SUPERVALU and Sustainability

This presentation was one of several on a panel at the FMI Sustainability Summit called "Sustainability in Action." I'll try to post the others on the panel as well, which included Hannaford Bros., Giant Eagle, Publix Super Markets and Buehler Food Markets Inc.

FMI Sustainability Summit - Slideshow

Where has all the produce gone?

TK: A SOURCE AT USDA MARKET NEWS CALLED AND ALERTED ME THAT PART OF THE REASON FOR THE DISPARITY IN SHIPMENTS IS THAT USDA FIGURES ARE ADJUSTED UP TO THREE WEEKS AFTER THE FACT. SO CURRENT AND YEAR AGO COMPARISON, PARTICULARLY FOR IMPORTS ARE OF LITTLE VALUE IN THE WEEK THEY ARE REPORTED......




Where has all the produce gone? I speak in reference to the USDA report tracking domestic and imported fruit and vegetable shipments (measured in 40,000-lb truckloads) included in the USDA Truck Rate Report.

As you might have noticed, I'm tracking the weekly shipment numbers from the USDA truck rate report in a chart on the side of the blog. Clearly, the graph shows that combined truck shipments of domestic and imported produce are consistently lagging behind year-ago numbers. What the chart doesn't show is the ongoing cumulative difference in shipments.

Looking at the spreadsheet where I've been posting the data, I see that domestic fruit and vegetable truck shipments from March 23 to June 14 (no magic in that date - just the time I started the chart) totaled 329,566 truckloads. The same time period last year tallied 351,222 truckloads. That means total USDA-reported movement of domestic fruits and vegetables this year is off more than 20,000 loads - or about 6%.

Imports are also running below levels recorded in the same period a year ago. From March 23 to June 14, total import volume of fruits and vegetables totaled 119,455 truckloads, off 17% from 143,031 loads the same period a year ago.

Combined domestic and import shipments from March 23 to June 14 tallied 449,021 truckloads from March 23 to June 14, off 9% from 494, 252 truckloads for the same period last year.


Explanations? Pending further digging, the big disparity in imports could reflect shorter banana shipments from Latin America, and lower imports of certain commodities from Chile and other exporters. The domestic shortfall might be attributed to the economy, truck rates, tomatoes/salmonella and the fact that some smaller shipping regions are not tracked by the USDA in their shipment reports. With the importance of local and homegrown deals growing this year (commonly not tracked by USDA), watch for a widening disparity and deficit in domestic fruit and vegetable shipments this year compared with a year ago.

USDA Truck Rate Report - June 17

Truck rates for fresh produce continue to rise, nudging as high as $9,200 from Salinas to Boston. Here is the report's summary:

A shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: onions from San Joaquin Valley California, Southern New Mexico and San Antonio-Winter Garden-Laredo District Texas, melons from Florida and Georgia, and sweet potatoes from Eastern North Carolina. A slight shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: peppers, corn and mixed vegetables from Imperial, Palo Verde and Coachella Valleys California and Central and Western Arizona,carrots and potatoes from Kern District California, mixed vegetables and strawberries from Santa Maria California, potatoes from Upper Valley, Twin Falls-Burley District Idaho potatoes from San Luis Valley Colorado and Columbia Basin Washington. FIRST REPORT was issued for blueberries from South New Jersey. LAST REPORT was issued for onions from San Antonio-Winter Garden-Laredo District Texas. All other districts reported an adequate supply of trucks.

Tomatoes - the first link

Here is an interesting news segment from New Mexico talking about the investigator who first linked the consumption of tomatoes to salmonella. The second video is Lou Dobbs, slamming the FDA for "incompetence" and suggesting the agency hasn't been looking at Mexico hard enough.

High fuel costs? ZAP them away

Guest blogger Lance Jungmeyer here ...

In certain applications, this new electric truck from ZAP may prove beneficial to produce companies.

Not due on the market until this fall, it is reasonably priced at around $15,000. Run time and performance are not listed on the site. Its performance likely will be an improvement over ZAP's Xebra cars, which can go only 40 mph and last 25 miles on a charge.

I could see these trucks being used inside and outside packing facilities, as well as in fields. In urban areas, if the truck were adapted with a refrigerated cargo area, it would be ideal for deliveries to restaurants and small grocers.

In heavy delivery use, one of these vehicles could probably pay for itself within a couple years.

COOL Webinar

Julia Stewart passes on this note about the free Webinar next week on COOL best practices from PMA and Western Growers:


PMA, Western Growers co-host free industry Webinar June 24 on COOL best practices

Newark, Del. – Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and Western Growers (WG) will co-host a free Webinar for industry to learn about and provide feedback on the associations’ new draft best management practices for complying with federal produce country of origin labelling (COOL). The complimentary Webinar, which will be held Tuesday, June 24 at 4 p.m. EDT/1:00 p.m. PDT, is designed to prepare industry members for Sept. 30, 2008, when mandatory federal country-of-origin labeling goes into effect.

The best practices were developed by the associations’ joint task force, whose members represent the entire supply chain. The task force was chaired by Tom Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms and Mike O’Brien of Schnuck Markets.

PMA Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs Kathy Means, WG Executive Vice President Matt McInerney and task force co-chairs Deardorff and O’Brien will lead the Webinar. They will present the task force’s best practices, then field questions from Webinar participants.

“Implementing COOL practices throughout the produce supply chain is really a hot topic, especially with the Sept. 30 deadline approaching so quickly,” said Means. “Aside from this Webinar, PMA will also offer a COOL educational workshop at Fresh Summit in October, nearly one month after its implementation. Because the convention provides such a diverse representation of businesses, it is a perfect opportunity to check the industry’s pulse on COOL implementation.”
“Based on feedback we received throughout the supply chain, Western Growers and PMA were able to come together and develop a set of COOL best practices we anticipate will prove useful as a practical approach as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches,” said McInerney. “We are looking forward to broad participation in this Webinar, as we roll these best practices out.”

Webinar participants will get an inside look at COOL and the latest information to make origin labeling easy for companies throughout the industry. Presenters will give an update on U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations, and how to prepare for future in-store compliance checks.

The draft country of origin labeling best practices that will be discussed in the Webinar can be accessed via PMA’s Web site at http://www.pma.com/issues/labeling.cfm, or on WG’s Web site at www.wga.com. The guidance will be reviewed again when USDA releases COOL regulations sometime in July.

The Webinar is complimentary, but registration is required. For additional information and to register, visit http://www.pma.com/webinar/webinar-web-June10-08.html.

Final note - Farm bill override

The 2008 farm bill is officially in the books, at long last. From the office of Rep. Collin Peterson yesterday:


This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to override President Bush's second veto of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act with a bipartisan vote of 317-109.

"Today's vote will ensure that all parts of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act are enacted into law," Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said. "Particularly considering the serious concerns about rising food prices and severe flooding affecting crops in the Midwest, this Farm Bill provides a critical safety net for families and farmers."

Last month, Congress approved the conference report for the Food, Conservation and Energy Act (H.R. 2419). When that bill was sent to the White House, one of the bill's 15 titles was inadvertently left out of the official copy of the bill vetoed by the President.
Congress overrode the veto of H.R. 2419, which enacted 14 of the bill's 15 titles into law.

To ensure that all 15 titles are properly enacted, the House passed the Food, Conservation and Energy Act a second time with a new bill number (H.R. 6124). That bill was sent to the White House, and following President Bush's veto, the House voted today to override the veto.

From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin:

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement in response to the Senate vote of 80 to 14 to override the veto of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act – the new farm bill – in the Senate. Earlier today, the House of Representatives voted 317 to 109 to override the measure. Harkin chaired the Senate-House conference committee on the new farm bill. He is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

“It has been a long time coming, but today’s veto override in the Senate completes action on the new farm bill, enacting the full bill, including provisions on foreign food assistance and agricultural trade. The White House repeatedly tried to veto this measure, but could not stand in the way of critical farm, food, conservation and energy investments becoming law. Not only did this bill pass both chambers with an overwhelming majority, but with the override votes, we held our majorities. This proves we have a good, strong, bipartisan farm bill. And after all of our hard work, it is a proud result for Congress as this critical legislation becomes law.”

TK: Also note the House Agriculture Committee schedule next week:

AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE SCHEDULE
UPDATED
June 18, 2008

(UPDATED)
Tues., June 24th - 9:00 a.m.
1300 Longworth House Office Building
Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry - Public Hearing.
RE: To review advances in animal health within the livestock industry.


(NEW)
Thurs., June 26th - 10:00 a.m.
1300 Longworth House Office Building
Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture - Public Hearing.
RE: To review the status of pollinator health including colony collapse disorder.