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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

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Micro-climate in Northern California makes for unique mandarin-growing area

A hidden gem in the foothills of Northern California. That’s probably the best way to describe the mandarin groves located around Newcastle, CA. While virtually all California citrus is grown down south, residents of the Newcastle area prefer locally-grown Satsuma mandarins. What makes the Newcastle area…

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Special time of year for jicama production

Jicama production in Mexico is entering a special time of the year. Growers say this is the time of year of that is known as the 'water' jicama season. This is when fresh jicama are harvested and they have just begun to mature and while the skin is still relatively soft. Arturo Padilla of US-based…

Cauliflower supplies tighten ahead of Christmas pull

Cauliflower production in California is largely in transition, with some growers starting their Yuma seasons, while others remain in Californian growing regions that can go year round. Supplies are tight at the moment, with a combination of the seasonal transition and cooler weather affecting production.…

US producers warn of national collard greens shortage

WP Rawl, a grower, processor and shipper of leafy greens in the U.S. said it was greatly impacted by various weather related national disasters contributing to a shortage of collard greens for the upcoming holidays. The Southeast experienced heavy rains and winds over a three-week stretch from indirect impacts from…

HKW buys fruit and vegetable distributor Fresh Direct Produce

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, Inc. (“HKW”), a private equity firm focused on partnering with talented management teams to build world-class companies, announces the…

Click here to receive this news directly in your inbox Potato Growers of Alberta:

"It's too early to call it a potato shortage"

Potato Growers of Alberta Executive Director Terence Hochstein confirms some areas of Canada did have a tough harvest due to cold, wet conditions resulting in these areas…

US: Romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak rattled food and grocery industries

When Scott Gottlieb from the FDA asked retailers, restaurants and other commercial outlets to voluntarily pull from the market and destroy any romaine lettuce just two days…

Losses from hurricane Irma affect Alico’s annual figures

Hurricane Irma resulted in a considerably smaller harvest for American company Alico. The company is active in various sectors, including the production of citrus. The…

Brexit or no Brexit?

"Politicians need to go and have a good look in the mirror at what they are doing"

Today sees the UK's Prime Minister back in Europe trying to salvage something of her Brexit deal. She will meet with Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Germany's Angela Merkel after postponing a Commons vote on the deal yesterday. According to other media yesterday's vote was going to be defeated and opposition politicians called it…

Year Overview 2018: May & June

A third of the way through the year, summer is about to hit 2018 and this is where things are about to get a little wilder. Before we get to that time, we still have May and June, which brought us even more avocado news. The lemon and banana markets also poked their heads out, however, so lots and lots to reminisce about. The first tropical…

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Global Focus
Global Focus Exotic/Tropical Fruit

Spain: 100 boxes of Mollar pomegranates for Valencian people living abroad

On Monday, a hundred boxes of Mollar pomegranates from Elche have been shipped to a number of European destinations by the Protected Designation of Origin, which is doing it free of charge as a gift to people from the Region of Valencia currently living in Europe. The initiative is part of the campaign…

SunGold kiwifruit expected to overtake Green in 2019

The North American continent shows the highest percentage growth for Zespri year to date. “The category is doing so well,” says Sarah Deaton with Zespri North America. Zespri SunGold is surpassing total fruit sales by 116 percent and this variety alone shows 32 percent sales growth in North America.…

Hirich Khalaf:

“Ripening process very advanced, but major differences between regions and growers”

The ultimate example of ripened fruit is the banana, but in recent years, the supply of ready-to-eat fruit has increased. Mangoes and avocados are two of the most important exotics that are offered ripened most often. Roughly 15 years ago, no one had heard of ripened exotics. Have we mastered ripening?…

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Europe

“We’re in stable waters”

Cool Port wrests itself from start-up problems

In May 2017, the first container was received by Cool Port Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In September, the official opening of the prestigious cold store on the south bank of the Port of Rotterdam followed. “Now, more than 16 months later, we’re forced to conclude that we didn’t get off to a flying start…

"Almeria expects a good vegetable harvest and a satisfactory Christmas campaign"

"The Spanish vegetable season had a slow and difficult start this year, as the weather in southern Spain quickly became autumn like, with a good number of weeks of rain. This considerably disrupted the start of the production," says Stephan van Marrewijk, who works in the commercial department of the…

Poland: Official study on changes taking place in apple growing sector

A comparison of the results of the orchard surveys of 2012 and 2017 shows significant differences in the age structure of trees and the density of plantings in apple…

Winter vegetable prices soar in Ukraine

In Ukraine, basic winter vegetables are rapidly becoming more expensive. For example, the price of beets rose by more than 30% in just a week, and onions are already sold for…

Russian producers concerned about low potato prices

At the moment, out of all the vegetables of the borsch set, potatoes are the least demanded on the Russian market, forcing producers to reduce the crop's price. According to the EastFruit…

Lior Gal of Galilee Export about the Sharon Fruit

“We can’t compete in Europe”

“In general, there is less Israeli Sharon fruit every year”, says Lior Gal of Galilee Export. He is the Sharon Fruit Product Manager at the second largest export company of Fruit and Veg owned by a cooperative of growers. “This is because this fruit cultivation has grown rapidly in Spain for the past few years. They pretty much…

Basilicata is leading strawberry producer region in 2019

Whatever the degree of ripeness or period, strawberries are increasingly appreciated by domestic and international consumers. More and more companies are deciding to start cultivating them, and they are now available on the market 9 months a year. According to the data on Spanish and Italian strawberry plants available on the market,…

The Baby Plant and MilShake projects

Vivai Milone 's new BabyPlant range was created almost as a 'collateral effect' of its lab productions. MilShake is also being introduced to the nursery garden range: the famous milk shake container is combined with a sheet of paper with a flower mix that can be planted. The idea is to make people more…

Consumption of aromatic herbs to increase for Christmas

Climate change is making itself felt as the amount of rain that used to fall during several weeks is now falling in just one day. In addition, lovely days alternate with bad weather days with strong winds and even tornadoes. "Of course this affects cultivation and production. Around a month ago, heavy cloudbursts and strong…

Losses from hurricane Irma affect Alico’s annual figures

Hurricane Irma resulted in a considerably smaller harvest for American company Alico. The company is active in various sectors, including the production of citrus. The…

REO Veiling meets and informs its future generation of producers

On Saturday December 1, REO Veiling organised a meeting with its future generation of producers. Both young producers and children working in their parents' companies and their partners were welcome at Geert Neerinck and Els Dendauw's horticulture company in Ingelmunster. The inspirational initiative…

Avocados: Hyped-up superfood funds Mexican drug lords

Several UK restaurants are being urged to remove trendy avocados from their menus. The reason? Some of the profits from the so-called superfood are going directly to Mexico's…

Tesco Ireland prevents cabbages ending up as food waste

Tesco Ireland has confirmed with its supplier Moore Produce in North County Dublin, that it has diverted 10 tons of sweetheart cabbage from waste. This was done by temporarily…

May 2019

Dutch consortium to build mushroom-growing Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion

The Dutch Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai will grow mushrooms and create artificial rain. Construction work on the climate-generating Dutch Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai will start in May 2019, the project's main contractor said. Expomobilia's director of pavilion projects, Roger Kornmayer, told Construction Week  that…

Three-year trial, starting February

UK: Waitrose to use small robots to farm its food

Next year, autonomous robots will start cultivating wheat fields in a three year trial to help produce bread and flour for Waitrose. British agritech start-up Small Robot Company, with their robots Tom, Dick and Harry, will provide the new technology to work on the 4,000-acre Leckford Estate, Hampshire.…

Robert van Melle, Origin Fruit Direct:

"There will be considerable pressure on the European grape market in the new year"

The overseas grape season did not start smoothly this year. "All the importers expected the European season to end in time. Many players also started on time with imports of Brazilian grapes to have stock in October", says Robert van Melle. He is responsible for the grape sales at the Dutch company,…

Marcel van Lith, The Greenery:

"Red currants in demand around the holidays"

Traditionally, a lot of red currants are sold around the Christmas holidays. It appears that this season, the demand for these berries will be high again around the holidays. In the past, it was mainly the catering industry that bought a lot of red currants to use as garnishing. Now, this fruit is also…

“A lot of larger apples despite dry weather”

Van Ossenbruggen invests in new packing station and access road to N320

The top fruit market had to jump quite a few hurdles this year. “Fruit is being sold, but shelf life in particular isn’t great. That means you have to pay even more attention to your storage management,” says Kees van Ossenbruggen of the top fruit production, sorting and trade company of the same name in…

F.lli Valcalcer: Logo and packaging restyling

Italy: Customers choose the ingredients for the wild salads

Domenico Bosco is the marketing manager for F.lli Valcalcer from Battipaglia. The company is specialised in baby leaf produce, grown in the fertile land of the Piana del Sele – a place particularly suited for the farming of this produce. He states, “Our motivation and will to improve pushed us to opt for the restyling…

Luis Fernando Rubio, director of Procecam:

"This is a year with great opportunities for Spanish onions"

Spanish onions are taking advantage of the remarkable fall in yields experienced by most producing countries of central Europe and other third countries. The Spanish onion production has not only recovered in terms of yield, but has actually almost broken a record this year, despite the fact that the acreage devoted to…

Spain: Murcia exporting 26% more juice

There are three products in which Murcia stands out from the rest of Spain: lemons, peppers and juice. The latter has been in great demand overseas this year. The…

Spain: Union of Unions convenes meeting to address citrus crisis situation

The Union of Unions of Agricultural Producers and Cattle Ranchers has decided to take action to address the crisis that has hit the Spanish citrus sector. For that reason, it has convened an urgent meeting, to which all Agricultural Professional Organizations, cooperatives and exporters have been invited…

Production shortage in first weeks of December

Spain: Delay in strawberry harvest

The strawberry harvest has been delayed due to the torrential rains recorded a few weeks ago. By this time, there is usually already some fruit hitting the shelves, but this…

Spain: Citrus exports to non-EU countries down by 14%

The citrus sector is not achieving good results as far as exports are concerned. At a time with on-going protests by agricultural organizations, such as those convened by the…

Campaign significantly delayed by the heat

Spain: 25,000 tons of artichokes expected in the Vega Baja

The artichoke harvest campaign kicked off with a notable delay this year due to the strong summer heat and the high temperatures that have been reached this autumn, which have…

"The apple is the most widespread fruit worldwide"

According to estimates, there are more than 20,000 varieties of apples, nearly 7,500 of which are trademarks in constant evolution in search of new mutations. "It is the most…

It's so much harder to store tubers over the winter

Dry summer leads to acute problems in potato warehouses

The drought of the summer still has its effects in Germany. Farmers' associations complain about a lack of financial aid payments and many potato farms are currently having…

Trading companies urgently looking for storage capacity for 500 tons of dessert apples

Bottlenecks for pome fruit storage in Switzerland

The extremely extensive 2018 pome fruit yield currently leads to storage bottlenecks in Switzerland. Currently, several pome fruit trading companies are looking for suitable…

Hamburg importer starts pomegranate season with stronger brand presence

Don Limón is currently preparing for the upcoming season of Indian pomegranates. The Hamburg-based importer is starting the new campaign with much confidence and increased expectations. As the latest marketing measure, the company has designed special Don Limón Brand Boxes for its pomegranates. Brand presence The preparation…

Exotic fruits are harvested, picked and packaged at the source

Kipepeo welcomes first tropical fruits from new bio & fair project in Indonesia

This week, Kipepeo  has welcomed the first fresh, tropical fruits, coming from an Indonesian organic & fair trade certified project from the island of Java. These are products of small farmers, in this case about 300 farmers from the provinces of Magelang, Purworejo, Wonogiri and Lumajang, says company…

Most chip potatoes imported from UK

The Irish chip-shop could fall victim to Brexit

Traditional Irish chip-shops may become the unlikely victims of Brexit. Most of them here import their potatoes from the UK, but this is a supply line that’s looking…

Ukraine adopts law regulating food labelling

Ukraine has taken another step in approximation with EU legislation, this time in the area of information for consumers. Ukraine's parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on Thursday 6…

UK company fined after worker severely injured following fall

A farming company has been fined £40,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation after an employee sustained severe injuries following a fall from height. Alan Twatt…

Westminster urged to promote fruit and vegetable sector

Britain’s agriculture policy needs to change, in order to ensure a more productive future for British fruit and vegetable producers. That was the message from the Fruit and…

Through public-private partnership

CMA CGM to help develop Port of Odessa

In France, Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Volodymyr Omelyan, was present at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA),…

Leadership change for Fresca Group

The board of Fresca Group confirmed today that Nigel Trood, Managing Director of The Fresh Produce Centre Ltd and a board director of Fresca Group Ltd, is to leave the…

Food technology company develops ‘purposeful packaging’ to help combat food waste

A UK food tech company has created an ingenious film packaging solution which prolongs the life of fresh fruit and veg and significantly reduces food waste. The new ‘purposeful packaging’ technology reduces food waste in supermarkets, in the supply chain, and in the home and is the latest addition to the…

Brexit or no Brexit?

"Politicians need to go and have a good look in the mirror at what they are doing"

Today sees the UK's Prime Minister back in Europe trying to salvage something of her Brexit deal. She will meet with Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Germany's Angela Merkel after postponing a Commons vote on the deal yesterday. According to other media yesterday's vote was going to be defeated and opposition politicians called it…

Oceania

Putting blemished avos to good use

Australia: Perth business to sell new avocado ice-cream

Hundreds of kilograms of imperfect Western Australian avocados will be converted to a dairy-free ice-cream and sold in Perth retail outlets and restaurants, starting next week. The new business, Gelavo, has been launched by food technologists and business partners Andrew Tilley and Anthea Rodoreda, who developed the…

Melbourne police: Garlic crop theft 'impossible' to solve without public assistance

Melbourne police are calling for the public's help to solve the theft of a garlic crop worth up to $15,000 from a farm at Cockatoo, south-east of Melbourne. In late November,…

Western Australian vegetable growers fear water licence fees

Australian fruit and vegetable growers are lobbying against potential introduction of application fees for water licences. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation…

New Zealand: Rising strawberry prices around Christmas 'unavoidable'

It is always certain that strawberry prices will skyrocket around Christmas-time. Most shoppers think they are being ripped-off when the $2 punnet of strawberries at the…

Golden opportunity for banana growers

Early-bird registrations for the banana industry’s premier national event are now open, giving growers a chance to access a wealth of information at a discounted price. The Australian Banana Industry…

World

It will cause the needles to drop faster

Don't keep a fruit bowl near your Christmas tree

A fruit bowl filled with Clementines, grapes, apricots, pears, plums, pomegranates, dates and bananas makes your room look much more festive. But, as some fruit ripens, it gives off a gas that can prematurely wilt your tree. Ethylene is omitted by stone fruit and bananas, causing other ethylene-sensitive fruits, like…

World production is forecast down to its lowest level in 8 years

Deciduous Fruit: World markets and trade for apples, grapes, & pears

World apple production is forecast down to its lowest level in 8 years, falling 5.6 million metric tons (tons) to 68.6 million, as weather-induced losses in China more than offset gains in the European Union. Exports are projected down to 6.0 million tons on lower shipments by China and Iran, while…

Bookings open for Asia Fruit Logistica

It’s the place to meet top-quality buyers from across Asia, it’s the region’s premier information hub covering all the latest trends and technologies, and it’s back in Hong…

Reducing anxiety: 7 foods that will do the job

Many people don’t understand how much food can change their mood. Caffeine improves cognition, while other foods can reduce depression, anxiety, and stress. This is why…

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