How government and the community can work hand-in-hand to increase the well-being and health of residents - Cómo el gobierno y la comunidad pueden trabajar mano a mano para aumentar el bienestar y la salud de los residentes

Photo by Craig Schreiner - State journal

The City of Madison, in partnership with Public Health Madison & Dane County, the Willy Street Co-op, UW Health’s Northeast Family Medical Center, and Second Harvest Food Bank’s HungerCare Coalition has just been awarded a $23,120 grant from Wholesome Wave By clicking this link, you will be leaving the City of Madison website., the national nonprofit working to help Americans in poverty afford fruits and vegetables. The grant, one of nine that Wholesome Wave has awarded nationally, chosen from over 100 applications, will specifically fund a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program Pilot at the Northeast Family Medical Center on the City’s north side.

Under the local pilot program, patients at UW Health Northeast Family Medical Center, located a block from Willy Street Co-op-North, will qualify for aid to help them join the Co-op and buy extra fresh fruits and vegetables if health care providers determine that food security is a concern for the patient. The pilot starts February 1, ends December 31, and will support nearly 150 patients.

"I’m extremely pleased that the City of Madison was awarded a Wholesome Wave grant to implement a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program," said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. "By collaborating with partners at Public Health Madison & Dane County, Willy Street Co-op, Second Harvest Foodbank, and UW Health’s Northeast Family Medical Clinic, the City continues to illustrate how government and the community can work hand-in-hand to increase the well-being and health of all of our residents."

The City of Madison is in excellent company. Fellow awardees across the country including New York’s GrowNYC, the Maryland Farmers Market Association, and Fresh Approach in San Francisco, will launch and grow innovative pilots that creatively use "nutrition incentives", bonus dollars for fresh produce, to address food insecurity with access to nutritious food. Winning projects include produce prescriptions from physicians, mobile markets, projects serving Medicaid patients and soup kitchen clients and even the development of a brick-and-mortar store specifically offering affordable healthy options to low-income shoppers.

Kirsten Moore, Director of Cooperative Services, said the FVRx coupons can be used in conjunction with other sales and coupons, including those redeemed via another new Co-op program, known as Double Dollars, when a customer shops at any of the Co-op’s three locations. The new programs show the Co-op "is invested in continuing to expand the ways in which we can help address food security in Dane County," Moore said. "In addition to our established Access Discount Program, we are excited to work with our public and private partners to test new programs like Double Dollars and FVRx."

ABOUT WHOLESOME WAVE

Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit working to make locally grown fruits and vegetables more affordable for the people who need it most. When the millions of Americans struggling with poverty eat more fruits and vegetables, we see immediate improvements for families and farmers—and enormous long-term gains for public health, local economies, and the environment. Our innovative initiatives serve hundreds of thousands of under-served consumers, as well as thousands of farmers annually, in 46 states and counting. www.wholesomewave.org 

Source: http://www.cityofmadison.com

Fresh APPLES and marathon, a healthy combination - MANZANAS frescas y maratón, una combinación saludable

A fruit producer company becomes the exclusive apple provider of the Boston Marathon, and more than 40,000 apples prepare to make their Boston debut.

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today proudly announced the beginning of a multiple-year sponsorship agreement with Washington-based Rainier Fruit Company, making Rainier Apples the official and exclusive apples of the Boston Marathon.

Now in its 128th year, Rainier Fruit is one of the United States’ most prominent growers of apples, pears, cherries, and organic blueberries and will provide an array of apples for Boston Marathon runners before the event in the Athletes’ Village, and in the finish area of the race on Boylston Street. Beyond race day, and in retailers around the United States, Rainier Apple packaging will be adorned with the Boston Marathon logo and designation as the “Official Apple of the Boston Marathon”.

“As a leading grower of both conventional and organic apples, pears, cherries and blueberries, we have been in business for 128 years and it makes perfect sense for us to sponsor a legacy event like the oldest, most prestigious running event in the country, if not the world, The Boston Marathon,” remarked Mark Zirkle, President of Rainier Fruit.

In addition to being served before and after the race for Boston Marathoners, Rainier will provide apples to all volunteers working in the finish area on race day, and to thousands of fans and spectators in the Family Meeting Area, also in Boston. In total, more than 40,000 apples will make their way to Boston Marathon runners and their fans on Patriots’ Day.

Source: http://www.baa.org/

Evitemos que los ARÁNDANOS se conviertan en las "bananas" del mercado - Let's prevent that BLUEBERRIES become the "bananas" of the market

http://www.vitacost.com

De manera inesperada, las bananas se convirtieron en un tema común durante el primer día de la cumbre anual de la International Blueberry Organization (IBO), evento que se está desarrollando en la ciudad de Coffs Harbour, al norte de Nueva Gales del Sur, Australia. Esto, porque el fruto tropical sirvió como una advertencia a los peligros de las trampas de los productos. “¿Cómo te gusta la fruta? Con adjetivos por favor”, preguntó a los presentes el Dr. David Hughes, profesor emérito en comercialización de alimentos en el Imperial College de Londres.

Ante 330 participantes -que de una u otra forma representan al 90% de los productores de arándanos del mundo-, Hughes advirtió a los proveedores sobre la necesidad de ser más descriptivos en la comercialización de los arándanos, aprovechando términos como “recién cosechado”, “amigable con el medio ambiente”, “premium”, “orgánico”, y muchos más. “Las personas pagarán más. Hay margen en los adjetivos. Si su única descripción ahora es ‘arándanos’, entonces se encuentra en los productos básicos, y luego pagarán el precio por ello”, indicó.

Hughes discutió sobre la idea de los “conocidos artículos de valor” (known value items -KVI), que sigue la noción de que los compradores sólo pueden almacenar cerca de 30 precios de productos en la cabeza en un momento dado. Siguiendo esta idea, es importante que la comercialización de los arándanos destaque frente a otros productos, para ganarse un espacio importante en el mercado y no llegar a ser un producto devaluado.

“Tienes que ser muy competitivo con los ‘artículos de valor’, y lo que ha ocurrido en Reino Unido es que en el 2000 las bananas tenían una cuota de valor del 22% en retail y un precio promedio de venta de £1,40 (USD 2.14)”. “15 años después, la cuota de valor se ha reducido al 11% y el precio promedio de venta de las bananas en Reino Unido es de a £0,89 (USD 1.36) por kilo en los supermercados. No pongan a los arándanos en esa posición”, destacó.

“El consumo per cápita de bananas ha subido de 13kg a 17kg. Es genial para los consumidores, pero las ventas de banana al por menor en términos de dinero no han ido a ninguna parte. La falta de variedad de productos ha contribuido a la mercantilización de las bananas”, agregó. Hughes sugirió que la industria del arándano debe ir mucho más lejos en términos de comercialización y asegurarse de que esta fruta forme parte de las ofertas alimenticias y se encuentre en paquetes de snacks. “Póngalos donde la gente está buscando los snacks, almuerzos… ponerlos en envases de tamaños respondan a sus necesidades; tendrán que pagar más por menos, y esa es nuestra oportunidad”.

También instó al sector a seguir publicando buenas noticias entorno a los arándanos, en base a conocimientos científicos sólidos, y ofrecer una oferta diferenciada a través de la idea ‘bueno, mejor, superior’. “Verás que en la mayoría de los supermercados en todo el mundo habrá un barato, regular y premium. Queremos ver ese rango en los arándanos“, dijo. A pesar de las advertencias, Hughes se mostró bastante positivo sobre el futuro de la fruta. “Los arándanos están pasando por un periodo de oro en términos de demanda, incluso en los mercados más maduros, donde aún hay espacio para el crecimiento”. “¿Por qué? Porque es intuitivo -las tendencias a largo plazo de los consumidores y los mercados globales están muy lejos de la madurez”.

Tras una charla del presidente de African Blue, Avi Weizman, quien mencionó que las frutillas se habían convertido en ‘las bananas de Marruecos’, el presidente de S.T.T Royal, José Gandia, argumentó que escoger las variedades correctas es clave para evitar un deterioro en los precios de la categoría. “Estamos viendo aparecer variedades en el mercado que tienen muy poco sabor, y uno de los principales inconvenientes que veo en el futuro es la presencia de variedades que tienen la apariencia, pero no tienen el sabor”. “El desafío es -que puede suceder en un futuro próximo- que algunas de las variedades que se están produciendo no sean tan buenas como los que hemos tenido hasta ahora, y habrá una destrucción de la apreciación del consumidor con el fruto que no tiene buen sabor, o es demasiado ácido o muy blando”.

Por su parte, la representante de la Unión de Productores y Exportadores de Fruta de Uruguay (UPEFRUY), Marta Bentancur, mencionó que para no convertirse en un mercado como el de las bananas, el país se encuentra trabajando en la diversificación. “Somos un país pequeño, con volúmenes pequeños, pero la trazabilidad, la calidad, la seguridad y el cuidado de nuestra gente y el medio ambiente son nuestros principales valores y oportunidades para crecer en el mercado internacional”, dijo. Por otro lado, Chaesup Rim de Very Berry Korea advirtió que el mercado coreano ya no consume tanto arroz como antes y que es necesario para los productores de este producto encontrar un sustituto que sea beneficioso, y el arándano puede convertirse en una buena opción.

Fuente: www.portalfruticola.com

Sliced PEARS could give the pear industry a significant boost - Las PERAS en rodajas podrían dar un significativo impulso al sector

Source: http://www.goodfruit.com

Sliced apples account for 10% of the U.S. apple market. A Washington State University scientist believes sliced pears could give the pear industry a similar boost if technical challenges can be resolved. If the pear market could be expanded by 10 percent, by delivering high-quality sliced pears, that would translate to a $40 million positive impact on the pear industry, says Dr. Amit Dhingra, WSU geneticist. Importantly, it would increase the demand for small fruit, in the less-preferred 120 to 135 size range.

Challenges to supplying fresh sliced pears include difficulties of transporting a soft, ripened product; lack of consistency in ripening; and a short shelf life, which increases the risk for retailers or foodservice distributors who handle the product. If unripe pears are used, the slices remain hard and dry and are unlikely to result in repeat purchases, Dhingra said. However, Crunch Pak, a major supplier of fresh-sliced apples based in Cashmere, Washington, reports that juicy pears that have reached eating quality are not amenable to slicing, either, so pears need to be sliced while firm and ripened afterwards to develop good flavor and texture.

1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene), which blocks ethylene perception in the fruit and prevents ripening, has been used on whole pears to maintain firmness and reduce scuffing and browning, but some treated fruit never softens and ripens. “The 1-MCP treated pear looks pristine,” Dhingra said. “It’s in suspended animation. It’s never going to ripen, but it looks good.” So, Dhingra and colleagues at WSU began doing research several years ago to find ways to reverse the effect of 1-MCP so that treated pears would eventually ripen. They identified nine ripening compounds, one of which is being patented by the university. “While we were testing whole fruit, we decided to test also some sliced pears,” Dhingra explained. They found that the ripening compound was effective on both sliced and whole fruit that had been treated with 1-MCP.

Proof of concept

That led to the idea of working with Crunch Pak to develop a sliced pear product. Last year, Dhingra obtained funding from the Fresh Pear Committee for proof-of-concept research. Crunch Pak sliced the pears for the experiments and WSU did the scientific analysis. The ripening compound is water soluble and can be applied at the same time as the non-browning treatment that Crunch Pak applies after fruit are sliced. In tests, 1-MCP-treated Bartlett pears were sliced at 17 pounds pressure, treated with the ripening compound, packaged in a four-ounce bag, and stored at 42.6°F for 21 days.

1-MCP-treated d’Anjou pears sliced and treated with the a proprietary ripening compound at 1%, 2% and 3% concentration by Crunch Pak. Note the browning of the slices at 3% concentration, indicating that the 1-MCP treated sliced fruit can be ripened by the ripening compound. As Crunch Pak does not yet produce sliced pears commercially, apple bags were used for the experiments. Courtesy WSU

Dhingra said the fruit developed good flavor, juiciness, and aroma, and outlasted the two weeks of shelf life required by retailers and food-service operators. Sliced fruit treated only with 1-MCP, and not the ripening compound, remained firm and crunchy with little to no flavor throughout the 21-day period.

“The concept of the sliced pear has to be a little different from a whole pear, which is supposed to be juicy and melting, because that kind of product is impossible to deliver in the bag,” Dhingra said. “We have to think of a sliced pear as a product that retains its integrity. It’s not soft, but it gives you the flavor, aroma, and juiciness. That’s what we’ve been able to accomplish with 1-MCP and the ripening compound.”

Crunch Pak provided some of the sliced pear samples to Walmart and believes there is good potential demand for the product. Another experiment that Dhingra conducted in collaboration with WSU food scientist Dr. Carolyn Ross, showed that the ripening compound can also be used to enhance the quality of pears not treated with 1-MCP.

In the experiment, untreated d’Anjou pears were sliced at a pressure of 15 pounds and treated with the ripening compound. Consumers were asked to evaluate the slices during the Washington State Horticultural Association’s annual conference last December. Although the quality of the pears was variable before slicing, the ripening treatment enhanced the overall acceptance, flavor, and texture of the slices.

More trials

Encouraged by their results so far, WSU and Crunch Pak will do further trials in the coming season with almost $70,000 in funding from the Fresh Pear Committee. One of the goals: find out how much of the ripening compound to apply, based on the initial firmness and physiology of the pear. At high doses, the slices ripen rapidly and the edges of the slices turn slightly brown. WSU will purchase two pieces of equipment to measure ethylene and carbon dioxide levels, one of which is a hand-held device that can monitor ripening fruit in the bag without needing to break the bag open, so the same slices can be monitored over time.

Ross will conduct more tastings to assess consumer acceptance, and WSU agricultural economist Dr. Karina Gallardo will do studies to find out what consumers would be willing to pay for sliced pears and to estimate the potential increase in per-capita pear consumption. Dhingra expects the product will appeal to young people who value convenience but might not find it feasible to eat whole fruit on the go. “I think we have an opportunity now with a sliced product in pears to increase consumption.”

Fuente: Geraldine Warner (http://www.goodfruit.com)

Innovate, add value and attract consumers: three simple and original high-impact strategies to sell more and promote the consumption of vegetables - Innovar, agregar valor y atraer al consumidor: tres estrategias simples y originales de alto impacto para vender más y promover el consumo de verduras

The G's unwashed salad brand fresh & naked, whose traditional staples of baby salad leaves, including a new variety of baby kale, has just undergone a re-brand, the focus of which was to keep it simple, and use strong colours to differentiate the products.

Fresh & naked has been on the market since 2010, "We launched the brand in cardboard boxes which was iconic and very successful but difficult operationally and did not deliver the optimum customer experience that we wanted, so we migrated the product into paper-laminate bags in autumn of that year once the brand was established," explained Anthony Gardiner, Marketing Director at G's Fresh. "The bags made it easier to pack and were better for the shelf-life of the product. In 2013 they were updated for a trendier look, then again this May. The latest re-branding exercise was to make the bags eye-catching but simple; you can also see more of the product. The strong colours to identify the different varieties are still there, and of course the paper laminate bags which is synonyms with our brand."

One of the key features which makes the brand stand apart from other fresh cut products is that the leaves are unwashed, meaning no MAP or washing in chlorine; it also gives circa two days more shelf-life to certain products as the dry leaves keep longer.

There are five products under the fresh & naked brand, rocket, lamb's lettuce, the BIG mix (spinach, chard and rocket), super spinach and new this summer is baby kale. Anthony explains that having just 5 main lines has allowed them to drive focus and efficiency.
 
Less information overload on packaging seems to be a good thing for the fresh & naked brand. “You’ll see for example with our baby kale, which we believe will be bought by the more health conscious consumer, we’ve decided to make all of our back of pack nutritional information much bigger,” says Anthony.

These days the promotion of products has changed. Traditionally it would be on TV but fresh & naked posters are now in underground stations throughout London. The brand has been active on social media for a while now, as well as placing ads in foodie magazines. The brand enjoys national UK distribution, but the latest advertising campaign is concentrated in central London as that is where the bulk of our core customer sales are located.



What drives sales and brand loyalty for Anthony is consistency of the product and living up to the promise of fresh picked produce. “The more consistent you can make your product the better. With fresh grown produce it’s much more of a challenge because you haven’t got that consistency or control that you do with a manufactured brand.” 
 
As a major grower of produce for the UK and Europe, G’s Fresh employs the most advanced technology and processes. “We give programs to all our suppliers and it is mandatory that they adhere to our technical supplier standards. We will also audit them for compliance. That’s how we control it,” says Gardiner. “Once we get the product into the factory we have some very sophisticated x-ray technology, which is very advanced and can pick up foreign bodies which shouldn't be there, such as stones etc. The technology keeps evolving.”
 
According to Anthony, consumers in the UK are not that interested in getting to know the grower any more, “When I moved into the fresh produce industry seven years ago there was a lot of photos of the grower and their story, but we did a lot of research and found that it was enough for consumers to know that it was British, or that it was from East Anglia. People tend to trust a brand."
 
Fresh, natural and convenient is what the consumer wants from G’s, according to Gardiner. “We’re well placed, we’ve got some unique products which are well focused, on trend and we’ve got some really good PR going as well.” 



Pre-packaged, flavour infused and value added fresh beetroot products is a another of G's specialities. It is marketed under the brand 'Love Beets' and is an area where there is definitely room for growth, according to Anthony. “Brand View said the number of retail lines using beetroot had gone up 20% year on year. Sales of fresh prepared beetroot have gone from 30 million GBP to 50 million in the past 8 years,” he says.
 
Research on the health benefits of the newly labelled 'superfood' has also ramped up. "Universities are always looking at health benefits of different products. Beetroot juice and vegetable juice is still an alien concept in the UK, but not so in the US. Over there it’s already a massive category. We’re really well positioned for when the trend reaches a mainstream position here.”
Source: http://www.hortidaily.com

A new SUPERBERRY soon available also in the UK - Una nueva SUPERBERRY pronto disponible también en el Reino Unido

Leading UK soft fruit supplier, CPM, is gearing up to launch an exciting new ‘superberry’, rich in antioxidants, which will be available in the UK for the first time mid-June next year 

Photo form https://en.wikipedia.org

Lonicera caerulea (honeyberry, blue-berried honeysuckle, or sweetberry honeysuckle) is a honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. Blue honeysuckle, also known as Haskap, has a tangy flavour cross between a blueberry, blackberry and raspberry and will only be available for a maximum of four weeks from farms in the UK from next June. It has at least double the nutraceuticals compared to other berries, according to recognised research from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada in cooperation with Dalhouse University. The berry also has 60% the RDA of vitamin C in a single handful as well as three times the iron content of a blueberry and twice that of a strawberry. The berry is already being grown under contract in Poland and to complement this, CPM is growing it with a number of its partner UK growers, which will increase in availability over the next three years. 

(Left to right) Begnat Robichaud, Commercial Director at CPM with Sandy Booth, Managing Director at The New Forest Fruit Co.

Begnat Robichaud, Commercial Director at CPM, specialist soft fruit supplier to the UK market and supplier of UK blue honeysuckle, said: “This is a really exciting development for the berry industry in the UK, firstly for the berries’ health qualities, and secondly, it looks and tastes different to the current offer. Blue honeysuckle grows well in the UK due to cold winters and rainy spring weather. The fruit is tangy in flavour, which makes it great on its own, or as a refreshing addition to juices or smoothies. It’s also ideal for use in jams, chutneys, syrup or an ingredient within home baking. 

“But, you’ll have to be quick off the mark – Blue honeysuckle berries have a short harvesting window and are only available to buy fresh for 3-4 weeks. However, there are new varieties being planted, which should enable seasonal extension in a few years.” The oblong-shaped fruit, which is dark blue in colour, originates from Japan, where it’s celebrated via ‘Haskap Day’ and is recognised as the ‘elixir of life’. Its literal translation is ‘the many presents on the branch’. 

Bob Bors, Head of the Fruit Program at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan and Principal Investigator of research paper ‘Breeding and Selecting Haskap for Nutraceutical and Agronomic Sustainability’, said: “In our research, released earlier this year, over 15,000 blue honeysuckle seedlings were field evaluated, with the best intensively evaluated in lab tests and additional field studies.

“Antioxidant testing, in cooperation with Dalhouse University, rated our varieties highest in antioxidants compared to other berries and grapes. Additionally, we discovered that some varieties have three times more nutraceuticals than other blue honeysuckle varieties. This is a fantastic health benefit as it means we could easily breed an even healthier berry that could surpass the already high levels that blue honeysuckle has achieved. 

Sources: http://www.freshplaza.com; https://en.wikipedia.org 

New POTATOES specialty item - Nuevas variedades especiales de PAPA (PATATA)

Northern California is offering up some new and specialty varieties of potato. “We don’t grow your classic Idaho or Russet varieties,” explains Judith Redmond, of Full Belly Farm. “We call them ‘new potatoes’ and grow varieties like Russian Banana Fingerlings, Bintjes, German Butterballs, and Yellow Finns to name a few.” 

The potatoes are called new potatoes because they are picked small and immature and are not cured. They are more like a fresh vegetable because they have not set their skins. This results in a more creamy texture with a lot of flavor. Although more perishable, new potatoes sell for a higher price as they are a specialty item in high demand from consumers. Full Belly Farm has potatoes to sell seven months of the year. Their Certified Organic produce is sold locally within a 120 mile radius to retailers, wholesalers and farmers markets. The spring crop of potatoes will sell out within a few weeks. Potatoes do not thrive in hot weather, so Full Belly Farm’s next crop will be in autumn.  “We’re always growing new varieties,” states Redmond, “we work to offer the customers something different, fresh, and flavorful.” 

Source: www.freshplaza.com 

FRUIT varieties are managed to create a controlled scarcity of product - Las variedades de FRUTA son manejadas para crear una escasez controlada de producto

Club varieties are generating excitement in the marketplace and handsome returns for growers. But not every grower is a club member. Latecomers might have difficulty getting in to those clubs.

Scott McDougall, president of the Wenatchee, Washington, company McDougall and Sons, which holds an exclusive license to produce Ambrosia in the United States, said some growers who got involved with the managed varieties from the get-go have options when it comes to deciding what to plant. But growers who are not part of the clubs don’t have a lot of choices beyond the mainstream varieties. “I feel there are a lot of growers on the outside looking in, and they’re somewhat limited to the commodity varieties,” he said. He thinks that’s why there’s a lot of interest in the new Washington State University variety Cosmic Crisp (WA 38), which any grower in the state will be able to plant.

Plantings of most managed varieties are limited to the area that will produce the targeted production of the variety—a volume designed to create a controlled scarcity and maintain premium prices. So, latecomers might have difficulty getting in to those clubs. ENZA, which manages the New Zealand varieties Jazz, Envy, and Pacific Rose, began recruiting growers in Washington to grow its varieties in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It has about 55 growers in Washington. “We definitely don’t have a closed door policy,” said Chris Willett, quality control and packing manager with ENZA in Washington. “However, typically, our first priority is to grant existing growers first rights to plant additional volumes. Some of those growers have been in the program for a long time, and we’re rewarding them for their participation and giving them first rights.” New growers have to be a good fit for the program. Their orchards must be in locations where they can produce high quality apples that will benefit the program, Willett said. Target production of the varieties is adjusted over time to match demand on both the domestic and export markets, he said. “We try to be a market-driven program and grow varieties that are in demand. In recent years, those numbers have gone up because there’s more interest in new varieties from the retailers as we move away from the traditional varieties. With more competition from other varieties, you try to compete and fill the shelf space as much as possible.”

Apple growers have received high prices for their fruit in the past few seasons, giving them access to capital for new plantings, so there’s been plenty of growth in the ENZA varieties from existing growers. “We haven’t reached out to outside growers that much,” Willett said. “In recent years we’ve had a lot of demand for the varieties, but we want to make sure our growth is in a controlled and calculated manner and manage the demand and supply as effectively as possible.”

Risk

Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee has an exclusive U.S. license to pack and sell the Germany variety Pinova under the brand name Piñata. The variety is produced by some of the company’s outside growers as well as on company orchards, but the volume is limited to match demand. “You just don’t want it to flood the market,” said Stemilt’s communications manager Brianna Shales. Each variety has a certain volume that can be shipped in a specific window, “and if you go beyond that, then the price starts to not be as good. And that’s why growers grow it, because they want to make more money.”

Many of the growers producing it were early adopters of the variety, but not every grower wants to grow Piñata, she said, because it can be more difficult to grow than the more familiar varieties. Some growers don’t have suitable locations, and the amount of risk that growers are willing to take by investing in a new variety also varies. When varieties are launched, there is often a lack of information on how they will perform in commercial-scale plantings.

The cost of establishing an orchard can be anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 per acre, depending on the trees, irrigation system, and trellis configurations. In addition, growers have to pay tree royalties and sometimes franchise fees and production royalties on proprietary varieties.Tom Auvil, research horticulturist with the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, believes there are not many growers producing the very high-value club varieties currently in production, but there will be more varieties in the future. Most major grower-packers have exclusive varieties and they’re looking for more. “It’s amazing to me to see how hard the packer companies are working at traveling around the world looking for better cherry and apple varieties,” Auvil said. “People are going a lot of places looking for a lot of things.” He said growers will need to work with packers so they’re able to plant the new varieties. “I think folks just have to make those contacts and those relationships to see what’s available,” he said. 

Source: Geraldine Warner (http://www.goodfruit.com/) 

'Ugly FRUIT' campaign wins marketing award - Campaña 'FRUTA fea' gana premio de marketing

Harris Farm Markets has been awarded the PMA-Produce Plus Marketer of the

Year Award 2015 for its Imperfect Picks ‘ugly fruit’ marketing campaign. The 

Imperfect Picks product range was launched in late 2014 and set out to bring 

the issue of food waste to the public’s attention by highlighting the staggering

percentage of fresh produce that does not leave the farm gate, simply because

it does not meet the strict aesthetic specifications of food retailers.

Imperfect Picks was singled out by the judges as a pioneering, integrated and impactful 

campaign. “We’d like to congratulate Harris Farm Markets on this outstanding campaign,” 

said John Hey, managing editor of Produce Plus. “The speed and quality of execution were

impressive, and Imperfect Picks has created an exciting marketing outlet for that significant 

portion of a grower’s crop that does not meet retailers’ aesthetic standards. At the same 

time, the campaign has helped to actually grow fresh produce consumption.”

Co-CEO of Harris Farm Markets Tristan Harris (pictured above) said winning the Marketer 

of the Year Award would spur the company on as it geared up to further expand the 

initiative. “Harris Farm Markets is really excited to win the PMA-Produce Plus Marketer of 

the Year Award for Imperfect Picks,” said Harris after collecting the accolade.

“The campaign has been amazingly well received by our customers, and our growers have

been thrilled with the ability to move previously unmarketable product. With a big milestone

in terms of volume sold coming up and this award now to spur us on, we are going to 

redouble our efforts to drive this campaign forward. Stay tuned for Imperfect Picks 2.0!”

The award was announced at the PMA Fresh Connections conference and trade show in 

Melbourne.

Source: www.foodprocessing.com.au  

Germany: the campaign to battle the declining POTATO consumption seems to be successful - La campaña de lucha contra la caída del consumo de PAPA (PATATA) parece ser exitosa

"The planting of potatoes is almost finished in most regions. Farmers could start early with preparing the ground, only to be interrupted by short periods of rain. The acreage used for the cultivation of potatoes in 2015 is at about the same level as last year, said Martin Umhau, the chairman of the Potato Committee of the German Farmers Association (Deutschen Bauernverbandes, DBV). "In a few weeks, the first German potatoes will be ready for the market."
In 2014 German potatoes were cultivated on 245,000 hectares, mostly in Lower Saxony, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Not all of the 11.5 million tons of potatoes harvested in 2014 have been sold, noticed Umhau. Despite the prolonged storage, the quality of the potatoes is still good to very good. "Therefore, consumers can serve German potatoes and asparagus without hesitation," said Umhau.
The campaign “The potato. Completely delicious!” was launched in Germany to battle the declining potato consumption; farmer associations support the campaign. Consumers can use various media channels to find undiscovered information and facts about the potato.
Source: www.freshplaza.com

FRESH FRUITS and ACAÍ among products offered by the new organization Fair Trade Brazil - FRUTAS FRESCAS y ACAÍ (azaí) entre los productos ofrecidos por la nueva organización Fair Trade Brasil

Brazilian consumers now have the power to help farmers in Brazil and developing countries build better futures for themselves, by choosing products with the Fairtrade seal in stores across Brazil.

The fairtrade premium is used for the benefit not only of producers but also the community where they live.

‘Fairtrade Brasil’, the newest Fairtrade organization, was officially launched in Brazil today. The organization joins 25 other Fairtrade organizations across the world that promote Fairtrade products in their countries. Fairtrade Brasil was established to help develop a local market for Brazilian Fairtrade producers and connect consumers with Fairtrade products grown at home.

Fairtrade Brasil is the latest organization working to grow the market for Fairtrade products in a Fairtrade producer country, following the successful launches of national Fairtrade organizations in South Africa in 2009, and Kenya and India in 2013. South African Fairtrade sales reached €22.5m in 2013, with a growing range of products from local Southern African farmers and beyond.

"Today, in Brazil, we have about forty Fairtrade certified cooperatives. These products, however, are mostly used for export. The launch of Fairtrade Brasil will reduce the dependence on the international market and open up the Brazilian and South American market as an alternative, avoiding language barriers and exchange rate changes,” said Naji Harb, President of Fairtrade Brasil. "In addition to ensuring fair payment to the producer, Fairtrade also empowers the consumer to contribute to food security."

Fresh fruits and other products with the Fairtrade seal are already available on supermarket shelves. The coffee in Café familiar da Terra’s range is grown by Fairtrade producers in Minas Gerais; and Casa Apis Fairtrade honey is local, sourced from Central de Cooperativas Apicolas in Picos.

Sources: www.fresh.plaza & www.fairtradebrasil.com.br 

Con un software, los consumidores pueden tener información sobre la FRUTA que compran - With a software, consumers can get information about the FRUIT they are buying

Técnicos del Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de Extremadura (Cicytex) han diseñado una aplicación informática de códigos QR para la industria frutícola, lo que permitirá a los consumidores conocer las características de las frutas adquiridas.

Photo source: http://qrcodetracking.net

Esta aplicación informática en software libre, desarrollada en colaboración con la Asociación de Fruticultores de Extremadura, permitirá a las empresas frutícolas extremeñas proporcionar a los consumidores información sobre las características de la fruta a través de los datos suministrados por una etiqueta con código QR ("quick response code" o código de respuesta rápida). Además, esta herramienta permitirá a la industria interactuar con el consumidor, que podrá evaluar el producto a través de una encuesta que medirá su grado de satisfacción y reflejará hábitos de consumo y recomendaciones sobre el mismo.

A las ventajas comerciales y competitivas de la aplicación se añade que también proporciona información relacionada con la seguridad alimentaria, a través de la trazabilidad indicada por los campos origen Sigpac y fechas de recolección y producción. La aplicación, denominada "QRFRUIT", dispone de un formulario dirigido a las empresas, a partir de cual se genera una ficha por fruta y un código QR. La información recogida en este formulario se traducirá a español, portugués e inglés.

Será este código el que se coloque en la fruta, envase, caja o lineal de venta, y al que accederán los usuarios finales a través de sus teléfonos móviles. Los consumidores serán redireccionados automáticamente a una página web en la que podrán descargar la ficha completa del producto y valorar sus características. Esta aplicación es uno de los resultados de las tareas desarrolladas en el proyecto 'Modernización e innovación tecnológica con base TIC en sectores estratégicos y tradicionales' (Mittic).

El proyecto, liderado por Cicytex, cuenta con la participación de otras once entidades de investigación de la comunidad y de las regiones Centro y Alentejo de Portugal, y la colaboración de diez asociaciones empresariales y entidades públicas y privadas.

Fuente: http://www.besana.es

A PINEAPPLE from Ecuador better than a bell PEPPER from Dutch greenhouses? - Una PIÑA (ANANA) de Ecuador es mejor que un PIMIENTO de invernaderos holandeses?

Which has a bigger impact on the environment? A pineapple from Ecuador or a bell pepper from Dutch greenhouses? According to the fruit and veg calendar from information organization Milieu Centraal, environmentally conscious consumers should choose the pineapple over the bell pepper.

 

Anyone calling themselves a consumer these days isn't just occupied with their own existence, but also with that of their offspring. They too need a world to sustain themselves, and making environmentally conscious decisions is slowly becoming the rule rather than the exception. Unfortunately, that can be difficult sometimes – because how do you know what's really sustainable? In order to make more conscious choices in the fruit and vegetable sector, consumers can consult the Milieu Centraal fruit and veg calendar. And year after year, Dutch greenhouse growers are getting wound up about this. How is it possible that a pomegranate from Iran is seen as more environmentally friendly than the cucumber from Naaldwijk?

How is sustainable actually defined? "That's what it's about", says Sytske de Waart, researcher at Milieu Centraal. During development of the calendar, different factors were looked at: the use of land and energy, and the use of fossil fuels in cultivation, storage, during transport, and in packaging. The figures are supplied by Blonk Consultants. "The pineapple arrives from Ecuador by boat. When you look at the emissions per kilometre per transported weight, the energy use is relatively low." The bell pepper from the Netherlands, on the other hand, comes from heated greenhouses, with the energy use being divided across the entire production. "And the energy use per bell pepper is relatively high, which means produce from far away can score better than local produce."

In addition, it's better to compare fruit with fruit, and vegetables with vegetables, De Waart explains. "We're not advising the replacement of bell pepper, a vegetable, by fruit. We're not deviating from the Nutritional Centre's advice to eat 200 grammes of vegetables and two pieces of fruit." That's precisely why cherry tomatoes from Senegal, Israel, Morocco and Spain are in class B, and the Dutch produce in class C.

This type of outcome has been causing frustrations with the Dutch horticultural sector for years – unhappiness that they do know about at Milieu Centraal. "But we do take into account energy-saving measures," De Waart says. "We applaud those." The use of CHP, for instance. "The energy use decreases, the yield per hectare goes up. In tomato and cucumber, this is used a lot, and you're now seeing vine tomatoes from the Netherlands in class B. That's being rewarded." The use of residual or geothermal heat is also noticeable in the figures. "When fewer fossil fuels are used by the sector, you notice that in the averages." That means they have to base themselves on averages. "When growers distinguish themselves, they can position themselves through their own packaging."

The fruit and veg calendar also has limitations, De Waart admits. Water use and the deployment of crop protection aren't taken into account. "Compared to foreign growers, Dutch growers often do very well in this area, but we don't have enough data for that," she explains. "We need additional information for that first. It simply doesn't exist." An explanation can be found on the Milieu Centraal website. "We refer consumers to it on the calendar."

View the fruit and veg calendar here.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Mermelada artesanal de frutos de los NARANJOS milenarios de una mezquita/catedral - Artisan jam made of fruit from millennial ORANGE trees from the backyard of a mosque/cathedral

Amarga, pero sabrosa, y con miles de años de historia en su base. Los consumidores pueden disfrutar de una mermelada única realizada de forma totalmente artesanal y utilizando los frutos de los naranjos milenarios de la Mezquita Catedral de Córdoba.

Un producto gourmet al alcance de cualquier bolsillo. Se puede adquirir en La Buganvilla, una tienda que vende arte y productos hechos por artistas cordobeses, y ahora también mermelada amarga. Hace aproximadamente un año que al cordobés Fernando Rivas, dueño de La Buganvilla, se le ocurrió la idea de trasladar a la mesa el sabor de la historia gracias al centenar de naranjos que dan la bienvenida a turistas y visitantes del monumento más emblemático de esta capital andaluza. Su socia cogía algunas naranjas de los árboles del Patio de los Naranjos de la Mezquita Catedral cuando pasaba por ella hacia el trabajo para fabricar mermelada casera y, al montar la tienda, pensaron en ofrecer este producto.

Así, llegó a un acuerdo con el dueño del monumento, el Cabildo, para poder recoger este fruto de forma totalmente gratuita a cambio de su retirada y traslado hasta la cooperativa ubicada en el municipio cordobés de Villarrubia, donde una plantilla compuesta únicamente por mujeres se afanan en crear un producto único en la mesa en el que ya han puesto su mirada el público anglosajón, que es su principal demandante. "Quien compra la mermelada de naranja amarga es el turista anglosajón. Los españoles no somos demasiado consumidores, nos gusta más la dulce", apunta Fernando Rivas. El etiquetado de la mermelada recoge el certificado de procedencia firmado por el deán de la Catedral.

Receta artesanal

La receta es muy sencilla: se mezcla un 50 por ciento de la pulpa de esta naranja, que previamente se ha pelado y quitado las semillas una a una, con la misma proporción de azúcar. El resultado es una mermelada amarga que, aun así, resulta muy agradable al paladar. La receta surgió de una tradición familiar que contaba con aportes ingleses.

Se trata de un producto gourmet del que se pone a la venta un reducido número de tarros, dado que la fruta proviene de un centenar de naranjos. La producción es muy limitada. El año pasado, se pusieron a la venta 1.236 tarros de 250 gramos. Sin embargo, la gran demanda ha hecho que los impulsores de esta iniciativa se estén replanteando el formato en el que vender este año este producto.

Rivas apunta a la posibilidad de vender la mermelada en frascos de 100 gramos porque son más fáciles a la hora de transportar por el turista y para así también llegar a más público, aunque aún no hay nada decidido. "La producción es la que es porque solo hay un centenar de naranjos en la Mezquita", señala éste. Por ello, de momento descartan exportar esta mermelada única. En la actualidad, no obstante, están hablando con tienda de productos gourmet de Málaga y Madrid que están interesadas en comercializarla.

Fernando Rivas recomienda utilizar esta mermelada en el desayuno, en la tostada, aunque también "va muy bien con queso". Los anglosajones, apunta, "la toman con todo".

Fuente: Toñi Caravaca (http://www.elmundo.es/andalucia/)