Drought clips Catalan apple and pear production
Catalonia’s apple and pear crop will be 15-20 per cent lower than originally expected this coming season due to drought, according to fruit association Afrucat. General director Manel Simon said

Spain set for big rise in Fino lemon production
Spain is anticipating a significant increase in production of Fino lemons for the forthcoming season, reaching levels last seen during the 2020/21 campaign. Releasing its preliminary forecast for

Puglia project puts grape production on the map
Buyers from Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates are set to take part in Regina di Puglia, a series of initiatives designed to raise awareness of

Turkish figs wait on weather
The Turkish fig crop is looking good this year, according to Akin Söyleyen of Aksun, although he warns that the unpredictability of the climate in recent years will make accurate forecasting

Drought clips Catalan apple and pear production
Catalonia’s apple and pear crop will be 15-20 per cent lower than originally expected this coming season due to drought, according to fruit association Afrucat. General director Manel Simon said

Italian apple producers demand GlobalGAP ‘simplification’
Large-scale producer groups can play a more central role when it comes to ensuring the safety, sustainability and ethical soundness of fruit and vegetable supply, but certification schemes must be

Karastergiou Bros braced for harsher climate
As large parts of Greece swelter under 40C-plus temperatures, and as wildfires rage in the south of the country, it’s easy to neglect the continuing impact of the spring’s hailstorms, not

Italian apple producers demand GlobalGAP ‘simplification’
Large-scale producer groups can play a more central role when it comes to ensuring the safety, sustainability and ethical soundness of fruit and vegetable supply, but certification schemes must be

Pink Lady sales remain steady in Europe
Pink Lady has said that its sales have been holding up well amid the “unprecedented context” of double-digit inflation in the food sector throughout Europe. Sales of Pink Lady and PinKids

AgroFresh beefs up post-harvest portfolio with Tessara acquisition
AgroFresh Solutions has acquired post-harvest solutions provider Tessara from global investment firm Carlyle. The deal, which remains subject to clearance by the South Africa competition

Two South African categories predict export drop
The South African avocado export crop has been reduced by around 2.5m cartons as the season reaches its halfway point. At the same time, the country’s citrus industry has announced that its

New vegan recipes released to mark start of Picota cherry campaign
Vegan and plant-based recipe developers Nourishing Amy and Gina Burgess have released two new vegan recipes to celebrate the start of the European Picota cherry season – Picota cherry bakewell

Market ripe for Belgian Conference
The impact of last summer’s record heat in Europe continues to be felt in the world of pears, but this time to the benefit of growers. Stocks of last year’s heat-affected crop had all gone a

Bonnysa expands value-added offering
A few years ago, Bonnysa took the decision to refocus its core tomato business on premium varieties with high added value to futureproof the company in the face of ever-increasing competition from

Ann Celen named CEO of Special Fruit
Belgium’s Special Fruit has announced that Ann Celen will become the new CEO of the company, following Bert Barman’s decision to leave. Celen has years of experience in the food industry,

Huelvan berry exports dip in 2022/23
Huelva exported 243,310 tonnes of strawberries in 2022/23, a fall of 10 per cent on the previous season according berry association Freshuelva. It said the campaign was plagued by bad weather,

Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd partner with Ifco
Reusable Packaging Container (RPC) specialist Ifco completed the European roll-out of RPCs for Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd at the beginning of May 2023. Ifco is the exclusive provider of RPCs for

In&Out shows resilience of fruit and veg supply
Climate change is subjecting Europe’s fruit and vegetable sector to one of its most complex challenges in recent history. From a current severe drought in Spain, to the floods that struck

Turbulent times for Iranian banana imports
Since the unilateral abandonment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by the US in 2018, and the return of crippling sanctions on Iran, imports of bananas into the country have once again

IFG hails dismissal of “baseless” action to block SNFL deal
International Fruit Genetics (IFG), has welcomed the dismissal of a claim brought by Jack Pandol to block its acquisition by Special New Fruit Licensing (SNFL) and AMFresh. The Bakersfield,

Challenging season for South African stonefruit
The South African stonefruit industry has drawn a line under a difficult export season that suffered from low volumes and logistical problems at ports, although improved profitability represented

AMFresh acquisition of IFG clears major hurdle
A legal bid by Jack Pandol to block AMFresh’s acquisition of International Fruit Genetics (IFG) has failed. On Wednesday, AMFresh released a statement which read: “Following the agreement

NZ exporters welcome free-trade deal with EU
Exports of kiwifruit, apples and onions from New Zealand to the EU are expected to benefit immediately from a new free-trade agreement signed on 9 July. As a result of the deal, which according to

Sakata confirms intermediate ToBRFV resistance
Sakata Seed has said its phytopathologists have confirmed intermediate resistance to ToBRFV in four varieties of the specialties segment: Chocostar F1, Lemonstar F1, Royalstar F1 and Luciestar F1.

South Africa: Apple and pear exports down sharply
The South African apple and pear industry has confirmed that exports this season will be lower than last season, with apple exports expected to be 11% lower and pear exports 20% lower than last