Workers sorting and weighing individual items for mixed vegetables.
Looking down the human assembly line.
Mixed vegetables prior to being inserted into finished polybag.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, mixed vegetables, vegetables
Frozen Pineapple Carpaccio, ideal for food service, simply place cake, ice cream or other item directly on top of the pineapple.
Frozen Pineapple in vacuum pack (2 per bag).
Frozen Mango Carpaccio presentation.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, pineapple, mango, carpaccio
Street Market Ho Chi Minh City
Another shot of Ho Chi Minh City market.
Buying vegetables for lunch.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, Viet Nam
Baby Corn Fields Viet Nam
Collected Baby Corn
Cattle being fattened for market eating Baby Corn stalk and husk.
Young Vietnamese girl husking baby corn.
Portrait of a young Vietnamese girl in the countryside fields of baby corn.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, baby corn, Viet Nam
China soybeans (Edamame) from Zhejiang province have been severely damaged by close to 25 days of rain. As a result many of the soy pods have no kernals and those that do have kernals are smaller than normal. The outer skin is blemished more so then normal because of the rains which makes them of little value for the primary market of Edamame for Japan. Some of the pods have an off odor from the excess of rains. The yields from the raw material are running around 45% vs the normal of 65%. As a result of the reduced yields all the packers are bidding on a smaller quantity of raw material driving the price up. As a result of the higher price for the Edamame it is also having a negative impact on the shelled soybeans or Mukimame. Mukimame is the primary import to the USA because of its lower cost point and this item being a by-product of the Edamame.
Little relief is expected in pricing because Fujian province, the other major producer, also experienced a 50% shortfall for the summer crop. Prices are expected to remain firm until autumn crop.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, soybeans
I am in a business trip in Australia trying to convince my buyers that the price increases we are experiencing on vegetables are more part of an structural change rather than a cyclical phenomena. They are probably so tired of listening that, yes, prices are going up so they rather talk about something else hoping that the tune will change in the short term.
Once again I don’t think this is going to happen and some of the reasons that help me substantiate my belief that prices will remain on the high side for a considerable period of time are:
1) Crude oil has hit record prices of USD$135.00, this point needs no explanation, I think we all feel it when filling up our tanks with precious petrol. Remember oil is a limited resource, we can’t achieve unlimited growth with limited resources.
2) Energy Policies around the world. The agricultural output in the USA, Europe and Latin American countries has shifted to crops destined to the production of biofuels. So our farmers are now either competing against biofuel producers to get land to grow human consumption crops or have decided altogether to just plant crops intended for biofuels.
3) Worldwide inventories for basic soft commodities such as corn, wheat, soy bean and rice are at decades low. Part of why this has happened has to do of course with supply and demand however the fact that production subsides to farmers have been decoupled from production in the USA and Europe has played and important role in the reduction of inventories.
4) Global demand has also played an important role, the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have experienced a rise in per capita income which has lead into changes in dietary habits. More and more Chinese are now going to restaurants such as the successful KFC and are eating more and more chicken. So how does this affect the global demand for grains in average you need 2 kilos of grain to produce 1 kilo of Chicken.
5) Climate Change. Prolonged Drought in Australia, the extreme harsh Chinese winter and the severe frost in Argentina and recent poor conditions in agricultural producing countries have resulted in a reasonable reduction in agricultural output. The scary thing here is that if we don’t do something radical to fight climate change things will not get any better.
At the of the day I think we all know prices are indeed going up since we are starting to feel it in our wallets. For us in living in developed economies this might force us to change some our habits like waiting a bit longer before we buy the new 108″ plasma screen however I challenge you to think about most of the people that live in 3rd world countries, for them the recent increases might mean skipping a meal and sometimes not eating at all.
This is a really serious matter, high prices and shortages have lead to riots in countries like the Phillippines, Haiti, Egypt and some African countries.
I do hope for prices to come down however I don’t have a clear answer as far as how this would be achieved, at least not in the short run.
Is product labeled “Product of Canada” really from Canada?? The Canadian label laws are somewhat lax and allow product that has at least 51% of the production costs of a food item added in Canada and some transformation has taken place, then it can be labeled as “Product of Canada”.
What does it mean? It means apple juice maybe product of China, or olives from Spain can be product of Canada, or frozen carrots mixed with Canadian peas can be product of Canada, and peanut butter and coffee beans bear the product of Canada label yet neither are grown in Canada.
Let the consumer beware.
Read the article here from Globe and Mail.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, label
Here is an interesting article about the Fed Reserves actions to reduce interest rates to stave off a subprime credit crisis only to find out that we are facing rising inflationary prices for our basic commodities. The FED’s reduction in interest rates has speculators looking in other areas, mainly the basic food commodities such as rice, wheat, corn etc. The weak dollar has only exacerbated the rising food prices. Countries are now facing food shortages, some Asian countries have restricted exports. Who would ever have thought the the subprime fiasco could be a contributor to world wide food shortages. When will it all end??
Technorati Tags: FED Reserve, food
Information from our customs broker:
Importers beware. U.S. Customs (CBP) agriculture inspectors have advised us that they will be increasing scrutiny of wood packing materials (pallets and blocking) in import containers.
Recently, 47 import shipments were turned around in Seattle. The pallets were properly stamped with the SWP stamp, but were infested with bugs/larvae. CBP is aware of “counterfeit” SWP, and is looking for them nationwide.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, wood, pallets
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer announced last week that it would ration the rice each customer can purchase at it Sam’s Club stores because of recent “supply and demand trends”. “We are limiting the sales of Jasmine, Basmati and Long Grain Rice to four bags per member visit” the company said in a statement.
Costco, the USA largest warehouse retailer, last week made a public announcement stating it had seen increased demand for basic food staples as well like rice and flour. The company had a two 50 lb limit on rice purchases as well to keep people from hoarding and reselling the rice.
So how do we put the current rice situation into perspective?
The world has over 50 000 edible plants. Just three of them, rice, maize and wheat, provide 60 percent of the world’s food energy intake. Rice is the predominate staple for fifteen countries in Asia and the Pacific, ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, one country in North Africa and seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa according to the FAO. This translates to the fact that rice is a staple food for close to 50% of the world’s population.
Over the past 3 months rice has surged from USD$400 MT in January to USD$770 in March. In the past week, the benchmark Pathumthani Thai rice was priced at $930/MT, which is up 52% in just a month, according to the Thai Rice exporters association.
Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, has recently rejected selling some of its two million tones of rice stockpile as prices soar towards USD$1000/MT. As a result, global shortages and hoarding are emerging, with food riots recently in the Philippines, Haiti, Egypt and many African nations.
The UN warned in February that 36 countries, including China, face food emergencies this year as prices of rice and wheat soar, and world stockpiles of coarse grains fall to multi-decades lows.
So what is causing the increase in prices? Supply and demand? Yes, but what is behind this supply and demand equation.
There is no doubt that weather-related issues can take part of the blame however not all of it. Farmers in North America, Europe and some Latin American countries are switching to crops destined to the production of biofuels.
Government food subsidies paid to North American and European farmers have decoupled from production, this has put an end to an era of overproduction as global inventories keep coming down.
Global population keeps going up, the United Nations expect population to reach 8.13 billion by 2030, this is a 26% increase from 2005.
The industrialization of the Chinese economy is driving rise in per capita incomes hence an increase in living standards. So Chinese people have now more disposable income to buy food, the result is a change away from staple foods to include a more balanced diet of animal protein and dairy products. Nevertheless this dietary change has a multiplier effect on coarse grain consumption. Consensus is that two kilos of grain produce one kilo of chicken or one liter of milk. Three to four kilos of grain are required to produce 1 kg of pork and six to eight kilos are needed to produce 1 kg of beef.
So it isn’t only rice, it’s a bit more complex than just rice I would say. The effect of what is happening to staple foods in our global village is something worth considering since it is going to affect our pockets sooner rather than later.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, Rice, Food Riots, Wal-Mart, Costco
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