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La Trentina offers more apples of top quality

During the 2015 harvest, the italian consortium La Trentina registered a 10% increase in tonnage compared to 2014.

During the 2015 harvest, the Italian consortium La Trentina registered a 10% increase in tonnage compared to 2014. “As of today, the results show that we’re heading in the right direction” said the general director, Simone Pilati. Not to mention that such positive results have taken place against a negative European background with a general decrease of 5%.

This outcome makes La Trentina very proud, as does the professionalism and experience of its associates and the particularly suitable soil where they operate in Trentino Alto Adige, in the north of Italy, which allows them to guarantee an excellent quality standard.

“Once again, the apples of La Trentina are top for quality: flavour, size and good colour” said Pilati. Future prospects entail applying the group´s strategy once again to diversifying the distribution channels, leveraging the wide range of action of the Consortium: 50% of production will be concentrated on the Italian market, while the remaining half will be earmarked for foreign countries such as Spain, North Africa or the Middle East, destinations that have become increasingly important from a strategic point of view.

La Trentina is now ready for the 13th Fruit Logistica. “The Berlin fair is an unmissable event for us,” said Simone Pilati, who underlined the international vocation of the Consortium. The event will be a strategic occasion to meet both new and well-established partners from over 40 foreign destinations where the group exports its fruits, and also to decide part of the annual commercial plan.

The Consortium awaits sector operators at the fair so they can get to know its wide variety of products: Golden Delicious, Gala, Red Delicious, Grany Smith, Morgenduft and Fuji. 

Consorzio La Trentina at Fruit Logistica 2016: Hall 2.2 – Stand D-02

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Key role for microbial products

Industry leader Koppert explain how microorganisms are a solution in soft fruit production.

Worldwide production of products such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and other berries is on the rise. Growers who are expanding and want to boost production and eliminate cultivation risks often turn to natural solutions with key industry suppliers such as Koppert Biological Systems. The firm has now added microbial products to its range of products and they are looking very promising. According to the company, they are essential if a robust cultivation system is desired. Koppert confirms that bumblebees and beneficial insects are in great demand in soft fruit production worldwide to improve crop sustainability.

Bees, beneficial insects, and microbiology at Koppert

The major investments and increasing capital intensity mean that growers want to avoid risks as far as possible. At the same time, they are coming under pressure as the range of chemical products available shrinks and these products are becoming less effective. In addition, buyers want products that are residue-free. More and more growers are therefore looking for solutions in integrated or even fully biological cultivation methods. Koppert Biological Systems provides these solutions. The market leader in improving crop sustainability has a full range of products available, offering bumblebees for pollination, natural enemies to combat pests, and biostimulants (microbial products and natural substances) that support and strengthen the plant. Koppert’s bumblebees (products such as Natupol, Tripol, and Natupol Booster) have been best-sellers in the fruit cultivation sector for years. This also applies to beneficial insects such as Swirski-Mite, Macro-Mite, Spical, and Limonica. These are natural enemies that tackle pests such as thrips, spider mite, and whitefly effectively in soft fruit crops. In the range of microbial products (produced from beneficial fungi and bacteria), Trianum and Linafer-P head the list. ProParva and Fortafol are biostimulants made from natural substances. These products have a beneficial and useful function for the plant, both above and below the soil surface. They strengthen the root system and plant and promote the absorption of nutrients, plant growth and resistance to disease or pests, as well as other stress factors such as drought.

Sales & Marketing Director Peter Maes argues that microbial products offer great promise for the future. He points out that these products have already achieved an important market position in many crops. ‘Because they strengthen crops so effectively, they are very useful – even essential – in countries and regions where cultivation conditions are less than optimum. Thanks to these products, the crops grow stronger and more resilient towards soil diseases, leaf and fruit diseases, and also against pests. Microbials play a key role in soft fruit production.’

Large investments

Maes emphasises that it is not just the high quality of Koppert products that makes the difference. ‘The focus is on natural, often living products. Growers need to learn how to work with these. That’s why we also advise growers and offer them intensive guidance. This helps create a robust, integrated system, and the success of the crop becomes significantly more certain. This is exactly what our customers want.’ To maintain expertise at the highest level, Koppert regularly consults with large international producers and trading companies. As Maes explains, ‘This way, we keep abreast of cultivation issues and developments, and the current wishes of the retail sector and the consumer. This is all valuable input for our researchers, product developers and consultants. 

Koppert at Fruit Logistica 2016, Berlin: Hall 1.2 – stand D-08

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BayWa now also a supplier of exotic fruit

BayWa AG aims to expand its portfolio in the growth market for exotic speciality fruits, particularly in the 'ready-to-eat' segment, with its plan to buy a majority share of Dutch exotic fruit and vegetable supplier TFC Holland B.V.

BayWa AG aims to expand its portfolio in the growth market for exotic speciality fruits, particularly in the ‘ready-to-eat‘ segment, with its plan to buy a majority share of Dutch exotic fruit and vegetable supplier TFC Holland B.V.

Subject to approval by antitrust authorities, the Munich-based trading and services company will pay €28.7 million for a 68.4% stake in De Lier-based TFC, BayWa said in a February 2 press release.

Active in the sectors of agriculture, construction and energy supply, BayWa said the move would be an important step in its international growth strategy in agriculture and strengthen its position as a leading international supplier of exotic and pome fruit.

“TFC has long-standing international trade relations in all procurement markets for exotic fruits – mainly for avocado, mango, ginger and citrus fruits, as well as with the European food retail industry,” BayWa said.

“The European market for exotic fruits has been on the rise for several years. TFC’s product range of appealing specialities is an excellent complement to our existing pome fruit business,” said BayWa AG CEO Klaus Josef Lutz.

“For the European food retail industry we are gaining significance for future cooperation as a result of this majority stake.”

Thanks to its apple business, BayWa AG is already one of the largest suppliers of pome fruit in international trade. In the global fruit business, the BayWa Group traded around 200,000 tons of dessert pome fruit in 2014. The fruit business is one of the strongest internationally focused business areas within the BayWa Group.

“In Germany, BayWa is a leading supplier to the German food retail industry and the largest single marketer for German dessert pome fruit and the largest supplier for pome fruit from biological contract farming.”

source: http://www.baywa.com/en/press/press_releases/group/news/article/baywa-becomes-supplier-of-exotic-fruits/

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Better market access to India for EU apple exports

apple flick efd

As of late January, European producers can get their apples into the Indian market through the sea ports and airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Cochin, as well as the airport in Delhi. The importation of apples is also allowed through India’s land borders, according to a statement by the European Commission.

It said that previously, all access points in India had been closed to apples imports since September 2015 with the exception of one port.

EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan welcomed the news, saying the improved access to the Indian market for EU apple exports “represents another positive step in finding alternative markets for EU producers, in light of the ongoing difficult market situation. Our efforts to break down any barriers to our agricultural exports and to open markets to our producers are ongoing, as part of the diplomatic offensive we are leading in 2016.”

Huge potential of Indian market

While EU exports of apples to India amounted to only about 7,000 tons in 2014, mainly from Italy, France and Belgium, provisional figures for 2015 show a considerable increase to around 11,000 tons.

The commission said India has the potential to absorb a higher share of EU exports given its moderate domestic apple production (around 1.5 million tons in 2013, similar to Italy).

Amid the Russian embargo on EU agri-food products, Poland reached an agreement with India with the first Polish apples entering the market in April 2015, and efforts by other European producers to seek alternative markets continue, “with the support of Member States and the European Commission,” it said.

source: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/newsroom/250_en.htm

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Rush of investment in Egypt’s retail sector

There’s a significant surge of investment in Egypt’s retail sector as the shopping habits of the country’s consumers’ increasingly move towards modern retail.

The shopping habits of Egyptian consumers are increasingly shifting towards the modern retail sector, resulting in a significant surge of investment in this sector, reports the USDA.

In its report ‘Nile Nuggets for January 2016’, it says the Al-Bustan Real Estate Development Company will invest LE (Egyptian pounds) 3 billion to build four new “HyperOne” branches in New Cairo, Shorouk City, Badr City and Assiut.

Also, the Fathalla Gomla Market Group will invest LE 70 million to establish a 10,000 m2 supermarket in Borg El Arab.

Furthermoe, UAE- based Spinneys is said to be “aggressively expanding” with plans to open 23 new branches in the Delta and Upper Egypt governorates in the next two years with a total investment of LE 5 billion. [$1 = 7.83 LE]

According to the report, the company currently owns six branches in Cairo, the Red Sea, and Qena and retail manager Mahmoud Meawad has stated that Spinney’s has the goal of achieving 35% market share in Egypt’s retail market.

Source: USDA, Nile Nuggets for January 2016
Image by: Alma E. Guinness [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

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Port of Barcelona provides integrated logistics

The Port of Barcelona, the Mercabarna wholesale market and the Italian shipping company Grimaldi Lines will be taking part jointly in Fruit Logistica 2016, in Pavilion 10.2 - stand B-04.

The Catalan port will be participating in Fruit Logistica with a joint stand with Mercabarna and Grimaldi Lines.

Under the slogan “Integrated Trade & Supply Chain”, the Port of Barcelona and its partners, Grimaldi Lines and Mercabarna, will be present for the third year in a row at the fair in Berlin with a range of integrated logistics that is unique in the region.

Their logistics have complete connectivity, supply and distribution solutions to meet the needs of importers and exporters, as well as logistics operators specialising in fresh produce.

The collaboration between these three major players enables them to offer a combination of the biggest supply and variety of fruit and vegetables in Europe, which is currently in Mercabarna, together with logistics solutions adapted to fresh produce, allowing them to transport it with the utmost guarantees via the maritime services offered by the Port of Barcelona.

Among the services the Port of Barcelona will be promoting, the short sea shipping (SSS) lines are particularly noteworthy. Combined with road transport, these sea routes optimize logistics to the maximum for exports to Italy, the countries of Northern and Central Europe, and North Africa. Moreover, the regular container lines with major counterseason fruit source markets have been changed in recent years to improve transit time and make importers more competitive.

This advertorial appeared on page 63 of edition 141, Jan/Feb 2016, of Eurofresh Distribution magazine. Read that issue online here.

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Tango Fruits unveiling new business strategy at Fruit Logistica

Tango Fruits, the seedless mandarin brand launched by Eurosemillas in 2014, will be presenting the business strategy for Europe for its Tango variety (registered in Spain as Tang Gold) at Fruit Logistica.

Tango Fruits, the seedless mandarin brand launched by Eurosemillas in 2014, will be presenting the business strategy for Europe for its Tango variety (registered in Spain as Tang Gold) at Fruit Logistica. The citrus fruit obtained by the University of California, Riverside, but exploited beyond the US by the Spanish firm, is already the benchmark protected late variety in California, and also in the main cultivation areas in South America and even South Africa.

The batches imported from the Southern Hemisphere offseason last summer already carried the variety’s new certification label promoted by the Spanish company. A control system is used to protect the licence holders’ rights, which includes molecular markers that enable the variety to be identified at any point in the chain from the source to the destination.

The harvests that are beginning to appear in the main citrus-producing countries in the Mediterranean basin, lead by Spain, will also be sold this year with the label. Eurosemillas has also reached an agreement with the top EU citrus operator in the European Union, AMC-Fresh (from the Antonio Muñoz Company group), to place their brand and their mandarin on the shelves of the main continental distribution companies. This alliance soon will be joined by others with leading labels. 

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Trecoop to present Smart Fresh at Fruit Logistica

Trecoop’s Smart Fresh technology optimises the cold chain.

The latest investments Trecoop has made at its specialist facility in Sudanell, in Catalonia, and its Smart Fresh technology for cold chain optimisation are the main new features that this second-tier Lleida cooperative will be promoting at this edition of Fruit Logistica.

The refrigeration technology – based on the rapid transfer into cold storage of the fruit coming in from the fields so that it is prepared in perfect conditions – allows Trecoop to optimise the cold chain. It is backed up by the dynamic atmosphere chambers for long-term preservation installed by the cooperative at its Montoliu packaging facility, specialising in pears. Despite the bad weather that undermined this year’s harvest by more than 30%, Trecoop considers distant markets such as Brazil consolidated and is now putting together strategies to reach South Africa and the Middle East in the coming campaign.

The cooperative, the product of a merger of the co-ops from Montoliu de Lleida and Sudanell, has doubled its daily production capacity to almost 500 tons after remodelling its packaging centres. The growth in hectares, along with new irrigation works in the area, has helped Trecoop, which has 100 members, go from just over 1,000 ha to 1,500 ha in the last five years.

This progress prompted a restructure of its the work centres, with a view to specialising in the company’s two flagship products: pears, in Montoliu, and both round and flat stone fruit in Sudanell. With one of the largest commercial catalogues of pears (15,000 tons), the main varieties in production include the Conference, Alejandrina, Williams and Limonera.

Trecoop also produces 15,000 tons of stone fruit each season, mainly peaches, nectarines, paraguayos and flat nectarines.

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US bans certain citrus imports from Morocco over medfly risk

Medfly (Ceratitis capitata) is not known to be established in the US, except for Hawaii, and would pose a serious threat to US agriculture.

Detections of live Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies) on cold-treated clementines from Morocco has led to a ban on import of tangerines, clementines, mandarins (Citrus reticulata), and sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis) from that country into the US with effect from February 8, the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) has announced.

The ban will apply until APHIS and Morocco’s national plant protection organisation investigate and take “necessary actions to mitigate the pest risk.” 

APHIS said that prior to the Federal Order prohibiting such imports, tangerine, clementine, mandarin, and sweet orange fruit could be imported into the US if subjected to cold treatment and inspection upon arrival. “However, on January 13, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections at the port of entry in Philadelphia detected live medfly larvae on commercial consignments of cold-treated clementines (Citrus reticulata) from Morocco.

Image of medfly (Ceratitis capitata) larva: by Daniel Feliciano, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

The agency said it is also prohibiting “overland in-bond transit movements of tangerine, clementine, mandarin, and sweet orange fruit south of 39° latitude and west of 104° longitude in the US. These prohibitions apply to all importation and movement, including commercial and non-commercial cargo, passenger baggage, international mail, and express courier shipments.”

According to the Federal Order, medfly (Ceratitis capitata) is not known to be established in the US, except for Hawaii, and would pose a serious threat to US agriculture.

Source: APHIS Prohibits Importation of Certain Citrus Fruit from Morocco due to Mediterranean Fruit Fly

Image of a female Mediterranean fruit-fly (Ceratitis capitata).: By Alvesgaspar under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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Peru’s booming grape exports

Attractive prices, numerous overseas market opportunities and a major ramp up in production are behind the major boost in Peru’s grape exports.

Peru’s grape exports have skyrocketed in the past decade, going from practically non-existent in the year 2000 to about 280,000 tons last year, reports the USDA Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN).

In a new report, GAIN says that grapes are now one of Peru’s main agricultural exports, totalling $646 million the 2014, up 43% on the previous year. They were also up 50% in volume to 267,270 tons.

It said this significant change has been driven by attractive prices and numerous overseas market opportunities, and a major boost in production as a result of new areas planted in Peru.

Peru’s main grape markets in 2014 were:

  • US 44,123 tons
  • Netherlands 41,908 tons
  • China 35,391 tons
  • Other important destinations: Hong Kong, Russia, the U.K.

Grape production in Peru

Grape production in Peru was estimated to reach 520,000 tons last year.

The central valleys along the coast (e.g., Ica, Lima) are where Peru’s grape growing is concentrated. However, new areas in the Piura and Lambayeque regions on the northern coast are rapidly developing. While the average grape yield in Peru was 20 tons/ha in 2014, yields in Piura were up to 34 tons/ha.

The country mostly grows Red Globe but other varieties include Crimson seedless, Flame seedless, Sugraone and Thompson seedless.

Climate challenges

Pests are one of the challenges Peru faces as it seeks to significantly increase its grape production. “Countries with colder climates do not struggle with pests such as nematodes, but due to Peru’s mild weather, this pest has become a problem,” the report says. However, in the northern region of Piura, warm temperatures permit up to two harvests per year, which helps offset the negative effects of pests. Also, Peruvian producers are working to develop more resistant varieties.

Another challenge for the industry is the potential impact of the forecasted severe El Niño. “The majority the growing areas are expected to face either flooding or droughts depending on their location. Without proper preventative measures by farmers and the government, the industry may experience losses in productivity which may take time to recuperate.”

Source: GAIN Report, Peru: Fresh Deciduous Fruit Annual (January 7, 2016)