SACRAMENTO, CA - Via Marina, a French engineering construction firm and subsidiary of the multinational Vinci company, is putting a water transportation offer on the table for a thirsty California. And it’s an interesting one.
According to a News10 report, Via Marina served up a “prefeasibility” study that suggests drawing water from the mouth of both the Klamath and Eel rivers in Northern California to be transported to the southern, dryer regions of the state in a submarine, flexible river.
"You can use this water, and because by definition you are at the mouth of the river, all of the users upstream are not jeopardized," Felix Bogliolo, Via Marina Chairman, told News10.
So how do they plan to do this? With several tubes that are each about 12 feet in diameter and tethered to the ocean floor.
He may not be William Shatner, but he also has bit more than a Kickstarter mapped out. In fact, seeing the story of the actor's mildy eccentric plan was what inspired the Chairman to call in the proposal. As for getting down to the fine print, Bogliolo reportedly told News10 that technological improvements would allow his company to help quench California’s thirst for about $3.8 billion, considerably more affordable than a similar $20 billion that was shelved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation back in 1975, or the $30 billion plan our favorite sci-fi captain proposed.
In fact, according to the report, it works out to about $653 per acre foot, more than half the cost of desalinated water with a fourth of the energy use.
With the restrictions being imposed by the California state government, as well as the amount of money being budgeted exclusively towards drought relief tactics, that seems downright affordable. Not to mention it may not be totally impractical.
"This is not the craziest idea I've heard, by any means," Jay Lund, Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, commented in the report, adding that California drought solutions that appear too good to be true do tend to be so.
At worst, it’s an imaginative solution. At best, a plan so crazy that it just might work. For now, however, the jury is out.
EDMONTON, AB, CANADA - The Little Potato Company, provider of proprietary, unique varieties of Creamer potatoes, reports that it is the fastest growing segment in the potato category across North America.
The company breeds, grows, washes, packages, ships and markets Creamer potatoes, and has increased its listing base to include all of the United States as well as all Canadian provinces, according to a press release.
“We literally travel the world working with select, global breeder partners to search out just the right attributes in Creamer potatoes,” Angela Santiago, Co-Founder and CEO of The Little Potato Company, commented in the release. To support continued expansion, the company is looking at more infrastructure opportunities in the U.S. and are putting the finishing touches on a new Creamer variety to be launched later this year.
“We only accept Creamers that are unique, bursting with delicious flavor, look great—and will stay that way from farm to shelf to plate. It takes our team many years to create and deliver a new variety. It takes experience, care, and planning to make sure all our Creamers taste and look fantastic, and that our growers can grow enough to satisfy increasing demand from Creamer potato lovers,” Santiago said.
To date, The Little Potato Company has three main packing facilities and five distribution centers to facilitate efficient, timely delivery throughout North America, including a new washing, sorting, and packing facility that tripled flow-through capacity that was built last year.
The company offers several unique proprietary varieties of Creamer potatoes that it sells in 1.5, 3 lb, and 5 lb sizes. It recently launched two unique value-added products: The Oven|Grill Ready kits and Microwave Ready kits that bundle Creamer potatoes, easy-to-use trays, and a choice of six unique seasoning flavors.
Having increased field production by 30% in 2015 through expanding its team of carefully selected growers and the total number of acres dedicated to growing Creamer potatoes, the company stated it has big plans and possibilities for the future.
WENATCHEE, WA - Oneonta is anticipating yet another excellent cherry season this summer with the first shipments of Northwest cherries expected to hit retailers soon.
Scott Marboe, Oneonta’s Marketing Director, said in a press release that a warm spring initially accelerated the season, but May weather patterns have adjusted the start date to a “little closer to normal, but still much earlier than previous years.”
Oneonta foresees fruit shipping through the first week of August. Rainier cherries will start earlier than normal, around June 8, according to a press release.
“Cooler weather the last few weeks and much needed rain showers have moved harvest dates back a few days,” Marboe continued. “We are now looking for our first pickings to be May 29. That is still an early start date, but it’s not the record pre-Memorial Day we thought might happen.”
The crop this season is showing great quality and sizing is up to par, as well. Marboe noted that the first fruit from early orchards will be smaller in size, but bigger fruit will be more prevalent after the first few days of the shipping season.
“We anticipate another excellent year, barring any incidents Mother Nature might throw at us,” he said.
For a more in-depth look at the company's cherry production, check out the video from Oneonta below.
Oneonta offers a wide array of packaging options, including the Euro 12/2.25-pound pouch bags for domestic markets and loose clamshells and 5kg packaging for offshore receivers.
Also this year, Oneonta’s Wenatchee packing facility has introduced a 100 percent optical sorting and packing line.
“Another new Unitec line with Vision II technology is going to provide an exceptional piece of fruit to the industry,” said Marboe.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track the cherry season.
IDAHO FALLS, ID - Wada Farms Marketing Group has welcomed Michele Peterson to the company’s sales team. She will now be based out of the San Luis Valley in Colorado.
Kevin Stanger, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Wada Farms, said, “We are excited to have Michele join our team. She has great experience and an outstanding reputation in the industry. She will be a positive addition to the Wada team.”
Michele came to the San Luis Valley as an infant, according to the company, but did not get introduced to the potato industry until many years later when she married into a 3rd generation potato farm.
Peterson began her produce career working in accounting, but moved to warehouse management, and then sales and marketing. Her favorite of those, she says, is marketing, where she gets to meet, learn, and experience other people and cultures. Before joining Wada Farms, Peterson was General Manager at Harvest Select.
ROCHESTER, NY - Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. has announced that it is entering the New York City market, anchoring a $140 million development of Admirals Row.
“It is a thrill to bring Wegmans to Brooklyn, along with hundreds of new jobs. Our family started this company in 1916, and we built our business by always putting the needs of our employees first,” Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman said in a press release. “Our employees are part of our family, and they are the reason for our success. We are proud to be part of this exciting project and look forward to providing the very best quality and selection, consistent low prices, and incredible customer service to the local and wider Brooklyn community.”
Carlo Scissura, President, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, also conveyed enthusiasm for the economic and social boost the store could give the surrounding community, as well as providing direct access to wholesome, local foods. “The addition of Wegmans supermarket to the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a major step forward to ensuring quality, fresh and affordable produce and foods in one of New York City’s food deserts,” he said.
The promised supermarket is set to occupy 74,000 sq. feet of 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard, as well as 78,000 sq. feet of retail space, 126,000 sq. feet of light industrial space, and 7,000 sq. feet of community facility space, all to be developed by Steiner. According to the release, BNYDC has also secured an option to build 100,000 sq. feet of additional light industrial space above a parking facility to accommodate ongoing demand.
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard is proud to deliver on its promise to bring a supermarket to this neighborhood,” BNYDC President & CEO David Ehrenberg also commented in the release. “But not just any grocery store. Wegmans is widely recognized as the country’s best supermarket for its affordable, quality food and is also recognized as the best retail employer in the country. And one of the reasons we selected them was because their employee compensation is consistently equal to or better than other food retailers in markets where they have stores,” he said, adding that the yard looks forward to working with the retailer.
The estimated completion date was not included in the company’s announcement, so stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRAILIA - If there was any doubt that El Niño was here before, perhaps the addition of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to the list of organizations confirming the weather system will put that doubt to rest.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology joined the U.S. Climate Prediction Center, Japan Meteorological Agency, the National Weather Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in declaring that conditions are strong enough to officially declare El Niño. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is also reporting that this year, El Niño may exacerbate the country's already substantial drought conditions and cause winter frosts to be harsher than average.
As we’ve previously reported, El Niño is a warming of a certain patch of the central Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide, associated with flooding in some places, droughts elsewhere, a generally warmer globe, and fewer Atlantic hurricanes.
While experts were previously reporting that this year’s El Niño will be weak, some are now changing their tune, declaring a more moderate weather system.
"Certainly the models aren't predicting a weak event. They are predicting a moderate-to-strong El Niño event. So this is a proper El Niño event, this is not a weak one or a near miss as we saw last year," David Jones, Manager of Australia’s Climate Monitoring and Prediction at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said. “A significant or substantial event is likely.”
Chief Meteorologist Todd Crawford at WSI in Andover, Massachusetts, had similar findings.
“This will be a strong event, perhaps on the magnitude of the last really strong event in 1997-98,” said Crawford.
We had previously quoted Mike Halpert, Deputy Director for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, as saying El Niño will be weak this year, but in an interview with CBC News in May he said, ”it's getting close to what we would term moderate," adding that Australia's threshold is 0.3 degrees higher.
Adam Scaife, Head of Long-Range Forecasting at the UK’s Met Office, adds, “The latest forecasts suggest that at least a moderate event is likely and there is a risk of a substantial event.”
While these predictions are strong and come from reliable sources across the board, most experts realize that Mother Nature is unpredictable, and forecasts could likely change drastically over time.
Many forecasters still aren’t convinced of the strength of this year’s weather system, but they can all agree on the potential effects a strong El Niño might cause.
The El Niño that occurred during the 1982-83 season was the partial cause of droughts and flooding from South America to Australia, costing $8 billion and killing nearly 2,000 people, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency estimated the U.S. economic cost of the 1997-98 El Nino alone was $10 billion, with crops wilting or drowning in the fields and consumers spending $2.2 billion less on heating fuels.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue our coverage of this weather event.
CHICAGO, IL - IFCO, along with California Polytechnic State University, has developed a proprietary economic modeling tool, freshIMPACT, that quantifies the economic benefits of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) versus one-way packaging for the fresh produce supply chain.
Daniel Walsh, President of IFCO Systems North America, released this information at a gathering of industry executives at the Reusable Packaging Association Forum.
“RPCs continue to be the packaging of choice for fresh food transport. The freshIMPACT tool demonstrates how increased use of RPCs in the retail supply chain results in increased cost savings and reduced product damage,” said Walsh. “Thanks to researchers at Cal Poly, we now have a reliable method for quantifying the cost-effectiveness of RPCs versus one-way packaging and the results speak for themselves. RPCs save retailers time and reduce supply chain costs when compared to one-way packaging, and result in a much lower product damage rate than other packaging options.”
The freshIMPACT economic modeling tool was developed by Drs. Jay Singh and Koushik Saha at Cal Poly. The economic analysis used data collected via direct observations at distribution center and store level at one national retailer and one regional retailer.
According to a press release, results showed the following:
- RPCs Are Efficient: At Distribution Centers, RPCs are processed between 9% and 226% faster than one-way packaging. RPCs are more efficient when it comes to slotting, order picking, stretch wrapping and loading than one-way packaging.
- RPCs Are Store-Friendly: At retail locations, RPCs are more efficient by 5% to 53% over one-way packaging in stocking, order picking, transport to shelf and folding, stacking and baling. RPCs are more space efficient, both packed and empty, helping better utilize limited space in the back room and on carts.
- RPCs Are Easy to Handle: During disposal and sorting activities, RPCs are more efficient by 16% for unloading and 154% more efficient for sorting and securing. Folded RPCs were easier to handle than one-way packaging that frequently broke and required re-strapping after use.
- RPCs Are Effective: RPC use results showed less than 0.5% packaging damage rate, while one-way packaging was over 4% damage rate due to structural integrity limitations and/or improper stacking.
Walsh concluded his speech by saying that IFCO is looking forward to working with retailers to assess their individual supply chain costs and to determine the viability of RPCs replacing one-way packaging as a strategy to maximize efficiency and drive growth.
SUNNYVALE, CA - HarvestMark, the food traceability solution adopted by companies such as Driscoll’s, Kroger, and Coleman Natural, has been acquired by tracking and positioning company Trimble.
"Trimble's acquisition of HarvestMark enables us to provide further benefits to producers and adds new value to distribution centers and food retailers by providing a powerful tool for tracking goods in the food industry," Mark Harrington, Vice President of Trimble, said in a press release. "By combining HarvestMark with our Connected Farm and Transportation and Logistics solutions, we can enable producers, distributors, and retailers to coordinate their activities to deliver the best quality foods to consumers. We are also giving our customers unique solutions to help control costs and increase profits in the food production, processing, distribution and retailing industries."
Trimble’s interest in HarvestMark, according to the release, is to strengthen its presence in the agriculture, logistics, and transport segments of the food supply chain. The acquisition comes with all of HarvestMark’s assets, including its software-as-a-service products.
Trimble stated that there are four such products, which gives producers the resources to make decisions concerning product safety and quality in real-time:
- PTI & Item Level Traceability: An affordable software that enables food producers, retailers, and foodservice companies to comply with the Produce Traceability Initiative while creating visibility throughout the supply chain. According to the company, the software provides an easy way to create rich analytics to improve performance from a product's source to the end consumer.
- DC Insights: An ERP agnostic mobile application meant for flexibility that prioritizes and guides quality inspections, provides analytics intended for improved buying and gross margin, and creates visibility in real-time with automated performance reports and supplier notifications.
- Retail Insights: A lightweight, mobile application that allows retailers, food service companies, and food producers to collect and synthesize food data, prioritize companies' initiatives, and ensure execution of priorities with real “time-and-trended” information.
- Connect: This is a platform that HarvestMark says allows retailers and food producers to engage their customers, share details about particular products and buying practices, suggest recipes and complimentary products, and receive customer feedback.
The global food traceability market is reportedly forecasted to see about $14.3 billion in total sales by fiscal year 2019, with about 9 percent in annual compound growth rate each year until that time, according to Companies and Markets. With a higher demand in food transparency and new technologies, such as biometrics and softwares like those listed above, the overall food traceability market is also reportedly open for significant growth in the coming years.
Keep checking in with AndNowUKnow for all the latest in the industry.
YAKIMA, WA - Borton Fruit is gearing up for its Washington cherry season in the Tri-Cities/Pasco area on the Snake River, the lower Yakima Valley, and the Upper Yakima Valley. With harvest quickly approaching, Borton is putting the finishing touches on its updated cherry packing line.
“During the offseason we have updated our cherry packing line. For the 2015 season we will have fully computerized optical sizers, with the latest technology in color and defect sorting capability. Borton Fruit is continuing its commitment to be a premier packer of Northwest Cherries,” Eric Borton, VP of International Sales & Marketing, tells me. “With these updates to our packing equipment and technology, our state-of-the-art Rainier and Red Cherry packing lines give us a greater ability to deliver a consistent pack of outstanding quality cherries to our customers.”
Borton is slated to have premium Northwest cherries to market the last week in May, with light volume to start and building volume beginning in June. In addition to its Red Cherry program, Borton Fruit has a very strong Rainier Cherry program as well. Rainier Cherries are continuing to gain momentum and popularity with retailers and consumers, Eric notes.
Like most growers on the U.S. West Coast, Borton’s harvest is a bit ahead of schedule, with its Northwest cherry season running about 10-14 days ahead compared to last year.
“Based on the progression of the crop right now, it appears that there could be an overlap between California and NW cherry regions,” Eric continues. “There is a very active market right now for cherries. Demand is strong for the category and anticipation is high. As harvest moves from California into Washington, we should see the market stabilize as more supplies come on.”
As we previously reported, bloom timing was somewhat compressed and there was not as much separation between bloom in early, mid, and late districts as usual. This signals a crop that could be more compressed than the last couple cherry seasons.
So far Borton Fruit has not experienced any weather related issues that the company expects to affect the quality of the cherries overall. Weather events during harvest can have a big impact on quality, but at this point Borton appears to be in the clear.
Eric anticipates strong volumes on dark cherries through the complete month of June and carrying through mid-July. The company will also have promotional volume on Rainier Cherries by the second week of June through mid-July.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow the Northwest cherry season.
ST. LOUIS, MO - Schnuck Markets Inc. has confirmed it will begin construction on a new distribution center, estimated to cost $100 million.
“As we continue to grow, our goal is to offer customers an even larger selection and variety of quality foods, and the new NorthPark facility allows us to do just that. This expansion nearly doubles our distribution and warehousing capabilities,” said Todd Schnuck, Chairman and CEO of Schnucks.
Schnucks said in a release it expects the facility to be complete by the summer of 2016.
The company plans to build the 915,000-square-foot facility at the NorthPark business park in Kinloch, MO, a suburb of St. Louis, and would employ an estimated 400 people. The new facility will join Schnuck Market's other 570,000-square-foot grocery warehouse in Bridgeton, MO. The facility was built in 1971, and has gone through several expansions to accommodate company growth. The company is using design-build firm Clayco to lead construction on the project, according to a Schnucks spokesman.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said, “On behalf of St. Louis County, we were proud to assist in making this investment in North County a reality. I commend Schnucks' commitment to building this facility in Kinloch. Its projects like this that will help revitalize our community.”
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, if Schnuck Markets can meet certain job creation requirements, it may also be eligible to receive up to $3.7 million in incentives through a Missouri Works Program, according to a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Schnuck Markets, one of the largest private companies in the region, has more than 10,800 employees in the St. Louis area and reported $2.6 billion in revenue for 2014.