2011 Fn44

BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

GLOBAL tomato production has stayed roughly stable this year, according to the prelimi-nary results published by the World Processing Tomato Council (WPTC) last week, but the five main EU producers have seen a significant – if expected – reduction, of roughly 1.0 million tonnes.

Portugal is in its last year of coupled subsidies for processing

tomato and had the lowest raw material price in Europe this season. This was expected to be reflected in production similar to last year’s level, at roughly 1.2 million tonnes. In the event, bad weather during the season pushed output down by 17% year-on- year.

Spain’s production dropped by a similar proportion (16%) to 2.0 million tonnes, while French output declined by 4% to 191 000 tonnes.

Production in Greece saw the steepest decline within the bloc – a staggering 48% to 330 000 tonnes. However, a Greek processor told FOODNEWS that he believed pro-duction would actually pick up again next year, in spite of the decoupled subsidies regime and the financial crisis gripping the country.

This year the major factor dis-couraging tomato production was the effect of competitive crops, mainly cotton and corn, but these were now less lucrative, he said.

“Last year, whoever planted tomato did quite well so there’s a positive image [attached to tomato],” he added.

Within the EU, the only real surprise came from Italy, which turns out to have produced almost the same amount as last year, at 4.95 million tonnes (-3%), though previous indications suggested a decline of around 10%. This was attributed to good weather in Sep-tember and October and higher production from factories that do not belong to the sector organisations.

Fruit pricesWith the market for industrial tomato still depressed, negotiations over next year’s raw material price are likely to be tough. Processors have been struggling with poor returns and difficulty in obtaining finance, but farmers will expect higher prices. If they do not get them, the result could be a further drop in contracted acreage next year.

“The price has to go up to cover 2011 crop costs, from the point of view of growers,” said a

Portuguese source. “Growers [will be] coming to us in January and saying we want more money than that. “We could be negotiating the 2012 crop with a situation that the tomato planted in March/April will be significantly lower than in 2011,” he added.

Mediterranean reboundThough the EU’s production this year dropped so dramatically, it failed to dent the overall picture for AMITOM (Mediterranean Interna-tional Association of the Processing Tomato) member countries, as Iran

“Quote”Name, title, company See page XX

VOL. 00 No. 00 00 MONTH 2011

IN THIS ISSUEMelamine crisis haunts China dairy industry 4

Chinese AJC prices settling at all-time high 8

Argentine grape must prices on the rise 9

Alaska fights introduction of GM salmon 12

Raw tuna prices high, canned stocks low 13

US and Thai sweet corn falling short 13

Low crop takes toll on Australian raisin growers 17

Bunge upbeat despite profits drop 22

Unsettling decline in processing tomato output for main EU origins

“Competition in our markets remained fierce with customers continuing to focus on price.” Piet Hein Merckens, chief executive officer, WessanenThe European organic market, P20-21

VOL. 39 No. 44 4 NOVEMBER 2011

2009 2010 2011 Preliminary

EU major producers

France 215 198 191

Greece 810 640 330

Italy 5747 5080 4950

Portugal 1242 1280 1060

Spain 2700 2375 2000

SUBTOTAL 10714 9573 8531

Other AMITOM countries

Algeria 240 400 280

Egypt 150 150 150

Iran 2400 1400 1850

Israel 238 243 220

Malta 12 9 10

Morocco 160 172 172

Syria 150 160 160

Tunisia 750 850 850

Turkey 1800 1280 1900

Ukraine 340 280 420

SUBTOTAL 6240 4944 6012

TOTAL AMITOM 16954 14517 14543

GLOBAL PRODUCTION 42365 37323 37185

SOURCE: AMITOM/WPTC

GLOBAL TOMATO PRODUCTION - PRELIMINARY RESULTS (000 TONNES)

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Key Indicator Snapshot

Find more key data in our on-line library at www.agra-net.com

Argentine GJC exports +50%75 242 tns

Spanish GJC exports +46%85 977 tns

Italian GJC exports -26%64 340 tns

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD DATA

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ConsUmErs are being nagged, no doubt about it. The nanny state keeps a watchful eye on what people eat, scold-ing those who choose a high-fat meal chock-full of additives. Five portions of fruit and veg-etables a day are now considered essential, while car-bohydrates and proteins are dished out according to some sort of food guidance pyramid system. While some may argue there are advantages to such a policy, protecting the overall well-being of a nation state, others believe the authorities have gone too far.

Take the latest legal nutrition requirements for French school canteens, for example. A law passed on 3 october now forces canteens feeding more than 80 children to adhere to minimum nutritional requirements, outlin-ing how much protein, iron, calcium and fresh fruit school children must be given. meals must include a protein element with accompaniment, such as

rice or vegetables, a dairy product (cheese or yogurt) and either a starter or pudding.

There is growing concern, however, that these new rules are effectively imposing meat con-sumption on pupils. The French vegetarian group L214 claimed last week that the government has made it clear that all sources of protein should come from animal, not vegetable, products. Isabelle Dudouet-Bercegeay, president of the French Vegetar-ian Association, said: “It’s a case of if you don’t want your child to eat meat, don’t use the canteen.”

Chances are that if such a ruling was introduced in the UK there would be uproar, but school meals in France are quite differ-ent. The majority of French children are happy meat eaters and frequently sit down to lunches of rabbit, veal or cassoulet accom-panied by charcuterie, much like those in neighbouring Spain or Germany. In fact, vegetarianism in France is still pretty rare at around 2% of the population and

it is still tricky to get good vege-tarian meals. The likelihood is that if you asked for a meat-free lunch you would be given the option of chicken. so why all this fuss about the new rules?

Simply because people deserve to have a choice. many people choose to follow a vege-tarian or other dietary regimen for matters of taste or principle or both. The authorities should not forget that consumers do not want to be told what they can and cannot eat. Ensuring we have easy access to general nutri-tional guidance is welcomed, and helpful; prescribing what we must eat is not.

CONTENTSINDUSTRY NEWS

Sales value strong at Sanfilippo but volumes fall 3

FRUIT JUICE

Pineapple juice in doldrums despite Thai floods 7

CANNED FOODS

Thai pineapple canners hold prices 11

FRESH PRODUCE

Belgium increases vegetable exports to France 14

TOMATO PRODUCTS

Tomato processors mull impact of EU agri-reforms 15

DRIED FRUIT & NUTS

US walnut prices firm in contrast to eastern European 16

FROZEN FOODS

Mushrooms and okra drive US frozen veg imports 18

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Organic giant Wessanen outlines future plans 20

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Coca-Cola buys bottling company 23

WEATHER WATCH

Heavy rain and snow in US delay harvesting 24

MARKET DATA

EU-27 juice import data 27

COMPANY INDEX

Ahold 22

Bunge 22

Campbell Soup 15

Citrus Australia 5

Coca-Cola Company 5, 23

De Cecco 23

Delamere Dairy 3

Del Monte 22

Dole 18

FMC Corporation 23

G. Willi-Food 22

Genesis Today 3

H&T Walker 13

Inventure Foods 18

Jamba 3

Jeronimo Martins 22

John B. Sanfilippo & Son 3

Lassonde 5

Natalie’s Orchid Island 3

Parle Agro 9

Pernod Ricard 5

PMK 23

Pulse Beverage Corporation 8

South Pole Biogroup 23

Sunrise 16

UMII Products 6

Wakefern 22

Wegmans 16

Wessanen 20-21

VOL. 39 No. 44 4 November 2011

A step too far

1. Chinese AJC industry faces catastrophic losses 2. FCOJ futures market still wary of storm Rina 3. Panama’s pineapple exports up 4. Lassonde raises loan to pay for Clement Pappas 5. Americans underestimate canned foods

6. Tomato soup goes orange 7. Natural sweetener in beverage supplements 8. Chinese AJC processors fear for future as fruit prices soar 9. Magnetic tongue tests canned tomato flavour 10. Dole frozen fruit products launched in US

Contact us for your on-line password today call +44 (0)20 7017 4161 or email [email protected]

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Editorial Comment

“Five portions of fruit and vegetables a day are now

considered essential, while carbohydrates and proteins

are dished out according to some sort of food

guidance pyramid system.”

Industry News

BY JENNIFER WILLIS-JONES

DELAmErE Dairy, a producer of goat’s milk products in the UK, has opened its first office overseas to increase sales.

The Cheshire-based company which produces and supplies goat’s milk, cheese, butter and yogurt, as well as milk for pets under its TopLife Formula brand to

supermarkets, decided a base in Hong Kong would boost sales of its UHT goat’s milk. Currently, 10% of its revenues are generated through exports, with products already sold in Poland, Holland, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Middle East.

Liz Sutton, who founded the company 25 years ago with husband Roger, said: “There is demand. In China, for example, there are a lot

of powdered milk products and we believe there is an opportunity to sell our UHT milk, which has a six-month shelf life. We are hoping to make significant inroads into the Asian market by having a base in Hong Kong.”

Company turnover grew by 8% to GBP15.2 million in 2010 and hopes are to reach revenues of GBP16 million this year.

News In BriefMore outlets for 2011 JAmBA, the Us smoothie chain, has announced that it now has a total (as of 4 october) of 762 outlets around the world. All but 10 are in the Us, though Jamba intends to expand abroad and opened its first store in Toronto, Canada, on 28 October. It is also testing a new express service called JambaGO, with a limited menu of the brand’s signa-ture smoothies. Jamba’s chief executive James White said the company expects to have nearly 80 new outlets, including JambaGO stores, opened globally by the end of 2011.

Now in the Big AppleGEnEsIs Today, a Texas-based superfruit juice maker, has partnered with Preferred Beverage Distributors to introduce its superfruit juic-es in New York City. Genesis Today’s 10oz and 32oz superfruit juices including açaí berry juice, pomegran-ate/berries with resveratrol, cranberry/goji, and its Wake me and relax me beverages, are now available in manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, as well as Staten Island, Nassau and suffolk and Westchester counties.

Industry moves UmIT Guvenc, former chairman of the Turkish Processed Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Council, has left Turkish food manufacturer, Tamek, and is seeking new opportu-nities in the fruit and vegeta-ble processing sector. Guvenc held the position of export sales director at Tamek, which produces fruit juices and other preserved foods, from 2009. Previously, he worked for nearly 20 years at Turkish conglomer-ate, Koc Holding at its agri-business branch, Tat.

Hong Kong office to help lift goats’ milk sales


JoHn B. sanfilippo & son, Inc, a processor, packager, marketer and distributor of dried fruit and nuts, has announced that its net income for the first quarter of 2012 was UsD2.4 million, compared with UsD1.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

The firm added that net sales increased by USD10.0 million, or 6.8%, to USD156.8 million this year from net sales of USD146.8 million last year. This increase can be attributed to higher selling prices generated by the company in the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

Sales prices increased for all major product types due to “higher commodity acquisition costs”. Sales volume, meanwhile, in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 fell by 6.8% in comparison with the previ-ous year.

The total value of inventories on hand at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2012 decreased by USD2.3 million, or 2.0%, while the volume of raw nut input stocks decreased by 22.0%, or 5.8 million lbs.

“Due to higher acquisition costs for most tree nuts that were pur-chased during the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the weighted average cost per lb of raw nut input stocks on hand increased by 18.4% as of the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2012,” the announcement said.

Jeffrey T. Sanfilippo, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said: “Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 more than doubled in comparison to net income for the previous year’s first quarter primarily due to improved alignment of sales prices and acquisition costs for most of the products that we sell, except for cashew products. Pricing actions for cashews and products contain-ing cashews are anticipated to be completed in the second quarter of fiscal 2012.

“Unlike tree nuts, peanut market prices for the 2011 crop have increased over 100% in compari-son to peanut market prices for the 2010 crop. This remarkable increase in peanut market prices is due to reduced acreage, reduced yields caused by drought condi-tions in the majority of the peanut

growing areas and the poor quality of the 2010 crop carry-over stocks. Consistent with what has appeared in recent articles regarding the 2011 peanut crop, we also believe that there is a possibility of a peanut shortage during the 2011 crop year,” Sanfilippo stated.

“Under these conditions, being a peanut sheller can deliver mean-ingful advantages. We leveraged our long-standing relationships with our peanut farmers so that suf-ficient peanut acreage was planted to meet the majority of our peanut requirements. Additionally, because we entered into purchase contracts with our peanut farmers prior to planting in February and March and fixed our purchase costs at that time, we were therefore able to avoid a considerable portion of the year-over-year peanut market price increase,” he explained.

“Consequently, we should be well positioned to meet our cus-tomers’ peanut needs over the next twelve months, assuming that the negative impact of the drought conditions on crop quality and yield does not exceed what we are anticipating.”

Sanfilippo increases net sales value, but volumes still falling

BY VLADIMIR PEKIC

JUXX, a Brazilian producer of functional juices, has reported a four-fold increase in sales in the first half of 2011. The company sold 900 000 litres of juice in the first six months of the year, while earnings reached BrL6.0 million (UsD3.5 million) in the same period. The company

hopes to increase sales to BrL100 million by 2015.

Juxx was founded in late 2006 by entrepreneur Edson Mazeto Jr., with a BRL2.0 million invest-ment. The company’s first launch was cranberry juice, previously available only as an imported product in Brazil.

The entire Juxx product line – cranberry, plum, pomegranate,

cranberry with strawberry flavour - is available in 1 litre and 200ml packages. Juxx juices do not contain colourants, preservatives or artificial flavours and are pro-duced from juice concentrates imported from Chile.

The company will launch six new projects before the end of 2012 when it expects to double sales compared with 2011.

Brazilian juice maker quadruples functional juices sales



PJC price USD1 750/tn +3%Weds close

Chinese AJC USD2200/tn +5%Weds close

Polish AJC EUR1.52/kg +12%Weds close

Industry News



Spanish GJC exp 85 977 tns +46%

Spanish GJC value USD1 336/tn +10.8%

Argentine GJC exp 75 242 tns +50.6%

BY NEIL MURRAY

CHInA’s total milk produc-tion will grow by 5% in 2012 to 33.4 million tonnes, accord-ing to the latest report from the UsDA. Almost all of this (32.2 million tonnes) will be cow milk.

Recently, China’s National Sta-tistics Bureau (NSB) announced a new official figure for cow milk production in 2010 of 35.8 million tonnes. The USDA, however, believes it will take longer than expected for China to fully recover from herd losses following the melamine crisis of 2008. Chinese producers are slowly rebuilding the country’s dairy herd following the melamine crisis in 2008 when 15% of China’s dairy cows were taken out of production due to weak demand after the melamine scare. However, recovery is slow and raw milk output in 2011 and 2012 will probably remain below the pre-melamine levels.

Although year-on-year raw milk prices only increased 3%, prices have climbed 27% from USD407 per tonne in July 2009 to USD515/tonne in July 2011. Encouraged by higher milk prices in China, operators are increasing imports of breeding dairy cows for genetic improvement, which are expected to approach 90 000 head in 2011.

However, the pace of increase in dairy cow beginning stocks in 2012 is forecast slightly slower than in the previous year due to continued withdrawal of backyard operations, which still account for an overwhelming majority of China’s dairy herd production. Although the 2010 and 2011 offi-cial data is not yet available, the USDA believes the withdrawal speed of backyard producers will be much faster, following China’s new requirement for all processing plants to reapply for verification of processing qualifications and re-obtain processing permits by the end of March 2011. Given that the new requirement is much stricter, many small plants did not pass the

verification and were delisted from production. These local processors generally collected raw milk from small or backyard operators and their insolvency has pushed some backyard operators to slaughter dairy cows in 2011. Although larger operators are taking what could be a risk to expand herd size, the pace of increase in dairy cows is constrained by land resources.

China’s skim milk powder (SMP) production in 2012 is fore-cast to recover 2% to 57 000 tonnes following another 2% recovery the previous year, the result of greater local demand for infant and func-tional formula. Meanwhile, China’s whole milk powder (WMP) production in 2012 will rise 9% to 1.2 million tonnes, based on a 7% increase the previ-ous year. It has taken Chinese WMP production more than three years to fully recover from the impact of the melamine crisis in 2008.

Higher domestic demand for dairy products, combined with lower tariffs on dairy products from New Zealand (China’s largest supplier), policy changes that reduced the VAT on pasteurised and UHT milk to 13% in July from 17%, and a stronger yuan against the US dollar will drive China’s imports in 2012, predicts the USDA. Liquid milk imports are forecast to rise 21% to 40 000 tonnes. SMP imports are forecast at 140 000 tonnes, a 16% year-on-year increase. The USDA forecasts the US will be China’s second largest supplier in 2012, account-ing for 16% of total imports.

China’s WMP imports are fore-cast to grow 14% in 2012 to 450 000 tonne, due to strong demand for bulk supplies for further processing or food process-ing. Whey is China’s second largest imported dairy product and imports are estimated at about 288 000 tonnes, worth USD443 million in 2011. Higher sales are expected in 2012, driven by strong demand for infant formula, food processing, and feed production.

The USDA forecasts that

China’s liquid milk exports in 2012 will recover 12% to 27 000 tonnes, following a 14% recovery the previous year, the result of demand from Hong Kong. WMP exports in 2012 are forecast at 11 000 tonnes, a 22% rise follow-ing estimated double sales in 2011. This forecast has WMP exports approaching pre-melamine crisis levels of 2008.

Inner Mongolia continues to be the largest production area for liquid milk products in China, and is expected to account for 19% of total industry revenue in 2011. The province also has the largest numbers of dairy cows on hand. The largest production bases of major firms Mengniu and Yili are also located in Inner Mongolia.

While higher prices and strong long-term prospects for China’s dairy demand are driving produc-tion gains, raw milk output growth may continue to be dampened by consumer safety concerns over local milk as a result of repeated melamine detections. In late 2010, the Chinese government seized over 2 000 tonnes of melamine-tainted milk powder during a six-month crackdown. All the milk powder was allegedly left over from the 2008 melamine crisis and should have been destroyed. Pro-ducers ignored the national regulation to destroy tainted milk powder, holding onto product for sale after the crisis died down.

China’s newest dairy standard was implemented on 1 June 2010, and lower raw milk minimum protein requirement from 2.95 grams per 100 grams to 2.8g/100g,

while increasing the bacterial colony maximum requirement from 500 000/millilitre to 2.0 million/ml. These factors have lowered processor confidence, with some manufacturers and resulted in shifts of entire product lines to imported ingredients. This strong demand for alternatives to local supply will result in a signifi-cant increase in dairy imports in 2011, especially dairy powder, and China’s dairy industry antici-pates a continued increase in 2012.

Overall, milk powder demand will be particularly strong from large-sized processing companies, such as Inner Mongolia-based Yili and Mengniu, which offer con-sumers a superior safety profile over smaller companies. Improved WMP exports will also encourage production gains in 2011 and 2012.

ConsumptionConsumption of milk, cheese, yogurt and other dairy products differs across regions and particu-larly in urban versus rural areas. Regions with lower per capita incomes have lower consumption levels. Rural areas have the lowest per capita consumption of these products, even though the rural population accounts for about 60% of China’s total population. Improvements in living standards and consumption ideas in rural areas will contribute to higher market demand in the future, but urban populations will likely remain the main consumers of

Spectre of melamine fraud still haunts Chinese dairy industry

Continued on page 5

CHINESE WMP PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION (’000 TONNES)

2010 2011 2012f

Beginning stocks 110 80 85

Production 1030 1100 1200

Imports 326 396 450

Total supply 1466 1576 1735

Domestic consumption 1386 1491 1685

Ending stocks 80 85 50

Total distribution 1466 1576 1735

Source: USDA


http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=download&filename=BizIntel/FN442011ChineseWMPMarket.xls

Industry News

News In BriefAll-Aussie juicesFrUIT juice made from 100% Australian fruit will be proudly labelled as such before the end of the year, according to ABC rural in Australia. The chief execu-tive of Citrus Australia, Judith Damiani, says the new labels will mean con-sumers will not have to read the fine print to know their juice is Australian. Growers say current labels are mis-leading and can make it dif-ficult to find genuine Australian juice. “made in Australia” is a term fre-quently used by juice manu-facturers, and refers to juic-es made with imported raw material (fruit or concen-trates) plus a percentage of Australian product.

Juice purchase fundingLAssonDE, the Canadian fruit juice company that recently bought Us juice manufacturer Clement Pappas and Co (FOODNEWS 24 June), has raised CAD15 million in additional financing from two Canadian banks to cover the acquisition. Lassonde had earlier announced a rights issue to pay for the purchase (FOODNEWS 29 July). Lassonde paid UsD390 mil-lion for Pappas in its big-gest-ever takeover. It now owns 71% of Pappas while the founding Pappas family retains 19% and the Lassonde family 10%.

Cappy launched in IndiaCOCA-Cola Company announced the official launch of its Cappy fruit juice in Egypt. Cappy already exists in other coun-tries around the world under the name of minute maid and Cappy selectii. The company has invested more than EGP100 million (UsD16.6 million) in the production of the new 100% juice product.

dairy products. Despite the overall increase in dairy consumption in China, consumer confidence in domestic dairy products has not yet recovered owing to the seemingly constant reports of melamine detections. Foreign suppliers aggressively tapped into the market and the term ‘imported’ has become almost a guarantee of food safety or at least ‘free of melamine’.

Dairy product consumption gains are mainly the result of rapidly rising interest in dairy products in tandem with higher disposable incomes, increasing health consciousness among the growing middle class, and expand-ing retail outlets. Although the dairy market sustained a high rate of growth during the past decade, per capita consumption of dairy products in China, especially in rural areas, is still very low, sug-gesting the potential for continued strong demand gains for many

years to come. The highest earning Chinese are not price-sensitive, and figures indicate they consume the bulk of imported liquid milk. Some middle-class consumers switch between domestic brand liquid milk and imported milk based on price sensitivity, while most urban consumers prefer pas-teurised or UHT milk in carton boxes or plastic bags available in supermarkets or packed in bottles for home delivery. Dairy bars in the streets in large cities owned by brand companies, such as Sanyuan in Beijing, are gaining popularity among younger generations, which mainly sell fresh milk.

Almost all the cheese available in China’s market is imported and processed. New Zealand is the largest cheese exporter to China. From January-August 2011, New Zealand exports to China rose 14% to 8 344 tonnes, worth USD36.2 million and accounting for 41% of China’s total imported cheese

market. US exports over the same period more than doubled at 4 199 tonnes, valued at USD18.4 million, 23% of China’s market. Cheaper US cheese, as a result of the stron-ger Chinese currency, has made it a competitive choice, challenging Australia exports to China. China also imports cheese from France, Italy, and Denmark. An important change to note is that in 2010, local dairy manufacturers began to use US bulk cheese for processed cheese production, a first for China.

The gap between China’s per capita consumption and the average per capita consumption of over 200kg in developed countries further illustrates the growth poten-tial of China’s dairy market, says the USDA. It also explains why China’s dairy market, facing so many challenges, has the potential to bounce back quickly after serious setbacks and still show considerable potential for future development.


A TrADE agreement signed between Peru and Thailand will come into effect from January 2012, Peru’s vice min-ister for Foreign Trade, Carlos Posada, has announced. The protocol will eliminate duties for up to three-quarters of goods shipped between the two countries.

Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ratified the Early Harvest Protocol, while it has just

been approved in Thailand by the Lower Chamber in Congress and will now be voted on in the Upper Chamber in the next few weeks.

“Once it is approved by the Thai senate, Peru’s Ministry for Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) will publish a supreme decree that will fix the date for the protocol to come into force, which is expected to be 1 January of next year,” Posada continued.

Furthermore, he said, the Thai Upper Chamber of Congress will not only ratify the protocol but will

give its government permission to start negotiations with Peru con-cerning a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

“In parallel, we will start nego-tiations to convert the protocol into an FTA and, even if we do not have a start date for these negotiations, it will probably be in the middle of next year,” he said.

Products such as squid, grapes, mango, avocado, asparagus, citrus fruit, onions and fishmeal are thought to be the main beneficia-ries of the agreement.

Peru/Thailand FTA comes into force in 2012

Continued from page 4


PErnoD ricard is to roll out a dark chocolate variant of its olmeca Fusión tequila range in south Africa following a suc-cessful test launch in Greece and Austria. It is hoped the premium Tequila-based liqueur with an ABV of 35% will attract new consumers to the category.

Olivier Fages, international vice president for Olmeca, said: “While bartenders across the globe are really embracing Tequila with innovative and exciting cocktails, there is still huge scope to grow the other side of the category, by recruiting young, adventurous consumers.

“The Olmeca Fusión range, which has a lower ABV than our original Tequila, currently boasts two variants, each inspired by the delicious flavours of Mexico – dark chocolate and hibiscus. We are confident that this vibrant, refreshing range will be huge success for us, and look forward to monitoring its development in South Africa.”

Chocolate tequila launched in South Africa



EU27 imports Brazil NFCOJ +2%360 563 tns

EU27 imports US NFCOJ +41%73 291 tns

EU27 imports Costa Rica NFCOJ +56%5 698 tns

http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=pubarticle&artid=1308577595082&pubid=ag005


Industry News

News In BriefAustralian mangoesTHE UsDA has given the green light for imports of Australian mangoes under an irradiation protocol. It has opened the matter for public comment, until 27 December. This follows a recommendation from the UsDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection service (APHIs) they be allowed entry. The proposed proto-col also includes fungus management procedures. “As a condition of entry, the mangoes would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach employing a combination of mitigation measures for the fungus Cytosphaera mangiferae and would have to be inspected prior to exportation from Australia and found free of this dis-ease,” the statement said. If all goes well, the market could be open to Australia before the end of the cur-rent season, which runs through to around march.

Natural sweetener dealUmII Products has signed a three-year agreement with Tate & Lyle for the usage of Tate & Lyle’s Purefruit monk Fruit Extract in its all natural U-line of zero-calorie bev-erage supplements. The agreement also allows Umii to use the consumer-friend-ly ‘Sweetened with PUrEFrUIT™ monk Fruit Extract’ trademark on its product packaging. monk fruit, also known as luo han guo, is native to south-east Asia where it has been in use for hundreds of years. Its pulp is steeped in hot water to release a natu-ral, calorie-free sweetening ingredient that is around 200 times sweeter than sugar. The extract can be formulated into a variety of foods including beverages, dairy, cereals, confectionery and bakery products.


THE spanish Fruit Juice Asso-ciation (Asozumos) has announced that new rules regu-lating production and marketing of juices and nectars will come into force in the country within a year.

The organisation has been working on the regulations along with the European Fruit Juice and Nectars Association (AIJN) since December 2006, simplifying and updating international rules on juice production.

The rules will now be as follows:• An absolute distinction is made between products, with juices clearly labelled either freshly squeezed or from concentrate. • The addition of sugar to fruit juice sold in Europe is absolutely prohibited. As a result, EU legisla-tion is more precise and stricter than international laws, better pro-tecting consumer interests. • Up to 18 months after the new regulations come into force, fruit juice may still be labelled as ‘not containing any added sugars’ so that it does not suffer from a com-parative disadvantage to similar drinks such as nectars which can

legally state they ‘contain no added sugars’.• Voluntary addition of aromas to both freshly squeezed and from concentrate juices is permitted in order to prevent additional costs on products or other adulterations. • Fruits which have been treated post-harvesting that can be con-sumed as fresh can be used for making juice, according to interna-tional regulations.• Tomato will now be included as a fruit (with the possibility of adding salt and spices), which will give legal recognition to tomato juice in the EU.• Juices from concentrate can now be obtained from dehydrated fruits following certain guidelines.• In the interests of commerce, regulations governing brix content have been changed. Guava, mango, passion fruit and redcurrant juices can now have a slightly lower brix content than before.• Labelling requirements for mixed fruit juices have been simplified, with fruit listed in order of impor-tance in the drink.• The use of ‘no added sugars’ on nectar labels has been defined.• Orange juice cannot be labelled as such if 10% of mandarin juice is added to the juice. In this case, it

must be labelled as ‘orange and mandarin Juice’.

The final set of regulations will be presented at the next COREPER meeting in Brussels for its approval by EU member states, followed by approval by the European Parlia-ment in December.

The president of Asozumos, Óscar Hernández, said “the asso-ciation, following the instructions of the advisory council, has carried out a good job and has achieved practically everything that was asked”.

He added: “The successful outcome is the result of a job well done by our association, and the fact that there was a Spanish speaker in the European Parlia-ment meant we were quickly made direct partners with the European Parliament to meet all the demands. Nationally, we have also worked very hard with the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, transferring their demands to Brussels.

“The approved regulations have taken into account current produc-tion of juices and nectars, covering all the legal requirements in food safety issues including some tech-nical aspects that needed to be improved.”

Revamped juice regulations for Spain due to win EU approval

and Turkey saw a strong recov-ery in production after very poor harvests last year, to 1.85 million tonnes (+32%) and 1.9 million tonnes (+48%) respectively. These helped to bring production in the area back to last year’s level, at 14.54 million tonnes.

California, meanwhile, has had slightly lower production than expected. rains waylaid harvesting in early october, and as of 29 october 11.96 million (short) tons of tomato had been delivered to processors, accord-ing to the California Processing Tomato Advisory Board, with very little (if any) expected to be delivered thereafter.

According to one processor in the state, production costs will work out higher this year due to

a large concentration of tomato deliveries in the late harvest period, which commands extra premiums on top of the base level of UsD68 per ton set this year.

In addition, brix levels overall were lower than expected, the source said, particularly affect-ing production of tomato paste, which as a high-brix product then requires a greater volume of raw material to achieve the same final volume.

China’s final production is put at 6.79 million tonnes, slightly higher than indications given in early october, and 9% above last year’s.

overall, at this estimate global production stands at 37.19 million tonnes, a reduction of less than 1% compared with last year’s 37.32 million tonnes.

As southern hemisphere pro-ducers move towards their new season, the first production fore-casts for the major south American producers were also revealed by the WPTC.

Chile is set to produce 700 000 tonnes, 94 000 tonnes less than last year’s total, while Argenti-na’s output is pegged at 400 000 tonnes, up from 355 000 tonnes last year.

Brazil, the largest producer in the region, is headed for 1.5 million tonnes, 90 000 tonnes less than last year.

Australia, whose crop last year was devastated by flooding and only reached 87 000 tonnes, is expected to have 245 000 tonnes, bringing it almost back up the 2010 level, of 265 000 tonnes.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1



Raw tuna USD1 850/tn -12%

Raw pineapple USD0.14/kilo -6.25%

Cali peach trees Bearing -3.2%acres: 22 314

BY NEIL MURRAY

ALONG with the canned pine-apple sector (see page 11), the Thai pineapple juice concen-trate (the two commodities are frequently produced by single processors) market is in a state of turmoil due to the extensive flooding in the country.

After a few years of inclement weather (be it droughts or floods) and consequent low production, Thai PJC had risen to well over USD2 000 per tonne. In recent months, the price has been falling, due to a better harvest this year and generally lacklustre demand for the product, but in the last week prices have taken a slight lurch (about USD50) upwards to USD1 750 per tonne fob, accord-ing to buyers in Europe and USD1 850+/tonne, according to a processor in the country, who added that South Korea was con-tracting at USD1 950/tonne.

The real problem is not so much the harvest nor the produc-tion of PJC, as the fields and processing plants have escaped the worst of Thailand’s flooding, but the infrastructure. There has been some damage to plantations in the north of the country, but the south has not been damaged.

Road travel is still difficult or impossible in some regions, and staff whose villages and towns have been flooded are at home, trying to sort things out (in much the same way as Chile suffered a labour shortage immediately after its earthquake last year).

As with steel cans, makers of drums for packing PJC have watched as their factories flooded, and have asked processors to take delivery of their drums immedi-ately, if only because they can provide somewhere dry to store them. FOODNEWS understands that the juice processers are quite happy with this arrangement.

One source said that there was still a steel drum plant in operation in the country, so the problem of packaging is probably not as serious as it is for canners. However, Thailand’s beverage industry has been badly affected, not least because empty beverage

cans float, and FOODNEWS has received a vivid description of a bottling plant with a sea of drinks cans bobbing around in the waters.

“Can and packaging material supply is a big risk now for all packers,” confirmed a processor. “We are 30% short in loading for this month, which is roughly 150 full containerloads (fcls). We have a delay of two weeks. In the first week of November, we are sup-posed to load 125 fcls but we can load only nine fcls. All these inter-ruptions are because the tinplate and drum factories got flooded in a bad way, and we have to pay nearly 5% more to maintain cus-tomer service levels.”

Port delaysFurther adding to the infrastructure problems, the port of Bangkok is reported to be suffering badly from the flooding, causing delays to shipments. If there is one positive aspect to the flooding, it may be that the waters have washed the excessive nitrates out of the soil in the north of the country. That there is still PJC with excessive nitrate content is likely, and any extremely cheap product should be tested.

One buyer reported being offered PJC at USD1 450/tonne, only to discover that it had a nitrate level of 50 parts per million: twice the AIJN level, although the AIJN recommends 15ppm as a more suitable upper limit. Precisely the same thing happened last year (FOODNEWS 10 December 2010).

In addition, because the harvest started rather early this year, the

fruit is reported to be of rather low ratio at 16-22. In contrast, Brazil-ian pineapple is presently reported to be of extremely high ratio (24-32) which means it may be in strong demand for blending.

Overall, the real reason for the lacklustre market seems to be uncertainty: uncertainty as to

demand, uncertainty over the reli-ability of shipments, and uncertainty over whether Thai-land’s processors can continue producing PJC. Consumers are also cutting back on some foods and drinks that they deem inessen-tial, and pineapple juice seems to fall into this category.

© Informa UK Ltd 2011 - FOODNEWS® 4 November 2011 7www.agra-net.com

Fruit Juice


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Pineapple juice market stays in the doldrums despite Thai floods

PINEAPPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE PRICE 2005-11 (USD/TONNE FOB)

Source: FOODNEWS


http://www.rhodesfoodgroup.com

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Fruit Juice

BY NEIL MURRAY

THE Chinese AJC situation remains extremely fluid, changing from day to day, but one thing remains: the product is extremely expensive, where it can be found, and will not be falling in price in the foresee-able future.

In addition, European and other producers are putting up their prices, though whether this is because of higher fruit prices or because they are simply capitalis-ing on the woeful supply situation from China is harder to judge.

The swift break-up of the Chinese processors’ attempt to dictate the apple price (FOOD-NEWS 21 October) has resulted in fruit coming into the processing plants at last, but at a price. The raw material price is not less than CNY1 750 per tonne (USD275/tonne) and in some places is quite a bit higher.

“The price for fruit in east China is CNY1 900/tonne, but hardly any fruit is coming in to the factories,” said one contact in the country. “Things have improved recently in western China. The price there is in a range of CNY 1 750-1 780/tonne and we are seeing much better inflow of fruit to factories in the last week. At this price level I think we are catching grade C fruit that would normally go to the fresh market.”

Another source told FOOD-NEWS: “Now Chinese apple is something around CNY1 800/tonne. The cheapest is CNY1 750/tonne and the highest is CNY1 850/tonne. This means that the AJC price is about USD2 300-2 400 per tonne.” The last price that FOOD-NEWS heard from China was USD2 200/tonne fob. The price has thus trebled in less than three years.

“At this level, who will buy I do not know,” echoed another source in China. “But I know that clients from the EU intend to pay USD 1 950/tonne fob and will get nothing. Clients from Australia intend to pay USD2 000/tonne and will get nothing. Clients from the US paid USD2 050/tonne and got some small quantities last week,

and clients from Israel who need AJC for Passover are paying USD 2 150/tonne. Who will pay USD 2 200/tonne fob? We will see!” Indeed, it looks like processors are now talking about USD2 300/tonne fob, which would work out at an incredible USD2 900/tonne c&f duty paid Rotterdam.

It seems that the Chinese fresh market is even stronger than last year, and that the fresh apple price has also risen. However, the under-lying problem is one of fruit size.

“The fresh apple brokers are smart,” said one of FOODNEWS’ contacts in the country. “In the past, they prepared 80+ [size grade] for the fresh market. But this year, they store and sell 60-80 grade for the fresh market. It is simple: 80+ is too big, so usually a family shares it. But if the fruit is 60-80 grade, one person eats one apple. The headache is that this is just what the processing apple size is now. In fact, China still has some 80+ fruit from the last crop (the quantity is not too big), but all smaller fruit from the last crop is sold.”

Another contact corroborated this story, adding that Chinese apples can be of remarkably large size. FOODNEWS has also heard that smaller ‘individual’ size apples are particularly prized as gifts and smaller ones still are being sold as suitable for children, because their small hands can cope with them.

With these unheard-of prices both for fruit and finished product

have come stories of renegotiated and even broken contracts. FOOD-NEWS has heard that some processors are worried, having signed contracts early in the season based on the expectation of much lower raw material prices. “Broken contracts or price renegotiations have happened or are happening right now,” confirmed one on-the-spot source.

Other suppliersPoland’s earlier offers have all been withdrawn and the latest price from Poland seems to be EUR1.50-1.52/kg (USD2.12-2.15/kg) ex-works for standard (up to 3% acid) product. Nobody is expecting that price to remain at this level for long. Turkey, too, has pulled its earlier offers. Experimental offers reported two weeks ago of up to EUR1.74/kg fob may yet become reality. Turkey’s price for low acid (around 1.2-1.5%) is now put at around EUR1.60/kg. “Normally Turkey produces circa 60 000 tonnes of AJC,” said a processor in the country. “However, this season, considering the fruit prices are double those of the previous year at the farmgate, the farmers may bring more fruit to the industry.” He added that Turkey usually har-vests around 2.7-2.8 million tonnes of apples, putting its crop size on a level with that of Turkey.

Even allowing for increased production from Turkey, and also allowing for a decrease in con-sumption and demand for AJC, and also assuming that processors will

switch to grape juice as a base for blends (and white grape juice prices are starting to soar), Europe will probably need to import another 40 000 tonnes of AJC besides what it produces itself and what it can get from suppliers such as Turkey. Ukraine and other eastern origins.

Importers in Europe are still looking optimistically at Latin America, which will come to the market in three or four months’ time. One processor in Chile lacon-ically described the debacle in China as “very good news” and added that he expected there to be enough raw material for his company.

Chinese AJC prices starting to settle but at all-time high level

CHINESE AJC PRICE (USD/TONNE, FOB)

THE Pulse Beverage Corpo-ration of the Us has started midwest distribution of its Cabana natural lemonades through an agreement with southern Illinois Beverages based in nashville, Illinois. Southern Illinois has been dis-tributing beverages since 1996, servicing 35 counties regionally as well as the city of st. Louis and five surround-ing counties in missouri. It distributes AriZona Tea, Vess carbonated soft drinks, Ever-fresh juices, Florida’s natural juice, rip It Energy Fuel, Geyser Water, Tradewinds Tea and ohana fruit drinks.

US lemonade distribution deal

SOURCE: FOODNEWS



http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=download&filename=Juice/FN442011ChineseAJCprice2009-11.xls


Fruit Juice

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In THE past week, san Juan has seen a recovery in the price of its sulphited must, with signed contracts reaching Ars1.15 (UsD0.27/litre) per litre, an increase of 15% on last week, according to the Viti-culture Chamber in the province.

The marked improvement in price can be attributed to increasing demand from grape concentrate exporters, the majority of whom are based in Mendoza.

This year, in accordance with what has been sold up until now, the grape juice sector expects to sell 130 000-140 000 tonnes glob-ally, out of a total of 170 000 tonnes that has been produced this year, according to data from the Argentine Must Chamber.

The organisation explained that Argentina’s increasing global must sales were prompted by reduced stock in France as a result of poor weather conditions, and developments in the Chinese apple juice market, its main competi-tor, which recently reached prices of USD2 100-2 200/tonne fob.

Production of grape must is extremely important to the economy in San Juan and the industry hopes to get back on track this year after three poor seasons.

Export figuresDuring the first half of 2011, 69 295 tonnes of must were exported, signifying an increase of

56.37% on the 44 315 tonnes shipped in the same period the previous year, according to data from customs. This was the largest increase in shipments since 2008 when 195 142 tonnes were shipped during the year.

The news is also good for producers of bulk white wine who have suffered with low prices in the region following a large number of stocks leftover from last year.

In San Juan basic white wine is currently priced at ARS0.80/litre (USD0.19/litre), although in Mendoza prices have started rising with prices of around ARS1.15-1.20/litre for good quality wine for export as a result of local government subsidies.

“Here in San Juan we continue with the old price, I do not have news of a recovery in Mendoza wine prices, but I have noticed that the must market is moving fluidly,” said Angel Leotta, president of the Viticulture Chamber.

“There are companies who have left the market and yet they have got in touch with the chamber so that we tell the wineries that sul-fited must is in demand,” he added.

Must prices increase as apple juice becomes more costly

A PInEAPPLE processing factory is due to start operating by the end of the year in mozambique’s Zambézia province, according to the director of the Provincial Agricultural services, Luís Tomo.

Speaking to Mozambican news agency AIM, Tomo said that the factory, which had been scheduled for completion last May but had not because of problems with the contrac-tor, “is ready and should start operating before the end of the year”. The idea is to use up the surplus fruit that otherwise lies to rot in the region.

Tomo said that as well as processing pine-apple the factory would produce tomato, papaya and grapefruit juice, concentrate and jams, along with other products.

Second plantAnother USD6.0 million pineapple processing factory is due to be built in the Muxúnguè region of the central province of Sofala. This factory, which belongs to South African group First National Choice, is intended to process around 40 tonnes of pineapple per day, accord-ing to the country’s Agriculture Ministry.

Two new pineapple processing plants soon to come on line in Mozambique

INDIAN drinks maker Parle Agro is launching its Frooti mango juice in glass bottles in a direct challenge to Coca-Cola’s maaza brand, which owes half its sales to returnable glass bottles. The new glass bottles mark a move into rural areas, where such packs are preferred.

At present, urban sales account for nearly 90% of all sales. maaza is the leader in the fruit-based drinks sector, and is also sold in Tetra Paks and PET. However, its share of the market fell to 41% in the first half of this year from 48% in H1 2010, while Frooti has maintained its 25% share.

Frooti’s direct challenge to Coca-Cola’s Maaza

“Argentina’s increasing global must sales were prompted by reduced

stock in France as a result of poor weather conditions, and

developments in the Chinese apple juice market.”

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FOODNEWS 100 will provide a comprehensive review of the most signifi cant factors aff ecting the food and drinks industry in 2011 and predicts what will be the major talking points in the year ahead.

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Canned Foods

News In BriefFish countsCAnnED foods are often just as nutritious as their frozen and fresh counter-parts, but many Americans do not even realise that they count towards dietary tar-gets, the Canned Food Alliance (CFA) reports. According to the survey, 37% of respondents believe canned foods to be of less nutritional value than frozen foods and 57% believe them to be of less nutritional value than fresh produce. 51% of those surveyed did not realise that cans are a very safe form of packaging – yet as a tamper-proof, airtight form of packaging, they did not directly account for a single outbreak of 4 500 sur-veyed in the Us in 2005. The CFA stated that canned foods offer “affordable, accessible and convenient nutrition, helping American families prepare and enjoy nutritious meals that taste great,” and is now working with the UsDA to educate Americans and help them achieve dietary goals.

Finfish traceabilityA nEW Iso fish traceability standard will improve food safety standards by facilitat-ing product recalls and pre-venting disease outbreaks. The standard details the facts that each business along the supply chain must store about the fish they handle – this will entail not just the origin of the prod-uct, but how it has been pro-cessed and its precise con-tents. The standard may be utilised by fishing vessels, processors, transporters, traders, retailers and cater-ers among others. A similar standard will apply to farmed finfish. spokesperson rolf Duus said: “the respon-sibility for supplying safe, healthy and nutritious food is shared between all actors involved in the production, processing, marketing and consumption of fish and sea-food.”

BY AMY BOOTH

IT IS peak pineapple season in Thailand, but persistent flood waters and rising production costs are still cause for concern. The centre of Bangkok has survived the peak of the high tide, but concerns remain that dams could break, as hap-pened in the north of the city. This situation is expected to persist for at least a month.

The proportion of the quar-terly pineapple crop which has been destroyed remains around 15%. The main body of the flood water will take a path to the sea which does not include southern pineapple plantations, but monsoon rains will continue to fall on the south until the end of November and this, too, could cause flooding.

Many healthy crops cannot reach the shelf because of prob-lems such as the lack of tinplate supply and workers’ inability to travel.

There are various obstacles to exporting: Bangkok port is closed, forcing exporters to reroute, and at the next port, customs workers unable to reach their offices cannot sign export

licenses. Furthermore, with essential aid supplies running low and being imported in large quan-tities, the port is too busy to export consumer goods.

At the current height of the harvest, output is around 12 000 tonnes per day and raw material prices are currently at an average of THB4.5 (USD 0.14) per kilo, down slightly from THB4.8/kg. This is less of a drop than buyers expected. One contact explained that some figures in the industry are working to keep prices at these levels, since farmers are currently dealing with costs of THB4.07/kg. This is largely due to the price of fertiliser and other chemicals of the trade, which has risen by 58% or more over the past year.

Fruit canners have two main reasons for holding their prices: firstly, they must cover the costs of flood damage, and secondly, pineapple farming must stay prof-itable. “Manufacturers are afraid that if pineapple plantations make a loss for another year, farmers are likely to switch their crops to other kinds such as sugar, palm oil and rubber which has already been a strong trend,” a producer said. Last year, the price of fruit

soared to a high of THB7.5/kg after drought caused a shortage of fruit. “If the farmer migration to other crops continues, soon we will have the same bad situation of no supply, but this time, it will be for good... I do not really know how this mismatch will end but I know that it is really important for manufacturers to sell at the current price,” he said.

Another source suggested that this trend may be tempered by the several-year gap before crops such as caoutchouc can be har-vested, but it is an issue which has been observed in the past.

Faced with the lack of Thai pineapple, it is expected that buyers will turn to the Philippines and Indonesia, but Kenya, which also produces pineapple, has suf-fered from drought this year and is not set to export in large quan-tities. Heavy rain in central America is also causing wide-spread problems with the Costa Rican crop. The country is the global top exporter of fresh and dried pineapple, but the Cámara de Exportadores y Productores de Piña estimates that the industry has lost around USD2.5 million in consequence. The full impact remains to be seen.

Thai canned pineapple producers hold prices in face of uncertainty

BY AMY BOOTH

PEACH trees in California continue to be pulled, but the latest California Canning Peach Association (CCPA) figures suggest that this may no longer be necessary at a time when exports are soaring and new markets are emerging.

This year to date, 709 acres of peaches have been pulled. This represents 3.2% of California’s total peach growing acreage. Over half of the pulled trees were in the Yuba/Sutter area, with most of the remainder in Modesto.

It is anticipated that a total of 800-900 acres will be pulled this year. Around 1 400 acres of peaches planted in 2009 will begin to bear fruit, leaving

California with 23 000 acres of peach trees in total. Current levels of demand indicate that there will be greater demand for Californian peaches next year to the extent that yield rates will need to be improved.

The June-August period saw a 34% drop in US canned peach imports, down to 582 568 cases from 887 886 cases in the same period in 2010. The large drop can be attributed to last year’s unusually high figure. In the same period, exports rose 45% to 253 334 cases from 175 138 cases. The top three importers are China, Greece and Chile; Greece’s imports are up 24% to 206 008 cases from 166 594 cases, but Chile’s imports are down to 33 583 cases from 62 846 cases. In contrast with this, June-August

export figures rose by 45% to 253 334 cases from 175 138 in the same period last year. This is notably higher than the previous two years, but still well short of 2008, when 449 862 cases were exported. Mexico is the top export partner, with figures booming to 162 660 cases from 70 606 cases last year.

The recent withdrawal of retaliatory tariffs on a variety of US products including many kinds of fruit may see these figures continue to rise. Second export market Canada was up 9% to 67 054 cases, and a massive rise from 1 078 cases to 10 171 cases destined for South Korea may be indicative of an emerging market – a situation which can only be helped by the two coun-tries’ recent free trade agreement.

Californian peach tree pulls may need to be curtailed as US exports increase


Canned Foods

BY AMY BOOTH

WITH tides high and floods persistent, even companies that have escaped the flooding are running into problems as sup-plies run short and roads flood.

A FOODNEWS contact explained that one large canning company in Bang Kapi is under three metres of water. Another canning company has escaped the flooding so far because it is posi-tioned on high land, but lacquer supplies are running low, and the factory may be forced to close when it runs out because it will be impossible to source more until the flooding goes down. So far, an estimated 10% of tinplate produc-ers have been hit. The main concern is for the Poo Chow Saming Prai area in

Samuthprakarn, which is in the south east of Bangkok. This area lies in the path of huge volumes of water flowing towards the sea and is the location of most tinplate and can manufacturers.

It is 10 days since industrial estates to the north of Bangkok were hit by the water, and the quantity of water which has yet to drain away means that these firms will not be dry for some time yet. “In October 2003, it took more than four weeks to recover our production after one week of inun-dation in floodwater,” one company wrote, begging the ques-tion of how long it will take this time – but this remains unanswer-able while what has been described as a “land tsunami” continues to drain from north of the country into the sea, causing further flood-

ing as it goes.Fruit packers left unable to can

their fruit are now forced to con-sider other ways of selling or storing it, such as pulping and freezing. However, one source commented that “canned pineap-ple has a very special taste. Producers are left with losing that taste, or using different packing methods which are more expen-sive.” Canners are not entirely dependent on the recovery of Thailand’s tinplate industry because there is a good chance of getting more tinplate from China and Japan, but as the source said, “the headache is getting it to the plant”.

The situation in Thailand is not forecast to affect the global price of tinplate. A contact explained that its price moves in a six-month

cycle. This used to be an annual cycle, but after massive demand in China coincided with the global financial crisis in 2009, the price soared. It did not stabilise for 18 months, and even then, it was 30% more expensive.

Prices are now reassessed every six months rather than every year to ensure they correspond with the market. The six-month cycle means that price fluctuations are less extreme but more fre-quent, and rising or falling prices felt in the canning industry are generally echoes of this cyclical pattern.

However, the source added that the price of tin only accounts for 3-6% of the retail price of the can, and that fluctuations in the price of tin plate do not generally trickle down too far.

Flooded Thai can manufacturers run short of lacquer

BY AMY BOOTH

AQUACULTUrE company AquaBounty may be set to produce genetically engineered salmon – a controversial move which would see the first ever genetically modified animal destined for human consump-tion. The fish would grow far larger than their wild counter-parts, but the proposition is facing opposition from Alaskan politicians, seafood experts and environmentalists.

The decision is currently at White House level, where there are concerns about consumers’ “right to know” and the transpar-ency within the procedures.

AquAdvantage salmon, dubbed ‘Frankenfish’ by many in Alaska, are bred from Atlantic salmon. They grow twice as quickly as their non-GM counterparts and achieve the same weight on 10% less feed – but they raise many objections ranging from the envi-ronmental to the economic. Anchorage Daily News reports that Alaskan salmon is renowned for its quality, and that the Alaskan economy earns almost USD1.0 billion from salmon each year- but much of its reputation is built upon

the natural, wild nature of the product, and those within the industry fear that the introduction of GM salmon to Alaska could cause customers to lose faith in the state’s salmon, harming sales. For the year to August, the US exported 12 081 tonnes of fresh salmon and 29 662 tonnes of canned salmon. It is the top global canned salmon exporter, although this year’s figure is lower than figures of around 30 000-35 000 tonnes which have been seen over the past decade.

Developers AquaBounty and biologists at the University of New Brunswick claim that the fish are not dangerous for humans and could play a key role in meeting demands for high-quality protein. They would all be sterile females farmed inland to prevent contact, breeding or spread of disease with wild salmon.

“I do not think that the intro-duction of GM fish would cause the wild fish market to tank,” an industry source said, explaining that Alaskan wild salmon’s unri-valled quality gives it a firm market position. Buyers are said to be “reasonably well-covered” this season. On the possibility of GM fish flooding the market, the

source said: “Well, that is always a danger, but then the farmers do not want to flood their own market.”

A contact explained that Alas-ka’s governor and congressional delegation have declared them-selves to be against the introduction of GM salmon for human consumption and are calling for appropriate labelling in the event that the fish are pro-duced. The source added that all Alaskan salmon is wild and sus-tainably harvested. “We will hopefully never have GM salmon here,” he declared. It is as yet too early to say what impact their introduction would have on prices. Moreover, the fin fish farms where these fish would be bred are illegal in Alaska for the specific reason that diseases could very easily grow and spread to wild fish, according to The Vancouver Sun.

Regarding reports of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in British Columbia (BC), he said the issue was “certainly cause for concern, but not for panic”. Alaskan Senator Begich expressed con-cerns that the disease would spread to the state. “This virus is a potentially serious threat to wild salmon stocks and, as the world’s

premier producer of wild salmon, the reports from BC must be looked into,” he commented. Washington senator Cantwell said in a press release: “Infectious salmon anemia could pose a serious threat to Pacific Northwest wild salmon and the thousands of Washington state jobs that rely on them. We have to get a coordi-nated game plan in place to protect our salmon and stop the spread of this deadly virus.” However, in a state where seafood sustainability is written into the constitution, the industry remains wary of drastic precautionary measures. “Rule one: do no harm,” a source said.

He added that an outbreak would reduce the quantity of fish available, which would push prices up, but there is also the danger that it would put consum-ers off salmon, which could cause prices to fall. If other outbreaks serve as an accurate model, BC and Alaska would be looking at a rise in prices. The Chilean out-break caused frozen salmon exports to fall from top global levels of 50 706 tonnes in 2009 to 14 110 tonnes in 2010. Fish Infor-mation Services estimates that the 2008 outbreak led to over 25 000 job losses.

Concern over introduction of GM salmon to Alaska goes to the top


Canned Foods

BY AMY BOOTH

THE price of raw tuna is down from its UsD2 100 per tonne high, but demand remains great and some sources say that it is rising.

This summer, the price of tuna hit a record high as buyers fought to secure supplies before the annual fish aggregation device ban (FOODNEWS 19 September). The price is now down from USD2 100/tonne to USD1 850-1 900/tonne for landed skipjack tuna, which is still described as “unacceptable”. Erik Thorbek of H&T Walker says: “During ANUGA all importers wanted to buy and all factories wanted to sell, but they just could not reach a price agreement as the prices were higher than importers’ spot prices.” He added that prices have risen since ANUGA. “Import-ers’ floor stocks around the world are very low and will get lower until new contracts can be agreed,” he stated.

Another current worry for the Thai industry is the flooding which is hitting the country. There are

now concerns that floodwater draining may be delayed by high tides at the end of this week. One contact in Thailand explained worries that the market may suffer due to fears that the water used during canning may be contami-nated because of disruptions caused by the inundations. Raw material and tinplate may also be damaged. He added that packers are currently struggling to source raw material: with water tempera-tures relatively low, the fish appear to have migrated elsewhere.

Thorbek explained: “most fac-tories are only working at around 60% capacity due to lack of fish.” Given the current difficulties, buyers are also willing to pay more for produce which can be delivered immediately.

The Philippines has fished 23% less tuna this year to July, produc-ing 44 047 tonnes compared with 57 062 tonnes the previous year. Reasons for this include overfish-ing in prior years and a high seas fishing ban imposed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Com-mission (WCPFC), Fish

Information and Services reports. The government is working to have the ban repealed to avoid raising prices and damaging the industry. It claims that some species, partic-ularly yellowfin tuna, are not overfished, but this has been met with criticism. Moreover, the UN claims that factors such as rising production costs also played a sig-nificant role in the lower catch.

Business World reports that the Philippines may be forced out of the European market due to these factors if its situation does not change soon, since it will lose its competitiveness.

Competition to the Philippines is emerging in the form of Papua New Guinea. As a member of the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, it enjoys eco-nomic partnership agreements which allow it to export canned tuna to the EU duty- and quota-free, “with significantly more advantageous and simplified Rules of Origin to facilitate sourcing the raw tuna for processing”, accord-ing to the EU. In a bid to encourage development in these countries, the

free trade is unilateral, with these countries continuing to charge duties on imports from the EU.

Papua New Guinea is not the only market which might give the Philippines a run for its money: the production gap between the Philip-pines and Indonesia has been narrowing, with the former’s 2011 first half exports down 24% to 37 663 tonnes and the latter’s exports up 32% to 39 451 tonnes for the same period. This is the first time since 2006 that this has hap-pened; since that year, the Philippines has maintained a healthy gap of around 20 000 tonnes. Indonesia exported more canned tuna to Germany this year while the Philippines’ exports went down.

Beyond Germany and the US, the two countries sell to different markets: Indonesia supplies Japan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia while the Philippines exports largely to Europe. However, if the Philip-pines lose their competitiveness in Europe, they may turn to Japan and rely more heavily on the US, stim-ulating heated competition.

Raw tuna prices remain high and canned stocks stay relatively low

BY AMY BOOTH

THE outlook for the European sweet corn harvest is good this year – but the same cannot be said for other major produc-ers, with adverse weather hitting both Thailand and the Us.

European sweet corn looks set to meet forecast quantities, and sources say that the market looks covered. This comes despite stock levels at the start of 2011 being at a 10-year low.

In the US, early frosts and heavy rain have led to a lower harvest than expected, with canned sweet corn exports to July down almost 20% on the previous year. Some schemes are currently in motion to boost production. Cornell University has just received a state grant of USD71 503 to research immunity to pesticides among a variety of damaging insects.

More controversially, agricul-ture company Monsanto has developed a new brand of geneti-cally engineered corn which is not vulnerable to the company’s her-bicides and can fight insects. It is due for sale in the US in frozen, canned and fresh form, but will not be labelled as genetically mod-ified, sparking outrage among consumers, Reuters reports. A coalition of food safety, health and environmental organisations is petitioning 10 leading grocery chains not to sell the corn, but Monsanto states that the sweet corn is safe and adds that another company has been selling GM corn for over ten years.

Thai sweet corn production has been hit harder by flooding than originally expected. Barring plan-tations in the south east, most sweet corn farms have been washed away, and although sweet corn is ready for harvest 72 days after planting, there will be a lot of

work between the draining of flood water and replanting. “You do not know what’s going to end up in your soil. Drums of nasty chemicals are being washed away. Battery acid factories are being hit. Farmers will have to do a lot of soil testing before they can start growing again,” a contact said. He added that while predictions are very difficult at this stage, it is doubtful that the world will be seeing any Thai sweet corn this side of Christmas.

“European buyers tend to buy 80-90% of their crop from within the EU and aim to get the remain-der from Thailand or the US, but Thailand and the US cannot deliver this year, so I expect the price to go up- especially around Easter when demand gets higher and people really start to notice the shortfall,” one European pro-ducer said.

“The pricing was agreed around July for a one-year period,

but two months later, the US announced its shortfall and the Thai floods hit – now it is impos-sible to give a price because no-one is selling any,” he added. Another contact simply said that the price had increased due to high cereal prices worldwide, and added that global production this year will reach levels similar to those of 2005/2006.

US and Thai sweet corn falling short

recent studies have shown that overfishing is not just the plight of large fish: smaller species, too, are at risk. This includes fish eaten directly by humans, such as sardines, herring, mackerel and ancho-vies. smaller fish are also used as food for larger fish in aquaculture.

Overfishing small fish



Fresh Produce

News In BriefGrowing Peru mandarin exports PErUVIAn mandarin exports grew to UsD37.4 million fob during the first eight months of this year, an increase of 20.3% on the same period in 2010, the country’s ministry of agri-culture has announced. mandarin export volumes, meanwhile, have been grow-ing consistently since 2005 when 19 000 tonnes were shipped, compared with 37 000 tonnes exported last year. Between January and August this year, Peruvian mandarin exports totalled 36 000 tonnes, a rise of 9.5% on 2010. The biggest importers of Peruvian man-darins were the UK with a 30.9% market share (11 100 tonnes), Canada with 20.9% (7 500 tonnes), the netherlands with 18.5% (6 700 tonnes), the Us with 15.5% (5 600 tonnes) and Ireland with 4.7% (1 700 tonnes). New markets are opening up across the world, including Finland, Portugal and Iran.

New guarana varietiesBrAZILIAn agricultural research company Embrapa has launched four new guaraná cultivars, writes Vladimir Pekic. The new Brs Cereçaporanga, Brs mundurucânia, Brs Luzéia and Brs Andirá guaraná cultivars produce an aver-age of 1.5kg of dry seeds per plant compared with the current regional average of 200g per plant per year in Amazonas state. In addi-tion to high productivity, the new varieties are also resistant to anthracnose fungi infections, which is the leading disease of the crop in Amazonas state. Although the Amazon basin is guaraná’s centre of ori-gin, average yields in Amazonas are now barely half of the 408 kg/ha of dry seed average in Bahia state, now the primary guaraná producer in Brazil.

AmI reports: In 2010, Belgium imported a total of 753 269 tonnes of fresh vegetables. This was 3% down on the pre-vious year, but still constituted the third greatest export volume of the past eight years. only 2009 and 2003 saw larger quantities of exports.

Despite lower volumes, the total export value rose year-on-year to EUR679.3 million (USD 951.9 million). The most impor-tant destination in 2010 was Germany – although France has been receiving more and more Belgian vegetables in recent years, according to export statistics of the marketing organisation VLAM.

In 2002, Germany accounted for around 40% of all Belgian veg-etable exports, with France in second place at 20%. The ranking

has not changed between 2002 and 2010 - but the proportions have changed significantly. Germany has a 28% market share. France is just behind, at 26%. Other impor-tant recipients are the Netherlands with 19% and the UK with 7%.

Top varietiesThe most important kinds of veg-etable for export include tomatoes (191 445 tonnes exported in 2010), carrots (145 168 tonnes exported in 2010) and leeks (85 180 tonnes). In terms of value, lettuce holds an important position, ranking third after tomatoes and leeks. Despite the importance of tomatoes for Belgium, the country is a small player when it comes to tomatoes: global top exporter Italy exported 1.1 million tonnes of canned toma-toes in comparison with 2 291 tonnes from Belgium in 2010.

However, Belgium is the world’s top exporter of leeks, exporting 85 926 tonnes in 2010, and the third greatest carrot exporter after China and the Netherlands. Belgium also exported 35 787 tonnes of lettuce in 2010, placing it fourth globally.

The value of fresh vegetable imports to Belgium rose substan-tially between 2001 and 2010. In 2001, vegetable imports were valued at EUR384 million. This increased to EUR626 million in 2010 and corresponds to growth of around 63%. The growth of export values was weaker, at 21%. Con-sequently, the trade balance for fresh vegetables in Belgium was less strong, although an excess is being reached. The trade excess was valued at EUR177 million in 2001, and was down to EUR53 million in 2010.

More Belgian vegetable exports to France while Germany loses share

BY VLADIMIR PEKIC

sErBIA's largest agri-busi-ness, Delta Agrar, announced that it plans to export 8 000 tonnes of apples to the russian Federation in 2011, twice the volume it exported last year. “We are also in negotiations with importers from the middle East to start exports,” said Delta Agrar’s director of fruit and vegetable purchases slobo-dan Kosutic.

This year, Delta Agrar plans to purchase 10 000 tonnes of apples from individual producers in Serbia, double the amount pur-chased in 2010. “Development of cooperatives for production of apples and other fruits and vegeta-bles is a strategic goal for Delta Agrar,” Kosutic added. The Delta Agrar apple orchard in Celarevo currently encompasses 278 hect-ares. It hosts the most modern ULO cold storage facility in the region with a capacity of 6 000 tonnes and

the largest fruit calibrator in the country with a capacity of 12 tonnes per hour. The company has invested EUR25 million (USD35 million) in the Celarevo facilities to date and when the orchard is completed in 2013 it will have 600 ha and a 12 000 tonne ULO storage capacity. Delta Agrar has also started exclu-sive test production of the Modi apple variety on 20 hectares. Modi, a cross of Liberty and Gala variet-ies, was created by Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti.

Serbian fresh apple exporter targets Russian and Middle Eastern markets

sHIPmEnTs of fresh Indian mangoes to Australia have hit a snag after an initial con-signment had to be destroyed, according to India’s Business Standard.

Australia permitted imports of mangoes from India this year, but the initial 1 267 tonnes of mangoes were found to be rotten or over-ripe on arrival in Austra-lia and had to be destroyed.

The two importers lost nearly AUD100 000 (USD104 075), according to the newspaper.

New South Wales-based

Karma Krop imported all but 400kg of the fruit from Bravima Traders Pvt Ltd and Victoria-based Mals Exim Pty Ltd imported the remainder from Pujitha Enterprises Imports & Exports, after a successful culmi-nation of the pest risk analysis carried out by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).

Karma Krop claims that the first consignment, air freighted to Australia, had not been correctly treated by vapour treatment and hot water dipping treatment, and

had to be destroyed at a cost of AUD5 600. India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority told the newspaper: “One consignment had certain prob-lems upon arrival in Australia, though it was sent in good condi-tion after joint inspection and supervision of the AQIS and the NPPO (India’s National Plant Protection Organisation) inspectors.”

Mals Exim says its fruit was over-ripe and starting to rot, and also had to be destroyed.

Inaugural imports of fresh mango prove unsuccessful


Tomato Products

BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

sUBsIDIEs in the EU pro-cessing tomato sector have long been an important topic within the industry, particu-larly with the move to subsidies decoupled from production in recent years. With Europe now beginning to shape the new CAP regime that will come into force from 2014, the sector’s attention has again turned towards future subsidy systems and other measures that may influence the cultiva-tion of processing tomato.

The next round of reforms was, therefore, a subject of dis-cussion at the Tomato Day conference at Cibus Tec fair in Parma, Italy on 21 October. Del-egates who attended the day told FOODNEWS that much is still unclear about the possible changes to the CAP regime. With several rounds of approval needed and the programme unlikely to be finalised for at least another year, it is too soon to judge what the impact on the processing tomato sector could be – but this did not stop some initial ideas and warn-ings being aired.

One item of interest is the strong new provision for ‘green-ing’ in agriculture, which will be tied to 30% of the direct payment to farmers. It includes a require-ment for arable farmers to

cultivate at least three crops per year, none accounting for more than 70% of their land, and there is some suggestion that this might benefit tomato production by encouraging growers to stick with the crop if it was historically within their range of produce.

Stakeholders also stress that the region must address the extent to which it values having local production that adheres to EU standards for food, agriculture, environment and labour, and how it will support this.

“The big question is what do you need in food production in Europe? Talking generally about food, food production in Europe is expensive. If you want it you have to support it. How? Let’s discuss how,” one EU processor said.

The need to protect European production from overseas compe-tition – as well as increasing the competitiveness of EU farming – is seen as a key issue, and some believe it has been neglected by the current proposals.

Talking to FOODNEWS about the CAP proposals, John Giles, of agricultural and food consultancy, Promar International, said that the

upcoming reform was “still a massive commitment by the EU to preserve farming in Europe”, but admitted that it would not stem the reduction in farmer numbers.

“If you look at farmer numbers in Europe they’re in decline and they probably will continue doing so,” Giles said.

“[Europe is moving towards] fewer farmers and slightly bigger production units – is this reform going to fundamentally turn around the economics of growing fruit and vegetables? Europe has high land, labour and input costs. The best it can achieve is to prob-ably slow down the rate of exit.”

But he added that there is still plenty of time to understand what the implications of the reforms will be and to act accordingly. For farmers, this would mean achiev-ing greater efficiency, clubbing together to purchase inputs, and seeking out higher market value, he added.

In fact, improving efficiency and attaining higher value are pri-orities to which the European tomato sector is already keenly attuned, as evidenced in discus-sions at this summer’s FOODNEWS Tomato Forum (FOODNEWS 17 June). It remains to be seen whether the CAP reforms will deliver any-thing specific to help achieve them.

News In BriefMagnetic tongue tests canned tomato flavourDAnIsH scientists have developed a magnetic tongue that can ‘taste’ canned tomatoes and could be applied industrially to help manufacturers maximise fla-vour. New Scientist reports that the magnetic tongue, created by Anders malmendal and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, can replicate the work of human taste tes-ters, who rate flavours, tex-ture and consistency on a numerical scale. The team analysed the chemical com-position of 18 different types of canned tomatoes by examining hydrogen atoms with nuclear magnetic reso-nance spectroscopy. This allowed them to identify sug-ars and amino acids in each tomato sample; they then correlated the combinations of compounds with flavours like saltiness, sweetness and bitterness. As the magnetic tongue can sample liquid almost directly from the can, manufacturers could use it during production to adjust their methods and create better-tasting products, malmendal said.

Orange tomato soupCAmPBELL soup Company has expanded dis-tribution of its Harvest Orange Tomato Soup, made from orange tomatoes grown by the company from proprietary seeds. The con-densed soup, which blends orange tomatoes with rose-mary, sage and roasted gar-lic, is described as “an arti-sanal transformation of a classic favourite”. The product launched last year in selected Us markets, and “based on the overwhelm-ingly positive response” is now to be sold throughout the Us. Harvest orange Tomato soup is one of 35 new products being intro-duced in Campbell’s Us soup and simple meals business this autumn.

Tomato processors mull impact of European agriculture reforms

BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

AS THE Us completed another bumper processing tomato crop, the UsDA reported that wholesale prices for tomato products have either remained unchanged or – in the case of industrial paste – have declined going into the new season.

“In most cases, October prices are averaging below those of a year earlier,” the agency said in the latest Vegetables and Melons Outlook newsletter.

“Bulk industrial tomato paste (31% brix) packed in 300-gallon bins is running around 33 cents per lb, down from 36 cents in July and 37 cents a year earlier.”

The decline in prices is

attributed to relatively soft demand and high stocks both domestically and globally. The report also noted that processor margins are being squeezed due to raw tomato costs having increased 5% year-on-

year.However, it added that due to

the weak US dollar and competi-tive prices, US exports of tomato products were expected to remain strong in the coming year.

USDA: tomato product prices flat or falling

ZAmBIAn fruit and vegetable canner, Freshpikt, is due to finalise a joint venture deal with PS International to estab-lish a tomato processing plant in the country’s Central Prov-ince early next month.

According to the Zambia Daily Mail, a team of senior directors from Ps International are scheduled in the country

this month to conclude a mem-orandum of understanding.

The joint venture was first announced in June this year (FOODNEWS 24 June).

PS International said at the time that it was making a minimal investment in order to test the feasibility of growing and processing tomato in the country.

Zambian tomato joint venture

“Food production in Europe is expensive. If you want it you have to support it. How? Let’s discuss how.”



BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

WITH an abundance of good crops from all the significant origins, the walnut market is this year proving an interest-ing one to watch. Californian suppliers are behaving cau-tiously, but their Eastern European counterparts are reportedly tending towards lower prices.

Initially the market has been driven by in-shell demand from China and Turkey – the early birds who attempted to secure Califor-nian product as quickly as possible. This was complicated by the delays to the harvest caused by bad weather.

“The first harvested nuts were pretty dark and not good for shell-ing: there was pressure from China and Turkey for in-shell,” said Richard van Helden, of Dutch trading company QFN, explaining that these factors encouraged Cali-fornia to go higher with pricing. Light halves 80-85% that were priced around USD4.50 earlier in the season are now nominally around USD5.00-5.10/lb fas, although Californians are gener-ally withdrawn from the market.

This is in marked contrast with prices this time last year, when the same grade was trading at around or just under USD4.00/lb fas (FOODNEWS 15 October 2010).

Meanwhile, European traders have been noting an unusually quiet market in the region – not only for walnuts but also for all edible nuts.

“I think everyone is indeed waiting till the last minute. There are still holders of parcels begging for bids because they want to get rid of material and there’s no demand,” said van Helden.

“I definitely think a lot of buyers still need to cover which means prices will not drop a lot before Christmas,” he continued, adding that he thought California had driven up prices too much in view of the abundant worldwide crop.

However, a recent report from nut traders, Global Trading, remarked that for in-shell nuts at least, business was brisk.

“Demand on in-shells from Spain, Middle East and Turkey is still strong and for the coming month quite some merchandise will be transported to these coun-tries,” the report said.

Eastern European suppliers, such as Ukraine and Moldova, are also reporting good harvests and are said to be providing good quality product. The latter is expected to have around 8 000 tonnes of shelled walnuts for export.

According to van Helden, the two origins are now lowering prices slightly. The two countries started at around EUR7.50 per kg ddp for light halves 80%, and this has now gone down by some EUR0.10-0.20/kg.

Chinese cropAssessing Chinese output of agri-cultural products is a difficult task at the best of times, and walnuts are no exception. The latest USDA estimate of China’s walnut crop has come in at a huge 696 000 tonnes which the agency says is an increase of 20% from its estimate

of the 2010 crop. However, esti-mates from trade sources earlier this autumn pegged the crop at 450 000 tonnes (FOODNEWS 9 September).

What everyone seems to agree on is that the harvest was good, and has contributed to a healthy global supply this year.

The USDA said that favourable weather conditions in all the pro-ducing provinces, good market returns and continuing govern-ment support all contributed to the increase in production.

Assessments of plantings also suggest that production could con-tinue to grow: “Industry sources report that less than 60% of new walnut plantings are bearing. In Yunnan [a major growing area] forestry officials indicate that this province’s walnut production will likely increase by 20% in the next few years,” the USDA said.

It noted that walnut farming is normally done by individual farmers allotted small plots by local government, but companies have recently entered walnut pro-duction by taking on long-term

land leases from farmers.Walnut prices to growers are

slightly lower this year at CNY33 per kg (USD5.19/kg) compared with CNY36/kg last year “but this year’s price is still considered rel-atively high compared to previous years, which is largely due to con-tinued strong demand and rising labour costs,” the USDA said.

Imports are forecast at 25 000 tonnes in 2011, stable from the revised figure of 25 665 tonnes in 2010.

In-shell walnut exports from China are forecast at 23 000 tonnes during 2011, up 23% from last year due to strong demand from buying countries: Japan is a prime destination for Chinese re-exports of shelled walnuts (processed in-country from imported product), and also Europe.


Dried Fruit & Nuts


As THE EU prepares for this year’s pine nut shipments from China, the International Nut and Dried Fruit Congress (INC) has issued a statement saying reported incidences of pine mouth syndrome have reduced dramatically since July this year when new rules were enforced by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (CCCFNA).

“We understand that a few ship-pers were trying to obstacle the new regime, but finally now all 26 shippers out of the official list are cooperating to keep an eye on the prestige and top quality of Chinese pine nuts, namely Pinus koraiensis, Pinus sibirica and Pinus yunna-nensis,” the INC statement read.

European importers, proces-sors, packers and distributors will now deal only with companies already approved and certified in order to protect their own interests.

Other varieties like Pinus pumila, Pinus massoniana and Pinus tabu-laeformis are considered purely industrial products and must be clearly labelled on the outer cartons. The INC added: “The

variety Pinus Armandi-Huashan is totally banned from imports into the European Union either on its own or blended in with other vari-eties.” China’s crop this year is expected to be very large.

INC update on pine mouth syndrome


An ImPorTEr of dried fruit and nuts in Englewood Cliffs, new Jersey is waiting for the results of an investigation carried out by the UsDA into an outbreak of Salmonella linked to Turkish pine nuts sold at the Wegmans super-market chain.

The chain is recalling some 5 000lbs of the nuts imported by Sunrise Commodities that were sold in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland.

Travis Walvoord, vice presi-dent of sales and operations for

Sunrise, said it appeared the focus of the investigation was on nuts sold in bulk bins and prepared foods.

“Our third-party laboratory tests have not detected any salmo-nella present in our factory-sealed products that remain on hold in a public warehouse,” he said.

The nuts have been linked to Salmonella Ententidis, an organ-ism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in chil-dren, the frail and the elderly, as well as people with weakened immune systems, the FDA said. Two of the 42 people infected with the salmonella strain found in the outbreak are from New Jersey.

Pine nuts salmonella concern

Californian walnut prices strong in contrast to eastern European

“I definitely think a lot of buyers still need to cover which means prices will

not drop a lot before Christmas”

- Richard van Helden




Dried Fruit & Nuts

BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

THE UsDA puts this season’s Turkish hazelnut crop at just 400 000 tonnes, even lower than previous recent industry estimates of up to 450 000 tonnes reported in FOOD-NEWS previously.

Weather conditions were unfa-vourable between December 2010 and May 2011, with warmer-than-normal temperatures at the end of last year and into January that “led to major problems with pollina-tion, and resulted in lower yields,” the USDA said in a recent report. It also noted that this is an off-year in the production cycle.

The report also said that hazel-nut exports bounced back in 2010, for a total of 560 000 tonnes, com-pared with 325 000 tonnes in 2009, attributed mainly to the high level of production and good prices.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Grain Board (TMO), no longer in charge of purchasing hazelnuts, has been quite active in the retail market so as to decrease its large stocks and drive consumption.

In the 2009 marketing year the TMO had 425 000 tonnes of hazel-nut stocks, but this is predicted to

decrease to 119 000 tonnes in 2011, the USDA said.

The release of TMO stocks earlier this year was credited with helping keep prices in check as the harvest approached this year, despite the expectations of a smaller crop (FOODNEWS 22 July). However, price data col-lected by FOODNEWS shows there has been a rise in prices of around 25% since July, to the current GBP5 800 per tonne on a UK ex-store basis for Turkish Levants. The market is described as somewhat stable at the moment, though the fluctuations of the Turkish lira are always a factor in pricing.

Turkey is also a producer of pistachios, largely for the domes-tic market, with a ‘normal’ year’s production of around 85 000-105 000 tonnes, according to the USDA.

Due to the biannual production cycle, production increased sig-nificantly in 2010, to 110 000 tonnes, and this year is expected to be far lower, at just 50 000 tonnes.

“With the increasing number of new sapling plantations in the Sanliurfa and Siirt regioins, the production of high quality is pre-dicted to increase. Producers and

researchers predict that as a result of better variety selection, the problem of “cycling” will not be seen in the future,” the USDA said.

Higher production in 2010 caused domestic consumption to increase to 80 000 tonnes, from 60 000 tonnes the previous year. High stocks left from last year should keep consumption from dropping too much in the current marketing year.

The Turkish government stopped giving direct support to pistachio farmers several years ago, however there is a provision for support worth TRL300 per hectare for the establishment of new orchards, if operators plant them with certified seedlings.

Almonds have only recently begun to be cultivated commer-cially in Turkey, and though there are some rural development proj-ects to increase almond production, commercial investment is very limited.

TURKISIAD, a dried fruit and nut sector organisation, is “actively promoting almond orchard establishment in Turkey and some large companies have started to invest in almond orchards as a result”, the USDA noted: “TURKSIAD recently established a demonstration orchard in Denizli province [south-west Turkey], and the almond orchard area increased significantly in the Denizli and Mugla provinces as a result.”

Low crop year for Turkish hazels and pistachios


THE Australian 2010/11 raisin harvest was once again below average, impacted by difficult weather conditions over spring and summer, delegates at the recent International Dried Grape Conference in Chile have been told.

Regular rainfall during Octo-ber-December 2010 and January-March 2011 caused sig-nificant damage, as flooding and humidity battered the grapes, resulting in a poor quality crop of just 7 520 tonnes, with sultana tonnage down significantly (-49.4%) on 2010 at 4 750 tonnes. In fact, the majority of sultanas dried dark as a result of rain during the drying period.

Production of sunmuscats this year fell 40.2% to 1 082 tonnes,

while raisins took a hit of 72.3% to 389 tonnes. Currants only saw production fall 4.3% to 1 162 tonnes, similar to the low crop in 2009, with anti-dumping mea-sures on imported Greek currants remaining in place.

“There was significant splitting of sultanas, which required summer pruning with low maturi-ties to minimise mould, but there was significant yield loss,” said Dried Fruits Australia chairman Mark King. “Diseases included powdery mildew, downey mildew, botrytis and bunch rots. This was exacerbated by a shortage of chemicals and difficult conditions on farms due to flooding.

“Grower returns were adversely impacted by poor quality fruit, and there was a limited amount of light fruit avail-able,” he continued. “Average

prices were lower with penalties for mould and other defects, while the cooler weather slowed drying times and increased dehydration costs.

“As a result, processors have responded to the difficult 2010/2011 season by announcing that 2012 prices will be at least maintained at 2011 price levels. One processor has already announced a price increase for 2012 and removal of any price dif-ferential between light and dark fruit.”

As regards 2011/12 produc-tion, the sultana crop will once again be weather dependent. According to King, “the latest information on bud dissections undertaken on local properties suggests that bud fruitfulness in the current season is average”.

Poor vineyards will continue to

be removed during this year and next, but replanting is slow due to financial constraints and damage to the vines in 2010/11.

“The industry is now encour-aging growers to consider new plantings due to the improved outlook,” delegates were informed. “The target is to facili-tate a rebuilding of production capacity to around 25-30 000 tonnes, with a strong focus on new sultana and currant varieties such as Sunglo sultanas and Black Gem currants.”

Delegations at the International Dried Grape Conference in Chile included those from the host country, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, the US and Peru for the first time. Invitations to the next conference in Cape Town will be extended to India, China and Uzbekistan.

Smaller Australian sultana crop takes its toll on grape growers

FIRE fighters spent several hours fighting a huge warehouse fire at Caruthers Raisin Packing Company in the early hours of 31 October, it has been reported. The fire began in a storage area on Hughes and Springfield Street at around 10pm on Sunday night. Fire fighters said the 4 000 sq. ft. warehouse was engulfed in flames which were diffi-cult to put out because the area was stocked with boxes and barrels of raisins. Despite their best efforts, the fire service said the warehouse had been destroyed. The company was in the news just last week as it entered into a partnership with Green Giant Fresh to produce raisin snack packs (FOODNEWS 21 October).

Flame raisins



BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

Us ImPorTs of a number of frozen vegetables have shown marked increases in both volume and value for the year to date.

According to the USDA’s Eco-nomic Research Service (ERS), imports of all frozen vegetables rose 20% in value in January-August, for USD567 million, against USD474 million in the same period last year. Exports of frozen vegetables were much lower, at USD176 million in total, though they grew by a similar pro-portion (19%) year-on-year.

The most impressive growth was seen in imports of frozen mushrooms, which soared by 167% for the first eight months of the year, to 22.89 million lbs. Major supplier, the Netherlands, accounted for 19.44 million lbs of this, a massive leap of 332%. By value, imports from the country did even better, increasing 346% for USD9.22 million.

Imports of frozen okra, already a large volume product, jumped 88% by volume, to 29.64 million lbs, and main origin, Guatemala,

was able to expand its share, growing 120% to 25.92 million lbs. The total value of okra imports was USD9.68 million.

Frozen asparagus imports showed a very marked increase in value, ahead of volume.

A total of 9.47 million Ibs of the vegetable were imported, up 16% year-on-year, but value soared by 31%, to USD10.16 million

Imports of some of the more common frozen vegetables did not fare as well. Pea import volume dropped by 8% to 30.12 million lbs despite an increase in pur-chases from neighbouring Canada, of 10%. Value declined less sharply, down 2% for a total of USD14.67 million.

Sweet corn imports dropped 9% by volume and 10% by value for 28.20 million lbs and USD14.50 million.

Whole green beans declined 6% by volume to 21.30 million lbs, but cut green beans were in far higher demand, gaining 32% by volume for 26.53 million lbs. Imports of the two products fetched USD10.79 million and USD12.93 million respectively.


Frozen Foods

BY EMMA SLAWINSKI

InVEnTUrE Foods, an Arizona, Us-based snacks and frozen foods manufacturer, has reported a loss of UsD190 812 for the third quarter to 24 sep-tember, compared with a net income of UsD1.2 million in the same period last year.

This was despite a strong increase in net revenues, which reached USD37.5 million in the three months to 24 September, up 10% year-on-year.

Earlier this year the Arizona-based company launched Jamba All-Natural Smoothies – a range of frozen fruit packs for making blended drinks at home – which delivered net revenues of USD3.3 million (USD5.1 million gross) for the quarter, helping the frozen division to net revenues of USD14.0 million, up 20% on the

corresponding period of 2010.The snack division, which con-

sists mainly of potato chips and other savoury products, saw net revenues rise 5% to USD23.5 million.

“I am pleased with our overall execution during the third quarter, as we continued to deliver net revenue growth in both our snack and frozen divisions,” said Terry

McDaniel, Inventure Foods’ chief executive.

“Although our third quarter results delivered negative earn-ings, we executed a number of significant planned initiatives which are in line with our expectations.”

He added that the Jamba prod-ucts introduction had involved “significant strategic expenditures

necessary for an effective launch” and that the company had been intensifying consumer and public relations efforts in order to drive brand expansion.

For the year-to-date, net income stood at USD2.06 million, down 46% year-on-year, while net revenues were substantially higher than last year, at USD117.77 million (+17%).

Inventure posts third-quarter loss despite strong growth

EMMA SLAWINSKI

DoLE has launched two new frozen fruit products in the Us that aim to combine health, convenience and value for money.

Smoothie shakers contain frozen yogurt beads and finely cut fruit: by adding a favourite juice and shaking the pack, these are

turned into a smoothie “without the mess of using a blender and at a fraction of the cost of buying from a smoothie shop”, according to Dole. They retail at a suggested USD2.19 per unit.

Dole has also launched Frozen Fruit Single-serve Cups, which contain only fruit (a full serving) and 50 calories or less. The company says that it has perfected

a technology to minimise the loss of texture as the fruit defrosts, allowing it to have a “just-like-fresh appearance, taste and texture”. The fruit cups are avail-able in select retail outlets and coverage will be expanded in April 2012. The cups will retail at USD2.49 for two 3oz cups of strawberries or pineapple, and USD2.79 for blueberries.

Dole frozen fruit products launched in US

Mushrooms, asparagus and okra drive US frozen vegetable imports

US SELECTED FROZEN VEGETABLE IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST) 000 lbs % change 000 USD % changePeas 30116 -7.6 14668 -2.3Canada 17490 9.7 8103 -1.5Whole green beans 21299 -5.6 10788 -1.6China 7225 -48 3670 -42.6Cut green beans 26528 31.6 12930 28.4Canada 22593 34.1 11300 23.8Sweet corn 28204 -8.6 14503 -9.6Canada 21818 -2.6 10176 -9.1Mushrooms 22885 167.3 12824 134.1Netherlands 19441 332.6 9222 345.8Brussels sprouts 25013 26.4 10603 18.4Belgium 17201 65.4 6647 61.5Okra 29638 87.9 9676 78.3Guatemala 25919 119.9 8036 111.4Asparagus 9470 15.5 10161 30.5Peru 4749 -1 5745 14Broccoli spears 36492 21.2 16867 30.2Guatemala 14604 69.5 6055 68.3Cauliflower 51223 7.1 20967 5.2Mexico 32774 -10.2 15525 -6Mixed vegetables 93307 5.2 51381 7.5Mexico 49635 5.2 29304 7French Fries 956375 2.1 390051 3Canada 953129 2.3 388603 3.1Frozen potatoes 113825 8.2 56572 8.1Canada 109165 6.6 54267 6.1Bamboo shoots 2659 -29.9 1526 -22.9Beans, prepared 5752 -32.5 4682 -23.1

Source: US Bureau of Census/The Food Institute


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REFORMULATING FOOD AND BEVERAGES TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROFILE AND DESIRABILITY

NATURALSUGAR & SALTREPLACERS16-17 NOVEMBER 2011, KINGSWAY HALL HOTEL, LONDON

SUPPORTING PUBLICATIONS

✓ Reformulate your products to exploit the booming demand for clean-label foods and beverages

✓ Optimise your use of natural substitutes such as stevia, herbs & spices and umami ingredients

✓ Retain your existing fl avour profi les, add anti microbial properties and improve health profi le of products using new natural replacers

✓ Ensure your compliance with recent EU regulation on natural ingredients use and labelling

✓ Evaluate your consumers tolerance of natural replacers based on experimental studies and retail trend data

✓ Network with food technology professionals to drive forward your reformulation agenda

HEAR FROM:

Dr. Bruce LinterPepsiCo, UK

Sylvie ChartronMars, France

Dr. Julian CooperBritish Sugar, UK

Dr. Laith WahbiGivaudan, UK

Dr. Eoin DesmondAllinAll Ingredients, Ireland

Dr. Sam BernhardtLycored, Israel

Dr. Nigel BruntonTeagc, Ireland

Dr. Sinne SmedInstitute of Food and Resource EconomicsUniversity of CopenhagenDenmark

Dr. Esther KalonjiAgency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety France

Simone BoumanPurac, Netherlands

Brent LaffeyPrinova – formerly Premium Ingredients, UK

Raymond EllardFood Safety Authority of IrelandIreland

Tracey SandersonSensory Dimensions, UK

Ruth VealeBEUC, Brussels

Network

and hear from

global taste leaders!

Register online: www.natural.agraevents.com Phone: +44(0)20 3377 3658 Fax: +44(0)20 3377 3659 Email: [email protected] Agra UK Ltd, 69-77 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4LQ, UK

For Sponsorship and Exhibitionopportunities please contact

Contact Sarah Harding: [email protected],

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http://www.natural.agraevents.com


Business Intelligence

Mixed views on organic market as Wessanen outlines future plansBY ALEX MASTERS

nEWs that Dutch organic food giant, Wessanen, contin-ues to battle the tough market despite the challenges has pleased investors. However, there are still wildly conflicting views about the potential of Europe’s organic food sector.

Wessanen, whose vision is to make its organic brands “the most desired in Europe”, has been strug-gling in recent years with debt and low growth. But this week, inves-tors were largely pleased with the group’s third-quarter results which saw EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) surge to EUR6.2 million (USD8.5 million) in the third quarter of 2011, compared with EUR1.6 million in the year-ago period.

However, revenues were almost flat, edging up just 0.5% to EUR174 million in the quarter, hurt by a decline at its Health Food Stores (HFS) division, the divest-ment of Tree of Life UK (FOODNEWS 29 July 2011) and a weaker British pound and US dollar.

The company’s grocery divi-sion continued to perform well thanks to innovation, brand strength and “robust” growth in Europe, particularly in France. Geographically, the Benelux also saw revenue growth, driven by its Dr Schar, Biorganic, Merza and

Zonnatura brands, while in Germany the grocery market was “modestly up” with sales continu-ing to grow strongly (albeit from a low base) driven by higher volumes of Whole Earth and Culinessa.

However, the UK grocery envi-ronment continues to be tough, impacted by Wessanen’s focus on further “de-emphasising” private labels and ‘cutting the tail’, a pro-gramme aimed to “delist low-margin, low-volume prod-ucts”. It added that, as dairy alternatives are one of its Euro-pean core categories, it is has opted to focus on one strong brand and phase out its So Good brand. A range of soy milks was also relaunched under the Kallo brand at the end of the quarter.

ABCBut star performer in the quarter was Wessanen’s US drinks busi-ness, ABC, which enjoyed a “very strong performance”, with reve-nues surging 54% to EUR53 million thanks mainly to its cock-tail mixers brand, Daily’s, with its ready-to-drink pouches showing particularly impressive growth. Daily’s other products such as the bag-in-a-box and premixes are also performing well. Growth was further driven by a change in dis-tribution strategy and pricing. For 2012, the group expects further revenues and earnings growth,

based on the strong increase in demand this year.

Analysts were impressed with ABC’s performance. “Organic growth in ABC was even stronger than anticipated, which is quite positive,” Fernand de Boer, an analyst at Petercam, told FOOD-NEWS. “But that was partly offset by weaker-than-expected HFS growth which was still quite nega-tive.” He gave ABC a price tag of USD80-90 million. “If you look at current trends things are going well and if it can maintain this kind of profitability it justifies quite a high price.”

Richard Withagen, from SNS Securities, described ABC as “a great growth story”. “ABC was growing more than 20% organi-cally in the first half and 50% in the third quarter. They are

probably going to have a great record in 2011 and try and deliver more or less the same next year. With a great track record that should push up the disposal price,” he said

Withagen noted that Wessanen was planning to sell ABC this year but, in a bid to leverage the momentum, will probably start proposals next year. Proceeds of the sale would then be invested into its existing business – he pre-dicts there could be potential investment opportunities in Scandinavia.

“The one that saved the day was ABC, which reported almost 14% EBIT margin – the highest ever recorded (and in the weakest quarter for that business) so that was a big, big surprise... and that is the business they are going to sell!,” said Kelper analyst, Erwin Dut. “The question is how long the momentum [will continue]. They struck gold by launching the RTD cocktail mix which has been taking off and doing very well in Walmart and CostCo. The com-paratives are going to be very different next year.”

Dut also praised the new man-agement for making “the right choices” by rejecting the non-core to focus on its European business. “They really need to get a great price for ABC and not throw their money at bad acquisitions. Man-agement have no track record for acquisitions and they could over-spend on organic brands in Spain or Portugal,” he warned. Dut reck-oned ABC could fetch a price tag of around EUR104 million and speculated that a larger, alcohol-selling company like Diageo could be interested in RTD pouches to add to its portfolio.

HFS strugglesHowever, Wessanen’s Health Food Stores segment continues to struggle and revenues for this division fell to EUR55 million during the quarter, due in part to the sale of its lower added-value UK wholesale activities (Tree of Life) and a weak quarter from Kalisterra, the French pharmacies distributor it is also selling.

The company said that, while

WESSANEN REVENUE BY DIVISION (EURM)

SOURCE: WESSANEN

PIET HEIN MERCKENS



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the French market was down “modestly”, the German and Benelux markets both showed growth. Wessanen’s chief execu-tive, Piet Hein Merckens, said the group is tapping on improvement initiatives to grow the top and bottom line, which “have yet to translate into tangible results”.

Despite the struggles, analysts were not too concerned for the HFS division. “They are taking measures, it is a slow process and it takes time,” said de Boer. “In that respect it is not a big issue. It is a complicated business model – in Germany it is different to what they do in the Netherlands and France. I would like to see it improve over time.”

Withagen said the business needs a lot of work “before man-agement or the outside world can be positive about it”. He added: “They are working on it. It took a while before they turned grocery around; I think the HFS channel will probably take a bit longer because they still have a sizeable business which is underperform-ing and I think the potential for improvement is pretty small. On the other hand, they have taken a couple of initiatives where they will certainly get good growth.”

Speculation is that Wessanen’s frozen division will be sold in the next two to three years. “The company has made no secrets it wants to offload its frozen

business at some stage,” said Withagen. “It just does not fit its focus on organic.”

Indeed, Wessanen said that, despite pressured consumer confi-dence in Europe, consumer spend on food continues to trend posi-tively with awareness and appreciation for organic food con-tinuing to grow. Unsurprisingly, Wessanen’s spokesman, Carl Hoyer, was upbeat for the sector. “In general, people are becoming more aware of food origins and caring more about the impact of health with more focus on fairtrade and organic,” he told FOODNEWS.

Asked whether increasingly price conscious consumers might be deterred because of the price premium associated with organic, he said: “It is difficult to quantify. Consumers are changing. Organic [produce] is more expensive than conventional. In general, the subdued economy has had an impact on almost all industries. We are cautious of what is hap-pening in the eurozone. What we have seen in the last two years is that organic continues to grow – the exception being in the UK – and is set to continue despite the subdued economy.”

Speculation is also mounting over potential acquisitions Wes-sanen could make in the future. “There is no certainty in life: it takes two to tango,” said Hoyer. “Time will tell but it will occur. Smaller acquisitions will clearly strengthen our position.” He said

the company will be looking at core markets like the Benelux, the UK, France and Germany as a pri-ority but would also consider entering new markets like Spain and Denmark in the future. There is speculation that Wessanen could contemplate a meal replacer acquisition in France or a deal in the Dutch fresh market.

The futureBolstered by the company’s prog-ress, and confident in its brand strength, Merckens said he looked to the future with “cautious opti-mism”. But he admitted that in some areas improvements are yet to be seen and warned that the company has to deal with an element of uncertainty due to the “persistently subdued European economic environment” and pres-sured consumer confidence.

So how is 2012 looking? “It is hard to predict,” Hoyer said. “We are in the second year of our five-year journey. A lot of things are happening, such as IT and market-ing. With the things we are doing we are on the right track.”

Analyst sentiment was mixed. “Wessanen are doing all the right things. They are in the right seg-ments [but] they have an awful lot to do and market conditions are tough,” said de Boer. “I am quite pessimistic on the market but pos-itive about what they are doing. If a company is making the right moves, despite the economy, they can survive that and work their way through.”

WESSANEN SALES BREAKDOWN Q3, 2011

SOURCE: WESSANEN

marco Gulpers, InG Financial markets

Wessanen’s new management is picking up quite well. It is just a matter of being able to dispose of its two non-core divisions. The market is waiting. We expect ABC [will be sold] next year and frozen another year. So far, Wessanen has proven to be quite resilient in the European grocery division. The underlying trend suggests consumers are much more nervous about the quality of their food and their origin and organic nature and will pay a price premium. So far we are not seeing a slowdown on the organic side. So long as you have a job and think it is

important to spend on trustworthy organic food then [the momentum] is probably going to continue.

Erwin Dut, Kepler

The French [organic] market has been doing extremely well, while the UK has been extremely weak. If consumer [confidence] weakens and [they] downgrade then organic brands are at risk, particularly in France. It is happening in the UK and the Benelux and if France and Germany were next it would be really worrying. Getting the [organic] category to grow within the food industry is very, very tough and it is a slow

process. In the Netherlands, 1.5% of total food spend is organic. It is a small category. We are a bit worried, the sector could be hit.

Fernand de Boer, Petercam

[The organic market] is certainly one of the growth areas within the supermarket channel; in that respect it’s the right sector to be in. But in the wholesale channel this group is seeing significant pressure. Of course if you look at the economic conditions people might be more tending to downgrade for cheaper alternatives but on the other hand a big group in the economy can afford to buy organic foods. There

is pressure on consumer spending power but the organic market can expand despite the market.

Ton Vanooijen, Kepler Equities

Results were better than expected, driven by both grocery and ABC. No drastic changes are expected [but] Wessanen needs to find new volume to leverage its costs base. Introducing and rolling out the new format, Gooody Foods, is proactive. Organic food is here to stay and people will continue to pay a premium for it. Consumer weakness is cyclical – if not, we are all doomed. You need to be innovative and show your added value to the client.

WHAT THE ANALYSTS SAYFOODNEWS asked leading analysts for their opinion....


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PERSONNELNew role at Del MonteDEL monte Foods has appointed Carl Johnson to the new role of executive vice president of brands, effective november. reporting to chief executive, David West, Johnson will have responsibility for the majority of Del monte’s consumer brands as well as marketing and consumer insight groups, r&D and innovation. Johnson joins Del monte from Campbell Soup Company, where he was senior vice president and chief strategy officer. In those roles he was responsible for corporate strategy, global r&D, marketing and e-business. Prior to joining Campbell, he was a senior executive at Kraft Foods.

New Wakefern presidentWAKEFErn Food has appointed Joseph Sheridan as president and chief operating officer. sheridan, who has been with the company for 35 years and has been executive vice president since 1996, succeeds Dean Janeway, who will remain as president emeritus until his official retirement in January. Wakefern is a cooperative of 47 members who run more than 230 shoprite stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, maryland and Delaware. It also has 45 Pricerite stores in five states.

New CEO for Willi-FoodG. WILLI-FOOD International, a global food company specialising in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of kosher foods, has named Kobi Levi as chief executive officer, effective immediately. Levi replaces Joseph Williger, who has served as chief executive since its inception in January 1994, and is continuing to serve as its president.

BY ALEX MASTERS

DEsPITE a “particularly vol-atile” market which dented third-quarter profits, Bunge remains upbeat for the future.

The US firm, which is one of the world’s largest traders of agri-cultural commodities, blamed volatile markets for a sharp drop in profitability in the quarter to the end of September. Earnings fell 33% to USD140, down from USD212 million in the year-ago period. Results in the quarter were lower in all segments except fertiliser, the company said.

“The third quarter was a par-ticularly volatile period where managing risk in our agribusiness and sugar & bioenergy segments proved to be challenging,” Alberto Weisser, Bunge’s chief executive officer, admitted. He added that lower than planned sugarcane

milling volume (due to the contin-ued impact of the drought on its sugarcane yields) also weighed on results in the quarter.

OptimisticHowever, the company expects a stronger fourth quarter and sees “optimistic signs” in 2012. “While the global macroeconomic envi-ronment presents uncertainties, there are reasons to expect resil-ience in our businesses,” Weisser said. “Many of our products are basic staples needed to feed the world’s growing population.”

The USDA forecasts that global demand for soybean meal and vegetable oil will increase by 5% and 4%, respectively.

Weisser said that, even with a scenario of lower economic growth, the world needs addi-tional supplies of crops, so prices should remain at attractive levels

for farmers. “Growing demand should encourage increased plant-ing, fertiliser use and trade, which Bunge’s global network is well equipped to handle,” he said.

The group also forecasts a much stronger performance from its sugar & bioenergy segment next year. It is also on track to have 50 000 hectares of newly planted sugarcane ready for the next harvest, which will provide needed raw material for its mills and enable it to demonstrate the potential of this business.

Bunge still upbeat despite profits drop

BY ALEX MASTERS

PorTUGUEsE retailer, Jeron-imo martins, is set to target Colombia for future growth.

In a statement, the company confirmed it will target the South American country for market entry after discussing several different options.

“I would like to announce that at its meeting of the 25-26 October, after analysing different options of geographical diversification, the board of directors of Jeronimo Martins decided to choose Colom-bia as the new market to enter,” chief executive, Pedro Soares dos Santos, said.

The group did not provide any further details on the move, includ-ing a timeframe.

The latest news comes on the back of a strong set of nine-month results which saw consolidated sales grow 16% for the first nine months of the year to EUR7.3 billion (USD10.0 billion), driven by the ‘excellent’ performance of Biedronka in Poland and Food Dis-tribution in its home market.

EBITDA (earnings before inter-est, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) rose 19.5%, reflect-ing gains from increasing economies of scale in Biedronka, while net profit jumped by 32% year-on-year to EUR256 million.

“In Poland, Biedronka, our top strategic priority, continued with its outstanding growth in sales and profits, confirming the company’s competitiveness and strengthening further its leadership in the Polish market,” dos Santos said. “In Por-tugal, where the macro-economic climate remains weak with nega-tive impact in the general sentiment and in consumption, Pingo Doce and Recheio continued to increase their respective market shares, proving the high resilience of their business models,” he added. “The strong performance in both coun-tries confirms the group’s very positive outlook regarding growth in sales and profits for 2011.”

Jeronimo Martins targets Colombia

AHoLD has said it plans to gradually expand in Belgium, and will look to have 10 stores operational by the end of 2012. Alex Masters writes: The Dutch group has opened its second Albert Heijn outlet on 28

October, which will be located in Flanders, the Dutch-speak-ing part of Belgium. The group reportedly plans to concen-trate the new stores around Antwerp, and will not look to build near Brussels or

Wallonia for now. The outlets will be both company-owned and franchise-operated. Ahold is market leader in the Dutch supermarket sector and is looking to expand into neigh-bouring countries.

Dutch retailer plans Belgian expansion

PEPsICo Inc expects healthier products to make up as much as 30% of its portfolio in 10 years, as it expands its range of juice, dairy and grain products, according to reuters.

“right now, good-for-you products are about 22% of the portfolio.

It might rise to 27 or 30% of the portfolio (10 years from now), but the rest of it is also

growing,” PepsiCo’s chief exec-utive Indra nooyi told reuters.

PepsiCo’s stated goal is to more than double sales from healthier products to UsD30 billion by 2020.

PepsiCo focuses on health

“The third quarter was a particularly volatile period

where managing risk in our agribusiness and

sugar & bioenergy segments proved to be

challenging.”


Mergers & Acquisitions

FREIGHT REPORT: Shanghai corners box derivatives market

SHANGHAI is racing away from other exchanges in attracting trading interest in container freight deriva-tives, with a leading supporter of these risk management products urging action to generate more turn-over elsewhere.

Brokers who have been involved in creating derivatives based on con-tainer freight rates now need to find ways of increasing liquidity in the international marketplace where turn-over is still very low, said Richard Baker, chief executive of Cleartrade Exchange – which, along with con-sultancy firm, Drewry, recently launched the World Container Index.

This is a rival to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index, which has a growing number of

competitors, but which nevertheless remains the most widely-cited data source for now.

The Shanghai Shipping Exchange, which publishes the SCFI, also pro-vides a trading platform for derivatives and has been actively promoting this business, with considerable success.

That is because the SSE permits retail customers to speculate in a way that would not be permitted in other markets, according to Baker.

Nevertheless, he is calling for a renewed push to stimulate trading levels, which remain very modest even though the first container swap was traded nearly two years ago.

Despite a great deal of effort to explain how derivatives work and the benefits of hedging, “we have only tickled the market”, said Baker. “We have to get it off its knees.”

Baker is pressing the Container Freight Derivatives Association, which will be holding its annual forum in London next month, to set up a sub-committee of brokers and other interested parties such as Cleartrade to focus specifically on this issue.

Potential participants who remain

sceptical about the advantages of hedging have to see derivatives trading as a cash management tool rather than a cost burden, he said. In order to overcome resistance, there should be an opportunity to trade in small lots so that margin payments are correspondingly modest.

The big container lines, in particu-lar, remain hostile to the whole concept of derivatives, on the grounds that speculators with no direct interest in the box trades will start betting on future freight rates, so taking pricing control away from the ocean carriers.

Those in favour of derivatives argue they provide a means to protect both ocean carriers and their custom-ers from unforeseen price movements and so are a hedging mechanism rather than a speculative tool. Baker acknowledged there is still “a way to go” before there is a proper under-standing of what derivatives are about.

Cleartrade and Drewry launched the World Container Index, based on spot rates on 11 major east-west routes, including backhaul as well as fronthaul trades, at the beginning of

September.Agreeing service contract freight

rates linked to an index such as the SCFI or WCI is growing in popular-ity, with the Federal Maritime Commission adjusting its rules to allow for this new development. But while container lines like the idea of index-linked contracts, most do not want to take matters any further and hedge their exposure to market movements.

The SSE, on the other hand, is keen to generate more business and is thought to be preparing to open up its trading platform to international clients. SSE president Zhang Ye is one of the speakers at next month’s CFDA forum, where he is expected to say more about the exchange’s expansion ambitions.

Meanwhile, discussions are at an advanced stage with clearing houses for the settlement of derivatives based on the WCI. Talks with at least one are due to be concluded by the end of this month, Baker revealed, ready for a mid-November start.

This article first appeared in Lloyd’s List www.lloydslist.com

COCA-COLA has acquired Great Plains Coca-Cola Bot-tling Company for approximately UsD360 million.

The fifth-largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the US, Great Plains has been part of the Coca-Cola System for nearly ninety years.

According to Robert Browne, chairman and chief executive officer of Great Plains, the reason behind his company's success is

simple. “From the beginning we have always strived to provide the best quality drinks with the best customer service,” he said. “As I look to the future, I believe this is the right action to ensure the con-tinued success of this business.”

Following the deal, which is set to be complete by the end of this year subject to regulatory approval, Great Plains will become an operating unit within Coca-Cola Refreshments (CCR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The

Coca-Cola Company. Browne will then assume a role

supporting CCR in its ongoing work to improve its product supply and customer service operations.

Steve Cahillane, president and chief executive of CCR, praised Great Plains for its development of innovative processes, including offering a single source of supply. “CCR can learn a great deal from Great Plains and the success that they have created.”

Coca-Cola snaps up bottling company

BY ALEX MASTERS

FmC CorPorATIon has acquired South Pole Biogroup, a Chilean-based natural colour and speciality nutrition ingre-dients manufacturer.

Mike Smith, division general manager of FMC BioPolymer, described South Pole as “an inno-vation leader” in the natural colour and health ingredients industry. “This transaction brings a remark-able portfolio of natural colour formulation, product application

expertise, and ingredient extraction capabilities to FMC customers and partners around the world,” he said.

He added that FMC has been a global leader in food ingredient technology for more than 50 years and said the latest acquisition (which includes South Pole’s fran-chise businesses, BioColor and BioNutrition) opens "exciting new platform opportunities" in natural colourants and functional ingredients.

Operating in three sectors, agri-cultural products, speciality

chemicals and industrial chemi-cals, FMC generated annual sales of approximately USD3.1 billion last year.

The natural colour market is expected to grow beyond USD1.0 billion in the next four years as consumer preference for nature-derived food colours and ingredients and overall health and nutrition continues to increase in mature and emerging markets.

Details of the deal, which is set to close before the year end, were not disclosed.

Chilean natural ingredients deal signed

ITALIAN premium pasta maker, De Cecco, has acquired russian PmK group for EUr40 million (UsD57 million).

De Cecco bought PMK, which accounts for about 10% of the Russian pasta market, from Russian holding group, Ekoofice.

Through the acquisition De Cecco will gain control of three factories based in Moscow, Smo-lensk and St Petersburg, with a total output of 100 000 tonnes a year, as well as a commercial and logistics facility in the Russian capital.

It is understood that De Cecco shelved plans for a Milan listing in 2009 because of the financial crisis. However, it said it saw a strong growth potential for its products in Russia, and plans to invest an addi-tional EUR30 million in its Italian plants to sustain production.

Based in the central Italian province of Abruzzo, De Cecco makes 45% of its sales outside Italy.

De Cecco acquires Russia’s PMK


Weather Watch

Heavy rain and snow in US cause delays to crop harvestingBY MDA EARTHSAT WEATHER (CROPCAST)

HEAVY showers pushed across northern portions of Califor-nian crop areas early this past month, with lighter amounts further south. The showers improved soil moisture and irrigation supplies, but did slow crop harvesting. showers should return to the region again later this week, although the rains should not be very heavy. Drier weather should then return next week. The showers later this week should result in some additional minor harvest delays.

In Florida, rains were wide-spread again this past month, and favoured central and southern areas. The rains continued to significantly

improve soil moisture and irrigation supplies for the crops, but resulted in some wetness and minor flooding issues. Showers should be rather light across the region over the next couple of weeks, which should allow any wetness to ease.

In the north east of the country, rains have remained abundant this past month, which maintained moisture supplies and also contin-ued to slow harvesting, especially in Pennsylvania and western New York. Also, significant snow was noted across central Pennsylvania into east central New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont this past weekend, which slowed harvesting there. Drier weather is expected across most areas over the next two weeks, which will allow snow to melt and wetness problems to ease. Harvesting should also slowly increase again.

ENTIRE US TOTAL PRECIPITATION (mm) 29/9/2011-29/10/2011

CONTACT US:

Chris HydeCropCast Marketing Director

[email protected]: 240-833-8322

Don KeeneySenior Ag Meteorologist

[email protected]: 240-833-8300

Why choose EarthSat?• We are the industry leader in global agricultural and energy forecasting• Our forecasts and products set the industry baseline and allow our customers to stay ahead of the competition• Our GIS capabilities allow us to innovate and bring new products to the market• We provide the fastest and most reliable delivery• All of our products are always backed by our unparalleled customer service, with experienced meteorologists available 24/7

• We are the industry leader in global agricultural and energy forecasting• Our forecasts and products set the industry baseline and allow our customers to stay ahead of the competition• Our GIS capabilities allow us to innovate and bring new products to the market• We provide the fastest and most reliable delivery• All of our products are always backed by our unparalleled customer service, with experienced meteorologists available 24/7

ENTIRE US TOTAL PRECIPITATION DEPARTURE (% NORMAL) 29/9/2011-29/10/2011

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Market Data

THE resurgence of European interest in NFC orange juice is clearly shown in the latest trade figures for the year to date (Jan-uary-August: the most recent data available).

While imports have not bounced back to the peak of just under 520 000 tonnes, seen in 2008, the total of just under 450 000 tonnes is a welcome increase upon the figures for January-August 2009 and 2010.

Brazil remains the largest sup-plier of NFC orange juice, but as has been noted by FOODNEWS, there has been a 50% increase in shipments from the US, as that country’s retail orange juice market has plunged. These shipments are mostly of Brazilian juice that has been redirected from US storage

tanks.NFC apple juice imports have

dropped by about one-third – the EU is mostly self-supporting in this sector. However, it is worth noting that in the last couple of years, China has come from nowhere to dominate the import market.

NFC grapefruit juice is very much a specialist sector, and Israel continues to dominate it. The US is suffering because of the permanent damage done to its groves a few years ago, and Cuba has exactly the same problem.

Finally, there has been a sharp fall in NFC pineapple juice imports, partly because of Thai-land’s harvest problems and also because the diversion of Costa Rican fruit to fresh markets.

US takes more of NFC orange market200941 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

C Rica 28283 31234 42896 53906 58108 44168

Thailand 8901 7611 5437 11562 13273 10362

Ghana 1342 2095 221 162 1 317

S Africa 70 66 51 27 260 294

US 33 40 50 36 227 284

Vietnam 1229 1503 530 234 838 123

Honduras 30 211 290 189 114 122

Turkey 19 62 75 110 138 101

India 327 382 0 242 87 94

Indonesia 59 63 16 219 67 80

G’mala 210 263 0 0 600 75

Malaysia 101 170 220 48 70 59

Others 2352 2255 993 785 570 98

Total 42956 45955 50779 67520 74353 56177

Source: GTIS

EU-27 NFC PINEAPPLE JUICE IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

200912 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Brazil 268823 196431 480659 365684 352628 360563

US 23512 15090 14558 32921 51780 73291

C Rica 2789 1855 4569 7973 12864 5698

Israel 7337 6356 7498 5986 5569 3313

S’land 894 1588 2644 2348 2503 1733

Morocco 89 278 1307 345 311 1469

Cuba 896 50 3097 305 501 717

Mexico 0 0 4 39 1075 620

Ghana 243 112 718 318 0 503

Turkey 3379 173 1098 277 335 384

M’donia 273 422 2157 500 1210 330

Egypt 186 89 82 321 322 310

Serbia 35 249 368 267 77 302

Ukraine 326 284 257 120 91 216

Algeria 7 2 0 1 90 91

Mauritius 0 0 0 0 0 50

UAE 42 114 101 48 8 26

Croatia 0 2 1 1 17 11

S Africa 8 17 24 32 59 11

Thailand 0 1 7 9 3 10

Norway 0 9 14 10 10 8

China 6 4 304 6 2 5

Lebanon 22 14 27 18 26 3

Suriname 0 0 0 0 0 3

Others 97 127 169 508 1498 80

Total 308964 223267 519663 418037 430979 449747

Source: GTIS

EU-27 NFC ORANGE JUICE IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

200971 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

China 12 26 461 607 11868 7280

S’land 548 1363 2192 1392 1511 1173

S Africa 2373 2292 2915 762 1037 979

Turkey 1694 207 854 328 795 491

Moldova 79 151 78 162 237 293

Serbia 21 17 24 22 32 85

Croatia 1 23 0 11 0 54

Chile 0 0 0 0 0 49

Russia 10 6 7 34 61 41

Ukraine 157 226 161 66 28 19

Egypt 1 2 9 14 19 12

US 55 92 102 116 62 12

Others 90 121 118 79 54 52

Total 5041 4526 6921 3593 15704 10540Source: GTIS

EU-27 NFC APPLE JUICE IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

200921 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Israel 35069 35269 38088 26435 30461 32621

US 10283 13786 13372 17221 10550 10657

Mexico 1258 2782 1685 346 2473 4520

Cuba 3707 1823 2333 3252 4011 2155

S Africa 0 247 165 165 184 69

Morocco 0 0 0 0 10 52

Belize 1 0 0 21 25 14

Ukraine 126 127 29 22 11 10

Turkey 2 14 7 12 18 2

Uruguay 0 0 0 0 2 2

S’land 11 0 0 0 2 2

Others 28 49 1335 55 29 2

Total 50485 54097 57014 47529 47776 50106

Source: GTIS

EU-27 NFC GRAPEFRUIT JUICE IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)





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LEADING SPANISH GRAPE JUICE C0NCENTRATE EXPORT MARKETS (JANUARY-JULY, TONNES)

AVERAGE UNIT VALUE OF SPANISH GRAPE JUICE C0NCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-JULY, USD/TONNES)

Italy 21.2%

Netherlands 9.3%

Germany 9.0% France

7.4% China 5.2%

Canada 4.6%

United Kingdom 3.9%

United States 3.5%

South Africa 2.9%

Others 32.9%

MARKET SHARE OF SPANISH GRAPE JUICE EXPORTS (January-July 2011)

© Agra Informa Ltd SOURCE: GTIS

MARKET SHARE OF SPANISH GRAPE JUICE C0NCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-JULY, 2011)

sPAnIsH grape juice concen-trate shipments to Italy have rocketed for the first seven months of this year to their highest point for at least a decade at 18 222 tonnes, an increase of 118% on the same period last year, and pushing the country’s market share in the product to 21%.

Second largest customer the Netherlands saw its off-take recover this year to 8 037 tonnes, up 49.6%, with market share reaching 9.3%. Spain has seen a similar recovery in its shipments to Germany and

France, increasing 56% and 52.4% respectively, after crashing during the economic crisis in 2009. Interest-ingly, China has seen its off-take of Spanish grape juice climb steadily since 2004, reaching its peak at 4 458 tonnes this year with a 5% market share. Unit value of exports for all countries rose between 2010-2011, with the average reaching USD1 336.22/tonne, compared with USD1 205.87/tonne previously. China saw the highest unit value of the top five grape juice concentrate importers during the period at USD1 600.95/tonne.

EU-27 LEADNG NFCOJ IMPORT ORIGINS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

AVERAGE UNIT VALUE OF EU-27 NFCOJ IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, USD/TONNES)

Brazil 80.2%

United States 16.3%

Costa Rica 1.3%

Israel 0.7%

Switzerland 0.4%

Morocco 0.3%

Cuba 0.2%

Mexico 0.1%

Ghana 0.1%

Others 0.4%

MARKET SHARE OF EU27 NFCOJ IMPORTS (January-August 2011)

© Agra Informa Ltd SOURCE: GTIS

MARKET SHARE OF EU-27 NFCOJ IMPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, 2011)

FOLLOWING a meteoric rise between 2002/8, Brazilian nFCoJ imports to the EU slid back down in 2009 and since then appear to have stabilised.

For the first eight months of the year, imports to the bloc increased by just 2% on last year, to 360 563 tonnes. Since 2008 NFCOJ imports to the region from the US have seen a steadier incline, reach-ing 73 291 tonnes, but the origin remains well in the shadow of its South American counterpart. For the year to date, the US holds a

16% share of the EU-27 market, while Brazil has 80%.

The average import value of NFCOJ from all regions was USD491 per tonne for the year-to-date period, up 9% on 2010.

Among the top suppliers, the most expensive juice was from Israel, at a level of USD1 180/tonne – the highest in the last six years.

Average import value increased for NFCOJ from most of the main origins, but Costa Rica was the exception, dropping 8% for a value of USD667/tonne.







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THE lower-cost suppliers of grape juice concentrate have had a good year to date, accord-ing to the latest trade statistics. High AJC prices have led a number of blenders and bot-tlers to reformulate their products to incorporate grape juice, and the signs are that this trend will continue into 2012.

Argentina has increased its Janu-ary-August exports by half this year, due mainly to a serious uplift in orders from the US. Exports to Canada and South Africa (itself a GJC producing country) have also strengthened markedly.

Spain has seen its foreign sales (for January-July; the most recent data available) increase by nearly

half to just under 86 000 tonnes from 58 817 tonnes in January-July 2010. Spain was pricing its product keenly, and a lot was bought by Italy which needed to replenish its own grape juice stocks. But every single major customer that normally buys GJC from Spain has increased its purchase volumes this year.

Italian exports for January-July have dropped due to its supply problems. In fact, at 64 340 tonnes, this has been Italy’s worst export performance for at least six years. Chile has lost some ground, proba-bly because Argentina’s product was cheaper, while South Africa has suffered because Mauritius, the Philippines, New Zealand and Aus-tralia all cut back their orders.

Cheap grape concentrate finds buyers

200969 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

S Korea 652 563 1245 1883 3706 5217

US 1116 919 1926 7462 4899 3473

Japan 2631 5310 3677 3798 5085 2783

Mexico 2118 4360 3374 3475 2202 2292

V’zuela 2452 1972 2043 2205 1413 1479

Canada 2230 2084 2445 3019 1906 1420

Taiwan 0 780 911 159 357 355

Israel 0 0 0 0 0 353

Spain 0 0 0 0 228 133

Ecuador 0 0 97 12 51 107

P Rico 313 81 0 71 61 66

Panama 4 31 12 11 40 55

Others 2249 3214 4674 2523 1416 137

Total 13765 19314 20404 24618 21364 17870

ARGENTINE GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

200969 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

US 47634 62028 62104 33905 24136 40025

Japan 6030 7593 10338 9444 9995 10246

S Africa 9188 13537 11807 6116 3323 7471

Canada 6856 6625 10185 5375 3037 7322

Chile 3319 1715 3332 0 4166 3202

China 146 447 511 1573 1472 1741

Russia 146 447 511 6175 1215 1183

Mexico 860 929 1756 531 298 1070

Australia 945 773 932 301 194 450

S Korea 453 582 1401 347 288 334

V’zuela 229 504 505 334 294 293

C’mbia 348 300 390 172 108 256

Others 13286 17404 24726 3812 1405 1649

Total 89440 112884 128498 68085 49931 75242Source: GTIS

CHILEAN GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

Source: GTIS

Source: GTIS

ITALIAN GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-JULY, TONNES)200969 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Germany 42816 38170 48371 31360 36474 12290

France 10845 13904 18844 16323 16547 9184

Russia 752 269 382 1282 3438 5601

Austria 6209 5417 4814 4370 5487 5263

N’lands 2432 3436 4183 3526 3438 3641

UK 4338 4601 4775 4499 3605 3546

Ukraine 251 825 104 1881 2147 2959

Poland 1692 1535 3809 2915 1836 2096

S Africa 0 0 0 96 1169 1940

Japan 1292 781 882 736 822 1873

Canada 860 725 790 1064 982 1770

US 662 379 656 604 859 1690

Others 9509 13487 14788 8781 10566 12487

Total 81658 83529 102398 77437 87370 64340

200969 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Japan 4429 2635 6117 5220 4007 3017

Nigeria 290 0 219 677 904 2150

Benin 757 9 149 102 185 271

US 38 45 139 102 64 270

Brazil 11 24 26 22 201 194

HK 26 64 77 193 129 177

Chad 0 0 0 231 308 169

Z’bwe 2 11 2 57 257 150

Tanzania 54 91 166 153 140 128

M’bique 7 36 153 140 140 109

Zambia 8 18 30 158 168 102

Australia 404 414 442 809 878 99

Others 3084 2907 4186 5732 4414 972

Total 9110 6254 11706 13596 11795 7808

Source: GTIS

SOUTH AFRICAN GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-AUGUST, TONNES)

200969 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Italy 2938 2049 16195 2344 8347 18222

N’lands 6216 7784 10713 6200 5370 8037

Germany 4251 5298 8312 4007 4948 7717

France 2499 3891 7357 1859 4188 6386

China 1413 1190 1621 1254 3313 4458

Canada 1672 1187 2047 1430 2640 3968

UK 1563 1481 2042 1247 2918 3374

US 20 20 0 65 2360 2968

S Africa 0 0 0 289 430 2520

Portugal 565 1572 1278 1222 2077 2344

Japan 783 462 252 383 794 2130

Taiwan 1507 2056 2231 1541 1704 2049

Others 25514 25338 25796 18441 19728 21804

Total 48941 52328 77844 40282 58817 85977

SPANISH GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE EXPORTS (JANUARY-JULY, TONNES)

Source: GTIS






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Industry News

FooDnEWs is published by Informa Agra, IBI, Guardian House, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3DA, UK.Phone: +44 (0) 20 7017 7500 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7017 7592 Email: [email protected] www.agra-net.com managing Editor: Neil Murray Business Intelligence Editor: Alex Mastersspecialist reporters: Jennifer Willis-Jones, Emma Slawinski, Amy Booth Contributors this issue: Vladimir Pekic market Prices: Matthew Penderedmanaging Director: Philip Smith Production Editor: Steve AylettAdvertising manager: Sunny Patel Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 4153 Fax +44 (0) 20 7017 7594 Email: [email protected] Enquiries: Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 5540 or (US) Toll Free: +1 800 997 3892Online Access: Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 4161© FOODNEWS 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this publi cation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. ISSN 0951-130X. Registered Trade Mark: FOODNEWS®. Informa Plc. Ad vertising in FOODNEWS® and its supplements is accepted on condition that the advertiser will indemnify the company from any claims or actions arising from the appearance of an advertisement.

European fruit crops much larger than were originally forecast at PrognusfruitBY AMI AND FOODNEWS STAFF

ALL market-relevant growing regions in Europe are com-plaining that sales of apples and pears have been too low so far. Even the early start to the season did not boost the market; moreover, neither the food retail market nor the con-sumer has grasped the wide range of food which has been available in large quantities since the middle of August. At any rate, the market is cur-rently under strong pricing pressure which is determined not only by low consumption but by the size of the harvest being underestimated in many planting regions.

European apple production was underestimated at the Prognosfruit conference in August because the fruit size developed incredibly well. In Italy, Austria, Lake Con-stance region and the Netherlands, storage and cartons are lacking. For Germany, no corrections are necessary. The surplus around Lake Constance, in particular, is compensated for by weaker har-vests in other areas. In Poland, the apple harvest was revised upwards by 150 000 tonnes; the quality was such that around 60% of these are destined for the fresh market. Belgium was hit particularly hard, causing even the thus far stable cider apple market some instabil-ity. In South Tyrol, there were problems with the industrial pro-cessing of apples damaged by hail. In Germany (in the Lower Elbe and Baden regions), France and the Netherlands, there were some steep losses. Although the hail damage means heavy sales losses,

this will bring long-term stability to the European market in the coming months.

At Prognosfruit, AMI estimated that the processing volume would not be significantly higher than the previous year. This has proved true, although 150 000 tonnes more cider apples are available after hail damage. This trend, however, is balanced out by Poland’s signifi-cantly smaller proportion of produce which is not of fresh market quality. Attractive prices in the processing sector are notice-able at the end of the harvest.

On the other hand, there are fears that the fresh market will not stabilise as quickly as hoped because of a large harvest in western Europe and the increased volume of Polish fresh produce. The AMI estimates the crop of European fresh apples to be around 7.3 million tonnes. This approaches 2009-2010 levels. In that season, prices did not begin to rise until the spring. In contrast with the 2010-11 season, a 600 000-650 000-tonne increase in table apples is expected. European consumption, which is currently unusually low, needs to improve in the first half of the season. Poland expects to offer 1.45 million tonnes of table apples, the second-largest harvest after the record year of 2008. This could mean that the volume of exports passes the 800 000-tonne mark, blocking western Europe more firmly.

The processing industry is keen to snap up “borderline fresh market quality” produce from Western European growing areas.

PolandThe apple harvest was revised up

by 150 000 tonnes and could reach 2.5 million tonnes. The quality is such that 10-15% more table apples than usual will be avail-able. This could lead to sales of an extra 250 000 tonnes of table apples. Increasing controlled atmosphere storage will allow producers to take greater advan-tage of later sales periods.

GermanyThe Federal Department of Statis-tics estimates the German apple harvest at 856 000 tonnes (821 000 tonnes as of August). This approaches AMI’s July estimate of 896 000 tonnes. The excellent fruit size developments in recent weeks will bring the harvest closer still to this figure. Southern Germany, including the Lake Con-stance area, is harvesting more than was estimated in August. The Elstar harvest size is several times behind expectations.

ItalyAssomela estimates the Italian apple crop at 2 221 million tonnes. Last year’s harvest was 2 179 million tonnes. However, it is assumed that only 1.9 million tonnes of table apples, 100 000 tonnes less than the previous year, will be available because of heavy hail. This negative difference appears to be very high.

BeneluxThe plentiful apple harvest in the Netherlands appears to be con-firmed. Belgium’s harvest has been reduced by 5% to 282 000 tonnes due to storms and hail damage. This constitutes 6 000 tonnes less than the previous year.

AustriaEstimates based on the harvest of Golden and Gala apples indicate that the harvest will be 10% higher than the August estimate. This con-stitutes a record harvest. Some stocks are being stored in eastern Europe due to a lack of storage space. Fortunately, producers have sold Galas which have fallen from trees.

FranceBraeburn, Pink Lady and Jazz vari-eties are still being harvested. The harvest in the Val de Loire region may rise, but otherwise there are no developments since the Prog-nosfruit conference. The fruits are somewhat larger than usual. It is hoped that the red colour in late varieties will improve through the cool weather to come.

UKIn contrast with continental Europe, the early season has been beneficial to sales so far. These are rumoured to be up 20% on the previous year. Currently, Braeburn and Club vari-eties are still being harvested. The harvest forecast was corrected upwards by 4 000 tonnes to 223 000 tonnes. It is estimated that the pro-cessing sector, with current prices of EUR100-110 per tonne (USD135-148/tonne) to the pro-ducers, will stabilise the fresh market in the long term. Without this cushion, which was sorely missed in the 2009-10 season, the autumn market would be under yet more pressure in the price depart-ment. One can build upon this and look to the coming months with dampened optimism. Poor-quality produce, however, should swiftly be sent for processing.

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2011 Fn44