Fruitmasters, a Dutch company selling to retailers all over Europe and beyond, continued with their tradition of offering apples with holiday greetings, which they have been offering for more than 25 years. Despite lower supplies due to supply issues, the company said that there is global demand for the festive apples and that sales are very diverse.
Ate Kalsbeek from the Dutch sales office for South Africa exporter Halls, said that they were gearing up to increase sales of avocados during the holiday period. "The ripening units are full and we are completely ready! After Christmas, it will be less busy in the Netherlands, but export will continue. In Scandinavia, avocados are very popular at Sylvester night." shared Kalsbeek.
Strained relations between Turkey and Russia continue
For months, relations between Turkey and Russia have been in the news, with Turkey striving to normalise relations between the two countries. It was already reported on the 9th of December that Turkish imports to Russia were unlikely before the New Year, and after Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated in Ankara on 19 Dec., it was unclear what affect this will have on ties between Russia and Turkey.
Innovations bringing in 2017
The shortlist for the 2017 Fruit Logistica Innovation Award (FLIA) was announced on 15 December. The ten innovations selected for the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award will be presented in Berlin on 10 February, 2017. More than 70,000 trade visitors from over 130 countries will be able to cast their vote on the 8th and 9th February for the innovation of the year.
Laser labelling may not be a new thing to people in the industry, but it is something new for Swedish consumers, and ICA in Sweden announced that they are going to test this new form of branding on their organic avocados and sweet potatoes, with their biggest organic suppliers, for the next couple of months. Peter Hägg from ICA said that he is excited about the project and thinks that it fits in perfectly with their organic offering.
Our article on the 7th of December about cucumbers in a box, received a lot of attention from our readers, becoming the top read story the day it was published. It was announced that Staay-Hispa had created new, eyecatching packaging: a cucumber in a cardboard box. It is a preview of the packaging possibilities of the sustainable Eat&Care line, which was launched by the company earlier this year and already consists of limes, pineapples and salatrio lettuce.
Bad weather for some, benefits others
The harvest of early grapes was in full swing in South Africa at the beginning of December. Growers were experiencing a good season thus far, although sugar development is slower than expected. The quality and berry size is on standard, while no problems are experienced with colour development. It was reported that all growing regions were experiencing good weather. By the middle of the month, it seemed that grower's good fortune had continued, with reports that the first Tawny grape harvests had been unaffected by rain.
Others were not so lucky, with EU's total grape production was down after poor weather conditions in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria. The only production country to see an increase this season in production was Spain. Unfortunately, lettuce producers in Spain were not as lucky as strong rainfall threatened to cut the lettuce supply.
Unusual rains recorded in week 49 in central Chile caused significant damage to producers in the area. With an intensity of between 20 and 45 mm in the grape-producing districts of the Valley of Aconcagua, Santa María, San Felipe and San Esteban, only a few days after the alert situation, growers in the region confirmed that the fruit had started splitting.
Citrus
December is an important month for citrus, and according to a USDA report on Florida orange production, the crops are holding steady. The forecast for the 2016-2017 period shows numbers at 72 million boxes but it does show a decrease in overall grapefruit production, which is down 3 percent from the previous year. However, Frans van der Burg, Total Produce in the Netherlands said the high prices are not an obstacle for smooth sales of Florida grapefruit and reported that the sales were going well.
The production of organic oranges in California is going well, although it was reported that there will be smaller sizes this year.
Over the past few years, sales of navel oranges had been decreasing on the popularity of easy peelers. California company, Sun Pacific had been looking for innovative ways to grow the navel category and launched Vintage Sweets as a test two years ago. Vintage Sweets are heirloom navel oranges that are grown from Sun Pacific’s California old line groves and have been proving popular amongst consumers.
Things weren't as rosy for citrus growers in South Africa after it was expected that the European Commission was set to propose new measures to regulate Citrus Black Spot and False Codling Moth. This would extend the current measures on CBS and introduce a regulation for the first time on FCM. South Africa, while not the only country to be affected by these possible new regulations, would be severely affected.
Relief for Spanish citrus producers after a worker's strike was averted on 13 December, after an agreement was reached between the unions and the employers. the strike had been set to last from 15-21 December. The agreement included a 1.8% salary increase to workers as of 1 December.
Official ceremony for entry of Polish apples
After 4 years of hard work and after the Chinese government announced the list of Polish company's allowed to export apples to China, an official ceremony was held in Chongqing to celebrate the first entry of Polish apples into China.
On the 9th of December it was announced that Ausveg had chosen a new CEO, Former Incitec Pivot leader, James Whiteside. On the same day, Irish banana giant Fyffes had agreed to a takeover bid from the Japanese Sumitomo Corporation.