SANTA PAULA, CA - Limoneira has released its financial information for the second quarter of 2016, with a reported increase in lemon volume and revenue, and further updates on its joint venture with The Lewis Group.

The company’s Q2 ended on April 30, 2016, with agribusiness revenue at $25.9 million, down from last year’s $26.9 million, which Limoneira stated was due to lower avocado sales after a later harvest. Lemon sales within that initial agribusiness number were at $20.8 million, up from last year’s $18.8 million.

"Our second quarter results reflect higher prices and volume of fresh lemons sold, which were offset by the timing of avocado shipments moving into the third quarter compared to shipments occurring in the second quarter of last year," stated Harold Edwards, President and CEO.

The company stated in a press release that the higher number of lemon sales were due to both higher prices and a higher volume of lemons sold compared to the last fiscal year period. Limoneira disclosed that about 780,000 cartons of lemons were sold at an average price of $22.44 per carton; this is about 69,000 more lemons sold than in 2015, and at about $0.50 higher price per carton.

Avocado sales were down $2.9 million to $1.2 million as reported in the 2016 Q2, which the company stated were the result of decreased prices and volumes of avocados compared to last year.

Other highlights included in the report are as follows, as compared to 2015’s Q2:

• Total revenue was at $27.4 million, down from $28.3 million
• Specialty citrus and other crops were at $1.3 million, down from $1.4 million
• Cost and expenses were $25.2 million, up from $24.1 million
• Operating income was $2.2 million, down from $4.1 million
• EBITDA was $3.4 million, down from $5.0 million
• First six months of 2016: revenue was $52.4 million, down from $56.3 million

Limoneira also stated that the company plans to engage in residential development, Harvest at Limoneira, with its partner The Lewis Group. Previously, the project was known as Santa Paula Gateway Project and East Area 1. The company expects to receive 25% to 80% of the net cash flow, based on milestones provided in the operating agreement. Development grading on the project is expected to begin in early 2017. During 2016’s Q2, the company contributed $0.5 million to the project, and another $0.5 million in May. 

Mr. Edwards continued, "We are excited to be working with the Lewis organization on the Harvest at Limoneira project. It is rewarding to be making progress on the development and we expect to begin selling lots at the end of 2017."

AndNowUKnow will continue to provide the latest squeeze of news on industry financials and development projects.

Limoneira

COLIMA, MEXICO - With the mission of becoming a regional, national, and international leader in marketing and distributing organic bananas, Coliman is ramping up in 2016 with its goal to actively expand its reach in North America. The vertically integrated grower, packer, and shipper, was founded by Mr. Custodio Aguilar in 1963 and is now lead by Mr. Jorge Aguilar (President) and Jorge Angel Aguilar Jr. (CEO), who bring 53 years of growing experience to retail partners. Currently, the company exports organic bananas to many countries including the USA, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, and Japan. 

“Coliman is a family-owned and operated company and we take great pride in that aspect of the business. When Mr. Custodio Aguilar decided to establish the first operations in Colima, he knew that the land was ideal for tropical farming and offered the best climate for producing bananas and for creating a foundation for the family. In 2010 Mr. Jorge Aguilar transitioned the farm to organic and by 2014 all banana production was certified organic," Jorge Angel Aguilar Jr, Corporate CEO, tells me as we discuss the company’s evolution and vision moving forward. 

Global GAP, Primus GFS, Organic and Fair Trade Certified, the company is also working on its Rain Forest Alliance certification in 2016. Coliman grows 100% its own organic production in the Tecoman, Colima, Mexico, which is ideal for organic banana production. In addition, the company’s transport time to the southern U.S. border in Nogales, AZ, is 60 hours and to McAllen, TX, travel time is around 36 hours max, the company notes, giving Coliman efficient access to both the East and West Coast from its growing operations. To ensure that the organic bananas travel well, Coliman pre-cools all of its fruit within one hour of being harvested and uses Biotempak on all shipments and/or customer specified temp-recorder. 

“Pre-cooling the fruit as soon as possible after harvest reduces respiration, minimizes water loss, which is the key to maximizing shelf-life and weight, preserving curb appeal and flavor,” Jorge Jr. adds. “Control is the number one objective for our drivers and managers, and is executed through our modern refrigerated transportation methods. We also pack to customer specs and can tailor programs to our retail partners’ needs.” 

As the company looks to continued growth in 2016, Coliman is ensuring it remains committed to being socially responsible company. Coliman has been recognized five years in a row (2012-2016) by Mexican Center for Philanthropy for these efforts. The company has also been recipients of the Mexico Agri-food National Award in 2014 by the President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto. In 2015, Coliman was recognized by the Mexican Department of Labor as a Child Labor Free company.

As Coliman continues to innovate in the increasingly competitive fresh produce environment, stay tuned as we bring you more on the company’s passionate pursuit of excellence in organic banana production.

Coliman Group

SOQUEL, CA - McDill Associates, the produce industry-centric strategic marketing agency, is now officially certified as a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), by the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC). 

“The NWBOC Certification provides a marketing opportunity for our agency to participate in new outreach programs and RFPs while supporting clients in the fresh market and beyond who need diversity among their vendors,” says Melissa McDill, President and Creative Director. “We’re proud to represent McDill with this distinctive certification and look forward to taking new avenues to grow our business,” she continued.

NWBOC’s was the first national certifier of Women Business Enterprises, according to a press release, with over 700 public and private sector individuals participating in establishing the standards and procedures of its certification review. This certification program is a way to streamline the certification process, thereby increasing the ability of women business owners to compete for contracts at a national level. 

So why become NWBOC certified as a Woman Owned Small Business? According to the organization’s website, “many large corporations now understand that it makes good business sense to spend dollars with women-owned vendor firms. Corporate management knows it is good for the public relations and for their local communities, but most importantly for the value they get from the dollars spent with women-owned companies.” 

Lisa Hansen, Director of Business Development for McDill Associates adds, “Honestly, we’ve always said we need to work even harder than other firms because we’ve always had a mostly female executive team. As the target consumer for many of our clients, we believe that our representation is invaluable to the strategy and design behind our work.”

McDill will be launching a company blog this summer, but you can learn more on what it means to be NWBOC certified and how the agency has evolved, in the video interview with Melissa McDill above.

McDill Associates

IRVING, TX – To further engage customers and drive forth their promotional efforts, California Giant Berry Farms, Crunch Pak, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Natural Delights Medjool Dates, and SUNSET^® have teamed up together to form the Summer Snacking Sweepstakes.

Under this partnership, consumers can download a free recipe e-book for the summer season and enter for the chance to win a $5,000 vacation. 

“We loved collaborating with all of these amazing fresh produce brands, including creating a special recipe with Natural Delights to bring celery and Medjool dates together for a healthy, sweet and salty summer snack,” said Nichole Towell, Director of Marketing, Duda Farm Fresh Foods. “Co-partnerships have been instrumental in the way we stay relevant and engage with consumers – they want to know how to use a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables together, and we’ve definitely given them that inspiration.”

Consumers can enter the sweepstakes and download the e-book on each of the brand partners’ websites. Additionally, each partner will develop recipes and other consumer content pieces based on consumer feedback, provided by each opt-in form from the sweepstakes.

“We’re always looking to improve the content we deliver to our fans, and these types of partnerships give us a lot of insight from a wide variety of consumers,” added Daniela Ferro, Communications Coordinator, Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET®.

Data collected from the promotional opportunity will be used to further engage consumers based on their dietary preferences, retail shopping habits, and demographics. The brands said in a press release that this strategy has been proven successful in the past.

“We partnered with other complementary fresh produce brands as part of our enriched marketing efforts to fully engage and stay relevant with consumers throughout the year,” said Tony Freytag, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Crunch Pak. “It’s been wonderful to pair fresh fruit like California Giant Berries with our Crunch Pak apples to create fresh, new ways to enjoy fruit during the season.”

Consumers can expect the following recipes through the promotion from the brands:

• Berry Bruschetta
• Apple and Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
• Celery Sriracha Salsa
• Avocado Caprese Salad with Medjool Date Glaze
• Sweet Pepper Mini Bites

The brands said that the Summer Snacking Sweepstakes will offer opportunities for its consumers to engage more personally with each fresh produce company. Each website and corresponding social media platform will promote the partnership through July 5, 2016. Recipes and the e-book are available on each website now.

AndNowUKnow will continue to supply the latest in industry marketing strategies.

SUNSET® Produce California Giant Berry Farms Crunch Pak Bard Valley Medjool Date Growers Duda Farm Fresh Foods

CALIFORNIA – The sale of farmland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has been temporarily blocked by the courts, halting the Metropolitan Water District’s $175 million bid for the 20,000 acres of land. 

As reported by CBS Sacramento, the California 3rd District Court of Appeal granted the temporary restraining order on Tuesday, just one day before escrow was set to close. The land in question would span the hub of California’s water system and more than 300 miles north of Los Angeles. 

The Metropolitan’s attorney, Catherine Stites, said that she expects the purchase to ultimately go through and only be delayed a few weeks, according to CBS Sacramento. “We don’t believe it’s a substantive decision,” stated Stites. 

Stites also added that she suspects the courts have delayed the sale in order to give themselves more time to review the hundreds of pages filed as part of the case. 

As we previously reported, San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties filed suit against Metropolitan to block the sale of land, which initially a San Joaquin judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order for. 

According to the Sac Bee, a lawyer for the Central Delta Water Agency, Dante Nomellini, said that the court may require Metropolitan to perform environmental reviews before the purchase can be completed.

Metropolitan officials said that they have not yet formally decided how to use the land, although common speculation surrounds the possible building of $15.7 billion tunnels under the land to move water south into the Metropolitan's supply.

As the debate continues over this popular piece of land, stay with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report on the land’s fate, and that of the Metropolitan Water District’s customers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The nation’s capitol is the latest added to the list of places in the movement towards higher minimum wages. Washington, D.C. lawmakers have chosen to approve a $15-an-hour minimum wage in a unanimous vote.

Washington is now part of a coalition of areas fighting for higher wages, including California, New York, and cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. As reported by NPR, the D.C.'s current minimum wage is $10.50 an hour, and it was previously set to go up to $11.50 next month under a law enacted in 2014.

The bill will raise the wage gradually, hitting $15 in 2020, with future increases being tied to inflation.

“When I see how much it costs to live in Washington, D.C. — and that cost is only going up — we know that it takes more money for every household to be able to afford to live,” shared Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday. “There are families working day in and day out, sometimes two or three jobs but barely making ends meet.”

While this is a victory for many labor movements and unions, some members of the business sector argue that doubling the federal minimum wage will push employers towards laying off workers or moving to locations with less strict wage standards.

Speaking in D.C. on Tuesday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said the city’s decision would “actually do more harm than good in so many instances, because what it does is it prices entry-level jobs away from people.”

However the new law will affect the city’s economics, AndNowUKnow will continue to update you on any new reports.

SALINAS, CA- River Fresh Farms is continuing to expand its operations and welcoming a couple new faces to the team with the addition of Eric Garcia into the Sales department and Maggie Simonic as Office/Accounting Manager. With these new team members, River Fresh will be able to grow its operation as a grower-shipper providing sales, marketing, customized supply chain logistics and consolidated shipping of conventional and organic fresh fruits and vegetables.

Vince Ballesteros, CEO and Founder, spoke about the new hires and the positive development in the company’s rapid evolution.

“Eric has the past experience of being in the agriculture industry. He brings energy to our team, which is definitely a plus when we are looking to build within our company,” Ballesteros, said. “Maggie has a broad range of knowledge that will help us in the overall day to day accounting and office management experience. They’re both great additions to carry out our vision here at River Fresh Farms.”

Before joining River Fresh, Garcia was employed with Dole, where he spent six years as a District Sales Manager, selling commodities, value-added, salads and more, according to a press release. Garcia got his start in agriculture as a Deputy Weight Manager with Fresh Express, where he spent five years. And even more than that, ag is in Garcia’s blood. The son of a farm working family, Garcia has experienced the industry from multiple perspectives and understands the work that it takes to get produce from farm-to-fork.

“We’re planning to get into everything and anything we can here,” Garcia shared in the release. “The momentum has been great since I got here. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the team.”

Simonic worked at the esteemed law firm of Spiering, Swartz & Kennedy, before joining River Fresh, where she spent time as a staff accountant for numerous companies. In addition, Simonic spent ten years as a staff accountant for Lago Marsino Farming in Tulare, which brings experience in the medical and retail industry to her portfolio as well.

“My goal is to be very supportive and help River Fresh Farms continue their steady growth,” said Simonic.

Congratulations to Eric and Maggie on joining the growing team at River Fresh Farms!

River Fresh Farms

BROOKS, OR - Oregon blueberries are off to an early start this season, and for the second year in a row. The harvest kicked off in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with the popular Duke variety. So, what propelled the season to start ahead of schedule? According to Curry & Co., a warm spring combined with ideal growing conditions which puts estimates for promotional volume availability beginning the week of June 13th. The company’s season will continue until September. 

“We are alerting all of our blueberry partners to be ready to start promoting when the season begins,” President Matt Curry, said. “There is a great crop on the bushes and we’re excited for the season.”

The company’s blueberries are packed and shipped from its warehouse in Brooks, Oregon and from their Los Angeles, California, warehouse. Curry & Company will be packing primarily in 6 oz, pint, 18 oz and 2# clamshells during peak season, with the larger size packages available from the first day of the season until volumes start slowing down in late July. Around this time, production will focus on the 6 oz clamshell, according to the release.

Also accompanying the Oregon blueberry season this year, is Curry & Company’s successful “local” program, which they launched in 2015 to the Pacific Northwest. Featured in this program are a rotating set of labels focused on local that are highlighted on clamshells.

“The Northwest retailers really liked our local program,” Curry added. “It gave them a great opportunity to celebrate and promote one of the delicious produce items that is grown in their back yard. We were even able to have a grower go out to some stores to help demo product.”

Along with Curry & Company’s growing domestic operations is the growth in the company’s export program which is experiencing storing demand. Export Director, Boriz Manz, said, “We had a strong Chilean blueberry season, and the momentum is carrying over to our domestic product. The outstanding growing season and the anticipated larger than normal volumes and large-sized blueberries are creating a lot of excitement.”

In addition to Oregon’s status as being one of the largest blueberry producing states in the U.S. and the largest producing state on the West Coast, according to the company, other key regions that include Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia, California, and Washington.

Curry & Co.

CALEXICO, CA - Drug smuggling is not limited to just mango and banana shipments, it seems. Early this week, onions and shallots got in the game, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Calexico East commercial facility discovered almost 2,500 pounds of marijuana concealed in the roof of a commercial trailer carrying the products. 

​“Calexico CBP officers processed hundreds of commercial shipments that day and identified that this conveyance needed a more intensive inspection,” shared Port Director at Calexico, David Salazar. “As a result, the officers stopped more than a ton of marijuana from entering our community, and prevented one million dollars in potential profit from reaching criminal organizations.” 

This pungent incident took place midday on June 6, as CBP officers encountered a 2009 International tractor-trailer carrying a shipment of onions and shallots. Officers referred the commercial truck to the port’s inspection dock for a more in-depth examination, and subsequently with a CBP human-narcotics detector dog, officers discovered 232 wrapped bundles that field-tested positive as marijuana.

According to a press release, the confiscated marijuana is valued at approximately $1 million. 

CBP seized the marijuana, the truck, and trailer after making the discovery. The driver, a 28-year-old male Mexican citizen and resident of Mexicali in Baja California, was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigation agents for further processing.

Well, that's one way to hide the smell, I suppose. As more dastardly criminals get caught trying to compromise the sanctity of fresh produce, be sure that AndNowUKnow will keep you apprised on the latest.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CALIFORNIA – In the face of the often turbulent conversations circling the state’s state of water restrictions, California has released information that shows the state reduced its water use by 26 percent in April when compared to 2013 numbers, even with the easing of the drought.

“Californians continue to demonstrate that they are serious about water conservation, which is fabulous,” said State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus in a statement, according to the Sacramento Bee. “We will be watching closely to make sure that water agencies continue to prioritize the conservation habits their customers have adopted.” 

Although these reductions came before the state’s recent overturn on mandatory usage cuts, the Sacramento Bee noted that the numbers still came during a relatively dry April month for the state. Sacramento received about 1.5 inches of rain during the month, with southern regions like L.A. receiving about 0.3 inches. 

During April, water savings ranged from 23 percent to around 33 percent across the south coast, with the Sacramento River watershed cutting its use by 31 percent, when compared to numbers reported just two years ago. 

As we recently reported, state authorities overturned California’s previously mandatory 25 percent water reductions last month. Having gone into effect on June 1st, local authorities and regions are now able to set their own standards of water use and conversation. Like the previous mandate, agriculture will be held to different standards of water use than citizens. 

Although the state is by no means out of the drought, this presents an interesting update to concerns voiced during discussions on the lifting of the mandatory restrictions. AndNowUKnow will provide the latest as California, its citizens, and agricultural communities within the state continues to navigate water use.

California State Water Resources Control Board