Seasonal workers ‘guaranteed 32 hours and living wage’
Government farming minister Mark Spencer confirmed changes to conditions for 2023 seasonal worker visas in a speech at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference on Tuesday (21 February).

Smart packaging design from Norway to save costs, cut emissions
The shape of the cups, whether they are filled with berries, fruit or salad can cut major costs related to transport and logistics, storage and cooling, packaging and emission of greenhouse gases.

"Especially with organic shiitake and portobello we still see potential upwards"
In November 2022, Tyrol organic mushrooms underwent a major brand relaunch. Since then, the organic mushrooms have been marketed under the new Tyrolpilz brand identity and in modern, sustainable

Watercress from Spain: Salad leaf still in good supply in the UK
In Spain, where many winter vegetables and salad crops are grown for the UK market, bad weather and transport disruption have resulted in widely reported shortages of fresh produce. But one crop,

Unusually cold weather in Spain led to price explosions for vegetables
Spain repeatedly had to contend with weather extremes in recent weeks and months, which was reflected not least in the supply volume. "The market is generally characterized by a high price level.

“Promoting asparagus boosts consumption!”
At the beginning of the 2023 asparagus season, Astrid Etèvenaux - director of the French Association of Asparagus Producers - gives an update on the harvest forecasts, the evolution of surface

“It’s a tough deal for new apple varieties”
As opposed to Washington, the US East Coast is enjoying good apple production numbers this season. “Both New York State and Pennsylvania have good crops,” says Tim Mansfield with Sun Orchard

"Nice prices for cabbage, but it's not as good as onions"
It is still a bit too early for shortages in the cabbage market, but nice prices are being made for the time of year, even if they are not as good as onions," says Martin Bolhuis of mediation

GfK Consumer Index: Fruit/vegetables/potatoes start 2023 with flat development
In January 2023, the sales level is only marginally one percent higher than in the same month of the previous year, which means that the segment is clearly underperforming the growth of the

Fortuna and Rociera continue to be the most planted strawberry varieties in Huelva
As highlighted by Ifapa's estimate of the varietal composition of Huelva's 2022/2023 strawberry campaign, there is a significant decrease in the planting of the Fortuna strawberry. Despite this

Georgian government decides to fight high markups on food through legislation
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili criticized the often unjustifiably high food prices in the Georgian retail market and instructed the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to

Turnip tops in Italy are showing an increase in prices and consumption
In the Italian region of Campania, the harvesting operations for turnip tops are starting to pick up again; in the retail stores belonging to the various large-scale distribution brands, but also

“Overall the Turkish apple season has been rather stable”
After a slower start the Turkish apples have performed rather well this season, says Kubra Guven, marketing manager of Ana Fruit. “This year, the crop quality and harvest for Turkish apples was

"Such a shortage of goods as now is only known from the past"
The cold snap in the important growing regions of Morocco and Spain, as well as the early end of the season in Chile, have led to a supply shortage on the blueberry market. "There is no question

UK is ‘missing opportunities’ to import from Uganda
The UK and other European countries are missing opportunities to import fresh produce from Uganda as the East African country turns its focus to export markets and invests in new cold storage

Seeka reports on challenging 2022
Listed New Zealand produce company Seeka has posted a net profit (after tax) of NZ$6.5m for the 2022 calendar year (12 months to 31 December). The performance was down 56 per cent on the NZ$14.9m

Картофельная миссия индийских местных властей не принесла фермерам успеха
Картофельная миссия в Кендрапаре, Индия, подвела фермеров из-за низких цен. Отсутствие хранилищ вынудило

Strawberry harvest prediction increasingly accurate: growers test model for kilogram prediction
Strawberry production continues with peaks and troughs. That makes accurate harvest forecasting a challenge. To date, a margin of error of about 30 to 50 percent has been accepted. Not surprising

Greenhouse grower launches protected mini cucumber with longer shelf-life
Topline Farms, a producer of greenhouse-grown vegetables, has joined forces with Apeel Sciences, a shelf-life extension technology firm, to introduce a new greenhouse-grown produce item. The

Citrus attracting younger consumers
On the event of the 30th anniversary of Fruit Logistica, WCO members met in Berlin to exchange citrus consumption and market developments. On the back of challenging climatic conditions across

"Lower kiwifruit yields and poor fruit quality all impacting returns”
New Zealand produce company Seeka has announced a net profit after tax of $6.5 million, following a difficult year due to Covid-19 and lower yields across the industry. Michael Franks, Seeka’s

"The cold has only been temporary and, fortunately, we have continued serving our customers at all times"
The cold of recent weeks, which has been affecting the productivity of horticultural crops in Almeria since mid-January, has already been left behind, and things are going back to normal; also for