Latest News From Fresh Talk

Garlic and garlic water won’t cure or prevent COVID-19, but some people haven’t gotten the word yet.

Trying to find potatoes at the supermarket isn’t as tough as finding toilet paper, but spuds have been moving fast and furious during the early days of the lockdown with the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the big supply chain questions related to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak is the effect of the crisis on demand for particular commodities.

You probably saw the news that field hearings to consider protection measures for U.S. produce against fruit and vegetable imports have been postponed.

About a week ago, the tidal wave that is the coronavirus began to upend the lives of every American.

A peek at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s daily market news highlight page usually doesn’t reveal too much.

The hundreds of thousands of farmworkers who harvest fruits and vegetables for U.S. consumers are often taken for granted.

Consumers who want a strong immune system are looking to fresh produce.

It was only two days ago that I posed this question to the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group, but it already feels incredibly dated.

My wife attended yoga class this morning and one of the women said she was soaking fruits and vegetables in water and vinegar out of concern for the coronavirus spreading through food.

Flash forward: what if COVID-19 spreads?

The superhero cape continues to look good on fresh produce.

There is an old saying, “You can’t win for losing.”

There is no doubt the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, now called COVID-19, is having an impact on business activity around the globe.

Dude, where is my grocery store?

Here are some charts that speak to the volume of U.S. fruit and nut exports to China over the past five years.

What is the biggest change in packaging coming in the next five years?

I wanted to gather some vital statistics on blueberries, and this space is a good way to illustrate trends in fresh blueberry imports, along with other stats of interest on the still-rising fruit.

I got some feedback on a Feb. 3 blog post about tomatoes from Michael Schadler, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange.

2019 trade statistics are finally in.

If you would like to see a graphic representation of the growth of U.S. imports of avocados, check out this chart.

Here are newly released statistics on 2019 imports of Mexican tomatoes. Stay tuned for more charts in this space.

The tomato market remains tight, though prices have decreased compared with earlier January levels.

The early comments on the Trump administration’s plan to simplify school food rules are rolling in, and folks are testy.

Praise be and pass the fruit bowl.

A recent question I posed to the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Discussion Group deserves a blog post to recount.

Who is the 21st-century eater and what does he/she want?

Here is a quick look at U.S. exports and imports of fruits and nuts over the last ten years.

The Packer’s current poll question is this:

The last installment of our month-to-month review of the top produce stories of 2019 is at hand.

We have been reviewing (see previous posts here)  the top-performing produce stories of the year.

Previous posts in Fresh Talk have looked at top stories from January through August, this post will consider the top stories published by The Packer in September.

There are several ways of looking at “the biggest stories” of the year.

I have been looking at the month-to-month leading traffic generators among the news stories on The Packer’s website, and today’s Fresh Talk post considers the flaming hot news of July.

With this post, we are halfway through the year in reviewing some of the top fruit and vegetable news, both for The Packer and for the consumer press.

We have been reviewing The Packer’s most-viewed stories throughout the year, and you can find links to all of the previous posts on this topic here.

In previous posts in this space, I have reviewed top news items for each month on The Packer’s website. Find the rewind on traffic for January, February,  and March.

The saying goes that when March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.

More and more communities with few to no grocery stores are looking to require that small-box retailers such as dollar stores carry some fresh foods.

Looking at the month-to-month news items that resonated with readers this year, today I will review the top stories in February.

Looking back at 2019, what stories have resonated with readers of The Packer the most?

Taking the temperature of USMCA reaction, and it warm and fuzzy.

How popular can avocados get?

President Trump is great for the pollsters, sparking intense passions from his supporters and his opponents.

How much time do you spend slaving over a hot stove compared with inching through the fast-food drive-through lane for an extra value meal? 

Beyond the painful toll on those who have been stricken, the tragedy is that the association between romaine lettuce and a foodborne outbreak linked to the E. coli pathogen has become predictable.

How much longer will lettuce prices stay elevated?

The United States Department of Agriculture plan to eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is drawing tons of comments and criticism.

Can one of the great spiritual teachers illuminate the right attitude that fresh produce marketers should have with processed fruit and vegetable marketers?

U.S. avocado imports for the January through September period are way up this year.