HENRY INTERNATIONAL

60年前曾經重創加拿大和華盛頓州櫻桃市場的「小櫻桃症」(Little cherry disease)，今年估計已造成北美果農四千萬磅櫻桃的損失。 什麼是「小櫻桃症」？ 它是一種透過昆蟲傳染的櫻桃樹疾病，得了小櫻桃症的櫻桃樹所結出來的櫻桃尺寸比健康的櫻桃小許多、顏色偏白 (圖一)，賣相不佳，而且味道偏酸、苦。 今年華盛頓州和奧勒岡州約出口4.2億磅重的櫻桃，看似許多但與2017年的櫻桃出口紀錄相比，今年的櫻桃產量因「小櫻桃症」而減少約兩成。 Photo credit: Andrea Bixby

儘管新冠疫情的風險導致貨櫃出口時被拒，紐西蘭尼爾森港的活動的執行長Hugh Morrison表示，港口的活動依然強健如昔。 「港口是政府表列的必須服務項目，主要產業也是必須服務項目，因此港口還是會持續忙碌地運作。」他說。「總而言之，雖然偶有狀況，但港口會持續全力前進，接納變化並配合政府標準。」 空貨櫃運送到蘋果和奇異果出口商後又滿載而歸，出口貨櫃裡裝的滿滿水果也被進口商確實接收了。紅酒出口活動也依舊維持強勢而穩定。對於接下來蘋果的大豐收季節港口會提供什麼額外措施，Morrison也說，有個主要

Growers count their losses

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.

The rain drenching New Zealand during the last weeks has caused crops of the stone fruit to split and rot, meaning there will be a lower supply at New Zealand's fruit stalls and supermarkets. At the top of the South Island, Marlborough cherry growers suffered through the wettest season in a decade.​Cherrybank Orchard, just south of Blenheim, had 102 mm of rain during November, compared to the previous November when there was 2mm of precipitation. Owner Blair McLean lost about 50 percent of his 2018 "early varieties" of cherries. The damage caused a shortage which effected those shopping for Christmas dinner.In reality, the rain has affected cherry crops throughout the country, said Summerfruit New Zealand chief executive Marie Dawkins, however: "Kiwi Christmas tables will still have them. It's probably just going to cost you a little more, but they will still be there. The cherries will still be of a high quality and will taste great.”Cherry crops were not the only victim of the downpours - it was also detrimental for other fruits, like strawberries, Dawkins said.Waihopai Valley Eden Orchards’ Gary Bignell agreed cherries would be expensive and in short supply over the festive season: "When you get too much rain, the cherries ripen and they split. When cherries split, they rot." Bignell had lost about 30 per cent of his crop.

Arrivals of Chilean cherries into the US are imminent, with some fruit already reported to have arrived. While shipments of cherries from Chile to China have already started, arrivals to the US are slow in coming. Additionally, the crop will be a little smaller than the record crop last year of 39 million boxes, and looks to have been lessened further due to some cooler weather and rain in recent weeks, according to Broc Bengard of Bengard Marketing."A few exporters have sent some shipments to the US but the majority of arrivals are not due until next week although wet weather expected this past weekend through early next week may delay things a bit further," Bengard noted. "Expectations were for the crop to come in around 34 - 36 million boxes this season. However, with a wet spring and recent colder weather during the bloom, it might have reduced the crop to 31 - 33 million, which equates to being around 15 - 20 percent off of last year."Furthermore, the first arrivals of cherries appear to be of a less favored variety. "The majority of the early arrivals are of the Burlat variety, despite them showing up as 'Bing' on the system," Bengard explained. "This is a softer, early variety and due to its softer nature and lower sugar, retailers have little interest in it. From the following week however, we should start to see Royal Dawn, followed by some Santina variety starting to arrive."The cooler weather will have other effects on the season than just reduced volume. The weather has caused the harvest to be pushed back a little, but mainly for the early varieties at this stage. If this is the case, it means the harvest and arrivals could be compressed."Fruit has been slow to arrive," Bengard said. "There is good demand for first orders as everybody is waiting for shipments to arrive and subsequently fill shelves. As the harvest has been pushed back, we are expecting the harvest to be more concentrated. This will allow for good promotional opportunities with concentrated volumes on arrival."Bengard added that fruit quality should also be good this year. "With the reduced volume compared to last year, this should result in a more manageable crop for slower packing," he said. "Additionally, there is less stress on the trees with less fruit, which usually translates into a stronger fruit quality and condition for the final consumer."

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.”

USDA forecast says crop remains stable, but it is still set to be the lowest for 75 years.For the first time this season Florida citrus production is expected to remain stable, according to the latest USDA forecast, yet the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma still remains."Florida continues to face its lowest citrus forecast in more than 75 years," said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. "While the temporary comfort of a stable forecast gives us a moment to breathe it doesn’t hide the fact that this industry remains in crisis due to the impact of Hurricane Irma."The USDA report predicts Florida orange production for 2017/18 at 46m boxes of oranges, a 33 per cent decrease over last season.Florida grapefruit is expected to produce 4.65m boxes, a decrease of 40 per cent. Florida was expected to produce about 75m boxes of oranges this season, according to private estimates.Emergency fundingThe Florida citrus industry continues to seek consideration for federal emergency funding to support growers impacted by the hurricane.In December, the US House of Representatives passed an US$81bn disaster spending bill, which included US$2.6bn for agricultural assistance.Florida growers reported 30 to 70 per cent crop loss after Hurricane Irma’s landfall on 10 September 2017, with the southwest region of the state receiving the most damage.The hurricane uprooted trees and left many groves sitting in standing water for up to three weeks, potentially damaging the root systems and impacting future seasons’ growth.In October, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced that Florida Citrus sustained more than US$760m in damages due to Hurricane Irma.

Blueberries are the top horticulture crop in Canada, accounting for approximately 25 per cent of horticultural farm gate valueBlueberries remain the top export crop in Canada despite a decline in export volume and value in the most recent year recorded, 2016.A new USDA GAIN report has pointed out that high bush blueberry production climbed 54 per cent from 55,737 tonnes in 2012 to 85,769 tonnes in 2016, while low bush production soared 100 per cent to 132,235 tonnes.British Columbia produces between 96 and 98 per cent of Canadian exports of fresh cultivated blueberries in any given year, with 98 per cent of exports destined for the US. "With increased competition from geographically proximate US growers, Oregon and Washington State in particular, the province of British Columbia has been exploring Asia-Pacific markets for increased export opportunities," the report noted."Data through October 2017 indicate that Canada is on pace to recover from 2016’s fresh cultivated blueberry export declines and return to the record high export level of 2015."

With several weeks of the season still to go the industry has already exceeded the previous highest shipment totalA surge in new plantings and favourable weather conditions helped Chile’s cherry industry reach a new milestone as total exports broke through the 30m-carton barrier for the first time ever.Cristián Tagle, president of the Chilean Cherry Committee, said the volume loaded to date already exceeds total shipments during the record 2014/15 campaign, in which almost 21.8m cartons, or 103,081 tonnes were exported.“Until last week we had exported more than 27m cartons, but with the ship that was loaded last weekend this figure reached 30m cartons, which is equivalent to 150,000 tonnes of cherries,” Tagle said.“We estimate that we will continue to supply the Chinese market until beyond the Chinese New Year on 16 February 16.”The sharp rise in output is the result of new acreage, a switch to more productive varieties with a longer post-harvest life and the implementation of new technologies to improve orchard management and protection, together with what Tagle described as “the best weather conditions we’ve ever had, especially at the beginning of the campaign”.The industry has pumped US$5m into its most ambitious marketing campaign to date in China in anticipation of the increase in volume.Asoex president Ronald Bown said the aim of the campaign is to “increase consumption, especially before and after the Chinese New Year festival, and position the Cherries from Chile brand in the minds of consumers”.The campaign includes tasting activities in more than 306 points of sales, as well as promotions in E-commerce sites, campaigns on China's main social network sites (WeChat and Weibo), as well as advertising in Metro stations, residential elevators, cell phone applications and wholesale markets, among others.Of the volume of Chilean cherries exported to date, 89.1 per cent has gone to Asia, where China accounts for 94 per cent of shipments.The US has received 4.8 per cent of the total exported, Latin America 3.2 per cent, Europe 2.4 per cent, Canada 0.4 per cent and the Middle East 0.1 per cent, Asoex said.

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.”

Farms in Orange, New South Wales, and Yarra Valley, Victoria, were very heavily impacted following the extreme weather over the weekend. According to thenewdaily.com, about half of the crops of Christmas fruit in those regions were destroyed by the storms.The timing was awful, as many Australian farmers’ crops such as cherries, peaches and apricots, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries were ripening in the weeks leading up to Christmas. As these crops were severely damaged, shoppers can expect an increase in fruit prices.Australia’s unpredictable weather has led to an industry shift towards protected means of cropping such as hot houses. This year was really troubled, first by from extreme heat, then extreme wet. Cherries and berries, forecast to be an abundant crop, are now decimated. Some growers had only 50 percent of the cherry crop left. However, there are enough cherry orchards, so there will still be plenty of cherries for Christmas.

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.

Chile has embarked on a season-long calendar of health-focused promotions in the UK designed to accommodate blueberry record exports.The Chilean Blueberry Committee (CBC) expects to export 100,000 tonnes of fresh blueberries to its global markets this season. The marketing campaign kicked off with the CBC’s first-ever sampling at the Taste of London Food festival which took place on 16-19 November. “Participating at Taste of London served as a timely reminder for consumers that Chile is the world’s largest blueberry exporter, our new season is approaching and we are preparing to export to the UK,” said Charif Christian Carvajal, Asoex’s marketing director for Europe, Asia and the Middle East.The pilot promotion highlighted the counter-seasonal availability of Chilean blueberries to local production in the UK.It forms part of a number of promotional activities planned by the CBC for the UK this season to position blueberries as the go-to winter berry and ideal healthy snack.As well as reaching out to health-conscious consumers, the campaign will target primarily the older generation who are keen to keep their minds healthy and active, while also being more accustomed to eating socially.The campaign will consist of a two-pronged approach; using traditional PR tactics, alongside social media outreach and direct engagement to help drive word of mouth around the perfect winter berry.Key activities will include: developing blueberry festive recipes and healthy eating sharing dishes featuring blueberries; providing sampling opportunities for older consumers in conjunction with a charity for the elderly; and distributing information on the role of blueberries in healthy living, backed by a nutritionist. The UK is an important market for Chilean blueberries. In 2016/17 Chile exported almost 11,000 tonnes of blueberries to the UK, according to Asoex data – an 11 per cent increase on the previous season. CBC president Andrés Armstrong said a similar growth pattern is anticipated for 2017/18. 

A long-term study of half a million Chinese adults has found that eating more fresh fruit significantly lowers the risk of diabetes. Eating fresh fruit can significantly lower the risk of diabetes, according to a major new long-term study from Oxford University.Researchers monitored 500,000 Chinese adults from diverse regions across a seven-year period. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire and underwent physical measurements and blood tests, with their health tracked subsequently during the study's time period.Among those who did not have diabetes at the start of the study, daily consumption of fresh fruit was associated with a 12 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes, compared to never or rarely consuming fresh fruit.In those who already had diabetes, consuming fresh fruit more than three days a week was associated with a 17 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause and were up to a third less likely to develop diabetes-related complications.The study was done because fruit is often not considered as healthy as veg for those with diabetes, given the relatively higher sugar content, researchers said.Results contradicted this, the study found, with higher levels of fruit intake likely to be beneficial to prevention of diabetes.“To our knowledge, this is the first large prospective study demonstrating similar inverse associations of fruit consumption with both incident diabetes and diabetic complications,” researchers said.“These findings suggest that a higher intake of fresh fruit is potentially beneficial for primary and secondary prevention of diabetes.”Restricted consumption of fresh fruit, which is common in many parts of the world, e.g. China and other Asian countries, should not be encouraged, the study said.It was published online in the PLOS Medicine journal. 

A relatively cold and wet spring in Chile has led harvests running at least a week behind a typical year, according to an industry representative.“Spring has been cold compared to last year and we are around seven to 10 days delayed in relation to a normal year,” Chilean Cherry Committee president Christian Tagle told Fresh Fruit Portal.However, the representative said the cool weather meant better fruit quality was expected than last year, when unusually high temperatures were seen in the spring period.He expected characteristics including Brix levels, taste and color to all see improvements compared to the 2016-17 season.Nearly 90% of exports are sent to Asia, with China the leading market by far.Last year the industry had originally forecast exports of 120,000MT, but weather factors in October and November affected production. The final export figure, however, was still a 13% increase over the 2015-16 season.In late August a seminar for cherry growers held in Curicó, Tagle had projected exports of around 160,000 metric tons (MT), which would represent a 67% boost over last season’s 94,869MT and be equivalent to 32 million boxes.“So far the weather has not caused any damages, but if the spring continues with intermittent rains the industry will have to be very rigorous with the use of fungicides…to avoid fruit rot in the orchards and reduce the percentage of small fruit,” he was quoted as saying.The publication also reported that Agroex general manager Victor Villagra was expecting total national production this season of around 30 million boxes.However, she explained that as the industry had already been expecting a huge year-on-year increase, a drop in production would unlikely be much of an issue for growers.Local media La Discusion quoted agronomist and cherry specialist Elena Yáñez as saying rainfall over the spring period may well lead to lower volumes than originally anticipated.Tagle was not prepared to give a specific volume estimate for this campaign but predicted exports would rise year-on-year.

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. 

Hopes are high for the upcoming Australian cherry season. Certainly after an overall dissapointing crop in 2016."Despite persistent rain a few weeks ago in certain areas of Victoria, the entire production is expected to rise steeply," says Sherry Xu of Royal Fresh International.Some cherry orchard owners from Victoria estimated the production may be increased by 30% during the upcoming harvest; and there are even more promising figure of 50% at some other farms in New South Wales. Combined, the two states are the main cherry production areas of mainland Australia. Although at the moment it is too early to comment on sizes and volumes, most growers have high expectations about this season's harvest and export business.Speaking of harvest time, early cherry varieties from Victoria are expected to enter the market towards the end of October. For export, cherries shipments may have to wait until early November. New South Wales generally starts 1 to 2 weeks later. In order to catch the Winter sales peak days at local markets, farmers will normally try to harvest and sell most of their cherries before Christmas. After Christmas, a third cherry region, Tasmania, will also enter the market. "Another encouraging and motivating piece of news for our cherry orchards is that Vietnam has reopened to Australian cherries from 2017. We look forward to exporting Australian cherries there in a month's time," concludes Sherry.

Primary school children could show better attention by consuming flavonoid-rich blueberries, following a study conducted by the University of Reading.In a paper published in Food & Function, a group of 7-10 year olds who consumed a drink containing wild blueberries or a matched placebo and were tested on their speed and accuracy in completing an executive task function on a computer.The double blind trial found that the children who consumed the flavonoid-rich blueberry drink had 9% quicker reaction times on the test without any sacrifice of accuracy. In particular, the effect was more noticeable as the tests got harder.Professor Claire Williams, a neuroscience professor at the University of Reading said:：“This is the first time that we have seen the positive impact that flavonoids can have on the executive function of children. We designed this double blind trial especially to test how flavonoids would impact on attention in young people as it's an area of cognitive performance that hasn't been measured before.”

The California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) says it has not yet received reports of any of its members being directly impacted from the wildfires around the state.On Tuesday the number of people confirmed dead in Northern California rose to 15, with at least 100,000 acres scorched, according to the LA Times.Key wine grape-growing areas such as Napa are reported to have been heavily affected, with the fires having destroyed hundreds of buildings.“In terms of the commodities that we represent here in California…we haven’t heard of any direct impacts yet,” CFFA director of member relations and communications Ian LeMay told Fresh Fruit Portal on Tuesday afternoon.“Obviously situations like this sometimes can impact transportation routes to different markets and some of our members could have issues getting their products to market. “But with this being such an immediate and ongoing situation in multiple areas of the state right now, it’s hard to put our finger on how this could impact the California fresh fruit market.”He pointed out that there had been numerous wildfires in California over the long and hot summer, including serious fires in the south.

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. 

The Canadian cherry season became another victim of the hot summer that has plagued growers in western North America. Yield was up over last year, however, as the main effects were the shortening of the season as well as smaller fruit sizes."Overall, our yield was definitely up over 2016 due to new farms coming into production, however we had a somewhat challenging year with the heat," said Julie McLachlan, of Jealous Fruits in British Columbia. "We certainly fared better than the cherry growing regions to the south, such as Washington and Oregon. However, it resulted in a compressed season where we saw an increase of fruit ripening over a shorter period than projected. Our season started in early July and concluded on August 26, where we had earlier estimated to finish between September 5 - 8.""The fruit was below optimal sizing which was disappointing, but the quality was still excellent," McLachlan continued. "Summing up the season, it was challenging and compressed, but ultimately we were pleased with our end product, despite the smaller sizes."Export market strongDemand for Canadian cherries remained strong and exporters experienced a growth in demand from around the world. Buyers in Southeast Asia were not as receptive to the smaller size profiles, but McLachlan was pleased with the way exports have performed this year. She also noted that China and the US continue to be strong markets for the product.  "The export market was really strong, and we enjoyed good arrivals of our shipments," she said. "There was an increase of fruit shipped over to the Middle East, particularly Dubai. The Southeast Asia market was off a fraction, because they typically prefer larger fruit sizes. However, markets such as China and the United States continue to be strong supporters of our fruit. Our last shipment for the season arrived in China in mid September so the fruit should continue to retail there for another two weeks."

The California Citrus Mutual (CCM) has said the state’s upcoming orange harvest is likely to begin later than last season, with robust pricing anticipated as the result of one of the lightest crops in years. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) last week estimated 70 million cartons of Navels would be produced, which would mark the lowest levels since 2008-09.CCM president Joel Nelsen said the industry believed the projection was largely on target, mainly attributing the reduction to declining acreage and rains in March which affected the bloom.“If you take a look at the figures, the number of acres in actual production is down significantly. We continue to see growers vacate the industry, and acreage being bulldozed or modernized,” he said.Nelsen said two key factors behind the declining acreage were the drought and a stifling regulatory environment.“Over the last three or four years there’s been a drop of 25,000 acres. Multiply that by 600 cartons per acre and that’s a 15 million carton hit,” he said.“We used to think 85 million was a normal crop…well this year we’re down to 70 million.”He explained regulations concerning such aspects as water usage, crop protection tools, buffer zones, and air quality were making it “extremely difficult” for individuals to be successful.Changes to these regulations and varietal reconversion in citrus groves would be needed in order to turn around the declining acreage and get back up to previous production levels, Nelsen said.“In what direction do we recover? That’s open to speculation, but I think that acreage is going to come back into production, it’s just going to be consolidated in terms of ownership,” he said.Heavy rainfall over the winter means there is plenty of water to irrigate for this year at least, he said. The representative also predicted the orange harvest would begin around a week to 10 days later than last year, depending on weather factors over the coming weeks.“That’s all up to Mother Nature right now,” he said.“We’re still having warm weather, and the fruit hasn’t sized as it has in the past. A little bit of rain in October will help.”Cold temperatures at night were also needed, but Nelsen said he didn’t see that happening over the next couple of weeks.“Right now I think maybe around the middle of October we’ll start harvesting some fruit and by Thanksgiving there will be volume in the stores, but it’s going to be tight for Halloween which is Oct 31,” he said.He also anticipated ‘robust’ pricing in the market as a result of the lower production.“No matter what you produce, the cost of farming is stagnant. You’re going to end up spending somewhere around US$3,500 to US$4,000 an acre to farm Navel oranges, whether you get 400, 500 or 700 cartons,” he said.“So growers are going to need a positive return on a per-acre basis. Now there are fewer cartons, one would expect a strong start to the Navel season, but unfortunately for the consumer the costs are going to go up a bit.” 

Once the agricultural season begins, some of the main concerns of the fruit producers are yield, caliber and condition, factors that will be determinant in the final return of the producer.After the occurrence of the flowering-fruit event, the development and initial growth of the fruit will be determined by the process of cell division, moment in which the hormonal and nutritional support would be fundamental for enhance this process. In response to this necessity, Stoller Chile is working since 18 years in different areas of the country with the product Stimulate®, bio stimulant that possess hormonal cofactors (auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins), that promote the general growth and the development of both the plant, as well as the caliber and condition of the fruits. With the aim of enhance at the maximum the physiological events (cellular division) and generate an impact on the caliber’s parameters, dry matter and weight of the fruit, a new product was developed, Stimulate Fruit Sizer®, a bio stimulant that possess a major content and balance of hormonal cofactors, achieving to generate a major impact on the fruit. The Achondo Sullivan agricultural company has been using the gauge program in table grapes and cherries for 5 seasons, and in the 2016-2017 season it used Stimulate Fruit Sizer® in some sectors. Other commercial alternatives were tried in the grape quarters where the product was applied, and the most notable was the Stimulate Fruit Sizer®, increasing up to 1 mm in size, from large to extra caliber. In addition, it managed to concentrate the harvest and increase the percentage of fruit with exportable quality. In cherries, it was tested it in the Santina, Lapins, Bing and Sweetheart varieties, and managed to mobilize the caliber curve to larger sizes, reaching 90% of the fruit with a caliber greater than 28 mm.https://www.portalfruticola.com/noticias/2017/09/12/nueva-formula-incrementara-calibre-rendimiento-calidad-fruta/

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

A combination of ‘outstanding’ quality, nationwide promotions and good export demand are keeping California table grape supplies in check, according to a new representative of Terra Exports’ grape division.The Nevada-headquartered company recently hired industry veteran Joe Cardenas to help boost its table grape business and to take the lead on its West Coast sales.He told Fresh Fruit Portal the total California table grape crop was estimated to end up at around 111 million 19-pound boxes compared to 108 million boxes last year.“The season’s been very steady. The quality and the conditions are outstanding right now,” Cardenas said.“The promotions nationwide coupled with the export demands have really kept supplies in check.”He said the San Joaquin Valley had been in the midst of a heatwave last week with temperatures frequently exceeding 100ºF, limiting the amount of time workers could be out in the fields for safety reasons.In some cases, the heat had caused some challenges related to achieving good color, he added.Terra Exports sources grapes from various producing countries including the U.S., Peru, Chile, and Mexico. The majority of grapes the company sources in the U.S. are exported with the rest going to its domestic program.Cardenas also said average prices per box had been around the US$20-24 dollar range, which is in line with previous years.“From talking to the growers, everything seems to be on schedule. They plan to finish by around November, which is around when Peru will start, and then our Chilean program will probably begin around January,” he said.Peru and Chile set for greater overlapCardenas said the current impression from Peru was that volumes will be a little bit shorter this year.While Terra Exports has usually shipped Peruvian grapes to the East Coast due to the higher prices, this season it is going to start to bring some small volumes to the West Coast. For Chile, the situation is the other way round.“The East Coast seems to pay better for Peruvian grapes than the West Coast, so we tend to always supply to East Coast as they’re willing to pay for the box. On the West Coast, the majority of people just want a good deal on a decent grape,” Cardenas said.“We are basically knocking on doors at the moment, and everybody’s starting to move into the Peruvian grapes, so we’re going to start bringing in small volumes to the West Coast.“Then with the Chilean program, which is normally on the West Coast, this year we’re going to take some to the East Coast.”He said this was mainly to be able to provide more options to customers.The representative also believed the Chilean and Peruvian grape deals would increasingly overlap in the future, and he said Chile may need to step up its game in order to remain competitive.“There’s going to come a time and place where you receive Chilean and Peruvian grapes at the same time, and it’s just going to be up to our customer base, what they want to buy,” he said.Namibian grapes on the horizonCardenas also mentioned Terra Exports was also looking at sourcing Namibian grapes for the first time this year. He said they would likely be shipped via South African exporters.“That I know of I don’t see anybody that’s brought any to the U.S. But since they’re allowed in we’re working on that right now to hopefully bring some in this year,” he said.“We’re really hoping it happens, to give people something different. We have specialty stores that always like something new.”

The world’s leading cherry exporter is hoping to take advantage of strong export prices at the start of its season by expanding production further north in the country. The majority of Chile’s cherry volumes currently originate from the central-southern regions of O’Higgins and Maule, but researchers are now looking to breed new varieties of the lucrative fruit that would perform well in the Coquimbo region.They will soon be opening up a new research center and hope to have at least two varietal selections in the pre-commercial stage in a few years’ time.The evaluation comes at a time when neighboring Peru is also looking into starting up cherry production to supply fruit at a time when there are typically lower volumes available for international markets.A representative of Chile’s Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) told Fresh Fruit Portal private companies had long expressed an interest in expanding the industry away from the traditional growing areas.Dr. José Manuel Donoso explained a test hectare with hybrid varieties near La Serena, the capital of the Coquimbo region, had been established in 2012. Since then the team have been able to make the first evaluations over the last two seasons.“Last year we propagated them on rootstocks and this year they will be part of the new evaluation center that will be in Ovalle [also in the Coquimbo region],” he said.“The good thing is that of the 5,000 plants that we brought to the north, we have identified about five plants with superior characteristics.The new center will include a six-hectare test site and will aid in the program’s varietal selection process, Donoso said. The researchers are also now preparing to bring more genetic material from the central-southern regions that has a low chilling requirement and is harvested in early.In addition, INIA is working with an institute in Spain’s Catalonia region that is going to send genetic material to Chile.“There are some difficulties related to the development of this project, like the lack of useful genetics and the difficulties of growing a crop that traditionally adapts well to different climate conditions,” Donoso said.The aim is to have at least two selections in the pre-commercial stage – meaning a minimum of 100 plants in commercial orchards – not just in the north of Chile but also in other warm areas of the world by 2024.Donoso said the north of Chile would represent a “very desirable” niche for cherry production, as the fruit would be harvested earlier than the majority of volumes and likely fetch higher prices.He added the Chilean supply was highly concentrated in December, meaning not only was a lot of labor required in a short space of time but packhouses and export markets were often saturated.Diversifying the supply would therefore help to reduce concentration and provide work to people for longer.“We are aiming for the supply of cherries to begin regularly from Oct. 15,” Donoso saiThe program has several other key objectives, including a large fruit size, which INIA says improves consumer perceptions of quality, and highly productive varieties so that companies can achieve a fast return on investment.Resistance to both diseases and fruit damage by way of splitting are other important aspects.

The harvest of California table grapes started in May and the season will run through January. According to Jeff Cardinale, vice president of communications for the California Table Grape Commission, “the crop projection is 111.4 million 19-pound box equivalents of grapes will be harvested.” The 2016 volume was 108.9 million 19-pound box equivalents.California grapes are being harvested in the San Joaquin valley. Summer time plays an important role for the crop. In 2016, 39 percent of the crop shipped in the period May through August, with over 60 percent of the crop shipped after September 1, meaning fall is when the majority of the crop is available. This makes California grapes a popular fruit in the spring, summer and fall months. The harvest season will continue in the San Joaquin valley into December.More than 85 grape varieties are grown in California. The top five varieties in 2016 were: Scarlet Royal, Autumn King, Flame Seedless, Crimson Seedless and Sugraone. In 2016, 93% of grapes were seedless, 6% seeded and less than 1% unknown. The export market is important for California table grapes. According to the USDA, 36 percent of the 2016 crop was exported. The main markets outside the US are Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Promotions play an important role in introducing California grapes to consumers. They range from in-store sampling, giveaways, display contests and cooking demonstrations to promotions around the holidays like Diwali, the Moon Festival and Christmas.Copyright: www.freshplaza.com

This is turning out to be a very good season for Washington cherry growers.It could be a record harvest, with an increasingly global reach. Asia has a growing appetite for Northwest cherries, but could politics disrupt this blossoming market? Kyle Mathison, a fourth-generation cherry grower on Stemilt Hill in Wenatchee is increasingly sending his Northwest morsels to Asia.In South Korea, you can find Wenatchee cherries stacked at street markets, among kimchi and fish. It’s all thanks to a six-year-old trade deal, called KORUS, which slashed tariffs on products like cherries. According to the Northwest Cherry Growers, an industry association, cherry exports to Korea have grown steadily since the trade deal took effect. Today, they're double what they were four years ago. China is eating them up, too. In 2013 the Pacific Northwest sent them 11,000 tons of cherries. This year, exports are expected to top 23,000 tons. Recently however, the trade relationship with Korea has hit some turbulence. “From when the U.S. - Korea trade deal was signed in 2011 to 2016, and you know who signed it, you know who wanted it, our trade deficit with South Korea has increased by more than $11 billion, not exactly a great deal,” President Donald Trump said from the White House lawn in June. He says imports of Korean autos and steel are threatening American jobs and his administration is already in the process of reviewing and reforming the KORUS agreement. The Northwest Cherry Growers Association says changes to the KORUS deal could have a big impact on the Washington fruit industry, though it's uncertain what, specifically, the President has in mind.  Publication date: 8/8/2017

Strong finish for Northwest cherry season With volumes expected to remain high throughout August, promotional activity will not ease up As the Northwest cherry harvest begins to wind down, shippers say promotable volumes will be available throughout August, though volume will dip as the month progresses.In July, the Northwest cherry industry shipped 15.2m cartons – 529,000 cartons more than the latest estimate.Some 2.4m cartons have been shipped so far in August and packers say they expect to ship up to 2m cartons more before the season is over. They say quality coming in from the orchards is high, and sugars are peaking for the year. “It is important to note that there is ample opportunity for promotions during the month of August. The cherry category remains a key driver for summer produce department profits – and this year August presents a unique opportunity for the trade,” Northwest Cherry Growers said in a statement.  “Sales records show that one out of seven cherry buyers don’t make their first purchase until late in the season. Their trigger? A countdown notice – letting them know that the time to squeeze the last bit of summer out of Northwest cherries is upon them.”The association said it had anticipated a long and late-running crop and planned its retail and media programmes accordingly.By Maura Maxwell @maurafruitnetMonday 14th August 2017, 15:36 Hong Kong

Following the release of the June-bearing strawberry, Malling Centenary in 2013 from the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club (EMSBC), based at NIAB-EMR, they claim the demand for the variety has been considerable. "There is huge enthusiasm for the berry

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.

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