October’s Midknights

Walmart promo caps 13th season of US imports of South African summer citrus Walmart, a top US importer of South African citrus, invited shoppers at 32 stores to enjoy a “Taste of South Africa” with samples of oranges from the world’s second-ranked citrus exporter...

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In Heaven There Is No Beer

That’s why we drink it here – including 27 million barrels of imported brew What better time than October to join in singing the praises of beer? If you do hoist a glass, odds are that you’ll be drinking an import. Last year, according to a new report from Technomic,...

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Sweet Slice of Success

US consumers acquire a taste for imported mangoes … Ever mangled a mango? Our own first attempt at slicing and dicing a mango was a fail. But the fact that we tried at all was a sweet success for the National Mango Board, which is on a mission to market the tropical...

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COOL Shrimp? Consumers Shrug

Buyers seem indifferent to country-of-origin labeling, say USDA researchers This is counter-intuitive. The US Department of Agriculture reports that its researchers have been unable to detect any shift in the pattern of consumers’ purchases of shrimp from 1998 through...

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Guar Is Thicker than Water

In demand for fracking, supplies of the Asian beans are thin on the ground The new “black gold” isn’t oil, but guar, a bean whose seeds are made into a gum used to thicken sauces, ice cream, yogurts – and now “proppants,” the materials that are forced into fractured...

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Getting Out of Detention

Clearing red-listed seafood through the FDA? There’s a procedure for that. by Peter Quinter, guest columnist The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues “Import Alerts” almost daily. A recent one that affects many seafood importers is Import Alert #16-81, issued...

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Argentine Perishables to Wilt

Brazil retaliates in response to Mercosur partner’s protectionist policies Reuters reports that Brazil will end automatic import licensing for 10 perishable products from Argentina, including apples, raisins, potatoes, wheat flour, and some cheeses and wines. The...

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Vanilla Price Watch

Speculative rumors produce real increases, although not nearly as big as 2003 Last month, a flurry of headlines, starting with a report in the UK’s Telegraph, warned that the wholesale price of vanilla was set to rise sharply – adding as much as 10% to the retail...

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Coffee Perks up Fair Trade Stats

Fair trade coffee gains ground among fine, specialty brews As Bill Armbruster notes in Fair Trade: Sustainable Trend?, imported coffee accounted for 78% of all the fair trade premiums paid by US companies in 2011. Fair Trade USA reports that 2011 was a banner year for...

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Fair Trade: Sustainable Trend?

Consumers are willing, but divorce divides the movement by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor Poverty has historically been the lot of small-holding farmers in developing countries. The fair trade movement seeks to change that by appealing to global consumers to pay a...

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