David will be in Japan! Any requests?

by David Ivanovic

I'll be in Japan for a couple of days, and I'll take that opportunity to meet some key players involved in exotics product imports and to share with you how they are marketed in this 130 million people market.

Mata!

Japan: Fruit fetishists given chance to pick up pyramid-shaped watermelon for princely 52,000 yen (approx. $US 500)

July 19, 2009 – Mainichi Shimbun

An unusual pyramid-shaped watermelon has drawn attention from customers in a department store here. The watermelon measures about 25 centimeters high and is priced at 52,500 yen. It was grown by a farmer in the town of Tsukigata in Hokkaido, by placing it in a specially-shaped plastic shell and  … read more…

Spain: Procomel launches Sugar Baby Gold

July 13, 2009 - Fruitnet.com

Spanish melon grower-exporter Procomel has lauched a new melon variety, branded Sugar Baby Gold, which it claims contains ... read more...

USA: Wet spring slows vegetable, melon planting

July 14, 2009 - South East Farm Press

A cool, wet spring delayed planting and crop progress across most U.S. spring and summer vegetable-producing areas, according to the USDA’s latest Vegetable and Melons Outlook Report. ... read more...

Japan: Method aids seedless melon production

July 14, 2009 - Japan Times

A Sapporo-based research institute has recently developed new technology to preserve the pollen of seedless watermelons for more than a year, raising hopes that fruit-growers can expand the market on a wide scale and create a new revenue source. ... read more...

USA: California Westside melon deal sees strong start

July 9, 2009 - The Packer

The California Westside cantaloupe and honeydew melon season has started with large sizes and good sugar content, but there's the potential for a production slowdown in mid- to late July. "The crop looks really good," said ... read more...

USA: Tastier, healthier melons aim of Texas A&M researchers

July 8, 2009 - The Battalion Online

Researchers with Texas A&M University and Texas Agrilife Research have mapped the melon genome in an effort to make melons tastier and healthier for consumers. "The point is to be able to develop molecular markers that are linked to important genes," said ... read more...

Turkey: Watermelons and cantaloupes sold before harvest this year

July 6, 2009 - Today's Zaman

Farmers deemed the prices of melons, which they left in the fields last year without harvesting them because prices failed to cover costs, satisfactory this year. The yield of a 1,000-square-meter field used for growing watermelons and cantaloupes which sold for TL 400 last year was sold for TL 1,250 before this year's harvest. Farmers in the Gölmarmara and Saruhanlı districts of Manisa province, an important center for ... read more...

Spain: 40,000 tons of melons face destruction in Murcia

July 6, 2009 - Typically Spanish

Farmers say they are making a loss with the prices now being paid by the large supermarkets Agrarian organisations in Murcia say they will continue to destroy 30% of the Cartagena campo’s melon crop, as long as farmers fail to cover their costs of producing the fruit. ... read more...

EU15: Higher Spanish production reduces imports

by David Ivanovic

Imports were down by 12% for the first quarter of 2009, April levels dipping by more than 16%. I suspect warmer temperatures in Spain lowered the demand for imported melons, but correct me if I'm wrong!