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Chiquita Confirms Merger with Cutrale-Safra

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In a historic deal for Latin America, Brazil’s Cutrale and Safra families have today succeeded in their acquisition of US banana firm Chiquita.

The announcement came after Chiquita’s shareholders voted on Friday against a proposed merger with Irish rival Fyffes which would have created the world’s largest banana company.

At US$14.50 a share, Cutrale-Safra will pay about US$1.3 billion for control of the company, including the assumption of Chiquita’s net debt.

Chiquita said in a statement that the deal “combines Chiquita, one of the leading fresh produce companies, with Cutrale Group, one of the world’s most highly regarded agribusiness and juice companies, and the Safra Group, a leading global financial services firm with a strong track record of successful investments.”

With annual revenues of more than $3 billion, Chiquita employs approximately 20,000 people and has operations in nearly 70 countries worldwide.

The Chiquita statement can be read here.

 
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Consumers ‘Taste the Difference’ with Coop Trading

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Nordic leader’s market share remains unchanged with 32% across the four Nordic countries

The entire fruit and vegetable category of Nordic retail leader Coop Trading is sourced by its division in Copenhagen, (Denmark) and Valencia (Spain). “We handle all the sourcing, agreements, labelling and quality assurances for imported items coming from Europe and overseas,” explained Anders Lind, category manager of Coop Trading’s fruit and vegetables department.

Lind believes demand for more flavourful fruit varieties is one of the reasons sales of Coop Trading’s own ‘Taste the Difference’ (Smak forskjellen) brand – covering produce including Palermo peppers and Datterino tomatoes – have soared in the Danish and Norwegian stores in which it is distributed.

The group commands a 46% market share in Finland, with the purchasing division SOK and several chains, namely Prisma, S Markets, Sale, Alepa and ABC service stations. In Denmark, it holds a 37% market share with its different chains, including Kvickly, SuperBrugsen, Dagli’Brugsen, Irma and Fakta. And in Norway, Coop Norge supplies 24% of the market through several stores, such as Coop Market, Coop Extra, Coop Obs, Mega and Prix.
 

This is an abbreviated version of an article that appeared on page 20-21 of the retail section of issue 133 of Eurofresh Distribution. Read the full article for free here.

 

 

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Organic vegetables in the EU

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European Commission preparing action plan to stimulate organic agriculture

Unprecedented growth has taken place in the EU organic market in the last decade and it now attracts annual turnover of about €20 billion. (DE: 6.6; FR: 3.8; UK: 1.9; IT: 1.7).

Nevertheless, vegetables represent a small part only – just 1.2% – of the EU’s organic crop area, with 110,955 ha out of a total 9.6 million ha in 2011.

Italy is the Member State with by far the largest area of organic vegetables (23,405 ha), followed by Germany with more than 18,000 ha, then France with 14,529 ha. The United Kingdom boasts 13,618 ha and Spain 11,483 ha.

 

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13.6% of organic citrus crops in Italy, just 1.8% in Spain

Organic fruit crops cover 264,000 ha and account for just over a fifth of the main permanent organic crops with the biggest ones being olives and grapes.

The organic citrus sector has seen dynamic growth in the last 15 years in the EU though it is concentrated around just a few Member States: Italy, Greece, Spain and Cyprus.

The biggest citrus areas are in Italy (more than 21,900 ha) and Spain (around 5,856 ha in 2011 but increasing). Organic citrus represented 5.3% of the total citrus area in 2011 for the above-mentioned countries. In 2011, 13.6% of the total citrus area in Italy was organic compared to just 1.8 in Spain, the EU’s biggest citrus grower.

 

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Market has quadrupled but control inadequate

Although the market has quadrupled in the last decade, EU production has not kept pace and the extra demand is met by imports.

There are also societal and consumer concerns not yet fully addressed, such as the sustainable use of energy and management of environmental impacts, animal welfare and pesticide residues.

Other issues include the myriad logos and shortcomings in the control system, such as with insufficient import inspection. Also, the production rules have been watered down and the risk of loss of consumer confidence is high.

New EU plan

As a result, the European Commission has now set three priorities:

– to increase competitiveness;

– to maintain and increase consumer confidence;

– to reinforce the external dimension of EU organic farming.

It allocated nearly €85 million for organic production under the 2014-2020 CAP budget.

Needed: centralised database, frauds made public

A centralised database for import certificates should be created. Documentary evidence could be a solution and exchange between the control actors should be increased. Fraudulent certificates should be published, a practice the U.S. Department of Agriculture already follows. Transparency could also be increased by using the name of the control body on labels instead of a code number and requiring accreditors to be trained at EU level.

More money is needed for promotion funds to attract consumers not currently buying organic products. The organic sector has done well so far but from now on the whole chain, from producer to retailer, needs to go a step further. More companies have to get involved and particularly big ones that can invest in research and development.

 

LH

 

Read full report available free here on page 38 of issue 33 of Eurofresh Distribution magazine

Photo of ecologically grown vegetables by Elina Mark (via Wikimedia Commons)

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US Expert Says Consumers Want Easy to Eat Fruit

José Chaparro with Mary Ann Lila and José Gandía Giner at the Fresh & Life symposium

What does today’s consumer want from fruit? University of Florida associate professor José Chaparro says it’s user friendliness.

 

Speaking on Tuesday in Madrid on the first day of the Fresh & Life symposium on berries – within the framework of the Fruit Attraction fair – the horticultural expert said this means fruit that:

  • is easy to peel and seedless

  • of an appropriate serving size

  • doesn’t leave you with sticky or dirty hands or with things you need to find a bin for, such as seeds.

 

Displaying USDA data showing a drop-off in per capita consumption of various kinds of larger fruit in the US since 1980, Chaparro said that in the case of oranges, the reasons behind this include that consumers find them too big to eat all at once and that they can tend to be bitter.

 

Meanwhile, there’s been an “incredible increase” in consumption of small, easy to eat fruit, he said. In the case of grapes, the availability of seedless varieties saw per capita consumption double in the US at the end of the 1980s. There has also been a considerable rise in demand for blueberries, strawberries and raspberries – all easy to eat fruit that either have small seeds or none at all, don’t require peeling and are available in small servings, he said.

 

Diversification crucial

 

Modern methods are such that these days there are many kinds of fruit that can be eaten year-round, “but the quality isn’t consistent and the result is consumers are not satisfied,” Chaparro said. Instead, people need to be able to trust that the fruit they know will be as they expect 365 days a year. “But what kinds of fruit can you say that about? Very few,” he said.

 

Among Chaparro’s recommendations is that the fruit sector seek diversity not just in the types of fruit available but in qualities that make them stand out, such as the colour of skin or flesh (helping consumer to distinguish between products), new flavours and improved nutritional value.

 

And increasingly important is choosing plants that can cope with climate change, namely those that adapt more readily to factors such as high temperatures and spring frosts, he said.

 

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Outlook for fresh produce growth in US market

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About a third of all fresh fruit and vegetables consumed in the US now imported

 

Changing demographics and new food and health trends are fueling forecasts of increased demand for fresh fruit and vegetables in the giant US market after several years of negligible growth.

Fresh fruit and of fresh vegetable consumption have each crept up just 1% a year for the last three years. Bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries remained the top five most consumed fruits in the US. And tropical fruit – including pineapples, papayas, mangoes and avocados – saw greater demand thanks to the country’s expanding ethnic populations and more advertising.

As for fresh vegetables, the growth – though equally flat – was helped by consumer interest in fresh-cut produce and conveniently packaged vegetables. Prepared salads and bagged salads, broccoli florets and baby carrots were key drivers.

Why is there optimism about better growth in coming years? In the case of fresh fruit, retailers, producers, and the US government are making consumption easier for consumers, focusing on marketing fruit as the snack industry does, and promoting healthy eating programs. Convenient packaging and value-added and fresh cut options are also tipped to drive up sales.

Similarly, increased consumer awareness of the importance of healthy eating and government programs to increase the availability of vegetables and promote their consumption are also projected to bolster demand of this produce.

Other important trends are the aging US population – with baby-boomers in particular expected to eat more vegetables for health benefits – and consumption of fresh produce is on the up in the foodservice sector thanks to restaurant initiatives designed to increase their use of vegetables and also due to consumer interest in ethnic cuisines in which vegetables feature more as ingredients. America’s increasing Hispanic population, for example, is linked to greater demand for peppers and onions.

Read our full report free online here on pages 40-41.

 

sources:

PMA report on US Produce & Retail

USDA, Economic Research Service
Supermarket News

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Fruit imports a priority at Wal-Mart China

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China’s leading retailer aims to raise imported fruit sales from 30% to 50%
 

“We recently started doing direct imports, but our volumes are developing fast,” said Vincent Yeh, chief of the perishables division at Wal-Mart China. “Imported fruit helps us strategically to distinguish us from our competitors; Wal-Mart is positioned as a foreign supermarket chain, so we build our image with imported items.”

 

Based in Shenzhen, Vincent’s team draws on the help of the US-based and global sourcing organization of Wal-Mart. “We aim to import top brands directly and supply our 390 stores.”

 

Established in 87 provinces, Wal-Mart China has become the largest retail chain in the country. The number of stores is growing by more than 10% annually on average, with 40 outlets to be opened by the end of 2014, and at least 40 more in 2015.

 

Since last August all the purchase activities have been centralised in Shenzhen, both for domestic and imported supplies. “Only a few specific local categories are being purchased locally,” Yeh said.

 

The logistics organisation is divided between 11 distribution centres in Eastern China (based in Shanghai), the North, North East, Western, South and South-East China.

 

Imported fruit now represents 30–40% of total sales, but the chain hopes to increase this ratio to more than 50% of its fruit sales within two years.

 

Read the full article online here on page 22 of issue 133 of Eurofresh Distribution magazine.

Author: PE

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11th International Banana Forum set to start in Ecuador

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Concern over EU restrictions on organic banana imports

The 11th International Banana Forum begins tomorrow in Guayaquil, Ecuador, with the theme “Towards increased competitiveness and productivity.”
 

The three-day event will see evaluation of the outlook for the sector next year and options for eradication of the leaf-spot disease Black Sigatoka, among other key issues.
 

While it’s a generally a good moment for the banana sector, Eduardo Ledesma, executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), recently told the digital channel VITOTVO he sees two major challenges.
 

One is Fusarium wilt (Panama disease), which has decimated thousands of hectares in Asia, Africa and Australia, and the other is the EU restrictions on marketing of organic bananas treated with mineral oil, due to health concerns.
 

Ledesma said a big investment is needed to develop an oil that can be registered in export markets and used for both conventional and organic crops. Such an investment is unlikely to be made by the government but would be possible for the private sector, which could recoup its costs in countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica, which use more such oils than Ecuador, he said.

The banana forum, which runs from October 14-16, is set to receive more than 3,000 domestic and foreign visitors.
Click here for more information.

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USDA tips small increase in Italian orange production

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Italy’s orange crop should be up 4% on last season but there’ll be a lack of big size fruit, says the USDA’s Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) in a new report. Fruit quality is expected to be good, despite unfavorable weather, though there’ll be more small size oranges in the 2013/14 (November-October) marketing year, it said.
 

Orange consumption is likely to remain flat in Italy, where most oranges are consumed fresh, principally the blood varieties (Tarocco, Moro, and Sanguinello), GAIN said. In 2012/13, Italy imported 223,566 tons of oranges (mainly from Spain) and exported 126,083 tons (mainly to Germany).
 

Little change is expected in Italy’s tangerine, lemon, and grapefruit crops. Its tangerine production is more than 80% seedless clementines (mainly Comune or Oroval and Monreal) and the rest mandarins (mainly Avana and Tardivo di Ciaculli varieties), with very slight reductions in production but satisfactory quality forecast for both.


GAIN said Italy’s lemon-producing area (concentrated in Sicily) is gradually shrinking due to reduced profitability and consumption will probably slip 6% on last season.

 

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African Fruit and Vegetable Exports Safe From Ebola, Experts Say

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Fruit and vegetables from Africa will not spread Ebola virus

Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from Africa are safe and can not spread the Ebola virus, the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) has advised in response to queries by German fruit trade association DFHV.

DFHV raised the question in response to concerns from clients of member companies about whether fruit from Africa could be a source of Ebola infection. BNITM is a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centre.

The ebola virus is not easily transmitted from person to person, like a cold or flu. Like the HIV virus, it requires direct contact with infectious body fluids.

Source: BNITM
LH
Pic: (http://phil.cdc.gov/phil (ID #1836))

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Fresh Potato Imports Jump Up 28% in Japan, USDA Reports

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Imports of fresh potatoes shot up by 28% last year in Japan, according to a new report by the USDA’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN).

That’s largely thanks to Japan’s own potato production slipping 3.5% in 2013 while Japense consumers increased their appetite for potato chips.

Aggressive and strategic marketing by the US potato sector has been key to spurring demand in growth sectors, GAIN said.

See its full report here.

 

pic: « McDonalds-French-Fries-Plate » by Evan-Amos