CITRUSDAL, SOUTH AFRICA - Just after celebrating its successful 25^th season in 2023, Summer Citrus from South Africa (SCSA) is back to announce the kickoff of its 2024 harvesting season!

“We are officially 25 years on the sunny side and commencing into our 26^th season with a healthy crop of sweet and delicious citrus fruit headed to the port of Philadelphia in the coming days and more to come throughout the summer months,” said Suhanra Conradie, SCSA Chief Executive Officer.

As the provider reports, shipments of citrus fruit from South Africa have more than doubled since 2019. To sustain shipping options and cater to the overall growth of its program, SCSA will be splitting its volumes equally between dedicated conventional vessels and container vessels in the Port of Philadelphia. The program is also supported by a group of focused service providers spanning the total supply chain in the U.S. and South Africa.

“It is important that we recognize the hard work and commitment of the service providers who have been part of our continued success story,” said Conradie. “We are serving one of the world’s most demanding markets, and adapting to the current state of the supply chain on any given day is a key factor of our business model. We have gained much momentum with our collaborative approach and intend to keep it going in 2024!”

The citrus provider will kick off the shipping season with its beloved Clementines, followed by Navel oranges and Star Ruby grapefruit. SCSA’s first vessel, the MSC Houston, is carrying fruit from Capetown, South Africa, and is expected to arrive in the U.S. at the Port of Philadelphia the first week of June, with weekly shipments continuing through the end of October, a press release stated.

As Conradie added, SCSA intends to stay connected with the industry with timely shipping, supply chain, and production updates via its trade newsletter. Any stakeholder seeking to stay up to date on the program is invited to subscribe by filling out this form.

For more citrus category updates, you know where to click.

UNITED STATES - IFCO’s longtime mission has been to foster sustainability at the base level, all while supporting its partners along the way. With the launch of its Delivery Tracking System and integrated delivery timeslot booking service, IFCO makes it even easier for companies to streamline operations, enhance visibility, and optimize time efficiency.

Harnessing the ubiquity of GPS coverage and contemporary telemetry systems, delivery tracking systems (DTS) have emerged as linchpins within logistics chains, noted a report from the company.

“At IFCO, we have enriched our SmartCycle, which powers our Reusable Packaging Containers (RPCs) pooling model, with the integration of DTS. It spans growers, RPC distribution centers, and retailers, fostering unprecedented transparency throughout the supply chain,” the report went on to explain.

When the order has been assigned to a carrier, the automated system of tracking the delivery springs into action without manual intervention.

As IFCO explained, this seamless process not only saves time but also eliminates the risk of human error.

“Our integrated DTS empowers customers with real-time visibility into their shipments, simplifying logistics management and reducing the strain on call center teams,” the company stated.

For more information, click here.

As always, AndNowUKnow will be here to report on the latest in fresh produce news.

WATSONVILLE, CA - Driscoll’s is hitting the road this summer to bring back its Berry Mobile Tour. With 21 planned stops along the way, the tour brings to life the company’s Sweetness Worth Sharing™ campaign and offers consumers an opportunity to create memories and form special moments of connection with Only the Finest Berries™.

“Driscoll’s Sweetness Worth Sharing campaign was inspired by human connection and the unique ways we create memories in small, everyday moments,” said Jamie Bassmann, Director of Brand and Digital Marketing. “The Berry Mobile not only provides a deeper more memorable in-person brand moment, with two-way conversation, but when overlayed with a digital and social media strategy, we are able to increase our reach and impact of our investment. Experiential brand marketing can be thought of as the easiest, turn-key solution for reaching millions of berry consumers, in-person, with a tasty and memorable brand experience.”

According to a press release, Driscoll’s placed a strategic focus on priority markets for cities in the Northeast.

The Berry Mobile will be centrally positioned at highly attended community gatherings, mainly in New York and Boston, with 12 new events for 2024.

“This summer, we added more stops to the Berry Mobile’s tour schedule to share the unparalleled joy that comes with eating fresh, delicious berries. Taking a regional approach in our top markets with high brand awareness will open the door to events within a day’s drive that can provide not only a larger pool of events to choose from, but also allows a presence in multiple markets,” said Hannah Cannon, Brand Marketing Specialist. “In its larger-than-life yellow and joyful berry icons, the Berry Mobile will be hard to miss and impossible to resist.”

For more innovative activations like this, keep reading AndNowUKnow.

CALIFORNIA - Broccoli is today’s topic of choice as we dive into the details of the current vegetable market. To find out what opportunities lie in wait as we close in on the summer months, I touched base with category experts from Ocean Mist® Farms and Ippolito International.

Ocean Mist Farms Commodity Manager John Chobanian provided some insights just before the Memorial Day weekend.

“We are about into the full swing of our California spring/summer season, and we’re seeing volumes continue to increase,” John shared exclusively with ANUK. “With the favorable weather conditions and the days getting longer, we’re not experiencing any issues and the quality is looking good.”

As John reported, Ocean Mist Farms is expecting promotable volumes through the summer months.

Ippolito International’s Jacob Abramson, Sales/Commodity Manager, Broccoli, also gave us a closer look at the current market.

“Over the past several weeks, the broccoli market has been trending upwards,” he shared. “We’ve seen strong demand recently due to the Memorial Day holiday, which has helped the market overall. The Salinas Valley weather has seen ideal growing conditions for broccoli plants. Overnight lows and daytime highs have been moderate, resulting in good growth and quality. In other broccoli growing regions, hailstorms followed by unseasonably high temperatures have negatively impacted the quality and reduced overall sales volumes. This has helped the supply currently being harvested in the Salinas Valley. Despite lighter demand the week of Memorial Day, we expect markets to stay firm and elevated for the next several weeks.”

Jacob continued, noting that “Overall, industry broccoli supplies have been trending below budget, but Ippolito has had steady volume. We are in a great position to promote our commodity and value-added broccoli packs further into the summer.”

For more exclusive insights into the categories lining the produce department, be sure to leave a tab open to ANUK.