Asia & Oceania

Zespri’s last charter vessel of the 2023 kiwifruit season has departed the Port of Tauranga. read more

Costa Group has announced it will accept an A$1.5bn (US$960m) acquisition offer from a consortium led by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners (PSP). read more

While not without its challenges, there have been signs of improvement for the Australian citrus industry over the 2023 season. read more

Coles announced it will be replacing single-use plastic bags with certified compostable bags in the fresh produce section of all its South Australian stores. read more

Sustaining a share in the Asian markets is a challenge for Egyptian pomegranate exporters, given the huge production of this fruit in Asia and the fierce competition. However, Egyptian exporters do not lack assets to establish themselves in many Asian markets, according to Amr Abdelhafiz,
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Australia had been the last continent to remain free of varroa mite, which can weaken bees or cause death from viral infection, until they were detected in sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle in NSW last year. This led to a year of “tireless” eradication efforts. However, Australia will
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On September 18 and 19, officials of the territorial department of Rosselkhoznadzor, identified quarantine pests in four batches of fresh melons received from Uzbekistan. Namely: the polyphagous humpback fly (Megaselia scalaris) and the melon fly (Myiopardalis pardalina). The total volume of
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The Lebanese organic market has dropped since the latest crises, yet there are opportunities for organic growers thanks to Lebanon's proximity to a relatively large, wealthy purchasing base in the Gulf states. Agreen Organics exports a wide range of organic products, fresh or processed, plant or
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Te Awanui Huka Pak is an indigenous Maori company based in Tauranga, New Zealand owned by 16 Maori businesses the company’s shareholders are mainly kiwifruit growers predominantly supplying grower and post-harvest company Seeka. The company is also involved in growing avocados. read more

Kenya’s deputy high commissioner to India, Irene Olio, recently commented on the nation’s avocado exports: “The first shipment has just arrived at Mumbai port. And there are many tons more to come.” She was referring to the arrival of the first batch of avocados to India from the African
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India is the most populous country in the world. Its population is estimated at 1.428 billion, about 3 million more than China. There are obviously different types of consumers, including a few hundred million with remarkable purchasing power who prefer a specific level of quality in fruits and
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EastFruit experts have repeatedly drawn attention to Uzbekistan’s rapid increase fresh watermelon exports in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the country exported 81.8 thousand tons of watermelons, which became a historical record, beating the previous one by 67%. In 2023 Uzbekistan has already
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At Fruit South Africa’s recent Asia Fruit Logistica stand, the high levels of interest in South African fruit were again evident. Fhumulani Ratshitanga, CEO of the umbrella body representing South Africa’s export fruit industries, remarks that despite some of their colleagues getting caught
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The European Commission informed through the Rassf system - Rapid Alert System for Foodstuffs in the European Union - that during the last season 2022-2023, 49 lots of Turkish lemons (43) and grapefruits (6) were rejected and their
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The American mushroom market is undergoing a transformation, with consumers increasingly choosing a variety of exotic mushrooms alongside traditional favorites like button and brown mushrooms. Shandong Imperial Garden Biotechnology, a large producer of fresh shiitake and shiitake substrate logs
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The three-day "Food2China Expo and 2023 Guangzhou (Jiangnan) International Fruit and Vegetable Industry Expo" kicked off today (September 21) at the Guangzhou Poly World Trade Expo. The exhibition hall brings together various brands and companies in the Chinese fruit industry, regional fruit
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Zespri’s last charter vessel of the 2023 kiwifruit season has departed the Port of Tauranga. Around 782 tonnes of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit and 3,621 tonnes of Zespri Green Kiwifruit are onboard the Discovery Bay, which is expected to reach Tokyo in early October before sailing on to Kobe,
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More than eight tons of Hass avocados from Australia’s South West region have now been airfreighted to Bangkok, ready to be distributed to retailers, hotels and restaurants. The first shipment of WA avocados to Thailand was given the green light earlier this week. read more

New Zealand-based agritech company Robotics Plus has this week (21 September) launched Prospr, an autonomous, multi-use, hybrid vehicle designed to carry out a variety of orchard and vineyard crop tasks. read more

Spanish lemon and grapefruit association Ailimpo has put out a press release showing that the European Union rejected a total of 49 batches of lemons and grapefruit from Turkey in 2022/23 for the presence of banned pesticides or chemicals exceeding MRLs. read more