Pear-a-rama: National Retail Report 11/9

From the USDA National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report, issued today.


Pears continue to top overall activity. Vegetables continue to gain prominence.
The approaching Thanksgiving Day Holiday is the focus of most major retailers featuring items non-specific to the produce department. Features included baking goods, dinner items, fresh meats and poultry, and prepared meals. Several seasonal items are being promoted and included chestnuts, cranberries, hard squash, pomegranates and persimmons. An array of citrus also received significant display in some areas of the country and included domestic oranges and tangerines in consumer mesh bags along with clementines from Spain in gift boxes. Overall, there were more vegetable ads which accounted for 56 percent of the overall total. Tomatoes on the vine and asparagus topped the vegetable features. Significant increases in ad activity were noticed on baby carrots and cucumbers. Onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes showed significant ad activity as well. Cauliflower, rutabagas, and bagged salad mixes, both organic and conventional, also were displayed in some parts of the country.
The top leading fruit ads were observed on apples, avocados, and pears. Bartlett pears were both the leading fruit and produce ad. Other pear varieties were additionally featured. Avocados was the second leading fruit feature as well as the second leading produce ad. Cranberry ads continue to increase each week and are expected to increase yet again next
week while grocers gear up for the upcoming holiday season. Blueberries reappeared as a sale feature with the start of the harvest in South America.

Logistics gradecard

Here is an international report card on logistics infrastructure posted on the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group earlier this week. The 50-page report is put together primarily by officials with the World Bank.

Luis writes:

Except for domestic logistics costs, Chile beats Mexico in the World Bank's logistic performance index. Any "civilian" who has attempted to send a standard package going into or out of Mexico could testify to that. Heck, even making a phone call to a country in the other side of the world is often less expensive.

TK: Look for more detail in the discussion group file.

Potato Crop Production

Fall potato output is up slightly in 2007, the USDA reports in the crop production report today.
Here is the narrative on fall potato production:


Fall Potatoes: Production of fall potatoes for 2007 is forecast at408 million cwt, up 2 percent from last year. Area harvested, at997,800 acres, is virtually unchanged from the July estimate but2 percent above last year. The average yield is forecast at409 cwt per acre, up 3 cwt from last year's record high yield.Western States production is forecast at 288 million cwt, up6 percent from last year. Area harvested, at 642,000 acres,increased 4 percent from last year, and the average yield of448 cwt per acre is up 5 cwt from 2006. Idaho's yield is forecast at 377 cwt per acre. If realized this would be the second highest yield on record, 9 cwt below the record yield set in 2006. Hot weather during the summer reduced the quality of the crop. Incidences of the Potato Virus Y were more frequent than normal which adversely affected yields. In Washington, harvest progressed normally this year. The quality of the crop is acceptable but not as good as in previous years. In Colorado, a severe wind storm followed by a late freeze in mid-June damaged plants that were already emerged. The earlier planted crop was slow to recover from the damage, leading to increased yield variability. Oregon's crop progressed at a normal pace with no major problems reported. In California, favorable weather conditions resulted in excellent crop quality and yields.Central States production is forecast at 95.8 million cwt, down3 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 267,200 acres, is down 4 percent, while the average yield, at 359 cwt per acre, is up2 cwt from a year ago. Overall, the Wisconsin crop progressed ahead of normal. Growers reported a good quality crop with harvest completed on time or early. In North Dakota, crop condition was rated fair to good throughout the growing season. Michigan's yield is forecast at 350 cwt per acre. If realized, this would be a record high.Eastern States production is forecast at 24.7 million cwt, down9 percent from last year. Area for harvest totaled 88,600 acres,3 percent below last year, while the average yield, at 279 cwt per acre, is down 20 cwt from last season. In Maine, excellent growing and harvesting conditions resulted in a high yielding, high quality crop. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, above average temperatures and below average precipitation forced growers in many locations to irrigate.All Potatoes: Total U.S. potato production in 2007 from all four seasons is estimated at 448 million cwt, up 2 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 1.13 million acres, increased 1 percent from a year ago. Yield, averaging 396 cwt per acre, is up 3 cwt from last year's record high.

Vegas update

John Toner of United passes on this comment on a previous post about United's convention plans for Las Vegas:

Tom,
Hope all is well - I though I would drop you a quick note to let you the exhibitor support is pretty high, high enough to the point that we have a relatively full show floor 6 months out! Check out the latest floorplan here:

http://www.unitedfreshshows.com/interactive_floor_plan.cfm

Best regards,
John

USDA: Fresh Tomato Acreage

No farm bill today

Kate at the Senate Agriculture Committee reports that the Senate is in pro-forma session today and out Monday for Veteran's Day. She advises not to expect any major action on the farm bill until sometime Tuesday......

Debating motivation and science

As I was reporting on the Food Safety Leadership Council and their new on farm food safety standards yesterday, I was struck by the fact that there is a parting of opinion on the question over the motivation of the group. Unfortunately, none of the group's members were available for direct comment. The crux of the issue is this; are the council's on farm standards are driven by the motivation of marketing food safety to the trade or consumers, or is the motivation for the standards is simply brand protection and preventing foodborne illness?

One sticking point for Western Growers is that the council's on farm food safety standards seem to disrespect the work that went into the on farm metrics of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. What's more, a singular question being asked is how the council scientifically justifies their standards, which are different and tougher in some regards than the leafy green metrics.
I tend to agree the buyer group needs to show the industry more illumination on both points.

We'll have some coverage in The Packer this week, but below is the Nov. 6 member communication from Western Growers about the issue.
From Western Growers:


Western Growers Challenges New Food Safety Buyer Group On Unreasonable, Scientifically Indefensible Food Safety Demands
Western Growers today condemned the demands of a consortium of retailers and food service vendors who insist that fresh produce suppliers must implement new unreasonable, excessive and scientifically indefensible food safety standards and to submit to additional expensive and unnecessary food safety audits.
The consortium, organized under the umbrella name of the “Food Safety Leadership Council,” (“FSLC”) currently consists of Publix Supermarkets, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Darden Restaurants, McDonald’s corporation, Avendra, LLC and Walt Disney World Co.
In a letter addressed to “Dear Produce Supplier”, Publix attached a 20-page document titled “Food Safety Leadership Council On-Farm Produce Standards.” The consortium is demanding that the entire fresh produce industry agree to develop and adopt “enhanced” food safety standards that add unnecessary burdens to the recently implemented California Good Agricultural Practices metrics that the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement Board has accepted and upon which state and federal inspections are currently being conducted.
Western Growers sees this effort as the start of a food safety “arms race,” where different groups of produce buyers, in an effort to claim that they have safer produce than the next, will impose on fresh produce suppliers ever increasingly more expensive and scientifically indefensible food safety requirements.
“We have very serious concerns about these new food safety standards and demands,” said Tom Nassif, Western Growers President and CEO. “We are extremely disappointed that they are taking this approach. The new standards clearly imply without any scientific basis whatsoever that the already developed and adopted GAP metrics, scientifically developed and peer reviewed by some of the nation’s leading food safety scientists and experts, are inadequate. We know that is not the case as federal and state government food safety agencies all agree that the GAP metrics include the latest, cutting edge food safety science.”
Western Growers is sending the consortium a letter outlining Western Growers’ specific scientific and policy concerns and asking them to cease and desist imposing these unreasonable standards on fresh produce suppliers until they meet with and provide the fresh produce industry with scientific bases for their new requirements.
For example, the new standards far exceed the existing Leafy Greens GAP metrics in significant ways:
• The On-Farm Produce Standards appear to apply to all fresh produce grown in the United States, not just California and Arizona grown lettuce or leafy greens.
• The new standards require a one mile buffer zone between fresh produce fields and concentrated animal feed lots.
• The new standards require a ¼ mile buffer zone between fresh produce fields and animal grazing.
• The new standards appear to require that only potable water that meets US EPA drinking water standards may be used on fresh produce crops eliminating the use of commonly used irrigation water sources.
• The new standards use “bright-line” generic E. coli counts to determine acceptable or unacceptable irrigation water.
• The new standards clearly imply that the inspections required by the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement currently performed by state and federal government inspectors are inadequate and the standards appear to require mandatory additional independent, expensive and unnecessary audits.
Ironically, nowhere in the standards is an explicit reference to or requirement that fresh produce suppliers from other countries adhere to the same standards being imposed on US fresh produce suppliers. Moreover, the consortium has not provided the fresh produce industry with its own set of good handling practices that demonstrate that consortium members are properly handling fresh produce after receipt of produce from fresh produce suppliers.
The consortium has asked its suppliers to sign on to the new standards immediately if suppliers wish to do business with consortium members; in fact, some fresh produce suppliers may already have signed such agreements.
Western Growers strongly encourages its members to become better educated about the new standards and to wait until the fresh produce industry receives from the consortium more scientific evidence and validation to support their new standards.
Of course, each company must make sales and marketing decisions based on their own circumstances. Western Growers members are also strongly encouraged to contact and confer with their own attorneys, internal or external food safety experts and/or Western Growers before agreeing to be bound by the new standards.
Western Growers is simultaneously contacting and coordinating with fresh produce organizations around the country to explore developing a unified response to these unreasonable demands.