Guatemalan melon volume has strong start in early 2010

The Produce News - 2 Feb 2010

Guatemala was dominating the cantaloupe business in mid-January as Honduras and Costa Rica were nearing their seasonal increase in exports to the United States. ... read more...

Export Costa Rica melon season started

Fresh Plaza - 22 Jan 2010

The melon export season has started in Costa Rica. The melons are of excellent quality have a high brix level. ... read more...

First Fairtrade melons hit UK

fruitnet.com - 7 Jan 2010

The world’s first-ever Fairtrade-certified melons, produced by a small growers’ cooperative in Mossoro in northern Brazil, became available in Asda and Morrisons from the end of December, according to the Fairtrade ... read more...

France, troubles organic melon campaign

26 Aug, 2009 - Green Med Journal

The 2009 French organic melon campaign stayed stable, despite a delayed starting in imports from Senegal, Morocco and Spain that caused overlapping on the market at the beginning of June. ... read more...

USA: Kiwano Melons will catch your eye

Aug 11, 2009 - Examiner

The Kiwano melon (also known as a horned melon) cannot be overlooked once spotted in the produce section of the grocery store. The fruit seems alien, and is quite unknown in the United States. With its orange oval body and horns—which are sharper than they seem—the fruit is a native to Africa, although it is being harvested in New Zealand as well as parts of California. ... read more...

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!

USA: Melon research sweetened with DNA sequence

June 26, 2009 - EurekAlert

People smell them, thump them and eyeball their shape. But ultimately, it's sweetness and a sense of healthy eating that lands a melon in a shopper's cart. Plant breeders now have a better chance to pinpoint such traits for new varieties, because the melon genome with hundreds of DNA markers has been mapped by scientists with Texas AgriLife Research. That means tastier and healthier melons are likely for future summer picnics. "This will help us anchor down some of the desirable genes to develop better melon varieties," said Dr. Kevin Crosby, who completed the study with Drs. Soon O. Park and Hye Hwang. "We can identify specific genes for higher ... read more...

Recession hits UK exotics consumption

note from David: well it's kind of official, look at my earlier posts for the data for papaya (http://papayatradefocus.blogspot.com - still a minor product compared to pineapples or mangoes) the dramatic first three months of 2009.

June 22, 2009 - Reefer Trend
The sales value of tropical fruits such as pineapples, mangoes and melons has dropped by 5.5% with volumes falling even more steeply

“A lot of Galia melon has been sold that was technically perfect, but lacking in flavour”

by Melon Today - June 2009

Q. Has Almería made a mistake with its Galia melon production strategy?
A. Yes, because it is placing its position in the European Galia market at risk. To date, Almería has been well-positioned in this market, due to its production of early melon with characteristics that are highly appreciated by the consumer. However, in this campaign the region has followed a strategy based on ... read more...

“You cannot sell a Galia melon that the grower would not be prepared to eat”

by Melon Today - June 2009

Q. What is your assessment of the early Galia melon campaign in Almería?
A. The season began with a low level of production and good demand from the European markets, so prices were not bad. During the first few weeks, Galia from Almería had a higher commercial value than melons from overseas and Morocco, due ... read more...

Despite California water woes, West Side melon deal could hold steady for 2008

Produce News, by Brian Gaylord , 06/15/2009
Last year's West Side melon deal in California came in at 20.5 million 40- pound cartons. Jerry Munson, manager of the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, said that the board anticipates a comparable year in 2009.

The 2008 final tally of 20.5 million 40-pound cartons was considerably higher than the projected 20 million 40-pound cartons and slightly higher than 21.4 million cartons generated in the West Side deal in 2007. How long the season goes … read more…