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Tuesday, April 19, 2022
NORTH AMERICA

Our team

Marieke Hemmes
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Astrid van den Broek
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Sander Bruins Slot
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Job Offers

Crop Care Supervisor Australia

Chief Agronomist

Area Manager Middle East/Pakistan

Account Manager Substrates Asia

Territory Manager International agriculture manufacturing, distribution network through South America

Sales Representative | Seed | Germany

Sales Agronomist - Perth, Western Australia

Kierownik Działu Produkcji

Chief Commercial Officer

Business Development Manager Fresh Food Products Germany

Chris Ford on organic apple and pear imports from South America

“We need to fight to get our growers the same return”

The South American organic pear and apple seasons are ramping up. “Organic pears from Argentina have been available in the US market for over a month now,” says Chris Ford…

Florida acreage up on guava varieties

Supplies of guava out of Florida should hit peak late this month. “We had a rocky start for the past few months on guava but right now we’re coming into a heavy season. We’re…

What Ecuadorian banana protests mean for the world market

Following last week’s reports that banana producers in El Oro, Guayas and Los Rios, Ecuador blocked roads to draw attention to the depressed banana pricing in the country…

USDA

US-Mexico border crossings in Texas were last week's focus of attention

U.S.-Mexico border crossings in Texas were the focus of attention this week after a decision by Texas Governor Abbott to increase required inspections in response to the…

Looking towards growth for the Mexican grape season

Pacific Trellis Fruit, a year-round importer, grower, marketer and owner of the Dulcinea® brand, is gearing up for a successful Mexican table grape season. Earl McMenamin says…

May Quality Summit highlights table grape industry

Hazel Technologies Inc. is hosting a Grape Quality Summit the first week of May. The one-hour event will be held on Friday May 6th and will feature speakers with expertise in…

California avocado advertising in full swing

The California Avocado Commission is extending its successful advertising campaign “the best avocados have California in them”. This season’s ads feature visuals that point to…

Marfa, Texas employees inspire heartfelt song in music video

Village Farms is happy to boast it is versed in the ‘art’ of musical video production. Marfa, Texas resident and dual citizen Rámon Vega Navarro recently launched his first…

USDA

National Retail Report - Specialty Crops

Easter vegetables on sale last week

Favorite Easter vegetables such as sweet potatoes, artichokes, asparagus, green onions, green beans, broccoli crowns, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes were on sale this week.…

Organic Produce Summit

New education session on organics, inflation and changing consumer behavior

“Organics in an Era of Inflation and Changing Consumer Behavior” will be the subject of the fourth educational session at the upcoming Organic Produce Summit 2022, featuring…

Special Melons / Kiwifruit

FreshPlaza's April Special is on Melons and Kiwifruit

FreshPlaza's April Special is on Melons and Kiwifruit. If you are a supplier, grower or importer of melons or kiwifruit we would love to hear from you. You can contact us via info@freshplaza.com…

Global Focus South Africa

Jan-Louis Pretorius – Groep 91 Uitvoer

Significant volume of grapefruit may not be exported this year due to cost pressure

The South African grapefruit season started around two weeks earlier than usual, with the majority of grapefruit growers in the northern areas currently undertaking selective…

Retail

Dreamstime

NRF: Retail sales grew in March even as inflation edged higher

Goodfood: Q2 net sales dip

US: Workers at online grocer FreshDirect form unionEmployees of online grocer FreshDirect have formed a union after voting “overwhelmingly” to ratify a collective bargaining…

Lotteria plagued by potato shortages, along with McDonald's

South Korean burger chain seeking potato suppliers ‘other than US’

McDonald’s Korea and Lotteria are suffering from frozen potato shortages, scrambling to replace their French fries with chicken nuggets or cheese sticks due to…

World Blueberry Tour is showing the different realities of the blueberry industry

The XXII International Blueberry Seminar that will be held this May 25 and 26 in Guadalajara, will allow industry parties to discover many of the problems that…

Peru overtakes Chile as the top exporter of avocados and blueberries to China

Peru's "Business News" recently reported that due to climatic factors such as drought and water shortages, Chilean avocado and blueberry exports to China have…

Cherry and blueberry producers from Ñuble Province speak of ‘a season to forget’

For most cherry and blueberry growers from Ñuble Province, this has been the worst season in 30 years. With very high costs, shortage of containers, congestion…

“There are some markets that still depend heavily on the Egyptian market for Valencias”

Demand for Egyptian Valencia oranges is expected to increase over the next few weeks, especially from European markets. The war between Ukraine and Russia did affect the…

Simone Pollano: “Huge request from farmers around the world to pick avocadoes, citrus and kiwi fruit.”

Tevel set to start fully automated robotic harvesting in Europe from June

The shortage of agricultural labour to harvest fruit, felt most acutely in Europe, is about to be alleviated with Tevel’s FARTM (Flying Autonomous Robots) system set to start…

Harro van Dam, Carsol Europe:

"We expect to harvest blueberries year-round in Portugal for the first time this year"

In Portugal, blueberry production has been underway, in limited volumes, for several weeks. "We work closely with our partner Logofruits there, as they have two cultivation…

Maarten van Damme, Dacomex:

"The Dutch onion season could go either way"

The Dutch onion market situation is currently difficult, says Maarten van Damme of Dacomex. "You try to export as much as you can in the fall, but in the spring, the trick is…

Vergro's D&G Fruit still main supplier

Belgian pears conquer overseas Aldi store shelves

The Belgian Vergro Group's pears are very popular among overseas Lidl shoppers, with pear sales tripling in two years at this supermarket chain. That…

Russia to lift restrictions on fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey

Russian government officials have announced the nation is lifting restrictions on the import of a number of fruits and vegetables from Turkey. The country said…

Dublin, late May – early June

800 delegates expected to attend 2022 World Potato Congress

It is anticipated that up to 800 delegates from around the world will attend the 2022 World Potato Congress (WPC), taking place in Dublin at the end of May and…

Video Beekers Berries holds tasty inspiration day

On April 14th, in the Netherlands, the Beekers Berries Inspiration day garnered much attention. Some came to learn about cultivation, others for inspiration or both. Everyone…

'Gentle handling helps preserve potato perfection'

The design of the ‘Gentle Slope’ multihead weigher from Ishida Europe has been instrumental in delivering a high-quality packing solution for a range of microwavable potatoes…

‘NZ supermarket duopoly is locking people out of nutrition'

New Zealand health advocates say they want their government to urgently break up the Countdown and Foodstuffs duopoly. They claim people’s health is being put…

Prime Minister re-starts in-person trade negotiations

Ardern undertakes Asia-bound trade talks

Jacinda Ardern is sitting down with Singapore's Prime Minister this afternoon. It's her first meeting with a foreign leader overseas since the pandemic began.…

South Africa

President Ramaphosa declares state of disaster to respond to widespread flooding

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a declaration of a national state of disaster to respond to widespread flooding. He explained how, over the…

Zambia begins mass export of avocados to Europe

With a first consignment of over 37 tons, Zambia has started the mass export of avocados to Europe. The commencement of export came after the country met the…

Tanzania's pigeon pea farmers peg hopes on Indian market

Tanzanian farmers of pigeon peas were frustrated due to the sudden decline of crop prices in 2017 to the tune of Sh200 per kilo. The price decline from over…

Mbeya Region, southern Tanzania

Rungwe avocado prices hit record low

Avocado prices in Rungwe have hit as low as Sh600; growers and exporters are attributing the collapse of the market to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine…

FreshPlaza Funny

The door is too narrow