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Thursday, January 14, 2021
AFRICA

Our team

Sander Bruins Slot
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Nichola McGregor
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Nick Peters
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Annika Durinck
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Job Offers

Junior Quality Control Technician

Regional Sales Manager - Root, Switzerland

Horticulture Specialist - Guelph (Ontario) Canada

Technical Director - Brussels, Belgium

Senior Maintenance Engineer - USA East coast greenhouse facility, location negotiable

Greenhouse Assistant - Abbotsford (BC) Canada

Technical Service Manager - remote, US based

Chief agronomic / Head grower

Chief Executive Officer

Greenhouse grower / production manager

Egyptian citrus season in full swing, Valencia starting shortly

“Issues in various markets mean we’ll have opportunities to reach new markets”

As it is the start of a new year, it is certain that most Egyptian fruit exporters have their hands full on the citrus season. The Valencia season is coming up, and every…

Job Offers:

Junior Quality Control Technician

Kuzi

Kuzi: AI-powered tool to combat locust swarms in Africa

A Kenyan-developed app makes use of satellite data, soil sensors, local weather patterns and machine learning to deliver predictions on where locusts migrate and breed. Recent…

Egyptian pumpkin season underway

“We’ve had an extraordinarily strong start to the pumpkin season”

Demand for pumpkins has increased steadily over the past few years, with consumers finding more ways to include pumpkins in their diet and recipes. The Egyptian pumpkin season…

Kenya specialist Stella Rasmussen on the current situation

"Closure of gastronomy sector and high air freight charges affect Kenyan fruit exports"

The Kenyan export industry was brought to a substantial standstill in the wake of the Corona pandemic. Due to the lack of air freight capacity and correspondingly high freight…

African Continental Free Trade Area agreement

AfCFTA in effect, but lifting non-tariff barriers is still problematic

On January 1, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect, eliminating tariffs on 90% of goods produced on the continent. All African…

Ethiopia increases focus on horticulture sector competitiveness

Ethiopia has a great opportunity for horticulture development due to its favorable climatic conditions, fertile soils, huge irrigation potential and affordable…

Zimbabwe: Nhimbe Fresh struggles with blueberry exports to China

Nhimbe Fresh Produce is Zimbabwe’s leading horticultural firm. Despite all its efforts, it is still struggling to navigate the web of bureaucracy to get an…

Does citrus fruit have a future in Spain?

Over the last 25 years, citrus production in Spain has grown by 50%, from 5,000,000 tons to the current 7,500,000 tons, but during that period there have been…

Madlen Miserius about Fruit Logistica Special Edition 2021

"This new concept of Fruit Logistica Special Edition is our plan B”

Normally in January the whole of the fresh produce sector would be preparing to head to Berlin for Fruit Logistica. This year everything is different and the Fruit Logistica…

Polina Valkanova, Special Fruit:

"Cold weather in Huelva has caused some delays in strawberry production"

"The Spanish strawberry season started earlier than usual. The first small volumes arrived at the end of November / beginning of December because more was planted in pots,”…

Special Latin America

Slimmer volumes on imported mango

Mango supplies in North America are currently light. “They’re coming in from Peru right now and early crop numbers are fairly light due to weather,” says Rick Nagelberg of…

Global Focus Grapes

Antar Douadi - BIOPAC

"Stored at 0 degrees we can achieve up to 100 days shelf life, depending on varieties,"

There are various options available on the market to extend the shelf life and keep table grapes fresh. One company has combined two methods and can store grapes in very good…

Low volumes predicted for March

Yellow dragon fruit volume to increase in February

The yellow dragon fruit from Palora, Ecuador, has multiple seasonal peaks throughout the year. Currently, the volumes are low, but once February arrives the volumes will…

Howard Hansen - Hansen Orchards

Tasmanian cherry harvest is going really well so far

The Tasmanian cherry harvest is going really well so far at Hansen Orchards with a full crop and good packouts. “We have harvested around 25% of the crop so far,” explains…

Kuku International Packaging

New plastic-free crate cover

Kuku International Packaging, a company located in Palata Pepoli (BO) and specializing in flexible packaging, has introduced a new crate cover made up of natural elements (95%…

A productive year and a quite good demand

It promises to be a good spring for the mushroom sector

"The year 2021 has not started badly for the mushroom sector and an increase in demand is expected by spring, close to the Easter vacations. Yields have been promising so far.…

European demand for Italian clementines on the up after frost hits Spain

A positive start of the week for a few clementine traders after a few difficult days when prices and consumption were really low. "We have noticed an increase in orders from…

Despite foodservice closures, lettuce sees consistent demand

Lettuce is currently being grown and shipped from the Imperial Valley, Yuma and Coachella districts. For Coastline Family Farms, whose winter headquarters are in Brawley, CA,…

NSW DPI aiming to strengthen the future of agriculture planning through a proposed land use strategy

The New South Wales Agriculture Commissioner is seeking feedback from farmers and horticulture industry members, after releasing an options paper to improve planning outcomes…

Gines Navarro, from Agridemur:

"There will be a limited supply of lettuce throughout January"

Last week's rains, low temperatures, and frosts in Murcia have limited the supply and increased the prices of lettuce and leafy vegetables. "We started the year with temperatures…

PMA virtual town hall

How to build a culture of inclusivity in the workplace

This week’s virtual town hall discussed inclusive leadership, and how to leverage diversity and inclusion in your business for success. Doug Bohr, PMA’s Executive Director of…

International demand for special solutions for kosher washing

There are already several washing lines in use around the world that are specially adapted to the requirements of kosher washing. An additional washing line is now being…

Sennder raises $160m to accelerate digitalization of European trucking and drive expansion

Sennder, a digital road freight forwarder, today announced that it has raised $160m in Series D financing, surpassing a $1bn valuation. New investors led the round, which…

Robots and new technology in the Japanese food industry

The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) and other bodies have jointly developed the prototype of a robot that automatically harvests…

Bejo/De Groot en Slot introduces the Innovator

First Downy mildew resistant seed shallot on the market

Dutch companies, Bejo/De Groot en Slot, can now introduce the first Downy mildew resistant seed shallot - the Innovator. This is after years of breeding. This hybrid variety…

Jan 22, free CASCADE webinar

How to adapt light in raspberry cultivation to increase yields?

CASCADE, a leading French technology company specialized in the development of formulations for different types of macro tunnel covers with unique light control…

US retail sales report

2020: A year like no other for the produce department

November and December sales were dominated by the holidays along with the consumers’ response to rapidly rising new Covid-19 cases across many states. Some states and cities…

Eight-week organic blueberry storage trial shows positive results

RipeLocker has completed a trial in which its containers held freshly harvested organic blueberries in pristine condition for eight weeks. In the trial, the company used six…

Tips & tricks: How to ripen avocados using an air fryer

An Australian woman has proved how versatile an air fryer can be, using it to help turn a hard avocado into a ripe one. On the Facebook page Air Fryer Recipes…

Fruit labelled 'inferior'

Australian cherries under fire from Chinese state media

Australian cherries have been designated as ‘inferior’ by Chinese state media. They are the most recent Australian export to be targeted by Beijing, with the…

Lenneke Pors-Schot

Romania produced slightly over 2 million tons of potatoes in 2020

In 2020, Romania's potato production exceeded the 2 million tons, but was 21% smaller than in the previous year, when 2.62 million tons were harvested,…

Daan Sturm

Onion acreage in Russia reduced by 26% in ten years

According to Rosstat, in 2019, the acreage devoted to onion cultivation in Russia stood at 59.5 thousand hectares; 3.7% less than in 2018. Compared to 2010,…

Prices of lettuce, broccoli, courgettes, peppers and aubergines increasing due to supply problems

Storm Filomena caused €8.4 million worth of damage to crops in Murcia Region

Although Murcia missed the worst of Storm Filomena, there was still significant damage caused to leaf crops, particularly in the 'Alto Guadalentin" area. This…

Ahern Agribusiness is acquired by an Israeli investment group

Ahern Agribusiness, Inc., the main vegetable seed distribution company in Mexico and Central America, announced that it had been acquired by an Israeli…

Maersk, freight forwarders and shippers adapt to Damco dissolution

For global shipping, the new year without one of the regular players. After Maersk announced in September it would dissolve the Damco freight forwarder brand by the end of…

Retail

Dreamstime

Just Eat Takeaway delivered almost 180mln meals in Q4

Tesco: Buoyant Christmas trading

Sweden: ICA posts lfl sales growth of 6.6% in December 2020Swedish retailer ICA Gruppen has reported a like-for-like sales growth of 6.6% across its stores in December 2020.…

FreshPlaza Funny

Hula hooping