National Retail Report - June 13

A big increase in ad activity for tomatoes on the the vine in this week's report, and the USDA said the overall tomato category was "surprisingly" active. From the USDA National Retail Report from June 13:

Barbecue Items for Father’s Day
This week’s ads were focused largely on the upcoming Father’s Day holiday with special sales on barbecue items, drinks, snacks, and anything else “Dad” might like. Retailers also continued to feature a variety of general merchandise as part of summertime themes as well as many dairy products in honor of National Dairy Month. Although overall fresh produce ad activity declined over 17% and fruit ads were down more than 32%, vegetable ads were up almost 6%. This increase is due mainly to the large increases in ad activity on bell peppers and tomatoes on the vine. Both green and red peppers sold per pound and each combined accounted for 13% of vegetable ad activity. Tomatoes were a surprisingly popular item as well, despite the recent salmonella outbreak. The top 5 items this week were centered on seasonal produce, especially fruits. They included: peaches, corn, strawberries, grapes, and sweet onions. Berries were featured quite heavily yet again this week. Blueberries were beginning to be advertised most often in pints as opposed to the 4.4 oz package. This data is reflected in our seasonal category below along with blackberries and raspberries.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads - June 13, 2008
Pineapple 5%
Plums 3%
Lemons 0%
Bananas 0%
Blueberries 1%
Bananas, organic 0%
Avocadoes, hass 6%
Apples, red delicious 1%
Watermelon, seedless 7%
Watermelon, mini 3%
Strawberries, organic 5%
Strawberries 12%
Cantaloupe 9%
Cherries 7%
Honeydew 1%
Limes 2%
Grapefruit, red 1%
Grapes, green/red 11%
Mangoes 3%
Nectarines 8%
Pears, bartlett 0%
Oranges, navel 0%
Peaches 16%


Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads - June 13, 2008
Broccoli, organic 0%
Broccoli 1%
Beans, round green 2%
Tomatoes on the vine 10%
Tomatoes, organic 0%
Tomatoes 3%
Cabbage 1%
Carrots, baby organic 3%
Carrots, baby 6%
Asparagus 2%
Tomatoes, grape organic 2%
Tomatoes, grape 6%
Celery 0%
Corn 12%
Cucumbers 3%
Lettuce, iceberg 5%
Lettuce, romaine 1%
Mushrooms, white 7%
Onions, yellow 2%
Sweet Potatoes 1%
Squash, zucchini 5%
Potatoes, russet 3%
Peppers, bell red 8%
Peppers, bell green 5%
Onions, sweet 10%

UP letter to shippers

Here is what Union Pacific put out today No word yet on how long the embargo will last.

To our Customers:

As you are probably aware from numerous news reports, the past few weeks have seen the Midwest part of the country hit hard by severe weather and record floods. Unfortunately, this series of storms has caused significant damage to our rail network, which has made it necessary to issue embargoes for traffic moving across certain parts of our east-west main line across Iowa.

Network Conditions

Rainfall in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas has reached the 8 to 10-inch range, resulting in stream and river flooding that has washed out or weakened bridges and large sections of main line track. At this time, the most significant impact of the flooding on the Union Pacific system is in the state of Iowa where 54 of the 99 counties have been declared disaster areas. The National Weather Service continues to have much of the Midwest under flood warning.

Numerous UP subdivisions and corridors continue to be intermittently out of service due to flooding and track washouts, with some impacts being longer lasting. The immediate effects of these storms include the following subdivisions:

Boone Subdivision
One main line track is out of service near Haley, Iowa.

Clinton Subdivision
Two main line tracks are out near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Cedar River flows under a UP bridge on this subdivision and operations personnel are monitoring this bridge closely for a possible washout.
Two main lines are out of service near Tama, Iowa. This area has been damaged and repaired several times with additional repairs currently underway.

Trenton Subdivision - Our main line track is out of service between Des Moines and Kansas City. Officials ordered the drainage of Saylorville Lake near Des Moines to relieve pressure on the lake, which raised the level of the Des Moines River, taking out Union Pacific track in the area for as long as a week.

Union Pacific operations personnel are closely monitoring other areas throughout the Midwest for possible flooding.

Embargo Issued

Due to the widespread nature of the flooding, we have only limited reroute capability. As a result, Union Pacific is issuing embargoes. Because of the large number of impacted stations, please refer to the published embargo notices for the specific parameters. Generally, these impact all manifest and automotive traffic originating at points west of Beverly, Iowa (which is located west of Cedar Rapids) and moving to points east of Beverly - including traffic interchanged over the Chicago gateway. The embargo also applies to traffic moving in the opposite direction from points east of Beverly - including traffic interchanged over the Chicago gateway - destined for points west of Beverly. The embargo excludes coal, but includes other bulk commodities. A similar embargo on intermodal traffic has also been published.

Based on current conditions, the embargoes are anticipated to be in place for as long as a week, however, weather conditions will ultimately determine when an embargo can be lifted.

Permit Application Process

Union Pacific has established a permit application process to offer limited operations, where possible, for shipments within the embargo area. All permit applications submitted by Noon CDT Monday - Friday will be reviewed and a response will be provided to customers by 3:00 p.m. CDT. If a permit is granted, customers will be able to waybill a shipment immediately with their permit number on the waybill. Applications received after noon will be reviewed and responded to by 3:00 p.m. the following day.

Please review the Guidelines for Embargo Permits (PDF File) for additional information on how to waybill shipments after a permit number is granted.

Automotive/Intermodal Customer Permit Process

To obtain a permit to move traffic impacted by the embargo, customers should call 1-800-243-0879 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CDT Monday - Friday.

All Other Shipments (excluding Coal) Permit Process

To obtain a permit to move traffic impacted by the embargo, customers should complete the permit application and submit electronically via the web site. Call 1-866-214-3615 with questions regarding the manifest permitting process.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work through the impact of these storms. We will continue to post updates on changing conditions on our Web site.

Stocks and market both up: rail a new worry for potato shippers

A market source up in Idaho reports a continued strong for market potatoes, notwithstanding another seemingly bearish potato stocks report from the USDA. Count carton 70s were trading at $21-22, with dwindling volume from Colorado and Wisconsin adding strength to Idaho.

One new concern is the availability of rail for transport, which typically accounts for about 20% of the transportation needs of Idaho potatoes.

The Union Pacific has apparently put out a statement about an embargo on shipments in view of the loss of two bridges in Iowa, the source said. "We're hearing stories that UP has trouble with their main lines." he said. Here is a link to the letter on the UP Web site.
...


June potato stocks up 32 Percent From June 1, 2007

The 13 major potato States held 58.7 million cwt of potatoes in storage June 1, 2008, up 32 percent from a year ago and 41 percent above June 1,2006. Potatoes in storage accounted for 15 percent of the 2007 fall storage States' production, up 3 percentage points from last year. Disappearance from the start of harvest to June 1 was at 341 million cwt, 1 percent below last year but up 3 percent from 2006. Shrink and loss, at 24.6 million cwt, was down 4 percent from the same period in 2007 but up 4 percent from 2006.
California's, Idaho's, Oregon's, and Washington's potato stocks were up 3, 17, 83, 133 percent from June 1, 2007, respectively, while Colorado's stocks were down 27 percent from a year ago. Wisconsin's potato stocks were down 6 percent from last year; North Dakota's stocks were 19 percent above 2007; and potato stocks in Nebraska were down 54 percent from the previous season. Minnesota's stocks increased 25 percent from the same date in 2007. Maines's potato stocks were 35 percent lower than last year.

Introspection also needed

I was reading the Produce Pundit yesterday and saw one letter to Jim that was critical of repeated attacks on the FDA, suggesting that PP was putting industry protection ahead of consumer protection.

Of course, Jim begged to differ, and was critical the lack of specific detail in the complaint.

I myself have been critical of the FDA, and in the Now or Never post I said that is time for FDA to change their advice to consumers and come clean with the status of their investigation.

Yet I agree with Jim's critic that there is a danger in the reflex action of being hypercritical of the FDA while ignoring areas the industry needs to step it up.

Specifically - in the context of the outbreak - I want to know more about the repacker practice of co-mingling tomatoes of different origin. How common is this practice and are tomato-specific supply chain food safety guidelines now under development forcefully addressing this issue? Perhaps one of the industry's own practices - not the inadequacy of the FDA - contributed most to the delays in finding an answer to the source of the tainted tomatoes.

Secondly, how close are we to workable traceability systems, both within the tomato category and throughout the fresh produce industry? The steering committee for the of the Produce Traceability Initiative met in Chicago yesterday, and what they say about a timeline for industry wide traceability will be closely watched. As I said in this post, the clock is ticking on the industry's efforts and it won't be long before Congress steps into the breach on this issue.

Salmonella headline roundup - June 13

I hope you enjoyed the guest blog post from a tomato industry player this morning (Groundhog Day in June) I will let our guest blogger introduce himself at a later time. The above map, of course, is the latest map from the CDC on the states reporting illnesses related to the salmonella Saintpaul. From the CDC from their June 12 update:

Since April, 228 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 23 states: Arizona (19 persons), California (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Idaho (3), Illinois (29), Indiana (7), Kansas (5), Michigan (2), Missouri (2), New Mexico (55), New York (1), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Tennessee (3), Texas (68), Utah (2), Virginia (9), Vermont (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. Among the 161 persons with information available , illnesses began between April 10 and June 1, 2008. Patients range in age from 1 to 88 years; 47% are female. At least 25 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.


Not associated with the outbreak - FDA June 11


Web headlines:

Burger King puts tomatoes back on the menu

Produce industry directs outreach in consumer scare

Tomatoes taken off menus

FDA hit for slow progress in improving food safety

Arkansas tomato growers get boost from Mexico's woes

Groundhog Day in June

Here we go again. It’s becoming a ritual. You have your dinner, try to digest it normally, then the cell rings.

“You see the Internet?”, a shipper buddy says.
“No…what?”. I’m scrambling to open the laptop at the dinner table. Wife is used to it by now.
“On the AP. Through Yahoo. Found a case in Florida, and in Georgia.” We’re all becoming experts as news sourcing, you understand.

So I read. 228 cases now. 23 states. Acheson of the FDA is now backing off Wednesday’s Sam Spade-like statement that “…we’re close to cracking this case”. Yeah, right, I know it’s gonna end up being Colonel Mustard in the library.

Shipper buddy obviously feels for the tomato industry in general, which is all he’s known and all I’ve known as well.

“I thought we came out the other side already.”
“Not yet, man.”, I counter.
“We’ll be on Good Morning America again tomorrow morning.”

So with the ever-growing & ever-more-specific list of ‘clear’ states and counties, one would think that via normal logic & deduction, and the process of ‘implication by omission’, it’s only a matter of time before the FDA looks at what was shipped when, what areas have been cleared, and comes to a specific determination as to the source of the outbreak.

Where is it? Maybe they’re holding back, remembering the Boskovich/Taco Bell green onion lawsuit last year. Acheson stated yesterday, “We want to be right”.

I want them to be right, too. But right now we’re dying here.