Industry News - wk ending 8 Apr '22
Potato News - North America
Maine potatoes travel far after western drought
Most of the Maine potatoes went to processors in Washington state, where much of the french fries and other products are exported. The shipments to Idaho were seed potatoes, including Maine’s Caribou Russet, that’ll be planted this spring.
May 15 set as deadline for entire Mexican market to open for U.S. potatoes
The National Potato Council appreciates today’s positive announcement and thanks Secretary Vilsack and the teams at USDA and USTR for their efforts to ensure that Mexico lives up to its bilateral trade obligations. Given the history of this 25-year trade dispute, we are waiting to declare victory until we see durable exports of both fresh processing and table stock potatoes throughout all of Mexico as required by the November 2021 signed agreement.
Researchers predict breeding, regional shifts in potatoes in coming decades
Over 1.3 billion people eat potatoes as a staple food, making it the third most important food crop after wheat and rice, but the way that potatoes reproduce means that new cultivars can take up to 40 to 50 years to come to market. Researchers based in Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and London found it is critical for breeders to have access to the best information possible to make informed decisions about which breeding strategies will lead to the desired traits needed in a changing climate.
Third detection of potato wart ‘no surprise’, say P.E.I. Potato Board and CFIA
The P.E.I. Potato Board said it is “no surprise” that there has been a third detection of potato wart, this one found in soil samples taken in October 2021. It says the field is directly related to, and located close to, a field where potato wart was detected last October.
First truckloads of Prince Edward Island potatoes arrive in American markets
The P.E.I. Potato Board, which tracks trucks headed to the U.S., reported eight trucks heading south on Monday, nine on Tuesday and 17 on Wednesday.
From North American Potato Market News (April 7, 2022, Vol. 30, No. 26)
Current Potato Stocks are down almost 3% from average.
Potato processing down over 4% for Feb/Mar compared to 2021 due to raw availability and labor issues.
EU expected to grow almost 4% less potatoes this coming season compared to last. This will be the second year of decline in a row.
Potato News - Overseas
EU growers debate change in crop
At the beginning of this year, production costs for the potato season were expected to increase by 15-20%. However, since the start of the war in Ukraine, both energy and fuel prices, which were already high, have skyrocketed. This, together with the good prices being achieved by maize and sunflower, is causing some potato producers in northern and central Europe to rethink what they should grow.
Rabobank report: ‘The Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on global fertilizer markets’
Further down the road, the 2023 cropping season in the northern hemisphere could face some disruptions. There are four main cropping areas in the northern hemisphere: North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and China. Regional trade is still ongoing in each of these markets. But with the exception of the former Soviet Union, this regional trade no longer relies on fertilizers that must be shipped from Russia or Ukraine.
Logistics News
U.S. supply chain pressures hit record high, index finds
“Continued inventory congestion has driven inventory costs, warehousing prices and overall logistics costs to unprecedented levels,” the report said. “It puts even more pressure on an already limited capacity.”
Food Industry News
Beverage innovation at Expo West
A survey of 2,005 Americans conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Celestial Seasonings, a business of The Hain Celestial Group Inc., Lake Success, NY, identified the most popular beverages consumed by adult Americans on a daily basis. Water — with or without carbonation, and maybe flavor as an ingredient, but not much more — led the way with 65% of consumers making it their beverage of choice. Coffee (58%) and tea (30%), in the many forms available, e.g., hot, iced, sweetened, latte, enriched, functional, etc., followed. Juice came in fourth (28%) and soda fifth, with 24% of consumers choosing this once widely popular sweetened carbonated drink.
Technomic reports Top 500 chain restaurant sales recovered past pre-pandemic levels in 2021
“2021 was a year like no other for the Top 500 chain restaurants,” said Kevin Schimpf, director, industry research and insights. “Drastic shifts in market conditions led to unprecedented volatility in results for the industry’s largest chains. While overall Top 500 sales surpassed pre-pandemic benchmarks, more than half of all ranked chains fell short of returning to 2019 performance levels.”
Beverage-makers share expertise to develop new products with familiar brands
And it seems as though consumers are on board for these out-of-the-box collaborations. Citing a Visual Objects 2021 survey, Erin Costello, communications and events associate at Niles, Ill.-based Imbibe, notes that 71% of consumers are in favor of brands collaborating to develop a unique product.
Soaring Prices Are Changing the Way People Eat
The market reacted swiftly. Prices of the four major cooking oils — palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower — soared, and the rally is set to cascade down to shoppers in the form of higher costs for everything from candy to chocolate. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia face the likelihood of heightened poverty, LMC’s McGill added, and demand destruction may arise suddenly as companies use less oil or shrink their product size all at the same time.
PLMA: Private label brands post strong Q1 growth
According to IRI, store brands gained 6.5% in dollar sales, while national brands increased 5.2% during the period.
FDA seeks $81 million budget for pet food safety
Of the $8.4 billion budget, about $81 million is geared toward animal and pet food safety, inspections and health nutrition equity:
Bakers urged to embrace ecommerce opportunities
Not only is online grocery shopping growing rapidly, but consumer interest in purchasing baked foods generally and bread in particular online is intense, said Kasey Jamison, senior director of brand partnership at Instacart.
Ukraine War Roils Global Agriculture
In Ukraine, Russia’s invasion has completely disrupted Ukraine’s agricultural sector, economically important not just internally but globally. Ukraine exports an estimated 10% of the world’s wheat, 14% of its corn and half of its sunflower oil. Officials there say that 25% less land than usual will be cultivated this year, an estimate that agricultural experts call optimistic.
Processors Scramble to Replace Sunflower Oil
Processors are having to turn to alternatives, but some of these have their own problems. Palm oil has been criticized on environmental grounds, because it’s often harvested from deforested areas. British grocery chain Iceland has had to backtrack on a promise to keep palm oil out of its store-brand products because its suppliers couldn’t find enough sunflower oil, the chain’s managing director told Bloomberg. Rapeseed oil is a popular substitute – so popular that it, too, is getting hard to find. Soybean oil is usually made from genetically modified beans, which is unacceptable to many trade customers.
Perfect storm sparks soaring ag commodity prices
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 came at a time when food and energy prices already were elevated. The report said that over the last 18 months, wheat prices have risen nearly 110%, corn and vegetable oil prices are up 140%, and soybean prices are up 90%.
Study: Front-Pack Symbols Affect Buying
The researchers focused on breakfast cereal, using hand-collected data from two Chilean stores, plus sales data from Nielsen and Mintel. They found that in the first two years of the front-of-pack mandate, market share for cereals that exceeded the calorie guidelines fell by about 12% to 18%, and for those that exceeded the sugar guidelines, by about 3% to 7%.