Apple Time

As I mentioned before, I queried Desmond O'Rourke about the apple industry's recent flush of good fortune. While growers are not immune from worry and problems (regulation, labor, rising costs) I get the distinct sense that they feel better about the fresh market than they have in some time. Prices have improved, as the above chart demonstrates. O'Rourke says grower psychology in the Northwest U.S. shifted roughly in March 2006, when land prices began to inch higher again.

O'Rourke said a global shortage of apples has contributed to a better year in the U.S. Europe and the Southern Hemisphere have been down, and Washington's own supply was lower. In addition, O'Rourke said farm commodities in general are rising in price faster than in recent years. "You have a very healthy environment for food prices," he says.

Putting a finer point on it, I asked about the influence of more consumer friendly varieties. He agreed that has helped, and he also pointed to the as of yet unmeasured effect of SmartFresh on apple demand. It could be that SmartFresh is helping galas and other varieties arrive to the consumer in better condition than five years ago.

What about the upcoming year? Washington apple sources have been talking about a modest sized crop, but O'Rourke said first estimates have missed badly in the past. The first estimate last year called for a crop of 88 million fresh cartons, and the final crop size was more like 98 million cartons. "They had as many extra fresh boxes as the entire state of New York," O'Rourke observed.

A crop size in the range of 90 million to 100 million boxes may be expected for Washington for 2007-08, he said.

A visit with Desmond and Bill

I had the welcome chance to visit today with both trade expert Bill Bryant of Bryant Christie Inc. and noted economist Desmond O'Rourke, president of Belrose Inc., Pullman, Wash.

I asked them about trade promotion authority and the significance of the current lapse of the authority for President Bush. O'Rourke was the more pessimistic of the two.

“How can the greatest trading nation in the world not have its chief executive be able to negotiate treaties?” “It’s absolutely absurd for a country the size of the United States to tie its hands like that.”

Bryant noted that President Clinton did not have "fast track" or TPA through most of his presidency. It's not unusual for multi-lateral trade deals to span several presidents and he predicted the next U.S. president may wrap up the current WTO talks.

I also asked O'Rourke about a question that Nancy Foster of U.S. Apple recently indicated to me will be up for discussion at the U.S. Apple meeting in Chicago during August. Why have fresh apples done so well lately? I tell you what he said in a post later on today.

Whole Foods CEO Strikes Again

Greetings from Austin, Texas!

This is Pamela Riemenschneider, The Packer's Austin-based staff writer here.

I'm an avid blog reader, but have never posted other than in comments, so this first post is a doozy. It reminds all of us in the blogosphere to always think about who's reading what we're writing.

Here's a story from the front page of today's Austin American-Statesman about the bloggings of John Mackey, fellow Austinite and chief executive officer of Whole Foods.

Whole Foods CEO revealed as anonymous poster on message boards

It seems that Mr. Mackey, who frequently, and very candidly, blogs on the Whole Foods corporate site, has been lurking on the boards of Yahoo finance under the handle "rahodeb" (his wife's name backwards -- that one's real clever, eh?).

His posts included, according to the Statesman:

• "Why would anyone want to buy OATS?" from January 2005. (OATS is Wild Oats' stock ticker) He later stated that Whole Foods wouldn't want it because its shares were overpriced.
• In March 2005, he dissed Wild Oats again, saying the company had "no intellectual capital, bad real estate, significant future writeoffs, negative brand equity."
• In Nov. 2005, he kept on dogging Oats, saying it was "steadily running out of cash and continues to borrow money to stay afloat."

And who wouldn't want a chance to defend themselves against criticsm? Mackey reportedly said of himself:

• "John Mackey is a fellow Texan that I know and like and I deeply resent the bashing he frequently undergoes on this board!"

While most analysts have said that what Mackey said wasn't illegal, it seems very ill-advised to me. Mackey reportedly stopped blogging on the site last fall, well before the merger was announced.

But who knows? This guy, so far, has built a small "hippie-fied" natural foods co-op into a multinational force to be reckoned with, a model for many retailers out there where people blindly fork over their "Whole Paycheck."

He might be crazy for posting stuff like this, or maybe crazy like a fox.

Blue over citrus greening

Beyond the issue of USDA's contentious rules for fresh citrus shipped from canker infested regions in Florida, this story points to what could be an even tougher issues for the U.S. citrus industry in coming years.
From the story, posted by Big Apple of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group, is this summation:

Citrus greening or huanglongbing (yellow shoot) is considered one of the most serious threats to the citrus industry. A bacterial disease, citrus greening affects all types of citrus species and causes infected trees to yellow, decline, and possibly die within a few years of infection. Spread by an insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, citrus greening has significantly impacted citrus production in Asia, Africa, and Brazil."The threat of this disease spreading to other citrus-growing states definitely exists, especially in places where the Asian citrus psyllid is already found," said Ronald Brlansky, plant pathologist at the University of Florida, Citrus Research and Education Center. In California, researchers are continually looking for evidence of the citrus psyllid. If it is found there, citrus trees will need to be closely monitored for disease symptoms.Citrus greening can only be managed, not completely controlled. By reducing the psyllid population through the use of insecticides, the spread of the disease may be lessened. Growers are urged to become familiar with the symptoms of huanglongbing, to scout for the symptoms and to send in samples for testing.Citrus greening has spread from eight to 23 counties since it was first found in Florida just a little more than a year and a half ago. Once citrus trees are infected, the fruit yield, rate, and quality are greatly reduced. The trees also become susceptible to other diseases and health problems. In some areas of Brazil, citrus greening has affected as much as 70 percent of the fruit rate and yield.

TK: Also covered in the discussion board this morning are Avian flu and live poultry sales, the latest from the E. coli outbreak and new Federal Register rules relating to apricots and Florida avocados. I think you will find that visiting the discussion group should be part of your day, as the group benefits from the efforts of several members looking out for industry news.

Pivonka on F&V - More Matters

Elizabeth Pivonka's visit to The Packer yesterday was a good opportunity to get caught up on the Fruit and Veggies - More Matters campaign from the president of the Produce for Better Health Foundation. In about an hour long Q & A, Pivonka talked about the launch of the new brand, retail and supplier participation in the messaging, the concept of retail "role models," all forms count and changes in the national partnership steering committee, baby steps with McDonald's, whether Spanish and French versions of the logo are in the works, fund raising, consumer traffic at the campaign's Web site and some of the pearls of wisdom she learned from Bob Carey when she was at PMA.

Developing....story and .a video from the Q&A. Here is audio of interview.

Banana worker lawsuit

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group passes along this link about a lawsuit heard in the U.S. involving banana workers in Latin America who claim health consequences from applying pesticides in the 1970s.

From the ABC report:

"This is the first time any case for a banana worker has come before a U.S. court," said Duane Miller, one of the attorneys representing more than 30 Nicaraguan plaintiffs who worked on plantations from 1964 to 1990.
The cases raise the issue of whether multinational companies should be held accountable in the country where they are based or the countries where they employ workers, legal experts said.
A verdict in favor of the workers could open the door for others to file similar claims in the U.S., where juries are known for awarding bigger judgments.


Later in the story:

Scot Wheeler, a spokesman for Midland, Mich.-based Dow, said in an e-mail that the lawsuits were without merit, and that "there are no generally accepted studies in the scientific community of which we are aware which establishes an effect on sterility in banana farm workers" exposed periodically to the chemical.