Volumes of Ontario carrots down 20 percent

Supplies of carrots from Ontario look to be down by approximately 20 percent. Tony Tomizza of Dominion Farm Produce Ltd. in Bradford, ON points to the warm, wet fall in Ontario as the reason why volumes are down. “Initially we lost some acres due to flooding. But we put product into storage warmer than…

Cambodia: Chilli value chain is boosted to tap new global markets

German development agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) is working with Cambodian chilli processors to help them reach new global markets. GIZ…

Ecuadorian banana exports decreased by 1.74% between January and October

According to data from the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec), Ecuadorian banana exports between January and October 2021 fell by 1.74% over the same period…

Bananas from Guatemala cost £0.72 this week

This series gives the average wholesale prices of bananas by country of origin. The prices are national averages of the most usual prices charged for bananas at wholesale markets in Birmingham and London. This publication is updated weekly. The current average week prices of bananas were at £0.58 for bananas…

The Crop Trust & CIP announce new disease-proof potato

The Crop Trust and the International Potato Center (CIP) are announcing the release of a new disease-resistant potato called CIP-Matilde. The new potato's resistance to…

Colombian Hass avocado exports up to September grew by 35% in volume and 63% in value

In the first nine months of 2021, Colombia exported 69,629 tons of avocado, i.e. 35% more than the 51,565 tons it exported in the same period of the previous year. The value…

Good NQ papaya opportunities opening up despite seasonal market 'flush'

One of Australia's largest papaya growers, Skybury Farms is confident of some strong summer months, despite admitting a lot of volume is hitting the market, as production ramps up. "We have had steadily increasing volumes from about June/July onwards, following a slight downturn in production coming out…

"The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kavala" targets Canadian market

The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kavala (Kavala COOP), from Greece, has joined "The Charming Taste of Europe" campaign to promote its kiwis and territory in…

Zespri’s final shipments for the 2021 season leave Port of Tauranga

The last of this year’s crop of Zespri Kiwifruit has departed Port of Tauranga, concluding another strong but challenging season of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit. The final 1,800 tonnes of Zespri Green Kiwifruit are on board MV Kakariki which will unload in Tokyo and Kobe in early December, with the final…

Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet expands sales team

Produce marketer Greenyard USA/Seald Sweet welcomes Andrew Kamenitzer as account executive to its sales team. Kamenitzer’s more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience…

Sakata Seed America appoints Chief Operations Officer

Sakata Seed America has appointed Eduardo Flores to the role of chief operations officer (COO) for Sakata Seed America, effective November 29th, 2021. Flores will assume…

First commercial sale of shelf life extension treatment for bell peppers

Save Foods, an agri-food-tech company focused on developing and selling eco-friendly products specifically designed to extend the shelf life and ensure the safety of fresh…

CEA grower celebrates 25 years in the business

Technological advancements, varietal development, consumer product knowledge - these are just a few of the changes seen in the last 25 years at Delta, B.C.-based Windset Farms. John Newell, chief operating officer, reflects as the grower celebrates 25 years of operating in the controlled environment…

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Banana reefer ship strikes seawall while departing Japanese port

A reefer cargo ship departing the southern Japanese port of Hakata near Fukuoka has hit the seawall at the entrance to the port. The bow of the vessel became stuck on the breakwater. The vessel was carrying a cargo of bananas.  The Japanese Coast Guard says that the 10,600 dwt reefer Lady Rosemary departed…

Asian grocery stores hard hit by Port of Vancouver woes

Last week, two trucks carrying $109,000 of ginger from China and dragon fruit from Vietnam left Vancouver for Calgary. The cargo had been held up on the ships for nearly two…

Senegalese potato packer gets state-of-the-art weighers

"Potatoes might not be the first crop that comes to mind when thinking of Senegal. Yet, there are plenty of those being grown there," says Jouke van der Meer, sales manager at PIM (Packaging International Machinery). This Dutch company recently supplied weighing and packaging machines to Swami Agri in…

Tulips, the Italian online supermarket that doesn't schedule deals six months in advance

Tulips is an exclusively online supermarket founded by Enrico Martini, a 30-year-old from Cesena, Italy, who began 5 years ago by gathering information and getting advice right from the fruit and vegetable sector. For a few weeks Tulips has been making deliveries also in Bologna and its province, after…

“Taking products in good and bad times is paying off”

The previous Spanish season wasn't even completely over when growers, buyers, and sellers were already meeting to discuss the 2021/2022 season. This is the result of years of uncertainty, which got worse because of Brexit and COVID-19, but not only that: prices are also ever-increasing from all sides.…

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Significant increases in price for fruit, including seedless grapes, avocados and cranberries

This week, a good deal of ad space was dedicated to baking supplies, and fresh berries, pears, cranberries, and apples were featured alongside them. Holiday favorites like sweet potatoes, pomegranates, Brussel's sprouts, celery and pineapples were abundant. Total ad numbers this week were 301,474, an 8%…

Exports to the US had the biggest growth among Almeria's top 10 destination markets

According to the latest data provided by Extenda, corresponding to the period between January and September of 2021, Almeria is the fourth Andalusian exporting province with…

Steady increase in agri-food trade European Union

The latest EU agri-food trade figures published show that trade continues to increase steadily, with exports increasing by 7% compared to the first eight months of 2020. The total value of EU agri-food trade (exports plus imports) for January-August 2021 reached a value of €210.5 billion, reflecting a…

FEFCO launches testing methodology for printed corrugated board in food contact

The European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers (FEFCO) has issued the FEFCO Testing methodology for printed corrugated board in food contact. At EU level there is…

Egypt vs Ethiopia: New escalation over Nile dam

Egyptian sources are warning of the consequences of not reaching an agreement on the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Ethiopia is building on the…

South African grape outlook

There is optimism around the new season of South African grapes. The first crop estimates for 2021-22 were just released with expected volumes between 70.6 and 77.7 million 4.2kg cartons. This is the third consecutive season we will see growth in the grape industry even with a table grape hectare decrease of 1,234 hectares…

Unseasonal rain hits Belagavi grape growers, government to compensate farmers

Belagavi growers have started dumping their grape crops as unseasonal rains have caused heavy damage to the grapes. In Belagavi, over 4,500 hectares of grapes were cultivated…

India: Increase in freight and packaging materials costs to affect grape prices

A two-fold increase in the shipping freight cost and a 30% rise in packaging material prices will surely affect grape prices across international and domestic markets.…

Possible cranberry shortage by Christmas

According to Wisconsin State Cranberry Grower’s Association Executive Director Tom Lochner, unsettled weather over the last year in Central Wisconsin led to about 100 million…

The weather changed the panorama for Argentina's cherry

The cherry harvest began a couple of weeks ago, and now the Rural Development Institute (IDR) has published the cherry production estimate for this year. Cecilia Fernandez,…

First strawberries of the season enter Chinese market

All kinds of strawberries for all kinds of prices appeared on the shelves of fruit shops in Guangxi. The fresh strawberries attracted droves of customers. One shop owner explained that the first strawberries of the season recently entered the market, and all the varieties in the shop came from other…

British Columbia blueberry industry severely impacted by recent floods

From flooded fields and homes to supply chain issues, this is an especially challenging time for British Columbia. We stand with the those impacted by floods. Our hearts go out to the growers whose homes are flooded. Their loss is insurmountable. Blueberry grower Jaswant Dhillon says his “family has lost…

Winter blueberry outlook indicates strong production

California Giant Berry Farms has the winter blues--blueberries that is--with global grower partners reporting peak volumes of organic and conventional blueberry supply for the start of winter season and beyond.  "We've started harvesting fruit from Chile that will provide for a constant winter supply of high-quality…

Egyptian strawberry season now in full swing

Since mid-November, the export of Egyptian fresh strawberries has officially begun. One exporter expects a solid season, as both demand and production are at a good level. Prices will increase slightly, as transport costs are higher this year, especially air freight. According to Amr Kadah, CEO for Egyptian…

"Very strong demand in pears this season"

“Right now, we see a very vivid trade in all pear varieties. A lot of European retailers are heavily promoting loose and prepacked pears, causing stocks to decrease rapidly.…

Blueberry industry is the fastest-growing horticultural industry in South Africa

During their monthly Beanstalk.Global broadcasts, PMA Southern Africa and a panel of experts discuss key aspects of various types of fresh produce grown in South Africa and…

Organto lists “I AM Organic” branded fresh cut organic herbs with Gorillas

Organto Foods Inc., an integrated provider of organic and value-added organic fruits and vegetables, announced that it has extended its range of I AM Organic branded products, listing for a broad range of fresh cut organic herbs with Gorillas®, Europe’s fastest growing company in instant on-demand…

Gold Coast, Queensland announced as location for BerryQuest International

BerryQuest International 2022, the largest conference and trade exhibition for the Australian berry industry, will be held on Queensland’s stunning Gold Coast from July 25 to 28, 2022 Berries Australia Chair, Peter McPherson said hundreds of local and international berry growers and industry experts will…

The Sicilian Tarocco season has just begun

The Sicilian producers' organization Ecofarm is steadily moving forward with its successful harvest of persimmons, while it has also begun with the first orange harvests. Maurizio Fiorenza, in 2020 "We are still continuing the persimmon campaign, until the beginning of December, and in the meantime, we have started…

Perrina's varietal clementine innovation could be a solution in response to climate change

Perrina is a clementine variety whose breeder is the Calabrian agronomist Francesco Perri, citrus scientist specialist. The commercial diffusion of the variety, whose intellectual property remains of the breeder, will be managed exclusively by OP Armonia, while for the production of seedlings the only…

Kern citrus growers ascribe smaller fruit and lower volume to summer heat

Kern citrus growers say some oranges have been coming in noticeably smaller in size and volume, enough to affect sales. Still, it's hard to know how the market will react and…

Organic: Lower demand in French supermarkets

According to the association Initiative Bio Bretagne, the organic sector in general is facing a decline in consumption in supermarkets. For the president, Denis Paturel, the…

Adopting a plant based diet might ease chronic migraine severity

Over 1 billion people worldwide have migraines, characterised as one-sided, pulsating headaches lasting 4–72 hours, and often accompanied by sensitivity to noise and light and…

Australian supply chain optimization platform set for major fresh produce pilot

A leading Queensland fresh produce company is set to trial an emerging digital trading and supply chain optimisation platform, which is hoped to boost operations and productivity. OmniOrder will aim to allow Qualipac to easily manage inventory at the batch level, take orders digitally with a trading app,…

Avocado quality meter to feature at Colombian industry conference

The Avocado Quality Meter from Felix Instruments will be highlighted at a major conference of industry leaders at Territorio Aguacate, in Medellin, Colombia, December 2-3. For Pacific Northwest-based Felix Instruments, Territorio Aguacate offers an opportunity for fruit producers and distributors to…

World record: 2,300 volts generated with 2,900 lemons

The record for the fruit-based battery generating the highest voltage has just been entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Saiful Islam, professor and researcher at the University of Bath in England, has used 2,923 lemons to obtain 2,307.8 volts, smashing the previous record of 1,521 volts from 2020…

“Back to the future” with terraponic growing

“Using our proprietary NexGen™ farming model and methodology, we grow nutritious, insect-free and soil-enhanced food. We have pioneered and developed “terraponics” to enhance our success in organic farming,” says Ray Urrutia, president and CEO of Terra Firma Foods. Terra Firm Foods has a developed a…

Brazilian orange juice producer Cutrale suspends exports to US

Brazilian orange juice producer Cutrale has suspended exports of orange juice concentrate from Brazil to the United States, as a new tax on exports has eroded its profits. The…

“Our freezer is designed to lower freezing cost per kg of product”

The long-term success of an IQF business lies in its ability to garner quicker return on investment with an efficient freezer. But what defines an efficient freezer? According…

Flagship Food Group recalls frozen cauliflower due to possible health risk

Flagship Food Group of Eagle, Idaho is voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of frozen cauliflower, TJ Farms Select brand, because it has the potential to be…

The world production of nuts will fall by 8% this campaign

According to the forecasts of the International Nuts and Dried Fruit Council (INC), the world production will produce 4.99 million tons of nuts this season -not including…

“Sustainable, innovative and chemical-free labeling solution”

The future is here - and France is setting a good example: Au révoir, plastic packaging! France has become the first country to enact a new law banning plastic packaging and stickers. Starting in January 2022, this law will apply to products such as cucumbers, zucchini, sweet potatoes, eggplants, pears…

Can you eat the stickers on fruits and vegetables?

Although the stickers that get placed on fruits and vegetables won’t cause you any harm, it’s probably best to remove them before eating. PLU stickers, which stands for “Price…

Climate-resilient food system program continues growing

Jacobs Farm del Cabo is making significant progress in its ClimateLab™ efforts, a program focused on building a more inclusive, climate-resilient food system. “We are focused on helping farmers adapt to existing climate impacts, mitigate our contributions to them and replicate and accelerate the…