WENATCHEE, WA – Several weeks and over 25,000 online votes later, the U.S. Apple Association’s March Madness Chompionship is down to two finalists for the association's winning title of America’s Favorite Apple; one of which is CMI’s own Ambrosia™ Apple.

Wendy Brannen, Director of Consumer Health and Public Relations said in a recent statement released by the U.S. Apple Association, “After four exciting weeks of fiercely-close battles among popular favorites, potential upsets from up-and-coming varieties, and an all-round slam dunk in participation from members, we’re excited to unveil the two varieties consumers have selected to go head-to-head for the title of America’s Favorite Apple. And the final match-up is between Fuji and Ambrosia™.”

At the start of the competition, the U.S. Apple Association set up a national online contest, matching up each apple competitor in a 32 bracket system familiar to those who use the NCAA basketball bracking system. After a surprising bump of Honeycrisp, said U.S. Apple Association, only Fuji and Ambrosia™ are left to vye for the top spot.

“We are incredibly honored that Ambrosia™ apples made it this far, “said Steve Lutz, Vice President of Marketing at CMI, in a press release. “Ambrosia™ is one of the fastest growing apple varieties in America; consumers are remarkably passionate about their sweet, honey-like flavor and consistent crisp quality and can’t get enough of them. We had hoped this would show up in the voting and are so pleased that it did.”

Citing U.S. supermarket sales data from Nielson, CMI said that Ambrosia™ has delivered the highest volume growth date of any of the top 10 apple varities in the U.S., moving up in the numbers from last year.

“CMI growers are working hard to keep up with the explosion in popularity as more consumers discover Ambrosia™,” continued Lutz. “With production increasing annually and consistent year-round availability, Ambrosia™ is poised for continued success in the U.S. as more retailers discover the tremendous sales opportunity brought by adding Ambrosia™ to their offering.”

A CMI exclusive, Ambrosia™ apples are grown solely by McDougall & Sons, an owner of CMI. The company said that it has high hopes for the product’s performance in the Chompionship final.

“Fuji is a strong, popular apple,” finished Lutz. “But we like Ambrosia’s™ chances. We expect Ambrosia™ to emerge from the consumer voting in the March National Chompionship earning the title of America’s Favorite Apple.”

Keep checking in with AndNowUKnow for contest results and exciting product news in the industry.

CMI U.S. Apple Association

AUSTIN, TX - Avocados from Mexico (AFM) made a creamy mix of music and its product this spring, at Austin’s annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. The company said that in addition to connecting with customers in an unusual way, it made a splash over the festival’s social media platforms.

“Our brand is all about bringing people together and celebrating the good times, and music is often a big part of that celebration, so it was natural for us to showcase the intersection of great food and music during SXSW,” AFM President Alvaro Luque said in a press release.

The company said that its goals during the festival were to showcase avocados as a year-round indulgence, just like festival goers consider music. Partnered with Slacker Radio, AFM launched GuacNMusic; a music radio compilation to represent the essence and Mexican flavor of the brand.

Through GuacNMusic, users could customize their own radio stations, and upload audio files to become their own station DJs, which then can be shared on social media. AFM also utilized Snapchat and its iAvocado app, placing 100 strategically placed beacons to attract more SXSW attendees.

According to social media monitoring company, Keyhole, AFM reported the following results from the multi-day event in regards to the #GuacNRoll campaign ran:

• Hashtag generated over 32,000 post, became one of the most used in the event
• Used by 9,700 fans
• Over 200 million impressions made for AFM’s “Always Fresh” brand
• 60 percent of over 56,000 tweets for AFM contained the hashtag

AFM partnered with 30 musicians during the event, sponsored the food truck event SouthBites, and treated attendees to guacamole throughout the SXSW event. AFM said that its roving guac-truck was a fixture at the event, as well as AFM’s presence at The Container Bar.

"Our goal is always to share AVO-love in fresh, unexpected ways," finished Luque.

Continue to count on AndNowUKnow for more industry crossovers into the technological or festival realms.

Avocados From Mexico

U.S. and CHILE- As the domestic blueberry season gets underway, the market is currently experiencing tight supplies as U.S. crops slowly come on. With spring bringing on demand for more warmer-weather fruit, I spoke with a couple shippers who gave me the status on their current blueberry programs.

“The market is very strong right now and we expect it to remain strong for the next few weeks as Chile winds down and domestic growing regions come on,” Brian Bocock, VP Product Management for Naturipe.

In Florida the company’s blueberry crop is slowly coming on and a lack of chill hours this winter has created a reduced, and spread out, crop in the southern part of the state. North Florida had better/more chill hours this winter and thus, has a better crop.

“For both South and North Florida the crop is now further delayed due to below normal temperatures. We don't expect to see peak volumes until the week of April 25th,” Brian adds. “In addition, below normal temperatures are delaying the crop slightly in Georgia.”

In Georgia, Naturipe is seeing a potentially good-to-above average crop of the Southern Highbush on the horizon and the company should begin harvest the week of April 18th with peak volumes expected to start the week of May 2nd. Brian notes that the Rabbiteye crop potential looks good, but currently in bloom, as such, a bit early to define the size of the crop.

Below normal temperatures in California are delaying the crop as well, but Naturipe is starting limited production now. The company does not expect peak volumes to start until the week of May 2nd.

Overall, Naturipe in noting great quality for retail partners.

HBF International LLC also echoes a strong blueberry market as well, as spring gets underway. Marketing Manager, Lori Hickey, tells me there may be tight supplies at present, but HBF is planning to meet the growing demand.

“We just finished up our Chilean season and are moving into our California Harvest.  We were in the fields last week and seeing some color on the berries.  HBF is harvesting in the Southern Central Valley in the Bakersfield area and should begin sometime during the week of April 4th; probably closer to the end of the week around the 9th if weather conditions stay as predicted,” Lori tells me. “Our plants look healthy and there should be good quality and volumes coming from those fields.”

The recent weather has not seemed to have any negative effect on the quality of the berries, Lori notes, and there has been plenty of water for the crop so far as the company continues into the season.  

“We will continue moving up into the Central Valley starting in late April early May allowing for volume to keep up with the Mother’s Day and Memorial Day holidays.  With the different varieties we have in the fields we should have no problem covering the early, mid, and late spring season out of California before moving up into Southern and Central Oregon for the summer months.”

As the domestic growing regions begin to ramp up, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for continued updates on the blueberry market.

Naturipe  HBF International LLC

CALIFORNIA- With the warm February weather that graced us earlier in the year, California’s cherry season is looking to start ahead of schedule as we move into the spring.  California signals the start of the West Coast cherry season, and growers are noting strong demand as they move toward the mid-April harvest.

For Stemilt Growers, Communications Manager, Brianna Shales, tells me that retailers can take advantage of the early season as California ramps up, as long as they stay ahead of traditional ad planning and promote early. “Supplies will begin lightly around April 22^nd for Stemilt and will peak the first three weeks of May, which doesn’t align with the typical Memorial Day promotion window, but does make for Mother’s Day promotion opportunities. We expect a strong market throughout the California season as cherries remain an impulse item and produce favorite.”

She also adds that California’s crop is larger this year, which is a positive note over last year’s tight supplies. Quality dictates a lot of the demand, and at present, quality is excellent.

“With a few weeks to go until harvest, we are excited about the size and quality of cherries we see on the tree. The weather has been great for California cherries with daytime temperatures in the 60s and nights in the 40s,” Brianna adds. “As we move towards the end of May and towards the first harvests in Washington, we may experience a small gap and higher pricing, but Washington looks to have a great program on the horizon when that gets underway.”

For Stockton, California-based Grower Direct, the company echoes the sentiment that an early start means great promotions and more opportunities for retailers to take advantage of the overall season. Grower Direct has already begun picking cherries at its hot-house deal in Stockton and is shipping to some markets on a limited basis.

“The season will really begin for us around April 18th with our programs in the Southern Valley,” Director of Marketing, Daniel Moznett, tells me. “The season looks very strong this year with consistent volume through May.  We will have very promotable volume for both Mothers Day and Memorial Day this season. 

Bloom set very nicely this year for California cherry growers and that early February weather really helped to promote the bloom, Daniel notes. Grower Direct will be harvesting Brooks in Arvin and Bakersfield this season as well as Coral, Tulare and Bing varieties as the harvest moves north.

“We anticipate an even season and look forward to a consistent retail promotion period,” Daniel adds. “There will be a very strong market and higher prices to start, but we will get into good volumes quickly. As history dictates, demand will remain high.”

In addition, O-G Packing which packs all of Grower Direct’s products, has upgraded all of its cameras across the company’s optic line in Stockton to the latest technology from Unitech. This investment brings 2HD technology to the packinghouse to increase defect detection and provide an even better project for retail partners.

As we kick off the cherry season on the West Coast, stay tuned for more updates on the harvest and themarket.

SYDNEY, AUS - Operated through IFCO and CHEP brands, supply chain logistics company, Brambles Limited, has set its new sustainability goals to be reached by 2020. 

Having just completed its 2015 goals, marked by the elimination of over 460,000 tons of waste and saving 1.38 million trees, Brambles stated that each new objective pushes the company into closer alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The company said that it expects the new goals to put greater focus on the material aspects of its operations.

“Brambles has made significant progress in delivering continual improvement through our sustainability objectives over the past five years,” declared CEO Tom Gorman in a press release. “Our 2020 Sustainability Goals set a new challenge for us – one that we are excited and committed to undertaking.”

Brambles has pledged these goals in continued support of its “Better Business, Better Communities, Better Planet” campaign, to be achieved by 2020:

• Zero deforestation: completely traceable chain of custody through lumber supply
• Zero emissions: reduction of CO2-e emissions by 20 percent
• Zero waste: no wood or plastic wastes sent to landfill
• Better workplace: 25 percent reduction on workplace incidents, 30 percent more women on the Board or in senior management
• Better collaboration: yearly improvements in food waste and waste packaging
• Better supply chains: annual improvements in waste and CO2-e in customer supply chains
• Helping communities: yearly improvements in education, environment, and food security programs through donations and volunteer-work

“Our commitment to sustainability fits intrinsically with our model, our markets and our customers’ needs, and I am delighted to see our goals also align so directly with the Sustainability Goals established by the UN,” continued Gorman.

Brambles remains confident in its ability to complete the goals, said the company, due to its circular business model for providing customers with multi-use pallets and shipping containers. 

Expanded details on Brambles’ 2020 goals, as well as its completed goals from 2015, can be found on the Brambles website at brambles.com/sustainability.

Brambles