At IFPA’s Global Produce and Floral Show 2023 in Anaheim California, the fresh produce industry gathered to network, learn and discuss the state of the fresh produce industry. A report from Rabobank notes that globally, the industry faces many challenges at present as weather extremes, geopolitical tensions and the ever-decreasing and more expensive workforce. Luckily, with technological innovations and new products being developed, the future remains full of opportunities.
Here are some excerpts from the report.
Weather extremes are the talk of the town: Weather extremes affecting supplies and prices were a topic of discussion. Some fruits impacted by recent weather disruptions are blueberries, table grapes and stone fruit. Blueberries were absent in many U.S. supermarkets during October. After years of growth, Peru’s shipments have declined significantly in the marketing year 2023/24 due to a warm winter.
The quality bar for berries has been raised: As the speed of demand growth in the main markets – the U.S. and the EU –slowed in recent years, quality has become more important. At the show, various blueberry players showed new, bigger blueberries. For strawberries, quality was also a feature at the show. Most striking were the branded greenhouse-grown strawberries exhibited.
Greenhouse tomatoes as the stars of the vegetables show: Greenhouse-grown produce was prominent at IFPA 2023. Mexican, U.S. and Canadian companies, many with facilities or suppliers in all three countries, showed new varieties, snack-size vegetables and packaging. Prepared packaged salads were also present in all shapes, sizes and packaging, including high-tech indoor-farmed leafy greens.
Automation is gaining steam: In the long term, it seems that leafy green production/processing will also be more automated. The costs and availability of labor, as well as more limited water availability and/or more stringent sustainability requirements are challenging. Meanwhile, consumers demand ever-higher quality. Automation can be a solution for some of these issues and Rabobank saw many interesting demonstrations of this at IFPA 2023 ranging from robotic harvesters for strawberries and tomatoes, to advanced sorting equipment for fruits. Also presented were solutions to reduce food waste.
Nuts at your convenience: With California at the center of global almond and pistachio production, tree nuts were omnipresent at the show hosted there. As demand no longer outpaces supply, suppliers are putting more effort into marketing almonds, pistachios and walnuts, for example by adding all kinds of flavors and offering various pack sizes. Visitors to the show were bombarded with flavored pistachios and unshelled pistachios, as the convenience trend seems to be unstoppable.
Exotic species are mushrooming: In mushrooms, suppliers also seek differentiation. Mushroom suppliers showed broad assortments of exotic mushrooms at the show, both conventionally and organically grown. Different sizes, colors and packages of oyster mushrooms, shiitake, enoki-take and maitake were exposed.
Click here for the report.
For more information:
Melanie Bernds
Rabo AgriFinance
[email protected]m
https://research.rabobank.com/