New York City, NY  - The two day conference will provide both an in-depth look at each sector and a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead for the related industries on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 14th-15th in New York City.

2013 Farm to Market Conference On Wednesday, May 14th-15th

The conference will be hosted by Food analyst Ken Zaslow, Fertilizer analyst Joel Jackson, Food and Beverage analyst Amit Sharma and Food Retailing analyst Karen Short.

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Brazil Pushes Prices Of Orange Juice And Other Fruit Up

Prices of oranges increased 55% in four years, 115% for grapefruit and 60% for apples, according to the French inter-sector partnership (UNIJUS).

Prospects are no better for 2013, says the President of UNIJUS, Emmanuel Vasseneix, who fears increases of up to 70% for grapes, 20 to 60% for apples and 40% for grapefruit. Meanwhile, orange prices could increase between 10% and 25%.

The raw material accounts for 53% of the juice’s production cost and increases immediately affect prices paid by consumers.

Among the explanations for this sharp rise, Vasseneix notes Asian consumers preference for fruit juices, stimulating global demand. But, when it comes to oranges, it is mainly because of Brazil’s dominance, something that worries French industrialists. “By itself, Brazil controls 70% of the world’s orange production, and even up to 85% with the orchards it acquired in Florida,” the other major production region, says Vasseneix.

Emmanuel Manichon, president of the Professional Institute for the Quality of Fruit Juices (QUALIJUS) estimates that Brazil is no longer a developing country. The average salary of orchards doubled in ten years and, simultaneously, the Brazilian currency, the real, has appreciated against the dollar, contributing to higher prices.

Vasseneix argues that, “Brazil artificially maintains the high cost of raw materials, about US $2,400 to US $2,500 per ton of concentrated juice,” considering that it takes a litre of concentrate to obtain 6 litres of juice.

While the worldwide price runs the risk getting to 2,100 dollars, the Brazilian Government buys reserves and dumps them into the domestic market through a school nutrition program.

“Currently, the reserves have reached record levels of 1.1 million tons,” says Thomas Gauthier, UNIJUS’ general secretary.

The uprooting of vines penalized the production of juice.

The combined effect of these factors is immediate in a tense market, says Gauthier.

And the orange, the most consumed fruit juice in the world, isn’t the only one concerned: there is also concern regarding the supply of apples and grapes. “China, a major source of global supply of apples, stopped squeezing their own in 2012 so they could sell the fruit,” says Thomas Gauthier.

According to the professional journal Food News, China produced 33.2 million tons of apples in 2010 while the United States, the second largest producer, produced 4.2 million tons, far behind China. Chinese apples often complete production for France and other European countries, as in 2012, when winter and late frosts at the time of flowering affected production.

As for the grapes, also affected by the bad weather, juice production is traditionally in competition with wine. And the spectacular advance of cognac sales in Asia increased the pressure. “Regarding grapes, juice production is never a priority, to which we have to add that the European Union encourages the uprooting of vines in France, Italy and Spain,” laments Gauthier, noting that that was why the lack of production capacities was felt in 2012.

Source: estrategiaynegocios

Director of Fruits and Banana Research Centre, Prof. Salah Babikir, said Sudan sought South African experience to install a modern irrigation system to grow banana.

Speaking to Sudan Vision, he said such irrigation system will be the first of its kind and will be generalized in the country. He said if such a system is implemented, the output of banana will go up.

Sudan To Be World Producer Of Banana

Meanwhile, Prof. Babikir said a national committee for mango was set up to improve the production of mango by increasing the cultivated areas and introducing new types of mango.

Source: news.sudanvisiondaily.com

Michigan Blueberry Crop Rebounds

A series of cold snaps then caused damage to many of the crops.

“Everyone is expecting a better crop this year” and “The winter damage was minimal” and “We don’t have problems like last year,” Carlos Garcia Salazar( a small-fruit agent for the Michigan State University Extension’s West Central Region) said of this year’s crop and .

According to Salazar, the weather significantly impacted the past several seasons of fruit crops.

“The past two years have been bad for our farmers,” he said.

The US Department of Agriculture reported blueberry production in Michigan totaled 87 million pounds in 2012. It dropped to 72 million pounds in 2011.

According to the MSU Extension service, the state is typically known to produce more than 100 million pounds of blueberries every year.

With temperatures expected to reach the 50s and 60s soon, Salazar said he is confident that farmers will begin to see positive results.

Source: grandhaventribune.com

Lesa Ukman, Chief Insights Officer at IEG, introduces Jim Trebilcock, EVP Marketing, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, before his keynote.

The event, themed Über Sponsorship: Break the Mold and Shape the Future, took place this week in Chicago and consisted of nearly 100 sessions, workshops and receptions, attracting an audience of over 1,200 sponsorship professionals.

In her opening keynote Monday morning, IEG Chief Insights Officer Lesa Ukman described her vision for keeping sponsorships and partnerships relevant to target markets and valuable for brands, and rightsholder partners provided a “state-of-the-industry” during which she noted sponsorship’s explosive growth, driven by digital and social media.

Discussions throughout the week focused on all aspects of sponsorship and marketing — ranging from the importance of dominating local markets, which was championed by MillerCoors EVP, Chief Marketing Officer Andy England – to the growing trend of social innovation and entrepreneurship among brands, highlighted by (RED) CEO Deborah Dugan.

Executives also emphasized the importance of clearly defining brands’ ideologies. Jim Stengel, former Global Chief Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble and current President/CEO of The Jim Stengel Company, urged marketers to build their brands around an ideal, pointing to the rebranding of Pampers diapers to focus on improving babies’ lives. Frank Cooper, CMO Global Consumer Engagement of PepsiCo, highlighted Pepsi’s partnership with Beyoncé as an example of how intent — not content — is king. Mr. Cooper discussed how brands need to build social consciousness into their core behavior in order to integrate with the world around them.

Frank Cooper, CMO Global Consumer Engagement of PepsiCo (right), takes the stage to discuss sponsorship with Jim Andrews, SVP/Content Strategy, IEG (left).

“IEG’s 30^th annual sponsorship conference was another big success that brought together the most innovative, dynamic marketing thought leaders to discuss cutting edge topics in sponsorship,” said Laren Ukman, CEO, IEG. “There were plenty of great discussions and debates which offered key insights to our attendees, and we look forward to delivering another great event next year.”

Learn more about IEG at www.sponsorship.com.

Record-Breaking Plum & Peach Harvest Volumes

An estimated 211,103 tonnes of plums for processingare expected; 4 times as much as last season, and also 100,703 tonnes of peaches to be exact.

The predicted volumes of plums for processing are clearly the highest of all, with 211,000 tonnes. Plums also register the largest inter-annual increase, as the harvest is 4 times larger than last season; a figure still to be readjusted in late January.

Meanwhile, without a significant increase in the acreage, 100,703 tonnes of peaches are expected to be harvested; an increase of almost 25%, although there are concerns about their quality due to the combined effect of zonda wind and hailstorms.

Mike Duke, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, said in Beijing on Thursday that the company will prioritize large-store formats, such as hypermarkets, and its members-only stores, known as Sam’s Club.

“We are pleased that Wal-mart will be growing in China with 100 additional stores over the next three years,” Duke said.

He did not reveal the specific locations of the stores.

The company, which entered the Chinese mainland in 1996, had 370 stores as of March.

The company also said that it will add more distribution centers in the next three years to modernize its supply chain.

Walmart’s expansion plans are less ambitious than previously announced targets, but the company is still planning to grow faster in China than some of its international rivals.

Source: chinadaily.com.cn

Within Asia the markets with the highest growth are China, having an increase of 22.8%, followed by South Korea with an increase of 30.3%, reaching 62,758 tons, and Japan with a 6.3% increase, reaching 32,504 tons.

“Asia is a destination that will continue to grow this year, thanks to demand in China and South Korea. Other countries will be added to the extent that FTAs ​​(Free Trade Agreements) will thrive,” points out ASOEX in their document, analyzing the season that recently concluded.

The main fruits exported to Asia

Among the most exported fruit to the Asian market (China, Korea, Japan, India, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others) there are table grapes with a 43% share in total shipments of Chilean fresh fruit and 10% growth in volume shipped, totalling 162,783 tons. Following grapes, are apples with 23% participation and a drop in volumes shipped of 12.5%, reaching 88,440 tons.

Cherries have 12% share of the total Chilean fruit exports to Asia and increased shipments during the 2011-2012 season of 62.7%, reaching 43,731 tons.

Kiwis have 6% share in exports and an increase of 46.1%, totalling 23,871 tons
regarding volumes achieved in the 2010-2011 season.

Plums are positioned as the fifth biggest fruit due to volume shipments to the Asian market, with a 5% representation in the total Chilean fruit exports and a growth, compared to the 2010-2011 season of 25%, standing at 18,661 tons.

With regard to major fresh fruit shipped, ASOEX states that “table grapes, cherries and kiwis presented the most significant increases. Moreover, the major apple “stocks” affected the decline of our deliveries.”

China (mainland and Hong Kong)

During the 2011-2012 campaign, Chilean exports grew significantly towards the Chinese market (22.8%).

In this market, table grapes are leading the national fruit export. Table grapes have simultaneously increased 4% in the 2011-2012 period and in relation to the 2010-2011 season, going from 65,027 tons to 68,237.

To follow vines, we have cherries with a 77.8% increase, going from 21,945 tons to 39,029 tons.

Meanwhile, apples, although showing a decline compared to the previous year (-17.8%), are located in the third position in volumes shipped to the Chinese market, reaching 20,805 tons.

Finally kiwis and plums are located on the fourth and fifth position, with increases of 40.9% and 37.2%, respectively.

Source: SimFRUIT

Similarly, a study done by the Foreign Trade Society of Peru (COMEXPERU) indicated that between 2009 and 2012, in the period from January to August, there was an average annual growth of 31%.

As for its major destinations, from January to August 2012, shipments of Peruvian mandarins were directed mainly to the UK, which took 33.3% of total exports of mandarins (USD 16.6 million), followed by Canada (21.3%, USD 10.6 million) and U.S. (19,2%, USD 10 million).

Among the major companies exporting this product,  Consorcio de Productores de Fruta S.A, led the ranking (in this same period) with a value of USD 20.3 million, supported by Procesadora Larán SAC, with U.S. USD 10.9 million and Compañía de Exportaciones y Negocios Generales (COEXA) with USD 2.5 million.

Source: Agraria.pe

But if exports are paralyzed, it could prove embarrassing for efforts that started in 2010, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered to help Pakistan export the fruit in an attempt to relieve anti-Americanism. The U.S. Embassy announced in January of this year that the U.S. had helped mango producers to increase regional exports by more than 60% and earnings in the last year.

Pakistani officials confirmed that such assistance had taken place, but despite this trade has shown to be ineffective. “Pakistan can not export mangoes to the United States this season due to certain restrictions, the producers feel that to do business would turn out to be unprofitable,” said Kashif Niazi, an official from the Ministry of Commerce.

Source: trops