Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Monday, January 3, 2011

USDA Offers Free Webinar

USDA Offers Free Webinar—
“Fruit and Vegetable Market News Portal Training: How to Get the Most out of USDA’s Market News Reports and Information”

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a free interactive webinar on Feb. 24, 2011, at 2 p.m. ET to help navigate the USDA Market News Portal, a storehouse of valuable market data for fruit and vegetable commerce.
Every business day, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service collects and reports detailed information about marketing conditions for hundreds of fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops and nut products at major domestic and international wholesale markets, production areas and ports of entry. All of this information is stored in the Market News Portal and is available to the industry at no cost.
Patty Willkie, officer-in-charge of the Idaho Falls Market News office, will introduce the functions of the portal and provide practical tips to get the most out of market reports. Following a formal presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask her questions live.
Registration for the webinar is free. The event is hosted by Red Book Credit Services and is part of an ongoing webinar series presented by USDA to keep the fruit and vegetable industries informed about the programs available to support them. Check out previous webinars in the series at http://bit.ly/fvwebinars. 
For more information or answers to questions, contact Christopher Purdy, Business Development Specialist, USDA AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs, tel. (202) 720-3209, christopher.purdy@ams.usda.gov. Also visit www.ams.usda.gov/fv. 
WHO:             Conducted by Pattie Willkie, officer-in-charge, Idaho Falls USDA Market News office

WHAT:          Fruit and Vegetable Market News Portal Training: How to Get the Most out of USDA’s Market News Reports and Information webinar

WHEN:          Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, 2 p.m. ET
WHERE:        For online access information, registration is required. See “RSVP.”
RSVP:            This event is free and open to the public. Visit http://bit.ly/webinar_register_fvmn. Once the “Event Information” page appears, click the “Register” link under “Event Status” and follow instructions. Upon completion, a confirmation email from Webex will be sent to the email address provided. Deadline to register is Monday, Feb. 21, 2011.

CSPI: Health Warnings Urged for Soda & Other Sugary Drinks

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

CSPI: Health Warnings Urged for Soda & Other Sugary Drinks


Health Groups, Local Agencies, and Nutrition Experts Support CSPI’s Call

WASHINGTON—The federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that people drink less soda and other sugary drinks.  To help implement that advice, today a number of health groups, state and municipal agencies, and prominent nutrition experts are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require health notices where they will most help consumers—right on the bottle or can.  In a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, the health advocates said that the agency should use its authority to require a rotating series of messages on labels of sugar-sweetened drinks, warning about the risks of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other health problems.
        “In light of the overwhelming evidence linking soft drinks to serious diseases, consumers deserve to know—and soft drink labels should disclose—those health risks,” the organizations and experts wrote.
        The Center for Science in the Public Interest formally petitioned the FDA in 2005 to require health messages on soda labels.  While the petition has languished, CSPI hopes that the Obama Administration, which has placed a high priority on reducing childhood obesity, will look more favorably on the petition than the Bush-era FDA did.  Soda pop and other sugary drinks are now the single largest contributor of calories to the diet, providing as much as 10 to 15 percent of teens’ caloric intake, according to one study cited in today’s letter.
        “Our leading source of calories is a nutritionally worthless beverage that promotes obesity, diabetes, and other debilitating and expensive conditions,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.  “A warning label would not solve the obesity problem, but it would be a simple, inexpensive way to remind consumers of key facts when they are considering buying a major cause of the problem.  A comprehensive effort to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks would be one of the single most important things that government could do to reduce obesity in children and adults.”
        Signers of today’s letter include the American Public Health Association, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Shape Up America!, and the Trust for America’s Health.  Notably, a number of health departments also signed on to the letter, including the New York State Department of Health, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and the El Paso, TX, Department of Public Health.
        Some of the health messages proposed in the letter include:
•    The U.S. Government recommends that you drink fewer sugary drinks to prevent weight gain, tooth decay, heart disease, and diabetes.
•    Drinking too many sugary drinks can promote diabetes and heart disease.
•    For better health, the U.S. Government recommends that you limit your consumption of sugary drinks.
•    This drink contains 250 calories. Consider switching to water.
Even toddlers are drinking fruit drinks and soda pop, according to CSPI.  The group estimates that one- and two-year-olds are drinking an average of seven ounces per day.  Older boys drink even more.  CSPI says that the average 12- to 19-year-old male drinks about 28.5 ounces—or 350 calories’ worth—each day.
Individual cosigners on the letter include Henry Blackburn of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health; George Bray of the Pennington Biological Research Center at Louisiana State University; Carlos Camargo, JoAnn Manson, and Eric Rimm from Harvard Medical School; Barry Popkin from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health.
 
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Delivering More Flavorful Produce Workshops

 From the UC Postharvest Technology Center:


Upcoming Workshops!  We would like to bring to your attention our upcoming workshops designed to discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in delivering better tasting produce to consumers. These workshops are sponsored by the USDA Specialty Crops Project, “Increasing consumption of specialty crops by enhancing their quality and safety”.

Delivering More Flavorful Produce Workshops

February 1-2, 2010 - Davis, California
-or-
May 4-5, 2010 - Gainesville, Florida

We hope you will join us for this highly interactive combination of lecture, demonstration and discussion in a peer problem-solving environment.  We will explore what it is about produce that consumers really like, and challenges and opportunities for delivering that quality to them!  The enrollment fee ($250) for this workshop is subsidized by the USDA grant.

For more information about this workshop, offered in two locations, visit our website http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/SCRI-Grant/deliver-flavorful-produce.html or view the linked brochure. To enroll on-line, please use our secure enrollment site: http://ucanr.org/delivering-flavorful-produce

Beth Mitcham, UC Davis
Jeff Brecht, Univ. of Florida
Co-Project Directors


Visit us on the web for more information....
http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu

Restaurant Performance Index Declined in November as Sales and Traffic Slipped

From the NRA:


Restaurant Performance Index Declined in November as Sales and Traffic Slipped
Restaurant operators reported lower same-store sales and traffic levels;
Operators’ outlook for sales and the economy remained optimistic

( Washington, D.C.)  As a result of a downtick in same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) fell below 100 in November.  The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 99.9 in November, down 0.8 percent from October.  November marked the first time in three months that the RPI stood below 100, the level above which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

“While the RPI’s November decline was largely the result of softer same-store sales and traffic performances, it doesn’t necessarily mean the industry’s recovery is in peril,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association.  “Like the economy as a whole, the restaurant industry’s road to recovery will be one with occasional bumps along the way.”

“Overall, the economic fundamentals of the restaurant industry remain positive, which will likely lead to stronger sales results in the months ahead,” Riehle added.

Watch a video of Riehle's latest industry update.

The RPI is constructed so that the health of the restaurant industry is measured in relation to a steady-state level of 100.  Index values above 100 indicate that key industry indicators are in a period of expansion, and index values below 100 represent a period of contraction for key industry indicators.  The RPI consists of two components, the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.

The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor, and capital expenditures), stood at 98.7 in November – down 1.3 percent from October and the first decline since May.  November’s decline came on the heels of the Current Situation Index reaching the 100 level in October, the first such occurrence since August 2007.  

For the first time in three months, restaurant operators reported a net decline in same-store sales.  Forty percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between November 2009 and November 2010, down from 51 percent of operators who reported higher same-store sales in October.  In comparison, 44 percent of operators reported a same-store sales decline in November, up from 33 percent of operators who reported negative sales in October.   

Restaurant operators also reported a net decline in customer traffic levels in November.  Thirty-six percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between November 2009 and November 2010, down from 44 percent of operators who reported higher traffic in October.  In comparison, 45 percent of operators reported a traffic decline in November, up from 34 percent in October.

Along with softer sales and traffic levels, capital spending activity dropped off somewhat.  Forty percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, down slightly from 42 percent of operators who reported similarly last month.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators’ six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures, and business conditions), stood at 101.2 in November – down 0.2 percent from October and its first decline in four months.     

Although the overall Expectations Index declined in November, restaurant operators remain relatively optimistic about sales growth in the months ahead.  Forty-two percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared with the same period in the previous year), roughly on par with 43 percent who reported similarly last month.  Meanwhile, only 14 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, up slightly from 12 percent who reported similarly last month.

Restaurant operators are also generally optimistic about the direction of the overall economy.  Thirty-seven percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, up slightly from 35 percent last month.  In comparison, 15 percent of operators said they expect economic conditions to worsen in the next six months, up from 12 percent who reported similarly last month. 

Buoyed by a positive outlook for sales and the economy, restaurant operators’ plans for capital expenditures remained relatively steady.  Forty-seven percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, compared with 48 percent who reported similarly last month. 

For the second consecutive month, restaurant operators reported a modestly positive outlook for staffing gains in the months ahead.  Sixteen percent of operators expect to increase staffing levels in six months (compared with the same period in the previous year), while 14 percent plan to reduce staffing levels in six months. 

The RPI is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor, and capital expenditures. The full report is available online.

The RPI is released on the last business day of each month, and more detailed data and analysis can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper (www.restaurant.org/trendmapper), the Association's subscription-based service that provides detailed analysis of restaurant industry trends.