Spring into Summer
The month of May wasn’t particularly friendly to the fresh-cut produce industry.

Leading into May, we had the excellent United Fresh show in Las Vegas that was seen by many as the best so far. We also had promising news out of Washington – Child Nutrition Reauthorization news, support for school salad bars, a possible end to the Mexican trucking dispute and more.

But then May rolled around, and news began to spread about a non-O157 E. coli outbreak. Many of us feared it would be traced to produce and, sure enough, the source was traced to fresh-cut romaine lettuce. Further traceback has led FDA investigators to a farm in Yuma, Ariz., which would be one of the first produce outbreaks to originate from that area. Fresh Cut ran a story two years ago about pathogens in irrigation canals in Arizona (primarily after rain events), so it will be interesting to see if FDA can identify the source of the contamination, although it’s highly unlikely they’ll be able to. Later in May, a second company recalled bagged salads with romaine lettuce after a salmonella find, then a third recalled baby spinach.

One positive from the situation was the quick and limited scope of the recall. Thanks to traceability programs in place, the processor knew which products to recall for which processing dates. The traceback to the farm was quick, and one other processor recalled lettuce products from that farm as a precaution. While the industry has improved its notification system, consumers are still slow to pick up the information. Following the recall, I received calls from consumers that had found the magazine on the Internet, and who called to find out what they should do with their purchases of retail fresh-cut lettuce (of different brands).

Also in May, news media picked up a report that identified pesticides on produce as a cause of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. Some suggested that conventionally grown produce be avoided, which is irresponsible and misinformed in light of the nation’s obesity epidemic. This is the first report to link pesticides to ADHD, so the industry associations are calling for more research on the subject and encouraging consumers to continue eating fresh produce, as the benefits outweigh the potential risk, according to the government and international health agencies.

As we move into the summer months, let’s learn from what happened in May. Food safety procedures work, but outbreaks will still occur, especially as testing gets more precise. Traceability works, and can greatly reduce the amount of product that needs to be recalled. And despite research that seems to come out every year saying fresh produce is bad, fruits and vegetables are the solution to the United States’ and the world’s health crisis. This industry produces safe, healthy products and the benefits can be weighed nutritionally, economically and environmentally.

Industry Spotlight
Elliott Grant, HarvestMark

Market Report
With summer fruit and vegetables starting to roll in to retail stores, the price for produce items is dropping, according to USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Marketing Report.

The agency tracks the themes and featured products in retail advertisements across the country and releases a weekly report. For the week of May 21-27, the agency reports the overall them for produce is “savings on produce.” In general, retail advertisements were around the themes of graduation parties and grilling.

Corn, tomatoes on the vine, strawberries, mangos and cherries were the Top 5 featured items in retail ads this week, accounting for almost 30 percent of produce ads. Pricing on promoted fruit is higher than last season for most products. Blueberries are about 20 cents per package more than last season, cherries are almost 40 cents more, strawberries are on par with last year, but organic strawberries are advertised at 50 cents more.

Many vegetable promotions brought vegetable prices lower than last year, including fresh-cut items. Baby carrots were $1.27 on average promotion per 1-pound bag, about 5 cents lower than last year. Organic baby carrots in the same size bag averaged $1.77 across 1,200 store ads, or about 2 cents lower than last year.

Organic pricing across store ads had wider variability, and USDA reports some organic items as a range and not a weighted average. Organic lettuce Romaine hearts in a 3-count package, for example, was priced from $1.99 to $3. Organic mixed bagged salads in 5-9 ounce packages were priced from $2.99-$4.69, and 16-ounce mixed salads were advertised at $4.99.

Product Highlight: AgSolutions Inc.