HENRY INTERNATIONAL

Chile’s fresh apple and table grape exports will drop on lower supply due to adverse climatic conditions during the spring and winter. Fresh apple exports will reach 739,000 tons in marketing year 2018/19, a five percent decrease over MY2017/18, and table grape exports will equal 690,000 tons, a 5.5 percent decrease over MY2017/18.In MY2018 /19, Chile’s apple planted area totaled 34,427 hectares (ha), which represents a 4.2 percent decrease over MY2017/18. The decrease in apple planted area is as result of low profits due to increasing international competition from other southern hemisphere exporting countries and demand for new apple varieties. Additionally, Chilean apple producers continue to replace apple orchards with more profitable alternative crops such as cherries and walnuts.Chile’s fresh apple production forecast changed slightly for marketing year MY2018/19. According to Post sources, in MY2018/19 winter chill hour accumulation was sufficient in apple production areas generating a normal bloom, but abundant rain during the fruit setting stage in the spring generated loss of the production potential. Additionally, summer temperatures were higher than usual and water supply decreased. Due to these adverse climatic conditions, Post estimates a five percent decrease in production in MY2018/19 totaling 1,250,000 tons.

In Chile‘s flagship port of Valparaiso, a month-long worker’s strike and protests have turned increasingly violent and spread to other ports along the nation‘s Pacific coast early on Tuesday, complicating fruit exports at the start of summer.Workers in Valparaiso, a key port for fruit shipments, first walked off the job in mid-November, demanding a bonus, more formal contracts and improved working conditions. Workers' representatives and Terminal Pacifico Sur (TPS), which operates Valparaiso's port, have met several times over the 32-day strike but have yet to reach agreement.Protests spread briefly to several other ports overnight on Monday, according to statements from unions posted on Twitter and local media accounts. Jorge Martinez, regional intendent for Valparaiso, told reporters on Tuesday that the Chilean police had raided union offices in Valparaiso late on Monday after about 20 people were seen throwing Molotov cocktails from its roof."The country does not deserve this level of violence over a disagreement that should have been dealt with quickly," Martinez said. "This is something that can affect our economy, tourism, our international reputation. We need an agreement now."Local newspaper El Mercurio reported on Tuesday that the strike had caused fruit exports from Valparaiso to fall by 95 percent from the same period last year, according to statistics from Chile's Federation of Fruit Producers. Valparaiso's port handles approximately 55 percent of Chile's fruit exports, including blueberries, nectarines, cherries, apples, kiwis and pears, according to the Chilean Blueberry Committee.

Currently the cherries from Chile are arriving at the Chinese market. There are also cherries arriving from other countries such as Australia, but the imported cherry from Chile is taking the biggest part of this market. Freshplaza spoke to a big importer of Chilean cherries, Mr. Ben Li from Kingship. We discussed how the market situation is currently, how they transport the cherries and whether they made any special packaging for the coming holidays.This period is really a holiday period, first Christmas, then New Year and afterwards Chinese New Year. These holidays have a clear influence on the cherry market sales, as Mr. Ben Li explains: “Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year have great impact on the selling of Chilean cherries. It really boosts our sales. Cherries are one of the most popular fruits to give away as a present in China during these holidays, so the demand really increases during this period.  The peak of the harvest of Chilean cherries is simultaneously with the holidays in China, so this is really convenient, the cherries arrive just at the right moment in China. Even though the cherries arrive all at the same time, the prices will stay high, because it is such a popular product during this period. Although, after Chinese New Year, the demand decreases and therefore the price will decrease as well.”In Chile conditions for growing cherries was also different from other years. A big hailstorm caused some damage to the early varieties of cherries. Mr. Ben Li went to Chile himself and mentions: “This year the cherry production decreased, because of the hailstorm in November. If we take a look at the output of our 35 partner orchards this year, their total production decreased at least 30% in comparison with last year."  off, Mr. Ben Li said: “The holiday period will not have a large impact on the logistics of cherries to China. We already have quite some years of experience with cold chain logistics from Chile to China, so this won’t cause any problems in delivering cherries to China.”Kingship also reached a new cooperation agreement with China Cargo Airlines. Mr. Ben Li tells how this new cooperation agreement was reached and what their plans are: “On December 17th this year, we welcomed a delegation of 8 people from China Cargo Airlines to our office in Chile. The general manager, Sun Xuesong was also present in this meeting and they send a boeing 777 freighter model. In the meeting we discussed our cooperation in depth. Kingship had the honor to send the last airfreight of cherries from San Diego to Shanghai Pudong International Airport and in this way we closed our cherry transport by air of 2018. It was the first time we cooperated directly with China Cargo Airlines directly and this is a promising start for good cooperation in 2019 as well, where we will work closer together to import more cherries from United States, Canada and Chile.” 

Florida experienced another wave of cold weather late last week, with temperatures dropping once again below freezing. In Tampa, temperatures dropped as low as 29 degrees on Thursday morning along with windy conditions. Growers in the surrounding regions are focused on strawberry production at this time of year, and the cold weather prompted them to initiate protective measures."The freezing weather only caused slight damage to the strawberries," said Matt Sumner, of Always Fresh Farms in Winter Haven, around 50 miles east of Tampa. "We ran the overhead irrigation to prevent the crop from freezing. However, it was also windy and this caused the effectiveness of the irrigation to be quite spotty. Therefore, we did experience a bit of damage to the bloom and the fruit itself, but it will take a few more days to accurately assess."Supplies to recover by middle of this weekSuppliers expect that the effect on production will be minimal, with supplies quickly rebounding. "It will only bring a temporary slowdown to production and we expect volume to rebound by the middle of this week," Sumner said. "Strawberries have an optimal range of temperatures. If they are exceeded, it puts stress on the crop and they go into a dormant phase, which is what happened."Warmer temperatures are forecast to return and this is giving growers hope that the frost damage was brief and not detrimental on overall production. "We're very optimistic that production will be back to normal very quickly," Sumner added. "The weekend already brought warmer temperatures and we are looking at day time highs in the mid 70s this week. This will warm up the beds again and the strawberries are expected to fully recover."Other crops not affectedA number of other crops grown in the area, notably cabbage, lettuce, broccoli and other winter vegetables, were unaffected. Other, less cold-hardy products, are primarily grown in the south of the state at this time of year, and temperatures there were not excessively cold.   "We grow mainly berries up near Tampa," said a spokesperson from Harrison Farms. "Production will slow down a bit, but there has been no lasting damage. Further south we grow bell peppers and squash and these were unaffected."Temperatures in the Central Florida area are forecast to remain in the 70s this week, with lows ranging from the mid 50s to low 60s.

Get ready for Ambrosia apples to drive apple category performance. That’s the message to retailers from CMI Orchards.“We’re entering the strongest sales period of the year for Ambrosia,” says George Harter, Vice President of Marketing for CMI Orchards. “Ambrosia is the 8th best-selling apple variety in the U.S., so it is one of the few new branded apples that have the sales power to lift overall category performance. Nielsen data shows that the 10-week period from late January to April 15 is among the strongest Ambrosia sales weeks of the entire year.”According to Harter, a 20% increase in Ambrosia production combined with outstanding quality has him very optimistic for record sales in the coming weeks. “We’re opening our CA storage rooms and adding Ambrosia packing shifts in anticipation.”Harter says the uptick in Ambrosia couldn’t come at a better time for retailers. He says the 2017/18 apple year has been tough for most retailers because smaller sizing is reducing consumer transaction size combined with category price deflation. “Total apple category performance has lagged behind previous years, with season-to-date volume nationally down by nearly 8%. Branded apples are a bright spot for retailers to recapture sales.”Over the last five years, Ambrosia has grown to become the top selling, new branded apple in the United States. In 2016, for the first time Ambrosia jumped into the top 10 in total U.S. apple sales. Last season Ambrosia jumped again, passing McIntosh and moving up to number 8 in apple category sales, selling in more than 14,000 stores nationally.“As an organization, we’re thrilled with how Ambrosia is driving sales for our retail customers,” said Harter. “It really is amazing when you look at national scan data how many of the supposedly ‘hot new varieties’ drive less than 10% of the store dollars of Ambrosia. Line ‘em up, Ambrosia tops ‘em all.”Harter says with smaller fruit sizing out of the Northwest, the promotional opportunities on Ambrosia two-pound pouch bags will be unprecedented. “For two years running, our CMI Ambrosia has been the #1 selling two-pound pouch bag in the U.S. With an abundance of smaller fruit perfect for bagging, I anticipate we will see a lot of retail promotions running with hot prices like two for $5.”“The good news for retailers right now is there are some really great branded apples available to promote,” said Harter. “In addition to Ambrosia, apples like Jazz, Envy, KIKU, Kanzi and others give retailers a lot of options for driving new category sales. The important thing for retailers to remember is it’s not by chance that Ambrosia outsells every other branded apple. It’s just a great apple that consumers love.”

Exporters confident of retaining a premium in an increasingly competitive Chinese market.A new season brings a new competitor for New Zealand cherry exporters in one of their most lucrative markets.With growers from the Australian mainland set to begin sending fruit to China over the upcoming campaign, coupled with Chile’s desire to continue ramping-up its airfeight programmes, competition at the premium end of the market will be higher than ever.While seemingly aware of the situation, New Zealand exporters appear focused on controlling what’s in their own hands and letting their fruit do the rest."We are aware of Australia being in the market and already receiving feedback from clients on their pricing and quality," says Pure Pac’s international sales manager Sharon Kirk. "Competition is good, we just need to be on top of our quality to satisfy customers."Forecasts suggest a solid season lies ahead, with good volumes and fruit sizing up well. Warm spring weather across most growing regions means harvests have started earlier than anticipated.Pure Pac, a consortium of seven New Zealand cherry growers based in the key Central Otago production hub, started its domestic market sales programme on 9 December, one week ahead of schedule. Export programmes were scheduled to begin in mid to late December.“Again this is early for our growers,” adds Kirk. “We anticipate being in full swing for export from 30 December with our Lapins. Compared to previous years, brix levels are high for this time of the year, 18-20 brix already with great flavour.”Kirk anticipates fruit will be harvested until 29 January, subject to weather, which should still provide a window to supply selected Asian markets in the lead-up to Chinese New Year (16 February). “We have started one week early so we anticipate we will finish harvest a week earlier,” Kirk explains, “We are working closely with clients to ensure we deliver the fruit as close to Chinese New Year as possible.”

Stone fruit growers are expected to benefit from changes to export market protocols for produce sent to China. From January 1, 2018 there will be a tariff reduction for the export of peaches, plums, apricots and cherries from 10 per cent down to 2 per cent, which is great news for the local stone fruit industry, which has struggled with oversupply in previous years.Southern Forests Food Council executive chairman Bevan Eatts said the announcement was “Welcome news. Expanding growers’ market options is always beneficial and could be especially helpful when domestic markets flood and exports were available to ease oversupply.In an article in the West Australian, Mr Eatts emphasized the positive aspects of opening up a market like China -with more than one billion people-, as it will provide growers access to niche markets that demanded quality produce.Tariffs on all horticulture exports to China are expected to eliminated by January 1, 2023.

According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), world cherry production is forecast to decline by 3 percent to 3.1 million tons because the climate-damaged crops in the European Union and Turkey will offset the increases in the United States, China, and Chile.Meanwhile, world exports are estimated to increase by 10 percent to more than 400,000 tons with higher exportable supplies from Chile and the United States.United StatesUS production will increase by 37,000 tons to 495,000 tons, the second highest level since 2009-2010, as good growth conditions for sweet cherries in the Pacific Northwest and good moisture levels in California offset the losses caused by frost in the states that produce cherries. Exports are expected to increase by 45 percent, i.e. 34,000 tons, and reach a record high of 110,000 tons. This abundant harvest would boost shipments to all markets, especially to Canada and China. According to forecasts, imports will be light, albeit in line with recent years.The European UnionEU production is expected to decline by 21% to 576,000 tons due to the intense frost of April and May that affected more than half of the Member States and key producers of cherries, most significantly in Poland, the main producer of this fruit. Despite lower production, sustained demand from non-EU Eastern European countries is expected to push exports slightly. Imports are forecast to fall by 8,000 tons to 50,000 tons with fewer deliveries from the main supplier, Turkey.TurkeyTurkey's output is expected to shrink by 25,000 tons, to 500,000 tons. This reduction was caused by summer hail and the heavy rain there were at harvest in several regions, including Canakkale and Balikesir. As a result of poor weather conditions, the fruit had quality problems that are expected to drastically limit exports by 25 percent to 60,000 tons.ChinaFor the fifth consecutive year, China's output is expected to rise. According to forecasts China's production will increase by 30,000 tons, reaching 360,000 tons, given the continuous trend of new plantations that reach maturity. Meanwhile, imports are expected to slightly decrease to 105,000 tons.ChileChile's output is forecast to rise by 8,000 tons, reaching a record level of 124,000 tons, the second highest level in 3 years. This increase is the result of new orchards entering into production. The cultivated area and cherry production have grown steadily for more than a decade, in part because growers of other fruits started planting high-yielding cherry varieties.The USDA expects that Chilean exports of fresh cherries in the 2017-2018 period will increase by about 10 percent to 105,000 tons.JapanJapan's production is estimated to be practically flat at 19,000 tons, as the frost during flowering led to a significant decline in production, resulting in a withdrawal of farmers. Imports are forecast to rise slightly to 5,000 tons.RussiaRussia's imports are expected to remain almost unchanged at 67,000 tons as deliveries from Moldova and Serbia offset the smallest shipments from Azerbaijan. 

U.S. production of pome fruit, oranges, grapes and cranberries is expected to drop year-on-year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The AMS released a Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook report on Sept. 29, taking a look at what could be expected from current seasons.It forecast the U.S. apple crop at 10.4 billion pounds, which would be 7% down from the previous year but higher than most years since 2000.“While the anticipated smaller crop should provide a boost to U.S. apple prices during the 2017/18 marketing year, above-average production, competing large storage supplies from the previous harvest, and weak 2016/17 end-of-season prices will be mitigating forces on early-season fresh apple prices,” the AMS said. It also forecast the U.S. pear crop would face a decline for the fourth consecutive year to 1.41 billion pounds, down 4% from the previous year, pointing to stronger pear prices for the season. Anticipated lower production in Washington State is driving the overall decline, it added.The total U.S. grape crop is estimated to drop 2% year-on-year to 15 billion pounds, with California’s production forecast to decline at the same pace, mostly reflecting a smaller raisin grape crop.“Declines are also anticipated in other key States,” it said. “As California’s table grape crop is forecast down less than 1 percent, fresh-market production will likely be near the previous 5-year average highs, indicating ample supplies to meet current demand.”The final estimate for the U.S. citrus crop in 2016-17 is 7.77 million tons, an 11% decline, with reductions for most citrus fruit.As the 2017-18 season begins, the AMS said the initial forecast for California’s navel orange crop is down 10% from last season.“Also, while the full damage and loss assessment from Hurricane Irma is ongoing, early indications suggest Florida’s citrus production will slip again in 2017-18,” it said.U.S. cranberry production in 2017 is forecast down 6% from the 2016 record crop but the second largest historically. The AMS said continued ample production and large beginning inventories will likely ease any upward pressure on cranberry prices.In addition, after three consecutive years of setting record highs, California’s walnut production is forecast to decline during the 2017-18 season. “Meanwhile, the State’s almond crop is forecast to surpass the 2016/17 record crop. This, combined with sizeable stocks from last season, will likely suppress almond grower prices again in 2017/18,” it said. 

With low chill hours this year, Southeastern peach growers were hit with extreme losses. Will McGhee, Marketing Director for the Georgia Peach Council told WSAV-TV in Savannah, GA, it was one of the worst in 50 years. WSAV-TV reports Georgia lost about 80% and South Carolina lost about 90% of their respective peach crops this year, which means multi-million dollar industry losses. The station reports there is a bright spot in the devastation – prices are sky high. Locally grown peaches at a Stokes Produce stand at a farmer’s market in Savannah rose to $45 for a half-bushel.As for next year, growers are optimistic that next year the crop will rebound.“This doesn’t happen very often. When it happens it’s awful but, you know, history says we’re gonna be right back at it next year and working just as hard or harder than we ever have.” McGehee said. 

The Italians might be selling more to Brazil and Canada, but entering Asian markets is more essential than ever.Italy is a step closer to achieving market access for its apples in two major Asian markets, breakthroughs which would provide some welcome relief to an industry that has not been able to diversify its export portfolio in any way since Russia banned exports of all EU fruit back in August 2014. EUROFRUIT understands that a team of officials from Vietnam is due to visit and inspect apple production and packing sites in Trentino-South Tyrol and Piedmont during the third week of September, with another team from Taiwan conducting similar inspections in early October.“They have done a pest risk assessment and are coming here to evaluate packhouses and so on,” reveals Giulia Montanaro of Assomela, the association of Italian apple marketers and suppliers that represents more than 80 per cent of the country’s apple production. The question of when access to the two countries in question might be secured remains unanswered, however. “That’s the million dollar question,” Montanaro adds. “It all depends on the inspectors’ reaction and the reports they file afterwards. These things happen on a ministry to ministry level, so they take time. But we know it could be concluded quickly because Poland took a year or a year-and-a-half in Vietnam. So we’re hoping to do the same.” Italy’s apple suppliers are running at full pelt in a race to develop their exports and, in that context, have achieved some improved results in certain countries – for example Brazil and Canada. Exports of Italian apples to Brazil have rocketed, with official ITC trade figures up to May 2017 showing a volume of 32,241 tonnes were shipped this season compared with just 4,268 during the whole of 2015/16; that increase has pushed export revenues to €29.8m tonnes, again not including post-May sales, versus a full-season result of €3.9m during the previous campaign.In Canada, meanwhile, export volumes and sales to May 2017 stood just above 4,000 tonnes and €3.9m respectively, compared with 2,276 tonnes and €2.3m in 2015/16. No new marketsHowever, that success has come despite an apparent lack of sufficient progress on the part of the Italian government in securing access to new markets; the fact is that not a single new market opening for Italian apples has been achieved since the Russian ban on EU fruit imports was imposed in August 2014.“The current line-up of importer countries certainly owes much to a reordering of the market that followed the closure of the Russian market [in 2014], which had severe consequences for the European apple market,” Montanaro explains. “Italy wasn’t alone in seeing its exports to Russia decimated, but nonetheless it faced aggressive competition from its rivals – above all Poland – which ‘invaded’ markets that had previously been almost exclusively the preserve of Italian producers.“This evidently brought about not just negative consequences in terms of market share, but also a race to research new markets. The feeling among companies in the sector, however, is that the number of commercial opportunities has diminished post-embargo, rather than increased.”Despite other notable success stories – India, for example – South Tyrolean apple companies have encountered tough trading conditions in certain countries where expansion has been evident in previous years. Egypt, which proved to be an excellent outlet for Italian apples in 2015/16, drastically reduced its imports following a devaluation of its currency and subsequent inflation. “In addition, a limit imposed by the government on high-value (dollar) payments out of Egypt reduced the buying power even of the better-organised importers,” Montanaro notes. In Algeria, meanwhile, another previously very promising market for Italian apples, a government decision to introduce an ad-hoc apple import licence scheme proved in effect to be a block on Italian imports.“So, as well as the loss of the Russian market, exporters had to deal with closures – albeit less obvious ones – in their key markets,” Montanaro concludes. “For this reason, at a national and European level, the Russian ban has encouraged the authorities to open new markets. And yet, since Russia’s official closure in August 2014, not a single new market for Italian apples has been opened.” Presence in AsiaWith many of Italy’s apple export companies, including Vog, VI.P Val Venosta and Melinda/La Trentina, exhibiting at this week’s Asia Fruit Logistica trade fair in Hong Kong, the hope for Assomela and its members will be that demand for high-quality European fruit will encourage better trade links with highly promising Asian markets in the very near future. While countries in south-east Asia, as well as the continent’s largest market China, continue to be off-limits to Italian apple producers (as it is incidentally in Mexico, Peru and Chile), there is at least the glimmer of hope that better-organised and better-informed efforts on the part of the Italian government might help the trade match some of the results achieved by other European apple sources like Poland and France. “In south-east Asia and China, you need to open bilateral negotiations if you want to define a protocol that will permit access for a specific item of fresh produce; the barriers are typically phytosanitary and non-tariff barriers, which block access to goods – especially fresh produce – coming from outside the region,” Montanaro explains. “In the case of China, the first official exchanges between the Italian authorities from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Chinese authorities at AQSIQ have begun. But China has demonstrated itself to be rather negative in relation to Italy’s request to open negotiations for both apples and pears, as it did for its negotiation with Argentina some years ago, arguing repeatedly that market access dossiers can only be for a single product.”With the negotiation of a fruit import protocol with China reckoned to take around ten years, the prospect might still seem far off. But with such a protocol for Italian citrus concluded just a few months ago, there is more chance than ever before that a similar breakthrough for apples might eventually be reached.http://www.fruitnet.com/asiafruit/article/173308/italy-apple-exporters-target-vietnam-and-taiwan

Guolele is a fast growing online fruit retailer and e-commerce business in China. The company was founded by Mr Gongwei Chen in August 2014. Mr Xingqu Liang, the import manager, shares his views on the Chinese fresh produce e-commerce market.