Despite the disruption and challenges caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the industry has picked, packed and shipped more fruit than at the same stage last year.
Labour rights campaigners in Costa Rica claim that the organisation has certified farms where serious labour abuses and the use of illegal agrochemicals has occurred.
In the first quarter of this year China imported 12% less fruit but increased exports 9%, according to its Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs.
A Memorandum of Understanding for the importation of Italian apples was approved by Taiwanese authorities on 22 May.
A shortage of reefer containers and insufficient labour were the two principal reasons for the fall, according to the Maharashtra state grape growers association.
In a market report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization noted that Philippine fresh pineapple exports last year increased by 50% to 668K MT.
The first official estimate from the newly created World Citrus Organisation projects double-digit percentage year-on-year increases in southern hemisphere lemon and soft citrus exports.
Reduced blueberry volumes after coronavirus-imposed pruning offset higher grape and mango-generated revenues and widened the net loss for the quarter.
The master of the APL England is facing charges in Australia after the vessel under his command lost 50 containers overboard in rough seas off the coast of Sydney last week.
Brokers believe key supply and demand side variables are aligning positively for the ASX-listed fruit producer and marketer.
Potato farmers in Malta are in 'utter despair' after learning they will not be able to export their crops this year as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The New Zealand Government says it is to support the NZ$27m public private partnership project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production.
The Seatrade banana service from Colombia and Central America into the UK and EU will be operational at Dover from the start of July.
Ocean Network Express has added 3,000 Carrier Transicold PrimeLINE units to its refrigerated container fleet, via Florens container leasing.
Australia's Maritime Safety Authority has detained a container vessel from the carrier after the MV APL England lost at least 40 containers in the waters off Sydney.
The CEO of Australia's leading fruit supplier Harry Debney is to retire after 10 years at the helm, in a new era of leadership at the fruit and vegetable grower.
With the exception of citrus, Moroccan fruit and vegetable exports have increased 8% year-to-date, with avocado and watermelon volumes registering the highest growth.
The volume of Moroccan citrus exports carried by the container lines this season was approximately 50% lower than in 2018/19.
While Q1 import volumes increased 4.3% year-on-year, the 4.1m MT in the 12 months to March was still well behind the record established in 2017-18.
The California table grape estimate for 2020 is 106.5m boxes, which is slightly below the 3-year average of 109.5m boxes but more than the 2019 total of 104.8m boxes.
In the first quarter of 2020, the US$1bn DP World deepwater port continued to take banana volumes away from the Port of Guayaquil.
British Columbia-based Global Container Terminals is claiming tens of millions of dollars in damages as a result of the carrier switching to its own facility in New Jersey.
Over 12 rolling months since April 2019, European banana consumption reached 6.6m MT, according to FruiTrop data analysis.
Asian export markets targeted as the Turkish trade ministry enters final the stages to receive approval to export fresh fruits to Japan, Thailand, Philippines, and others.
The UN agency says that production will continue to expand on the back of 'successful disease management and ample investments into yield improvements and area expansion.'
The Icelandic reefer operator saw lower volumes in its container and forwarding businesses in the first quarter of 2020, putting a strain on revenue.
The Taiwanese Council of Agriculture has helped to arrange a programme with the Taiwan Vegetables and Fruits Exporters Association to ship via China Airlines.
The European forecast of just under 3.2m tonnes for 2020 compares with a total of 3.8m MT in 2019 and an average 3.7m MT for the 5 years previously.
The world's largest fruit producer and consumer says total fruit import and export volumes are expected to grow to 34.3m MT by 2029, with the average annual growth rate of imports reaching 9.4%.
U.S. blueberries grown in 11 states and California avocadoes now have access to the Chinese market as a result of the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement.
Nearly 21m boxes of cherries are expected to be picked in Oregon and Washington, down about 20% from a record-setting 2017 crop.
Apricots, peaches and cherries have been worst hit by a series of late frosts that have cut Hungarian summer fruit production by almost 50%.
Container lines are selecting to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in a period of low oil prices and increasingly costly Suez Canal fees.
A ceremony has been held in the northern province of Hai Duong to mark the shipment of the first batch of litchis to Singapore, the US and Australia this year.
Uruguayan citrus exporter Cítricola Salteña, better known as Caputto, has entered the liquidation process after a special hearing.
The value of avocado exports increased 29% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, according to the Bank of Mexico.
France published its fifth emergency decree banning fresh cherry imports from countries where the use of the chemical dimethoate is permitted in cherry production.
The 2 824-TEU container vessel MV Montpellier has been detained for two weeks at the Port of Durban after two of its crew tested positive for coronavirus.
Four new banana varieties developed by Israeli agri-biotech giant Rahan Meristem are ready for commercial development.
As the pandemic puts pressure on supplies, wholesale fruit prices have soared with further hikes expected in the coming weeks.
Following intense efforts over a number of years, Customs authorities have declared that Uruguay is 'fit to start the commercial flow' of citrus to Viet Nam.
Exports of fresh produce have fallen by about 70% since the lockdown began in late March, largely because of high air freight charges.
Following the imposition of a 25% retaliatory tariff in October last year, Spanish orange and soft citrus exports to the United States fell to zero this season.
Although data for March shows a double-digit percentage volume decline year-on-year, year to date exports are up thanks to a strong first 8 months of the marketing year.
APM Terminals Buenos Aires says that in order to meet the growing demand for reliable, stable cold-chain handling of goods, it has commissioned a new cold-store chamber.
With the peak picking season just a few weeks away, thousands of British workers are still needed to replace the foreign workers who usually travel to the UK to pick crops.
The vessel, which was carrying an estimated 1m boxes of Ecuadorian bananas was obliged to divert from the Med after members of the crew showed symptoms of Covid-19.
The investment in the modernisation and construction of new greenhouses is designed to allow Russia to achieve self-sufficiency in vegetable production.
The proceeds from the sale are to be used to repay debt and accelerate further kiwifruit orchard developments in Australia.
The world-leading boron-based discovery platform is to collaborate with Dole Fresh Fruit to find innovative and more sustainable solutions to protect against the banana disease.
Despite a challenging market and logistical issues, Chile saw a 2.9% rise in exports year-on-year, led by an increase in seedless and specialty varieties.
The Queensland Government's investment of A$288K in a new quarantine facility will accelerate the process of importing cultivars that show resistance to the disease.
With 84.4% of Chilean citrus currently destined for the United States, shippers now have the opportunity to look east to diversify export markets.
The waste-to-energy co-project in the Philippines with a unit of Metro Pacific Investment Corp has received 50% of the qualified capital cost from the Japanese government.
Imported fruits are in shorter supply as the coronavirus pandemic has caused lockdown-driven delays in harvesting, flight reductions and a subsequent decline in cargo volumes.
Successful talks clarifying technical issues on phytosanitary arrangements have paved the way for a trade agreement to be signed.
Producers warn that the cancellation of high-profile sporting events, which typically draw huge demand from the foodservice sector, may cause a strawberry glut.
The German carrier saw an increase in transport volumes and freight rates in the Q1 and despite the uncertainties caused the coronavirus pandemic, stands by its profit predictions.
The 93.9K MT consumed domestically in the first 4 months of the year reflects year-on-year growth in the order of 36% and is the highest for more than 20 years.
Tropical Storm Arthur became the first named storm of 2020, forming 16 days before the formal start of a hurricane season forecasters worry has the potential to mirror the worst ever.
The ASEAN private equity firm is to invest US$18m in the Philippine-based integrated cold chain logistics service provider Glacier Megafridge, Inc.
Colombia's largest integrated banana exporter says it expects to ship almost 50m boxes of bananas and plantains in 2020.
The Italian multinational posted an 8% increase in first quarter sales revenues and a 39% rise in EBITDA, and maintains its guidance for the year.
Aside from citrus, Morocco shipped 1m MT of vegetables, berries and exotic fruit in 2019/20, up 6% on last season.
In April 2020, the port in North Carolina set a new record for its operations as it moved 1,459 refrigerated containers.
France's Interprofessional Potato Group says it needs €35m to manage a 450K MT surplus and avoid health and environmental consequences.
With the harvest under way in Andalusia and Murcia and about to begin in Catalonia, early indications are for a minimum 15% loss of production compared to last year.
Turkish fruit sector representatives credit China's approval of cherry imports from Turkey for paving the way for further fruit exports to East Asian markets.
The French government has underwritten the bank loan to help the carrier weather an expected 10% drop in its business as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The volume and value of shipments to China fell 27% and 18% year-on-year respectively, as exporters ended the season early.
As the countrywide shutdown has slowed demand for imported fruit, so the number of reefer containers held at the Bangladeshi port has increased.
The world's largest shipping company warned of a sharp drop in global container volumes due to the coronavirus pandemic after posting flat first-quarter revenues.
The French multinational with its supply power base in West Africa says it is to open a ripening and distribution centre in Bucharest with a capacity of 1.1m boxes p.a.
Shipments of lemons, oranges and soft citrus have all posted double digit percentage increases year-on-year.
The industry association estimates that the reduction in tariffs should lead to an immediate increase in the trade of over AS$15m in annual trade with Indonesia.
A Vanguard Intl crop update says the industry should benefit from China lowering tariffs, while there may be slightly reduced volumes due to disease and late frosts.
While the value of fruit and vegetables fell 8.7% year-on-year between January and April, there was a much sharper decline in the value of fresh produce imports.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, Fruit Expo 2020, which was originally scheduled for 16-18 July has been postponed until late September.
The €48m EU-funded Banana Accompanying Measures programme that was scheduled to end this year has been extended until 2022.
Following a record year in volume terms and despite posting a 10% year-on-year rise in shipments in Q1, Filipino banana exports may fall 40% in 2020, according to the exporters' association!
