Good demand, solid market have The Onion House primed for an excellent onion deal
The onion market has firmed up with performance eclipsing early season predictions, leading Don Ed Holmes of The Onion House LLC in Weslaco, TX, to think it will be a good year.
“It should be a darn good year but not a crazy one like 2010,” he said.
In 2010, onion prices hovered around $40 a box for the entire season due to low supply. In 2011-12, Texas growers chasing those markets planted additional acreage that led to oversupply and a race to the bottom of the market.
Gerry Scheidt joins Valhalla Sales & Marketing
Valhalla Sales & Marketing Inc., based in Kingsbury, CA, added GERRY SCHEIDT to its sales and customer development team on April 8.
Prior to joining Valhalla, Mr. Scheidt worked for Gerawan Farming in Reedley, CA, for 32 years. He has also previously worked for Sunny Cal, Surabian Packing and HMC Kingsbury.
Mr. Scheidt has been involved in the produce industry for 45 years. He got his start by working for Topco Associates as a federal state inspector. After four years as an inspector he switched gears and began his career in sales.
TX grower-shippers set for solid spring with onions leading the way
Though wild winter weather was still leading to strange events like sub-freezing temperatures as far south as Houston in late March, Texas grower-shippers on the whole are set up for excellent onion, melon and tropical deals this spring.
The onion deal looks to be especially promising for Texas.
Northwest storage supplies are lighter than they have been in years and there are very few onions still coming out of Mexico.
Citrus industry veteran to head California's Citrus Research Board
As California citrus growers continue to invest in needed research to aid the state's more than $2 billion citrus industry and battle threats such as the Asian citrus psyllid, citrus industry veteran Ken Keck will join the California Citrus Research Board as its new president on June 1.
Bill promotes local food
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) today introduced in Congress the Local Farms, Food & Jobs Act of 2013, which seeks to make fresh, healthy food more accessible to consumers and to support the farmers who grow it.
FoodLink Transit brings visibility to inbound inventory
FoodLink, a commerce and traceability platform that connects fresh food retailers and wholesalers to a network of over 2,000 growers, packers and shippers, today introduced FoodLink Transit, a cloud-based inventory tracking system that provides real-time visibility into the inbound status of freshly harvested produce.
New events and programs to launch at CPMA
Identifying the multi-stakeholder challenges in an increasingly complex marketplace is crucial for today’s produce industry professionals. To facilitate conversation on those concerns, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association will debut two new programs at its 2013 convention in Toronto: the Retail Produce Manager event and a business program.
The business program will discuss industry topics through moderated sessions with various presenters, and the Retail Produce Manager program will do so through speakers.
The Perishable Specialist staying on the cutting edge of trade
The Perishable Specialist Inc., headquartered in Miami, is a customs broker that is completely dedicated to fruits and vegetables. Ana Ramos, co-owner with her husband Frank, said that the couple recently attended Agritrade in Antigua, Guatemala.
“We love this show because it provides us with an opportunity to visit one of the beautiful areas of Guatemala,” said Ms. Ramos. “It is surrounded by active volcanoes and ruins.”
She noted that the company was in the process of clearing the last blueberry containers from Chile in late March.
Northampton Growers grateful for smooth Florida spring movement
“Status quo, and all things moving smoothly is a good thing in the fresh produce business, and that’s what we have this spring in Florida,” Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers Produce Sales Inc., headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News in early March. “March came in like a lion with a couple of cold snaps with temperatures dropping into the low 30s, but very little damage was reported in our area.”