In the 2022/23 campaign, Chile’s deciduous fruit crop is estimated to have fallen, according to FAS Santiago data. The South American country’s table grape production is projected to decrease by 8.6 percent to 720,000 tons, driving down exports by 8.7 percent to 555,000 tons. As for apple
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New Zealand’s kiwifruit producers are estimating far lower volumes this year, although quality is expected to be high. This is the result of difficult weather conditions during the 2023 growing season. Zespri forecasts exports of around 136m trays of Green, SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit to
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California-based fresh berries expert Driscoll’s is celebrating a decade in China by announcing the tripling of its investment in the country over the next five years. Miles Reiter, chairman and CEO of Driscoll’s, said that he has noticed the great potential of the Chinese market, which
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The Spanish interprofessional association of fruits and vegetables (HORTIESPAÑA) held its VII Ordinary General Assembly last week in which it was unanimously decided to elect Juan Tomás Cano Aguilera as the new president of the organisation. Francisco Góngora Cañizares, who has been the
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Imported fruit passing through Pingxiang’s Youyi Port was up 246% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, reaching 643,400 tons. Youyi Port Customs has supervised the import of 61,000 tons of durians (+633.6%), which accounts for 96% of Guangxi’s total and 66.3% of China’s overall
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Farming groups in the UK have heavily criticised the government’s decision to scrap plans to co-produce a comprehensive horticulture strategy to support and grow the sector. On May 2nd, farming minister Mark Spencer announced that the government will not be developing a published strategy for
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At the Global Cherry Summit 2023, the Chilean cherry industry celebrated a record export season, when over 415,000 tons were shipped, up 17% year-on-year. Chilean cherries accounted for 97% of total Chinese cherry imports. However, these cherries could soon be finding their way to Chinese
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EU agri-food exports and imports remained strong in January 2023 compared to January 2022 reaching a total of €31.8 billion. EU exports reached €18 billion, and EU imports €13.8 billion (up 10% from the previous year). This has resulted in another positive trade balance for the EU of
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More than 200 French and international exhibitors showed their commtiment to sustainability and eco-responsibility. The 7 major sectors were represented: production, import/export, transport and logistics, packaging, process/equipment and engineering. The fruit and vegetable industry has proved
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Peruvian agricultural exports with added value in the first 3 months of the year climbed 9.7% to close to US$2.16bn compared to the same period last year, according to the Association of Exporters (ADEX). Grape exports (FOB) were the largest in value (US$704 million (+26.9%)), followed by
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Freshfel Europe warned the European Commission last week about the far-reaching implications of its draft proposal on marketing standards if rules on mandatory country-specific origin labelling are maintained for pre-cut fruit and vegetables. The draft is currently in public stakeholder
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Spain’s onion campaign is being affected by several factors, particularly drought which has led to a 40% drop in cultivation area. The lack of water availability has caused the cost of onions to remain very high and, after registering a 238% rise in 2022, prices at source have increased
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UK organic supermarket chain Planet Organic has been rescued by Bioren Limited, whose shareholders include the founders of the organic supermarket chain, Renée and Brian Elliott. The deal will see ten Planet Organic outlets remaining open across London, saving 194 jobs instore and 71 jobs in
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The Vegetarian Society claims that its accredited trademark labels are familiar to over a third of all shoppers (37 per cent), who actively seek them out on products, according to a new survey by the organisation. With the plant-based sector in the UK and EU forecast to grow from £3.9bn in 2019
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The GLOBALG.A.P. Tour Spain 2023 took place under the motto ‘Sustainable agriculture of the future’ in Almería on 14 and 15 March at the Aguadulce Conference and Exhibition Centre (Roquetas de Mar). The event served to announce the changes that will be mandatory from the beginning
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The value of Spanish agri-food exports in 2022 totalled €66.9bn, up 13.2% compared to the previous year. This increase in value is largely due to high inflation, with food prices rising by 15.7%. By volume, agri-food exports fell by 6%, with a drop of 11.5% in fruit and vegetables, according
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Tesco is reported to have become the first UK retailer to cut out peat on its British-grown bedding plants. The move is aimed at reducing the retailer’s carbon footprint, and involves teaming up with ornamental plant supplier Bridge Farm Horticulture in Spalding. It is hoped that the
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The Andalusian Government has approved a law that will allow the expansion of the irrigable area in the Doñana National Park in Huelva. The proposal obtained the support of PP and VOX with 70 votes, but was rejected by the parties of the left. read more

Ecuador’s banana exports were up by just over 6% in March compared to a year previously. The shipments, totalling 96.03m boxes were mainly sent to the EU (31.2%), Russia (24.6%) and the Middle East (11.9%), according to the latest AEBE data. Europe’s total imports of Ecuadorian bananas were
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