The Top Seven

October 05 , 2024

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These are FreshFruitPortal.com's top seven stories of the week.

Deal reached to end East Coast port strike

U.S. port workers on the East and Gulf Coasts have reached a tentative deal with port operators, ending a multi-day strike that severely affected shipments.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX) on Thursday evening announced the deal on wages and agreed to extend their contract until January 15. The contract had expired on Sept. 30.

Grape growers sue the USDA challenging Chilean grape Systems Approach approval

Several California table grape grower organizations have filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging the agency's approval of the Systems Approach protocol to import Chilean table grapes.

The complaint says the authorization unlawfully abandons traditional, time-tested safeguards and exposes U.S. grape producers to significant risks and costs, including those related to invasive pests.

What to consider when exporting fresh fruit to the United States

Enrique Rojas, international business coordinator at Trade & Business Partners, reminded attendees at the webinar 'How to Export Fresh Fruit to the United States' that the country has been a long-standing trade partner for Latin American countries, especially in agro-industrial products like fruits and vegetables.

He began the meeting by explaining that the fruit and perishable products sector is one of the fastest-growing markets in North America. "It’s an interesting market with over 350 million consumers, making it the largest in the world due to its substantial population," he said.

Mexican mango export season comes to an end

The Mexican mango export season has concluded, with only a small volume remaining for the local market.

José Ángel Crespo, President of the Mango Exporters Association of Mexico (EMEX), told Freshfruitportal.com that this season, around 90% of all exports were destined for the U.S., totaling around 82 million boxes from all the country's producing states.

Oasis Date debuts as world’s first regenerative organic certified date farm

Medjool date producer and processor Oasis Date launched today, effectively becoming the world’s first and only regenerative organic-certified date farm. FreshFruitPortal.com sat down via Zoom with CEO Adam Cooper to discuss future strategies and opportunities for the date category.

The newly formed company has a significant scale and vertical integration through its over 5,000 farmed acres of organic Medjool dates and a 500,000-square-foot processing footprint. Oasis is also the majority supplier to Natural Delights, which enjoys category leadership in sales and distribution.

Chile kicks off the 2024-25 blueberry season

With the first “Blueberry Day”, the Blueberry Committee of Frutas de Chile officially kicked off the fruit's 2024-25 season.

The activity took place at Hortifrut's Virquenco field, where representatives of the sector and authorities met, including the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, and the U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Bernadette M. Meehan.

Australia's newly released avocado research set to help capture new markets

Australia's Department of Primary Industries and Development (DPIRD) has found that strategic orchard thinning can help ensure more consistent avocado supplies.

The research was part of the six-year Avocado Industry Capacity Building project, co-funded by DPIRD and Hort Innovation Australia, to support the fledging industry’s development.