Back on 7th August

FreshPlaza summer break

It's that time of year when the FreshPlaza team take a break to charge their batteries. We will be back on Monday 7th of August with all of your fresh produce news!

GLOBAL MARKET OVERVIEW GINGER

The global ginger market is currently facing challenges, with uncertainties and shortages affecting different regions. As the ginger season transitions, traders are faced with…

Carlos Bon with Divine Flavor comments on the Mexican grape season

“My beard went from half grey to 100% grey in just a few weeks”

The Mexican grape season kept getting pushed back due to a May month that was unusually cool. Although the weather helped with the coloring of the…

Retail partners keep asking for new exotic items

Most exotic produce items are in season currently. “We offer both conventional and organic exotics,” says Melissa Hartmann de Barros, Director of…

Fruit importer/exporter looks back on the first half of 2023

Salix Fruits ends the first half of the year with important achievements. “2023 demonstrates our constant dedication to improvement and growth as we…

Organic greenhouse grown strawberry launched

Greenhouse producer Nature Fresh Farms introduces its Nature Fresh Farms Organic Greenhouse Berries™. The company says it has become the only…

California grower unveils new salad items at foodservice show

There’s no doubt about it that salads are offering many opportunities for foodservice and retailers these days, whether they’re featuring new tastes…

Commemorating the 25th season of South African summer citrus

Summer Citrus from South Africa (SCSA) celebrates its 25th consecutive year shipping citrus from South Africa to the U.S. The SCSA group has grown more…

Heat wave impacts Hatch chile crop in New Mexico

The ongoing heat wave in parts of the country including the West and Southwest regions is being felt on one signature crop in New Mexico--the Hatch…

“Demand for Mexican berries, especially premium varieties, constantly increasing”

The demand for Mexican berries in the markets of the US, Canada and Japan are increasing, with especially the premium varieties that are constantly…

Foodservice demand back to normal for fresh herbs

Supplies of herbs look to be steady currently. “The supply hasn’t been an issue this year. We’ve been getting enough supply from the U.S. from states…

Ido Ben Dor, Ben Dor Fruits and Nurseries:

“Israel’s desert bred stone and pome fruit ideal to withstand climate changes”

A pear, the Eden Gold, bred and developed in the harsh Israeli desert without shade or hail nets, is just one of the new stone and pome fruit hardy…

$68 millions worth of Washington cherries heading from Sea-Tac airport to Asia

Big jets are the cornerstone of the big business of Washington cherries. The Port of Seattle said 152 cargo flights will focus on carrying one of Washington…

Raw morel mushrooms most likely behind deadly gastro disease outbreak in Montana

Public health officials have signed off on an outbreak investigation in Montana saying that morel mushrooms were most likely what made dozens of people sick,…

Final preparation for foodservice conference next week

As the produce in foodservice industry prepares to gather July 27-28 in Monterey, California, International Fresh Produce Association CEO Cathy Burns looks…

Less expensive and offering accessible cold storage for smallholder farmers

Addressing food insecurity in arid regions with an open-source evaporative cooling chamber design

The scientific principle, known as evaporative cooling, can be a game-changer for preserving fruits and vegetables grown on smallholder farms, where…

FDA approves purple tomato

Norfolk Plant Sciences (NPS) has successfully completed its consultation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its high-antioxidant purple tomato. Following a…

Small Northwest cherry growers likely to lose money due to huge Californian harvest

Most years, cherry season in North America starts in California and moves up the coast to British Columbia as the year progresses. As the season ends in…

APHIS amends Federal Order for Fusarium Tropical Race 4 import restrictions

Effective July 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending the Federal Order DA-2021-10, issued on…

March’s winter freeze leaves Alabama with crop shortages this summer

A sudden freeze last spring has left many Alabama farmers’ crops diminished or completely destroyed. That means that right now, farmers markets, grocery stores…

FDA recognizes alignment of GLOBALG.A.P. standard with FSMA Produce Safety Rule

The GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard version 5.4-1-GFS for fruit and vegetables, plus the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce…

Cases found in Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii

Hepatitis A outbreak linked to frozen organic strawberries is expanding

As of July 20, another patient has been identified in an ongoing outbreak of hepatitis A infections traced to frozen organic strawberries. The Centers for…

Market and Crop Update for July 20, 2023

Oregon grower claims onion demand is good this week - medium reds are tight

MARKETCalifornia/New Mexico: Matt Murphy with L&M Cos in Raleigh, NC, told us on July 19 that his team is seeing more demand this week. “We are shipping out of…

Week 29 Wholesale Fruit Market Report

Peruvian blueberries on the market, American stone fruit is arriving

The first Peruvian blueberries of the year hit the market this week. In addition, various plums imported from the United States have arrived one after…

$160 million USAid initiative

US government to help Kenya expand its avocado export market

The US government will help Kenya expand its avocado export market under a $160 million (Sh22.6 billion) initiative. United States Agency for International…

The Egyptian mango campaign Kicks-off

The whistle blows for the Egyptian mango season. From July 20 to almost the end of the year, Egyptian exporters offer their calendars to over 50…

Stephanie van der Walt – International Fresh Produce Association

Annual IFPA Conference: Every session aims to be a dialogue.

From 1 to 3 August, leaders from every segment of the produce supply chain will convene at Cape Town’s Century City conference centre for the…

EastFruit

Egyptian orange exports to Southeast Asia to reach record high in current MY

The Egyptian orange exports to the Southeast Asian countries continue setting new records, as reported by EastFruit. Considering such developments, the…

ToBRFV and tomato imports to Germany: quantifying the correlation

When you see it, it’s too late. There’s no treatment available and no solution to stop its spread. And despite all the efforts, there are no varieties…

Harry van der Hout, Trofi Pack:

“Next year we're extending our packing and ripening center by 18,000 m2”

Trofi Pack has been operational at its new packaging facility in the Dutch village of Den Hoorn since the spring of 2020. The company is already in its…

“Bursa black figs have no substitute in the market”

The preparations for the upcoming Turkish fig season have been completed and the weather seems to be playing nice, says Akin Soyleyen, marketing…

Simon Martin - The Food Heroes

“With our new season potatoes, we dropped the price to our customers by £4-£5 a bag"

It has been a tough few years for the sector but despite this The Food Heroes have seen their business take off. Simon Martin puts this down to hard…

Maarten Verhaegen, BelOrta:

"Unexpectedly high tomato volumes cause market prices to plummet"

Belgian greenhouse vegetables are having quite a hard time at the moment. "Productions are all on par, but vacation time has started in many European…

Dutch onion grader MSP Onions now uses robot to clean trimmer

“New onion season starts with limited supplies and high prices”

The new Dutch season's market situation is off to quite an unusual start. A significantly lower harvest due to higher temperatures means the Senegalese…

Will Hill - FruPro

"FruPay de-risks the export process by putting the sale price straight into seller's bank"

Back in 2021 Will Hill and business partner Ollie Morley-Fletcher started testing their digital marketplace FruPro. A lot of time has passed since the…

Polish apple season looks positive after a period of drought

The Polish apple growers are getting ready for the new season and so far, despite some weather challenges, everything has been looking good, says…

Iconic Chiquita buses are back to brighten the streets of London

For the ninth consecutive year, Chiquita is participating in the London bus campaign to bring back its iconic yellow banana buses to London this…

Hungarian drone innovator to help alleviate UK's farm labour shortage

The Hungary-based drones for agriculture’s ABZ Innovation is readying its introduction into the UK market following success in countries across Europe…

Call to correct mistakes in proposed amendments to EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation

"Amendments to packaging rules will cause ‘flood of plastic’ pollution"

Saverio Mayer, CEO Europe Smurfit Kappa, has released the following statement on the proposed amendments to the Packaging and Packaging Waste…

eurostat

EU production of summer related fruits was down -6.3% in 2022

In 2022, the EU’s combined harvested production of muskmelons, watermelons, strawberries, peaches and nectarines was 8.6 million tonnes, representing a…

Cannabis stashed among pallets of broccoli, lettuce and kale seized

British cannabis smugglers appear before judge

A crime ring with links throughout Europe has been caught red-handed after shipping £2 million of cannabis into Seaforth docks. The drugs were hidden among…

Dutch company starts construction of organic vegetable seed production facility

Vegetable breeding company Enza Zaden officially gave the go-ahead today for the construction of their own sustainable, eight-hectare production…

Blackberries and raspberries are now grown in Saudi Arabia

Blackberries and raspberries are in high demand in the Saudi Arabian market, prompting certain growers to take up the challenge of producing berries…

"Since the launch of our new brand, sales have increased by 36%"

Global Star, a Saudi Arabian producer and importer of fresh produce, has unveiled its new brand identity, Delizia, in a statement issued by CEO…

Paul Scopelliti - Belvedere Fruit Growers

Steady start and new look for Koala Easy Peel

The Ryan Navel, better known as the 'Koala Easy Peel' orange, is a relatively new development in commercial citrus fruit. The original variety has been…

Penny Reidy - SA Produce Market

"This is the first Oyster mushroom farm in South Australia"

South Australia enjoys a year-round supply of Oyster mushrooms thanks to the new facility built by Epicurean Food Group. It is a vertical farm inside…

Mega Mandy joins the Pinnacle Fresh family

The Australian citrus harvest is well underway for the Dracula citrus range from Pinnacle Fresh. “We are currently picking all varieties; Navels, Cara…

Maersk enhances warehousing capability in Asia Pacific

A.P. Moller-Maersk is strengthening its omnichannel-fulfilment capabilities in Singapore, with World Gateway 2, a brand new 1.1 million sq. ft.…

Saudi Arabia produces over 1.6 million tons of dates every year

Saudi Arabia produces more than 300 varieties of dates and it tops globally in exporting the fruit. According to the Ministry of Environment, Water and…

Manhunt underway

Some 400 kg of tomatoes stolen from Pune farmer

A farmer’s 400 kg of tomatoes harvested and stacked in a truck was reportedly stolen in Pune on Sunday night, officials said. The farmer, Arun Balu Dhome, from…