Author Archives: CrispConsulting

Alaska: Salmon Prices Show Marked Seasonal Variations

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Salmon prices at wholesale show marked seasonal variations for both wild and farmed fish. It’s a pattern that has been tracked for decades by Urner Barry, the nation’s oldest commodity market watcher in business since 1895. The prices tend to decline through June, July, August and September and they begin rising again from November through the following April or May.

Two things drive the well-established pattern, said market expert John Sackton who publishes Seafood.com, an Urner-Barry partner.

“There’s a growth cycle for farmed salmon when they eat more and grow faster at certain times of the year, and so the harvests, particularly those that come into the US market from Chile for example, really peak in June, July and August, which are our summer months and the winter months in Chile,” Sackton explained. “Then there is the opening of the wild salmon season each summer and all of a sudden you get a lot more diversity and availability of Alaskan salmon.”

Sackton said buyers of both wild sockeyes and farmed salmon are starting to push back a bit on high prices. That’s likely reflected in the $3.50 advances for the first reds at Copper River in mid-May, which was down 50 cents from last year’s starting price.

A big wild card for North American salmon this summer is the projected 72 million sockeye return at British Columbia’s Fraser River. Sackton said Japanese buyers, who have been somewhat priced out of the sockeye market in recent years because there has been so much demand elsewhere and a drop in the yen has made it harder for them to buy, are hoping that a big run will open up more opportunities for them. Even though they’ve been buying less, Japan is still an important part of a three legged stool.

www.thefishsite.com

Californian grape harvest ahead of last year’s

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An early start to the grape harvest in California has the state’s production ahead of what it was at this point last year. Harvesting is expected to continue through December, and shipments are anticipated to continue through February of 2014.

“The season started early,” noted Kathleen Nave, President of the California Table Grape Commission. “We started harvesting during the last week of April, and the season has been good so far.” Nave attributed the early start to a combination of weather factors that led to grapes that were ready to be picked earlier than usual. The early jump to the season has made for good volumes of fruit. While shipments of grapes were at 2.3 million boxes at this point last year, California’s growers have shipped 3.2 million boxes of grapes so far this season.

“We’re significantly ahead of last year’s crop, and we expect to keep that pace up,” said Nave. The bulk of the state’s grapes are currently coming from the Coachella Valley, and harvesting there will continue through the end of June. Harvesting in the San Joaquin Valley is expected to get under way around the fourth week of June. Total volume for the state this season is expected to be close to last year’s volume of 117 million boxes.

“The crop size will be similar to last year and quality is excellent,” said Nave. “We’ve also had two more weeks on the front end to ship product, so, from a marketing standpoint, it’s shaping up to be a very good year.”

www.freshplaza.com

Magnit and Lenta conquering Siberia

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Magnit and Lenta, along with a local chain, Holiday Klassik, will be the key retailers in the region in the future. Their market penetration in the region will grow faster than those like X5 and Auchan, while product availability on their shelves may become better thanks to the investment into distribution centres.

Russia’s leading market player Magnit, which has operated a distribution centre in Omsk since 2012, recently launched a 19,000 square metre leased distribution centre in Novosibirsk. Investment in logistics facilities clearly shows retailers’ focus on the store expansion in Siberia. Magnit opened its first store in Siberia in 2010 and expand the network to 120 by the end of 2013.

St Peterburg based Lenta opened its first hypermarket in Siberia in 2006 and since then it has opened 17 large outlets. In addition to that it opened a 37,500 sq m distribution centre in Novosibirsk last year. The retailer recently opened its first hypermarket in Krasnoyarsk and it is building its sixth store in Novosibirsk while a new store is planned for Novokuznetsk.

Auchan operates two Auchan hypermarkets and two Auchan City compact hypermarkets, X5 runs 25 small stores and one hypermarket while O’Key has five hypermarkets and one supermarket. In contrast to them Dixy Group and Rewe Group have not penetrated the region yet.

www.freshplaza.com

Boycott harmful to Russia and EU

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Tensions between the EU and Russia are increasing. Russian interference in the political turmoil in Ukraine and the alleged presence of Russian troops in the Crimea, led to the EU imposing sanctions against Russia. At the time this article went to press, there was as yet no official reaction from Russia. However, the EU already announced further sanctions. And although political responses are difficult to predict, the tensions also affect the European fruit and vegetable sector.

“We have to wait and see what impact this will have, and whether counter restrictions, are to be expected,” says Inge Ribbens of Frugi Venta. “Until now, fruits and vegetables are still exported. Potatoes have an import ban, but the sector isn’t affected yet.” Arjan Zoutewelle of the same import and export company, sees tensions rise. “I noticed that the sector, say forty percent of it, is nervous, and that there is uncertainty about the devaluation of the ruble. In the long run, a low ruble is not good for business. In Russia, imported products are therefore more expensive.”

If there is a threat to domestic crops or human health, boundaries are often closed, but there may also be a political agenda behind a boycott. In February, Romain Cools of Belgapom suspected a political agenda behind the potato import ban on Russia. He then said: “Russia is not only closed to the potato and the seed potato sector, but now European pork is no longer allowed in. The Russians found an alternative with American pork, which increasingly seems to point to a political motive.”

Exports to Russia mainly consists of products such as machinery, chemicals and processed products. About eight percent of exports consist of food and live animals. Fresh produce makes up the biggest part. In general, a boycott of European fruit and vegetables to Russia may be more problematic than in Europe, expects Arjan Zoutewelle. The world can’t always meet Russian demand. It also depends on the countries and products that fall under a boycott. More worrying is when the Russian border is closed and there is a good harvest in Europe. “If there is a boycott, we better not have over-production in Europe, because then we really need Russia to buy our production peaks.”

www.freshplaza.com

“Green” retailers

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Greenpeace made an annual rating called “Green supermarket” where Russian retailers are rated by the level of contribution in recycling problem solvation. First places were taken by “Auchan” and “Dixy”.

Experts were comparing and estimating 10 biggest supermarket networks – “Auchan”, “Dixy”, Х5 Retail Group, “Lenta”, “O’kay”, “Magnit”, “Holiday classic”, “Maria Ra”, “Sedmoy Continent” , and “Monyetka”. These retailers were estimated by 20 criteria such as receiving packaging for further recycling, reduction of packaging, a possibility of using own packaging for catchweight goods, a presence of goods with ecofriendly packaging.

“Auchan” took the first place due to the opening recycling centers in St. Petersburg and the possibility of buying catchweight goods. “Dixy” was also pointed out because of the presence of recycling centers in Moscow and the sale of original non-disposable bags.

“O’kay”, “Sedmoy Continent”, and “Monyetka” are turned to be at the end of the rating list.

“Unfortunately, even leaders of our list are far from being “green” retailers. However, most of them are changing their policy: refusing from free plastic bags, letting do weighting of fruit and vegetables without packaging, and even opening recycling centers. Directors of stores understand that such actions are attracting attention of new clients and making their stores more competitive on the market,” – Rashid Alimov, a coordinator of “Greenpeace Toxic Program”, said.

www.retailer.ru

Magnit plans an expansion in Siberia

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Experts made a forecast about a boost in development of supermarket network Magnit in Siberia. This forecast is based on a launch of a new distribution warehousing center with a total square of 20 000 m2 in Novosibirsk. In future it will help “Magnit” to increase profit and a number of salepoints in Siberia.

The positive reaction of investors is explained by new logistics capacity. It will help the company to extend its presence in Siberia and to accelerate the pace of development of the supermarket network itself. This will positively influence the dynamics of the company’s profit growth.

It is to be recalled that in the end of 2013 Magnit owned only one distribution warehousing center in Siberia – in Omsk Region. It is expected that Magnit is going to start an active expansion in Siberia after creating the necessary logistic structure in Novosibirsk Region.

According to the Magnit’s plan of expansion, 1500 new salepoints will be opened in 2014, which is more than in 2013 by 291 salepoints.

www.retail.ru

Russia: wide apple price range in Moscow

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The apple price range was rather wide in Moscow on May 23: 0.61-1.37 euro/kg, depending on variety and country of origin.

Polish apples traditionally were the least expensive. Wholesale companies offered those apples at 0.65-0.87 euro/kg with the demand for them being moderate.

Apples of Spanish, French, Chilean and South African origin were offered as a premium category at 1.17-1.37 euro/kg.

It should be noted that prices of imported apples were significantly higher last year: 0.81-1.77 euro/kg. A year-on-year decrease in apple prices is connected with rather low demand for apples in the global market now.

www.fruit-inform.com

Alaska: Slow Start to Alaska Salmon Season

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Trollers in Southeast Alaska provide fresh king salmon nearly year round, but the runs of reds and kings to the Copper River mark the “official start” of Alaska’s salmon season.

On May 15 the fleet of more than 570 fishermen set out their nets on a beautiful day for the first 12 hour opener amidst the usual hype for the first fish.

Prices for the first fish dipped a bit – Copper River Seafoods posted advance sockeye prices at $3.50 and $6.00 for kings; that compares to $4.00 and $6.00-$7.00, respectively, for last year’s opener.

In what has become a traditional rite of spring, Alaska Airlines whisked away the first 24,000 pounds of the famous fish to Seattle where pilots traversed a red carpet to hand deliver a 48 pound king salmon to three chefs for a cook-off at Sea-Tac Airport. At least five other jets carried fresh fish from Cordova to eager buyers throughout the US, as well as to Anchorage.

Sockeyes are by far Alaska’s most valuable salmon, typically worth about two-thirds of the total statewide salmon haul. But in terms of global supply, wild sockeye are rare creatures – they account for about 5 percent of all wild and farmed production, and represent just 15 percent of the world’s wild salmon harvest.

Alaska typically accounts for 70 percent or more of global sockeye production, with nearly half of that coming from Bristol Bay. The U.S. is the single largest market, purchasing nearly 44 percent by value in 2012. Japan and the U.K. are next, followed by Canada.

Alaska’s sockeye salmon catch this year is projected at nearly 34 million fish, five million more than last year. Average statewide price last year was $1.60, an increase of 30 cents from 2012.

www.thefishsite.com

Russia doubles strawberry imports in March

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This year’s latest figures show that Russia has imported a large quantity of strawberries during the month of March, which have been devoted to the local market. This volume doubles the amount imported in February 2014.

Over 5,000 tonnes of strawberries were shipped to the Russian market in March, which more than doubles the volume purchased in February, which was of 2,000 tonnes. Russia’s main strawberry supplier was the European Union, which accounted for 83% of the shipments. Egypt stood second, followed in third place by China.

www.freshplaza.com

Alaska: Good Prices for Halibut and Sablefish Harvesters

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US – The basic laws of supply and demand are resulting in a nice pay day for Alaska halibut and sablefish harvesters. Prices for both fish are up by more than a dollar a pound compared to the same time last year.

Fresh halibut has been moving smoothly and demand is steady since the fishery opened in early March, said a major Kodiak buyer, where dock prices were reported at $6 a pound for ten to 20 pounders, $6.25 for halibut weighing 20 to 40 pounds, and $6.50 for “40 ups.”

At Homer and in Southeast Alaska, halibut prices have yet to drop below six bucks a pound, said local processors. Dock prices at Homer last week ranged from $6.50 to $7.00 per pound “for very small loads.”

At Southeast, after reaching a high of $6.75 at Easter, halibut prices were $6.60/$6.40 /$6.10 per pound. Processors are reporting “strong halibut catches and lots of nice fish”. The fresh fish is being flown out almost daily from Southeast and distributed in small lots to markets all over the US. Alaska’s total halibut catch this year is close to 16 million pounds.

For sablefish, commonly called black cod, longliners are benefitting from “bare cupboards” and strong demand by buyers in Japan, where the bulk of Alaska’s catch goes. Last year, holdovers in freezers pushed prices down 40% to the $5 to $3 per pound range, depending on fish size.

Black cod is usually priced in five weights, ranging from under three pounds to over seven pounds. At Kodiak the breakout was $6.75 – $5.75 – $5.00 -$4.50 and $4.00. Sablefish prices at Homer were running between $4 and $7 a pound. Southeast processors reported prices at $5.30 to $7 a pound at the docks. Alaska’s sablefish catch this year is about 24 million pounds. Most deliveries are going to Seward, followed by Kodiak and Homer.

www.thefishsite.com