Whereas Belgian organic apples are still having a tough time toward the end of the season, organic pears are already in particularly high demand. "We have never had to commit so much volume so early for next season," says Gunther De Vadder of the Belgian Fruit Auction (BFV). read more

Avocado and macadamia producer Westfalia last week obtained an urgent interdict prohibiting a group of employees from blocking access to a Westfalia nursery facility in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province. read more

“It’s a very important program for us. It has enabled our industry to grow and if we did not have access to these workers who do great jobs and want to work here, we could not have large orchards in the apple industry.” So says Cathy McKay, chair of the Ontario Apple Growers and a grower
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There is a lot of uncertainty in the international exotic mushroom market, as demand has been dropping for months, says Nature Green’s project manager Peter Sutherland: “There seems to be quite a bit of disruption in the mushroom market. Demand has been on a downward trend since March and
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Fresh Del Monte, Inc., a vertically integrated producers, distributors, and marketers of high-quality fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, is collaborating with worldwide hit brand Miraculous™ for a fun promotion that will reach millions of shoppers and fans across Europe with fresh and packaged
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Della Casa - As we have already observed in recent weeks (read the full article), the start of this melon campaign is among the most bizarre and indecipherable we can remember. We try to take stock of the situation with Bruno Francescon, President of the PO of the same name. read more

"The first Senegalese mangoes of this season will soon be harvested and the first export batches are expected to be loaded between June 15 and 20," said Papa Alioune Dieng of International Agro-Business, based in Hamburg, Germany. The mango importer advises and supplies well-known fruit
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As North Macedonia and Armenia move closer to international institutions Russia deems hostile, Moscow has sought to punish them by restricting agricultural imports. That may be backfiring. read more

The British strawberry season has arrived a bit late, but it seems that the fruit will be larger and sweeter than in previous years. According to British Berry Growers, the cooler spring weather had resulted in a slower ripening period, with fruit arriving on shop shelves around a month later
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British Growers was invited to the Prime Minister’s Farm to Fork Summit held at Downing Street in mid-May. The guest list, which amounted to around 70, included a varied selection of guests from Kaleb and Cheerful Charlie from Clarkson’s Farm through to various major retailer bosses. After
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Gautier Semences offers a complete range of melon varieties, particularly adapted to the three main production basins in the southwest, center-west and southeast of France. All of these varieties meet resistance and productivity criteria. “We wanted all our varieties to be resistant to the
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The Dutch fruit growers cooperative FruitMasters achieved a positive result in the 2022 financial year. That was announced during the Members' Annual General Meeting on Tuesday evening, May 30. Despite the turbulent market, turnover was €253 million, and almost €1 million was distributed to
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A team of researchers from the Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego (UPAO) managed to field test a mobile robot to optimize the harvesting of blueberries, which has the ability to count, detect, and project the degree of maturity of the fruit in the bush, through artificial intelligence algorithms. read more

New Holland Agriculture will be in the spotlight at Enovitis in Campo, on 7 and 8 June, with its range dedicated to orchards with the opportunity to test live the latest innovations such as the T4F (Tractor of the Year 2023) and the TK4 crawler tractor range. Space will also be given to solutions for the
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The data released by Istat on consumer prices for the month of May show a slowdown in general inflation compared to the previous month, with the index registering +7.6% on an annual basis, while the shopping trolley registers a slowdown with +11.3% on a trend basis. read more

Local Bounti Corporation has unveiled the expansion of its Grab & Go Salad Kit line to include premium, antibiotic-free white meat chicken in two new recipes. Beginning in June, consumers in the Pacific Northwest will be able to find Local Bounti's Artisanal Chicken Caesar and Memphis Style
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The domestic food retail trade is in the midst of a product range restructuring process. The marketing of domestic alternative edible potatoes has been completed. To bridge the gap until sufficient Austrian Heurige are available, the food retail industry has resorted to alternative goods from
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US lettuce grower, Little Leaf Farms, is announcing it will open a new state-of-the-art greenhouse in McAdoo, Pennsylvania, this fall. This will be the fifth greenhouse for Little Leaf Farms and the brand's second greenhouse in Pennsylvania. With the expanded capacity of 10 additional acres of
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Tomato growers face the challenge of predicting yields accurately, which is crucial for their business operations and forecasting. However, traditional yield prediction models often fail to account for sudden spikes or dips in actual yield, known as yield swings. These unpredictable variations
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In June FreshPlaza will be focussing on the cooling and logistics sectors. Are you involved in either of these sectors? If so we would love to hear from you. read more