New Zealand will play bigger role in US organic apple imports this season

The first organic Williams Bartlett pears from Argentina arrived in the US market mid-February and the season is in full swing for most other…

Carrots step into the spotlight for Easter week

There are plentiful supplies of specialty carrots in California. Matt Hiltner of Babé Farms adds that the carrot quality looks strong as well and that…

An early look at 2023 blueberry numbers for North and South America

What’s ahead for 2023 blueberry production? Joseph Vargas, director of business intelligence at the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), shares a…

Counting down to start of Texas watermelon season

Harvest of watermelons out of the Edinburg, Texas region is expected to start in six weeks. “A mid-May start is about average and so far, we are on track for a…

Washington apple growers want government intervention to restore exports to India

Industry experts claim that Washington apple growers are on the losing end of a trade feud between the US and India. Apples are Washington’s biggest crop; the…

Plastic covers help to secure grape harvest -

230 mm of rain can't stop Peru's double harvest of table grapes

‘If it sees a cloud it bursts’ was the saying for some of the older generation table grape cultivars. Nowadays in Peru, despite over 230 mm of rain, a…

Tornado disintegrates Ohio tomato greenhouse

Devastating images from Ohio show a high-tech tomato greenhouse collapsed due to an EF1 tornado, which occurred near Wapakoneta in Auglaize County,…

Pilot program for ag workers to earn Bachelor’s Degree

NatureSweet®, a produce grower, has kicked off an educational initiative that’s giving agricultural workers an opportunity to obtain their bachelor’s…

Californian farmland soaked, leaving nowhere to plant tomatoes

Many Californian farm fields are soaking wet.  Asparagus farmers can't get into fields to harvest their produce. Tomato growers have greenhouses bursting with seedlings…

Canada’s federal budget could have done more for domestic fruit and veg sector

According to Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, the federal budget should have done more to prioritize food…

Black Gold Farms welcomes new CFO

Heath Webber, CPA, joins Black Gold Farms as chief financial officer. Webber has more than 30 years of finance experience and a combined 10 years in the CFO…

USDA swears in 32 members to Potatoes USA’s board of directors

On March 14, 2023, the United States Department of Agriculture conducted a swearing-in ceremony for 30 producer members and two importers to join the Potatoes…

Organic Produce Summit

Educational session looks at how athletes eat

Powered by Plants: How World-Class Athletes Are Changing the Way We Eat is a two-hour educational session at Organic Produce Summit 2023 that will…

HZPC Americas Corp names Aron Derbidge new President

‘Steering towards a bright future’

HZPC Americas Corp. has announced its new president, Aron Derbidge. Beginning May 1, 2023, Aron will step into the role to lead HZPC operations across the…

FoodTransport is a free app from University of Florida

New app is quick reference for perishable transport experts

FoodTransport is a free new app from University of Florida postharvest experts; it gives out brief but dependable recommendations for shipping perishable foods…

Dominican Republic surpasses Haiti regarding mango exports to US

The Dominican Republic has surpassed Haiti in mango exports to the United States in 2022. Haiti dominated this market for over a decade. Dominican mango…

Kenya to double its avocado exports in next five years

Kenya is planning to double its avocado export from Sh15 billion to Sh30 billion annually in the next five years following increasing demand of the country’s…

“The arrogant shipping lines tell us that the South Africa-Middle East shipping line is their least profitable in the world."

Ramadan sales have been very good for all South African fruit

Chilean freight rates to the Middle East have dropped to a level roughly equivalent to South Africa’s freight rates to that region, while on the route…

Egyptian garlic enjoys 2 months of no competition

Egyptian producers and exporters of garlic are about to kick off the 2023/2024 season with high spirits, amidst favorable conditions for Egyptian…

Wide range of avocado exhibitors showcase new and unique products at World Avocado Congress

The 10th World Avocado Congress wrapped up in Auckland today, and one of the highlights of the event was the exhibition, featuring nearly 30 exhibitors…

"The opening of the Chinese market could be a turning point for Spanish kakis"

China greenlights the export of kaki and almonds from Spain

Last week, Spain and China signed two trade agreements that will allow the export of kakis and almonds to the Asian country, as reported by the Spanish…

Chinese yuan replaces US dollar as most prominent currency in Russia

Little over a year after the invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese yuan has replaced the US dollar as the most traded currency in Russia. In February, the yuan…

WAPA apple and pear stock figures for 1 March 2023

European apple stocks in March were 11% lower than in 2022

WAPA, the World Apple and Pear Association, released the apple and pear stock figures for 1 March 2023. The figures show that in Europe apple stocks…

Jeffrey Moret, TOFF:

"We deliberately began importing organic Argentine pears later"

Though TOFF is especially big in organic greenhouse production, this Dutch company is starting to import a significant volume of overseas organic fruit…

Joris Combe, Earth Market - massive development plan for next season

“The Marvella is an early round strawberry that stands out for its aromatic side”

Earth Market launched a new strawberry this year, the Marvella. “So far, this interesting novelty stands out from the other varieties of early and…

Juan Miguel Gil, president of Frescanarias: "The origin of the problem is in the strawberry plant nurseries on the peninsula"

"In the Canary Islands, just like in Huelva, our strawberry production is down 30%"

Although far behind Huelva, which accounts for more than 96% of the Spanish strawberry production, the latest data on production, area, and crop yields…

Lower volumes expected for Greek watermelons

The new watermelon season in Greece is coming up, and Nasos Zafirakis, director of Zafirakis Fruits, hopes it’ll be a less difficult season than the…

Mitrofresh expands

Europe's largest Eryngii farm now live

The demand for mushrooms keeps climbing thanks to their health benefits, says Mitofresh CEO Valon Bahtiri. To cope with the high demand, this Dutch…

The first nectarines and peaches of Huelva's stone fruit season

"As every year, we are among the first to start marketing Spanish stone fruit"

Huelva's stone fruit campaign started at the end of last week with the marketing of the first greenhouse nectarines by Plus Berries. The harvest…

Global banana distributor Agrofair first Dutch multinational to gain fair tax mark

AgroFair has been awarded the Fair Tax Mark, becoming the first multinational head-quartered in the Netherlands to secure accreditation to the gold standard of…

Dutch fruit growers combat frost

In the Netherlands, the fickle weather is over, and the sun is back. But, there has been light nightly frost again, Weer.nl reports. For many fruit growers, that means there is work…

SAB-Almendrave celebrates the opening of the Chinese market to Spanish almonds

Annual exports of Spanish almonds to China may reach 90,000 tons in 2032

The Association of Almond and Hazelnut Exporters of Spain (SAB-Almendrave) has expressed its total satisfaction after the Government of Spain announced last…

New Zealand kiwifruit growers show outstanding support for advocacy group

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc. (NZKGI) have been given a strong mandate by kiwifruit growers to work on their behalf for the next six-year…

IATA

IATA releases data for February 2023 global air cargo

Air cargo shows signs of improvement in February

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for February 2023 global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand rose above…

LAMOST

Telescope discovers fruit and vegetable garden outside the Milky Way

Chinese Academy of Sciences names galaxies after fruits and vegetables

Astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a record number of compact galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. Their observations were…

Sea Intelligence

Sharp M-o-M increase in schedule reliability in February 2023

Sea-Intelligence has published issue 139 of the Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, with schedule reliability figures up to and including February…