Produce Crops
Onion House, LLC is a grower-shipper, shipping mostly Mexican and Texas onions. The company has about 500 acres of onions in the Rio Grande Valley. The Texas onion season will begin a few weeks later than usual.
The future of the onion marketing order is our biggest concern right now. The season is upon us. The South Texas onion marketing order is supposed to start March 1.
COVID disrupted the world supply chain. Add in labor and truck shortages, inflation and a freeze last year for Texas onion growers, and it’s hard to pin down which challenge was greater.
As a new entrant in the North American market, Favorita has been focused on reaching out to customers in the U.S. and Canada, said Dionysios (Dennis) Christou, director of the U.S. Division for Favorita USA Corp.
Organics Unlimited is a family-owned, woman-led banana wholesaler of organic, fairly traded bananas with growing operations in Mexico and Ecuador, said Daniella Velazquez de Leon, general manager of the company.
It is crucial for retailers to offer fair trade bananas to consumers, said Kim Chackal, director of sales and marketing at Quebec-based Equifruit, Inc.
Bananas, the well-loved yellow tropical fruit that tops per-capita consumption charts, again receives top billing in 2022.
Higher per-unit banana selling prices in 2021 helped Coral Gables, Fla.-based Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., increase annual profits compared with 2020.
West Bridgewater, Mass.-based Oke USA Fruit Co. is running a campaign called “Not All Bananas Are Created Equal.”
Florida strawberry production for Gem Pack Berries will continue strong into spring, said Michelle Deleissegues, director of marketing for the Irvine, Calif.-based company.
Southeast U.S. blueberry shipments showed mixed trends in 2021, USDA data shows.
Central Florida blueberry fields for Dundee-based Florida Classic Growers Inc. should start harvest the last week of March, said Al Finch, president.
Potatoes ranked only behind bananas among fresh produce items most frequently purchased, according to The Packer’s 2022 Fresh Trends survey.
2021 U.S. fresh potato exports soared 13% in value and 19% in volume compared with 2020, USDA numbers say.
Watsonville, Calif.-based Well-Pict Berries expects good strawberry production from Florida in the next two months, said Jim Grabowski, director of marketing.
New Zealand’s 2022 apple season is underway, with T&G Global harvesting the first of this season’s apples, according to a news release.
Some Red River Valley potato marketers could finish a little earlier than usual this year, said Ted Kreis, marketing and communications director for the Northern Great Plains Potato Growers Association.
Mexican asparagus exporters in Caborca, Sonora, say harsh weather in January and February has resulted in substantially lower-than-expected yields so far this season.
California’s 2022 avocado crop is expected to be about 15% larger than last year’s, and prices likely will be higher, too.
Joe’s Premium is known for growing radicchio, however they have added commodities that are connected to their Italian heritage. One of these commodities is cardone, a thistle that is related to the artichoke.
With domestic Honeycrisp supply light, imports from the Southern Hemisphere will soon give retailers more volume to promote, according to Don Roper, vice president of sales and marketing, Honeybear Brands.
The Vidalia onion grower is partnering with the Gary Sinise Foundation in support of veterans, first responders.
There are reasons for optimism and reasons for caution in the lemon outlook for marketers, but optimism has the upper hand, according to a new report from Rabobank.
U.S. apple inventories on March 1 totaled 95.8 million 42-pound cartons, 0.8% more than a year ago and 2.2% below the five-year average for that date.
As Florida peach season approaches, Florida Classic Growers shares tips for maximizing merchandising and display of the stone fruit.
The VOC and Georgia Department of Agriculture have announced April 12 as the official 2022 pack date for Vidalia onions this season. To learn more, The Packer recently chatted with VOC Chairman Cliff Riner.
A new, smaller item just began shipping in February from an established shipper. Tanimura and Antle added a new produce item to its recently refreshed artisan line — baby iceberg lettuce.
U.S. ag exports to Mexico busted all-time records in 2021. “A recovery from 2020 pandemic lockdowns and high global commodity prices helped values, as well as quantity, increase in 2021,” the USDA reports.
Recent stories in major media outlets such as Today and Parade remind consumers that potatoes are “loaded with nutrients like vitamin C, potassium and B6 and fiber” are “uber-healthy.”
After almost a century of business Ocean Mist Farms branched out into a new product. The company’s purple artichoke is now in its third harvest and doing well.