Portugal, which together generate two-thirds of sales.Low inflation in the Euro zone has led some economists to warn of the possibility of.....

Nakumatt opens first store in Dar es Salaam
Regional retailer, Nakumatt Holdings, has officially opened the first of its three new branches in Tanzania, formerly owned by Shoprite, the South African retailer.As part of a phased out opening plan, Nakumatt Holdings, has now opened what will be its flagship store in Tanzania at Mlimani City Mall, to be.....

UK supermarket giants cut fuel prices
From today Asda and Sainsbury's are reducing the cost of their petrol and diesel by up to 2p a litre.In Asda's case, the reduction means its customers will pay no more than 126.7p a litre for petrol, with diesel being 129.7p a litre - its lowest price since January 2011.Asda said a strengthening pound.....

Wal-Mart seeks to grow footprint in India
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Indian arm is looking to expand its wholesale or cash-and-carry business in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, among others.On 21 July, The Economic Times reported Wal-Mart was investing an additional Rs.623 crore in India. Filings with the.....

As France’s Carrefour pulls out, what next for India’s retail market?
French supermarket giant Carrefour announced earlier this month it is giving up on one of the world’s biggest consumer markets by closing its operations in India. Carrefour wants to concentrate on reviving flagging sales at home, but the move was also a reaction to India’s strict policy on foreign firms.....

Aldi looks to double number of W.Va. stores
Discount grocery chain Aldi Inc. plans to open a new store in Hurricane’s Liberty Square later this year as executives hope to potentially double the number of Aldi stores in the state over the next five years.Aldi executives signed a lease Monday to develop an 18,000 square foot section of the former Big.....

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