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Monday, February 22, 2021
EUROPE

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Job Offers

Africa Fruit Export Sales Manager - South Africa

Grower - Philippines

Assistant technical manager

Food Safety and Quality Director - South Bend (IN) USA

Commercial Manager - United Kingdom or The Netherlands

Tomato Grower, Chapais - Canada

Director of UbiGro Sales - California, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada USA

UbiGro Sales Representative - California, USA

Greenhouse Crop Specialist - Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Greenhouse Product Development Specialist - Leamington (Ontario) Canada

José Enrique Sanz, manager of the PGI Cítricos Valencianos: "The Valencian citrus sector should look after the fruit's origin"

High demand for citrus, rising prices and growing interest in certification of origin labels

The Spanish citrus campaign has taken an important turn in its second half, with price rises recorded both in the field and in the markets. The PGI Cítricos Valencianos is…

Job Offers:

Africa Fruit Export Sales Manager - South Africa

Michiel Minnaar: "Successful test with Otflow on mangos from Peru to Europe"

Cold weather puts Otflow to the test

Last week, Otflow, in collaboration with a leading exotics exporter, conducted a test with Otflow, a special eleven-meter-long floor-cover made from recycled and…

Start of the cucumber harvest in Knoblauchsland

"Cucumber prices will inevitably rise due to CO2 tax"

In the Franconian Knoblauchsland, this year's cucumber harvest is almost getting started. Vegetable farmer Willi Sippel is in the process of harvesting the first domestic…

Guy Claessens, Fruit Vandepoel, Belgium

“The arrival of the first French asparagus and strawberries heralds the start of spring”

Spring has sprung at Fruit Vandepoel in Brussels, Belgium. "We're ushering in the season with great new products, such as French green asparagus. These are a good alternative…

In particular from North America and Europe

High demand for Argentinian pears this season

Argentina’s pear harvest started with normal timing between weeks two and three this season. The season always kicks off with the Williams Bartlett pear, which is the main…

SmartPac

Protective packaging for small fruits and more

Intensive productions require particular attention to safeguard them, especially if we are talking about small fruits such as blueberries. Packaging is essential as, if…

Chinese grape market exceptionally fastidious this season

South African grapes: “It’s not a vintage year”

There’s just not been strong demand from any market in the Far East for table grapes, traders say, and in China they’re hoping the many containers of Chilean cherries that…

Pieter Gabriëls on new Bejo/DGS seed shallot Innovator:

"Shallots should not be mistaken for small onions"

After years of breeding work, Bejo and De Groot & Slot are presenting a seed shallot with high resistance to downy mildew on the market. The variety called Innovator is the…

Cuadraspania launches fresh ready-to-eat violet artichoke hearts

"In two weeks, we lost 50% of the artichoke production"

The artichoke campaign goes on in southeastern Spain following the impact on the productions of the exceptional low temperatures that were recorded in January due to storm…

Ernst Slabbekoorn, frostfans.eu, the Netherlands

"Mobile night frost machine is quiet and protects crops well against night frost”

In recent years, between March and May, many European growers have had to increasingly deal with night frost. Since last year, Swift International has been distributing mobile…

Special Asia

New appreciation for Kyoto’s heirloom vegetables

Vegetables unique to the Kyoto area are often called Kyo-yasai. One factor that makes Kyo-yasai unique is their size. They are usually quite large. Many are…

Global Focus Organics

Dreamtime.com

Romanian consumers spend RON650 million on organic food yearly

Romanian consumers spend about 650 million lei (€137 mln) on organic food (or 1.2% of the entire spending on food in the country), ZF has calculated from the data supplied by…

Good moment for mushrooms

The market is responding well and there is demand from wholesalers, so the season seems positive for most producer companies. Giampaolo Evangelisti from Fungo Cesena stresses…

Maurits van de Water (Van de Water Fruit Group) on Burg MachineFabriek installations

"Water purification installation always worth it for more than ten channels"

The busiest weeks for sorting Sweet Sensation pears have arrived at Van de Water Fruit Group in Waalwijk. The fruit is sorted on a 2x four-track machine from Perfect with…

Interview with Marcello Candelori, Purchasing Director at Lidl Italy

Lidl Italy focuses more and more on regional products

How did a big chain like Lidl deal with the consequences of Covid-19 and what was the impact on the fruit and vegetable department? Marcello Candelori, Purchasing Director at…

Bogdány Petrol Ltd.

Protecting the orchards with anti-frost candles

Bogdány Petrol is producing special, paraffin based wax and oil products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, wood, metal, cable, printing and fertilizer industries world-wide.…

FruitHydroSinni: 'We turned a problem into a business opportunity'

Patent for hydroponic cultivation now available to all growers

The Italian company FruitHydroSinni, which specialises in growing and marketing crops obtained from hydroponic and aeroponic systems, is sharing its latest innovation with…

Corné van Liere, of ISM Machinery:

"We have everything in-house to design and engineer custom fresh produce processing and packaging lines"

In the three years that the firm ISM Machinery has been established in its new business premises on the De Poel industrial estate in Goes, the company has undergone…

GOCITRUS

Markers revolutionize the procurement, registration, nurseries, and varietal identification of the citrus sector

The term PCR, which is widely used nowadays to refer to the most reliable diagnostic method to detect COVID-19, is based on the same technology that is drastically changing…

Free stock of onions 10% lower than multiple year average

In the past week, VTA has had the second stock inventory for onions carried out among its members for the 2020 - 2021 season. The main conclusions at the moment are: The…

Mercabarna's wholesalers plan to distribute 11.5 million units this season

"Calçot has established itself as one more seasonal vegetable in domestic consumption"

The wholesalers of Mercabarna's Central Fruit and Vegetable Market, which specialize in selling calçots, estimate that they could sell some 11,500,000 units of calçots this…

AHDB

Potato Weekly - 19 February 2021

'This week’s free-buy packing trade reported as both slow and low in volume'

Demand across the week is described as lacklustre, with the majority of movement on contract. The government roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions, due 22 February, is…

Cambridgeshire, UK

Carrot grower Alan Bartlett & Sons to quit crop in June

The carrot grower and processor Alan Bartlett & Sons from Cambridgeshire has made the “extremely difficult decision” to close its business in June this year,…

William Nannes, J.P. Beemsterboer Food Traders, the Netherlands:

Farmers' and bale prices don't match at all"

The Dutch onion market is currently split. "Demand isn't great, but prices are firmly set. Farmers' and bale prices don't match at all. Much is based on the…

The evolution of contract prices is not in line with the evolution of production costs

Potatoes: Lower contract prices and higher productions costs for growers

Processor contract prices for the coming season have been published in recent weeks. Prices for delivery ex field and October-November are generally lower -…

Spike in German household fruit and vegetables buying

In Europe, many people are home during the lockdown, so they all have to eat there. That includes Germany, where people bought as much as 14% more fresh…

Research reveals opportunity for UK blueberries

Retail analysis carried out by Delytics Ltd in collaboration with James Hutton Ltd has identified a premium branding opportunity for blueberries in the UK. The analysis…

Law on the indication of origin applies to all

Amazon must also indicate origins of fruit and vegetables

Every local supermarket must inform its customers where the fruit and vegetables on its shelves have come from. But this is not possible with online delivery,…

Ministry of Health - Czech Republic

Produce checks largely compliant in Czech Republic

According to data published by the Ministry of Health in the Czech Republic, just 10 of almost 800 samples taken during food safety inspections were…

Throughput recovers in second half year at the fully operational port of Rotterdam

Europe's largest port has been operating 24/7 during 2020. Precisely in this corona year, when society at large has been severely disrupted, the port of Rotterdam has…

523 million kilos for 799 million euro

Spain imported a record number of Moroccan fruits and vegetables in 2020

Spanish purchases of Moroccan fruit and vegetables have increased by 248.27% in the last ten years. According to data from Hortoinfo based on information from…

Cork: Cocaine valued at €12 million found in fruit container

Gardaí and Revenue customs officers have made one of the biggest drug seizures in the Irish Republic for years as cocaine valued at €12.04 million was…

Russian Federation: Potatoes and vegetables significantly more expensive

For the first five weeks of 2021, the average price for potatoes increased by 40% in annual terms in Russia. The produce went from 30.9 rubles/kg ($0.42/kg)…

Citrus sector of Murcia and Alicante asking for "direct aid to producers"

As reported by sources from the citrus sector in the Spanish Region of Murcia and the province of Alicante in a statement, producers are receiving between 0.16…

Government and the sector defend Spain's status as "the garden of Europe"

With more than 30 million tons produced per year, which represents 18,000 million Euro in turnover, Spain is the leading producer of fruit and vegetables in…

Researchers from Alicante offer a glimmer of hope to end "Xylella fastidiosa"

The 'Research and implementation of microbiological strategies to combat the growth of Xylella fastidiosa in the Valencian Community' project, which is being…

AHDB

December trade round-up: Potatoes

Seed exports stayed strong in December ahead of EU-exit

The latest HMRC trade data covers up to December 2020, the end of the transition period. Seed exports continued to be strong, compared to previous seasons. Fresh exports, in…

Apple exports are declining

Ukrainian growers raised prices for quality apples

There is a significant downward trend in apple exports from Ukraine for the second season in a row both in terms of quantity. Ukrainian market operators,…

Spanish Minister Planas: Everything is ready for exports to UK to function normally

Spain’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, emphasized that the Brexit agreement means avoiding tariffs on Spanish agricultural exports…

Perthshire potato packaging plant experiences Covid-19 outbreak

Several employees of the Perthshire Potato Packing Plant tested positive for Covid-19. Branston staff in Abernethy were confirmed to be infected with the virus…

UK: Eating more fruits and vegetables is the top priority for healthy shoppers

According to some, the pandemic be prompting a fresh focus on fruit and vegetables. Indeed, health remains high on the list of shopper priorities. Nearly nine…

UK: Cocaine worth £184 million found in banana boxes from Colombia

A shipment of cocaine weighing 2,3 tons with an estimated value of £184 million has been found inside a consignment of bananas that arrived in the UK from Colombia. The…

Kuehne+Nagel

Kuehne+Nagel acquires Asian logistics provider Apex International Corporation

Kuehne+Nagel enters into a binding agreement to acquire Apex International Corporation (“Apex”), one of Asia’s leading freight forwarders, especially in the transpacific and…

Covid vaccine optimism

Pound passes $1.40 for first time in almost three years

Last Friday, the English pound passed US$1.40 for the first time in nearly three years. Shortly after 1.30pm, the pound was up 0.4% on the day at $1.4024 but…

UK simplified procedure value rates for fresh fruit and vegetables

Use simplified procedure value rates for fresh fruit and vegetable goods that you import.If you import whole fruit or vegetables into the UK on a consignment…

Rectification grape update Vanguard International

This past Wednesday, Vanguard International published an update on the grape market in the southern hemisphere. One of the key growing countries, Peru, was…

Horticulture Statistics Handbook

Value growth in key fruit sectors helps push Australian horticulture value over $15billion

Continued growth in the apple and berry sectors has helped the Australian horticulture industry pass the $15billion value milestone, according to the latest data in the…

Texas logistics stabilize, crop damage still being assessed

While the weather in Texas is currently back up to comfortable levels, the cold snap of last week has caused many challenges for the produce industry. Not only are growers…

New York State

As is mirrored in the national crop, New York State is down in apple supplies. “New York State is down in some varieties—we’re going to have to manage some varieties to go…

Bonduelle Amérique du Nord inc.

Another option for consumers who prefer healthy, natural foods

Bonduelle launches new line of vegetables tested for pesticide residues

A pioneer in sustainable agriculture and plant-based food, Bonduelle Group is launching a new line of frozen vegetables that are tested for pesticide residues. Sold under the…

First edition of Morocco Berry Conference to take place on 7 and 8 April

The first Edition of the Morocco Berry Conference gathered more than 550 delegates from around 25 countries. It was a great occasion to learn, meet, interact,…

Azerbaijan will export 88,232 tons of apples to Russia in 2021

According to forecasts of the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, the volume of apples that is forecast to be exported from Azerbaijan to Russia in 2021 will amount…

Maharashtra, India

Seven years of research results in new banana variety

After seven years of research, the Jalgaon Banana Research Centre (BRC) -under the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV)- has come up with a new kind of…

Kenyan governors agree to export from Eldoret airport

Governors in Kenya's north Rift have agreed to start exporting fresh produce from the Eldoret International Airport next month. Since its establishment 25…

Several Nepalese orange harvests cut in half due to pests

Orange growers in Karnali are very distressed because their harvests are slashed due to a pest attack during the flowering period. Experts attribute the pest…

Minister Fakhar thanks the Dutch government for its support to farmers' capacity building

Last Friday, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam said he appreciated the support of the Dutch government in building the…

Tunis has its local edible flower grower

Sonia Ibidhi, a 42-year-old former Tunisian journalist, changed her life and decided to settle in Tabarka (north-western Tunisia) to produce edible flowers, a…

Retail

Dreamstime

Navis Capital Partners is exploring a sale of The Food Purveyor

Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are to merge their e-commerce activities in Germany

Majid Al Futtaim taps IBM blockchain for food traceability at Carrefour storesCarrefour will use blockchain to enable food traceability across the supply chain. Majid Al…

FreshPlaza Funny

Surprise for conductor