Ocean Mist Farms announces new President and kicks off Cardone season

Ocean Mist Farms announces the promotion of Christopher Drew to president and chief executive officer. Drew is responsible for leading all commercial, operational, financial, and administrative aspects of Ocean Mist Farms. His role will require the analysis and evaluation of product line offerings,…

Bringing broccoli to kids for National School Lunch Week

Bayer, in collaboration with Nature’s Reward and the United Fresh Start Foundation, is promoting a kid-friendly broccoli, just in time to celebrate National School Lunch Week, October 11-15. This week, fresh from the field, broccoli, from Bayer’s High Rise™ Broccoli series, was made available to students…

Specialty mushroom company secures $25 million in Series A funding

Smallhold, a Brooklyn-based specialty mushroom company on a mission to shorten the distance between consumers and sustainably-grown food, has announced a $25 million Series A…

USDA

Value of Texas pumpkin production surpassed that of all other states at $25.9 million in 2020

Pumpkin production is widely dispersed throughout the United States, with crop conditions varying greatly by region. All states produce some pumpkins, but six states produce most of them. In 2017, about 40 percent of pumpkin acres were harvested in the top six pumpkin producing states, measured by…

Chinese banana sales are affected by continued warm temperatures

The banana production seasons are nearly over in Hainan and Guangdong. Most of the bananas on the Chinese market come from production areas in Guangdong or are imported from Southeast Asia. Temperatures in south China have been relatively warm at the beginning of autumn, and these weather conditions are…

Majority of respondents ask to reinstate South Texas Marketing Order 959

With the vast majority of comments recently submitted to the USDA showing support for the reinstatement of S. Texas Federal Marketing Order 959, the U.S. onion industry awaits…

Zespri Red to become Zespri RubyRed™ Kiwifruit as commercial volumes beckon in 2022

Zespri has confirmed that its current red kiwifruit will be named Zespri RubyRed™ Kiwifruit for the first year of sales of commercial volumes in the upcoming 2022 season.…

Chinese ginger harvest has begun

Freshly-harvested ginger is about to enter the Chinese market. The weather conditions in ginger production areas have been good. Farmers expect an abundant harvest this year. Mr. Wang Junjie, sales manager at Jining Shangzhuo Food Co., Ltd., recently shared his insight in the production and export conditions of Chinese ginger.…

Mango retailer of the year announced: Albertsons Companies

The National Mango Board (NMB) announced Albertsons Companies as its recipient of the 2021 Mango Retailer of the Year award. The NMB presented the award in Boise, Idaho to Vince Maggio, National Director of Produce and Floral. Also present from Albertsons Companies were Jerry Callahan, GVP…

“We offer Keitt and Tommy Atkins mango in a favorable time-window for Europe”

Mangos could become an important crop for one Guatemalan exporter over the coming years. They have started offering Keitt and Tommy Atkins mangoes and see a window of opportunity during March and May. The success of the crop could have a large impact for the local community. Short harvest periods and differences…

“I think Roslesia will probably open people’s eyes to passionfruit”

“This time next year we’ll have as much passionfruit as there was three years ago in the entire country,” says PP Roets, head of blueberry and passionfruit production at Roslé Farming. “I don’t think passionfruit has ever been planted at largescale for exports in South Africa. We’re at the stage where…

Longvine Growing Co announces executive leadership changes

After nearly 7 years of leading the business, Kevin Doran is moving to the Longvine Growing Co Board of Directors, vacating the CEO position. Over the past several weeks the…

Sun World Promotes Melillo to Vice President of Grower Support Services

Sun World International LLC has appointed Michele Melillo to the new position of Vice President of Grower Support Services. Melillo recently managed the company’s agronomic…

"We can focus more on quality and how the product satisfies consumer needs”

“In vertical farming, it is interesting how quickly the industry has grown without specific varieties or seeds developed for that purpose,” says John Purcell, CEO and president of Unfold. The California-based company has made its mission the development of seeds and varieties and digital solutions for…

Sea-Intelligence.com

‘US container imports boom unlikely to last’

Danish research and analysis firm Sea-Intelligence has looked into whether the ongoing container demand boom in North America is sustainable. "Historically, the rate of growth in spending in services has consistently exceeded that of goods," said Sea-Intelligence, which used data from the US Bureau of…

Nearly 80,000 shipping containers piled up in Port of Savannah

The Port of Savannah is approaching crisis point. It has nearly 80,000 containers - 50% more than normal - stacked up. About 700 containers have been left there for a month or…

Port of Los Angeles will go 24/7 to ease supply chain bottlenecks before the holidays

President Joe Biden has an expansion of operations at the Port of Los Angeles as prices keep climbing and container ships wait to dock in a traffic jam threatening the U.S.…

Sea freight rates from China to US west coast experienced sharp correction, with the highest price cut by nearly half

In recent weeks, the price of shipping from China to the west coast of the United States has experienced a sharp correction, which has attracted market attention. The…

MSC becomes first major carrier to fully adopt standardized depot codes

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, a global player in container shipping and logistics, has fully adopted BIC Facility Codes (BFC) for all depots globally. Just like airports…

Port of Oakland seeks to recover lost shipping services

Appealing to shippers looking for an alternative to Southern California’s jammed-up gateway, the Port of Oakland is winning back ocean carrier services that moved away in…

Leafy vegetable desander makes for effective desanding

Lamb’s lettuce is rapidly gaining popularity in Europe. Harvesting it often involves a large amount of sand, which clogs processing equipment and impacts overall product quality. Sormac has the solution to remove sand before it enters the product flow. Following several pilot tests, the new leafy…

China consolidates itself as the second destination country for Chilean fresh fruit

According to the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), Ronald Bown Fernandez, Chile exported a total of 2,567,717 tons of fresh fruits in the…

Megadrought forcers growers to abandon fields

San Joaquin Valley growers are currently struggling with the megadrought. California regulators have cut farmers' water allotments by a third due to low reservoir levels. Joe…

Escalation and transformation in the fruit wholesale market in China

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenge for the global fruit industry for almost 2 years now, and the global shipping capacity remains the big problem to fruit traders. There have been several changes and transformations in the industry in response to these challenges. Several main fruit wholesale…

Israel will see increased demand for imported fruit and veg due to sabbatical year

Israel is well known around the world for its good quality fruit and vegetable exports such as citrus, avocados, mangoes, dates, cherry tomatoes, peppers and also potatoes as…

Seven appointed to Florida Citrus Commission

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed three new members to the Florida Citrus Commission Friday and reappointed four others. The appointments of John Smoak and Daniel Sutton fill…

Solve food fraud efficiently and cost-effectively

Counterfeit foods, especially goods with false claims of geographical origin, cause billions of dollars in economic damage every year. Botanists at the University of Basel…

"Market prospects for Chilean cherries look good now that the ports are slowly solving their backlog"

The Chinese market is slowly recovering from the worst impact of the pandemic. And the problems with global distribution are gradually growing less intense. Shanghai Yuqian Supply Chain Management is one of the specialized importers in Shanghai Huizhan Wholesale Market. Sean Chen, spokesperson for the…

RubyFrost apples are back with bigger crop

Crunch Time Apple Growers, a New York State-based cooperative of 152 member-growers, announced it will deliver 175,000 bushels (a 35 percent year-over-year increase) of its premium apple variety RubyFrost™. The tart but sweet flavor of RubyFrost apples will soon be available in select produce aisles,…

"After high prices at the Brazilian melon season's start, they're now back to the old level"

This year's Brazilian melon season got off to a complicated start. "Delays meant the overseas season didn't connect well to the end of the Spanish one. Those shortages resulted in a hefty price surge. Now, however, prices are crashing back to their old level," says Bertus Schipper of Zoutewelle Import/Export…

Increasing volumes of Mexican blackberries expected

Supplies of blackberries are starting to increase out of Mexico. “We’re finally seeing an uptick in supplies. They had rain a couple of weeks back and that set us back,” said Robert Wilhelm of Bova Fresh LLC in Boca Raton, Fl., noting that crossings from Mexico have increased to three times weekly…

Some overlap for Polish apple seasons

The previous season for Polish apples had a smooth transition into the new one, as not all of the old apples were sold once the 2021/2022 season began. It means the Polish apple prices started out rather low, on top of that there are large volumes available for export. According to Agnieszka Wryk, Commercial…

“Overall it’s a good year for Turkish pear growers”

Weather conditions have caused Turkish pears to be harvested later than usual. One exporter says it will be a good season for the pear growers regardless, as prices are in a good spot at the moment. The exporter has doubled its production and aims to achieve the same growth next season. The Turkish pear season…

Buurma Farms Inc. recalls plain (Flat) parsley due to possible health risks

Buurma Farms Inc. of Willard, OH, is voluntarily recalling 320 boxes of its Plain Parsley after testing showed possible contamination with Shiga-toxin producing E.coli. The product being recalled is Buurma Plain (flat leaf) Parsley with a harvest date of August 30, 2021 from their Gregory, Michigan…

2021 Expoalimentaria Perú digital fair ends with positive figures

Expoalimentaria Perú, the date with the Peruvian agrifood sector, ended its 2021 edition, with very positive figures. The event, which once again took place online this year…

Production volume of Chinese Xinyu tangerines declined

China is one of the world's largest producers of citrus fruit. Production areas are numerous and spread across the country. The honey tangerine from Xinyu is one of the most drought-resistant and cold-resistant tangerine variety in the world. Under regular weather conditions the Xinyu tangerines enter…

US organic fresh produce sales continue outpacing conventional growth

Total organic fresh produce sales for the third quarter of 2021 saw a continuation of year-over-year growth, increasing by three percent from the same period last year and nearing $2.3 billion for the quarter, according to the Q3 2021 Organic Produce Performance Report released exclusively by Organic…

Scientists recommend doubling dose of vitamin C

According to a recent study, the recommended dose of vitamin C people have been advised to take should be doubled. At present, the NHS and World Health Organization both…

Agritech company's offering heavily oversubscribed

Hectre, the New Zealand based orchard management and fruit sizing software company, has just completed a funding round which will see both its team and its product innovation capability expand significantly.The NZD$3.5m pre-series A funding round was heavily oversubscribed, testament to the value…

Novel lighting system created for agri-robot machine vision

An innovative camera system, using active lighting, has been devised by Penn State researchers. It  may be a crucial step in developing machine vision systems that allow robotic…

Belgian potato processor brings innovative vegan meals to supermarket shelves

The arrival of Belgian potatoes is challenging, quality-wise. So says Geoffrey Delbaere, sales manager at Warnez Potatoes. "We're, indeed, getting far more potatoes than the last two dry years. The wet summer caused a lot of rotting during storage as well. That's resulted in plenty of failures when those…

"This type of freezing is much quicker and results in higher product quality"

OctoFrost has come a long way in the frozen food processing industry by listening to its customers’ needs and working together with experts in the food industry. OctoFrost manufactures and offers equipment for the thermal treatment of food products such as blanching, cooking, chilling and IQF freezing.  According…

Urgent bean and soy sprout voluntary recall

Fullei Fresh is voluntarily recalling Bean Sprouts and Soy Sprouts as a precaution due to possible exposure to listeria monocytogenes. Affected lots are numbered consecutively between 251 and 271. They were harvested and shipped to distributors between September 14 and October 5, 2021. Both conventional…

Gladstone Land acquires nut orchard and option to purchase stored water in California

Gladstone Land Corporation announced that it has acquired 1,284 gross acres of farmland, including over 1,200 planted acres of pistachios and almonds (a portion of which is…

Plastic-free packaging wins innovation award

AFC Packaging is pleased to announce the acceptance of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) 2021 Innovation Award in Food Waste Prevention for its NOW No Waste Technology for fresh produce. Left to right: Stefano Giusti, Chris Lewis, Paul Smith, Mike Baker. NOW No Waste Technology plastic-free…

Extreme drought affecting Colorado growers

In southwestern Colorado a little more than a decade ago, the region’s agricultural community considered the Mancos Valley to be one of the last best places to farm in an era…