Source: Western farm press
“Farm for success, farm for color, and I would almost guarantee you will have a lot more interest in your product, and get premiums — or if nothing else, you’ll keep extensions on those contracts when they come up. You’re not going to be the one they want to dump; you’ll be the one they want to keep.”
​

Source: www.chatelaine.com/recipe/desserts/date-squares-recipe/
Delicious date squares are a simple blend of brown sugar, oats, butter and sweet dates — a comforting treat for a cozy winter afternoon. If there’s a baked-goods equivalent to a hug, this is it.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups large-flake oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter
Instructions

MEET US IN UPCOMING ANUGA 2017 

​Chilean raisin prices have been increasing since last week and are expected to rise further in the coming weeks, due to the rainfall during harvest and crop damage.
Although the reports are indicating minor damages has been incurred.

#ChileanRaisins #Raisins #cropnews

We did it again! 
We are proud to announce that all our efforts have been compensated with the achievement of IFS certification. 
Our dedicated team, have invested time, effort and resources in the certification process because we recognised its importance as a significant quality control system.

Reported by: `Customs Today Report March 9, 2015

KABUL: Director of the Raisin, Fruits and Vegetables Export Development Administration, Muhammad Azim Hashemi, said during a meeting that despite a growing demand for and increased production of Afghan raisin products, close to 20 processing plants are expected to shut in the coming year.

“With the help that we have received from the World Bank for better packaging and processing of raisins we were able to increase exports this year, resulting in more markets for raisins from Afghanistan,” he said.

At the moment, four different types of raisins are exported from Afghanistan to other Asian countries, Europe and the Americas. And just this year, 22,000 tons of red raisins have been exported abroad. Experts say increased grape crop yields, new methods of processing, standardization of packaging have all contributed to the rise in raisin exports.

Officials from the Raisin, Fruits and Vegetables Export Development Administration have reported a 13 percent hike in raisin exports from Afghanistan. However, they have also warned that much of the country’s production capacity is about to go offline in part because of the lack of support the industry has received from local and national government.

Nevertheless, the potential for growth in Afghanistan’s raisin industry is threatened by challenges facing factories around the country. At the moment, out of 30 raisin processing factories nationwide, just 13 are operational. Experts say the lack of reliable electricity and financial support from the government are the primary factors behind the stunted growth of the raisin industry.

Most women work in raisin processing factories. Zalmai, a raisin factory owner, told TOLONews that if the government provided more support for the industry, the would be able to provide many more employment opportunities, especially for women. “If our work improves and we are supported, we can hire a lot more workers,” he said.

Meanwhile, economic analysts have said that, considering the growing demand for raisins from Afghanistan, the government should seize the opportunity and support the industry’s growth. They have asserted that such a strategy could help bolster government revenues and provide much needed employment opportunities.


Source: Customs Today <http://customstoday.com.pk/afghan-raisins-export-facing-processing-units-closure-2/>

The Australian dried fruit industry says it's facing tougher competition than ever for quality from its overseas competitors.

The local industry has struggled with successive wet seasons, resulting in more damaged fruit like sultanas being delivered to processors.

Chair of Dried Fruits Australia, Mark King, said that in a good year local fruit used to be superior to imports, but the rest of the world is catching up.

"Australia grows good quality fruit, the world never used to. You go to Turkey and they grow it on small areas and the quality of the fruit is not that great," he said.

"But now they have processing plants over there that turn average fruit into fruit equal to ours."

Mr King said the fruit had to be of a good quality or it risked losing markets.

"We can't expect the processors to be paying us for rubbish."

Grower Ivan Shaw, from Merbein South in north-west Victoria, recently helped to produce a best practice guide for the industry.

He said growers were facing wetter seasons and they needed to start using new rain-tolerant varieties and techniques available to improve grape quality, or risk having fruit knocked back.

"There's good markets for good quality fruit and virtually no market for poor quality fruit," he said.

"So in order to be a good viable, flourishing industry you need to be consistently supplying good quality fruit."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/

#Australianraisins #Australian_crop_news

Raisin crop comes in short on tonnage
Sep 24, 2014
Greg Northcutt


California’s 2014 raisin grape crop was expected to be off the vines and lying on drying trays before Sept. 20. That’s the deadline for growers to have them on the ground to qualify for insurance should rain damage the grapes before they are picked up and put into bins.

Just about all of the U.S. raisin supply is produced in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.

US raisin exports surged by 30% in the 2013/14 season, data from the Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC) shows.
By Julian Gale

Published: 29 August 2014 03:55 PM


The RAC’s final shipment report for the 2013/14 crop year (August-July), reveals that US exports of all varieties of raisins reached 152,502 packed tonnes compared with 116,955 tonnes a year ago.

Sales to the US domestic market and Canada gained by 8% 
#USraisins #raisins #raisisNewCrop2014

According to a recent report by the USDA, the production and exports of Argentinean raisins are expected to rebound in 2015. Production for that year is estimated at 33,000 tons, 29,500 of which will be exported and the rest will be sent to the domestic market. 

Currently, the province of San Juan, in western Argentina, produces 95% of the country's raisins while the rest is mainly produced in the provinces of Mendoza and La Rioja. 

MANİSA — Grape producer Ülgen brothers from Manisa's Sarıgöl district recently established Turkey's first grape drying facility which uses solar energy and biomass system. Ali İhsan Ülgen said that grapes are generally dried in September and October in Sarıgöl. "Due to autumn rains, grapes are left to dry outside until December, leading to a decrease in quality. We wanted to establish a special facility to dry Sultaniye grapes, which is currently in the testing phrase. Five-tons of grapes will be dried only in 50 hours with solar energy," he continued.

BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZ

The Fresno BeeAugust 15, 2014 

Two years ago, growers of the versatile Thompson seedless grape were being wooed by the raisin and wine industries as competition for their fruit pushed prices to record highs.

But factors have changed this year and wine grape buyers expect prices to tumble. How far remains to be seen. Some say the $325 a ton many central San Joaquin Valley farmers received in 2012 from wineries is not likely to be repeated.
"There is little activity to almost no activity from wineries that are traditionally buying grapes this time of year," said Nat DiBuduo, president of the Fresno-based Allied Grape Growers. "They are just not out there."
DiBuduo and others say a rise in imported bulk wine, competition from other beverages and healthy inventories of wine have weakened demand for Valley raisin grapes.
In good years, the raisin grape varieties grown in the Valley are used to make juice concentrate, brandy or kosher wine.
But back-to-back bumper crops have filled the tanks at the wineries.
"We are at the point where we are facing capacity issues," DiBuduo said. "It's like: There is no room at the inn."
Also working against California grape growers are bulk wine imports from Australia, Argentina and Spain.
Winemakers also are facing tougher competition from the growing craft beer, hard cider and distilled spirits industries, said Erica Moyer, partner/broker at Turrentine Brokerage in Novato.
"There is no question this is going to be a challenging year," Moyer said.
Several farmers say that with seemingly little interest from the wineries, making raisins may be a better option.
"This year, I am seriously considering it," said Paul Lanfranco, a Kerman-area grape grower.
"It would be nice to compare what the wineries are paying but at some point I am going to have to make a decision."
Lanfranco, who has about 400 acres of raisin variety grapes, has talked with one packer who said the price may fall in the range of $1,700 to $1,800 a ton.
The actual raisin price still is being negotiated between the industry's packers and the growers representative, the Raisin Bargaining Association.
Glen Goto, chief executive officer of the association, is optimistic about this year's crop and price. Last year, California raisin farmers produced a bumper crop and the industry packers still managed to increase sales by 18% over the previous year.
This year, poor weather and the drought have contributed to a smaller crop.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates this year's raisin crop will be 13% smaller.
"Even though there is still some question about how many acres will go to make raisins or go to the wineries, I am still very optimistic we can move the volume because of what we did last year," Goto said.
Goto would like to see at least the same price growers received last year: $1,650.
They achieved a record price in 2012 at $1,900.
"We would like to start at $1,650 and go from there," Goto said.

Arat Company will be exhibiting at upcoming SIAL 2014 in Paris.
The Exhibition starts from October 19th to 23rd October 2014 - Stand

Weather dents South American grape production

Frost this winter and inopportune rains caused complications for table grape growers throughout South America. Those complications led to a fall in production in several countries throughout the continent.

“It was a complicated season for Latin American grapes,” said Jacques Joubert of Sudfruit. “Early grapes in Argentina were a total disaster because of late frost.” The brunt of the bad weather came when early varieties were mature, which cut production of those grapes by as much as 50 percent, and rains affected later varieties.



“The problem we had with rain was that we got more rain in January and February than we've had in the last two years put together,” said Jobert. “So along with the damage from frost there was rain damage to grapes.” Quality issues plagued the fruit that was shipped to European markets, resulting in more insurance claims than in previous years. Chile's season was similarly affected.

“Chilean growers were affected by the same frost and rains that affected Argentina's growers,” said Joubert. “They had production losses between 40 and 50 percent, similar to Argentina.” The drop in volume is bad for growers because the higher prices that come with less volume haven't been enough to offset production losses. With export prices only about 15 to 20 percent higher than normal, the rise in prices is not enough to salvage the season. In contrast, Brazilian growers have enjoyed a season free from the troubles that hit other South American countries.

“Brazilian growers didn't have a problem with frost because they're in a tropical zone,” explained Joubert. “So they had normal volumes of fruit.” This is the third year in a row that Argentine growers have faced a bad year on the export market. The experiences from previous seasons caused many growers to abandon the fresh export market to focus on the fresh and raisin market at home. The added influx of players on the domestic market caused prices to drop at home. With quality issues affecting this year's grapes and discounting them from export, growers who tried to sell their grapes at home found low prices there. For those that are shipping fruit to Europe this year, the timing of the season was also late.

“We normally ship our grapes starting the last week of December, but by the third week of January, I still hadn't shipped anything,” said Joubert. “So this year it's going to take longer for Argentinian grapes to clear the market.”




Publication date: 4/8/2014
Author: Andre van der Wiel
Copyright: www.freshplaza.com

Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau Apr 3, 2014, 12.08PM IST

PUNE: Raisin prices are higher by almost 50 per cent over the previous year and are likely to move up further as the season advances. Prices have appreciated due to increase in exports and the prospect of lower production in the current season due to the damage caused by unseasonal rainfall.

Maharashtra, the top producer and exporter of grapes, is also the top producer of raisins. Sangli and Solapur districts in the state lead in raisin production and trading. Raisin or dried grapes arrivals have begun over the last 15 days. Farmers are getting about 50 per cent more prices over the previous year.

"The raisins, which we sold for Rs 100/kg last year, are giving us Rs 150/kg this year," said Rajendra Ghuli, regional president, Sangli, Maharashtra State Grape Growers' Association.

Grape processors from Sangli have set up a cluster to promote raisin exports with an investment of Rs 200 crore. Machines have been imported from Turkey and used for cleaning, washing , drying, treatment with edible oil, sorting and packaging of raisins for exports.

A company set up by farmers runs the raisin cluster and charges a user fee from the traders /exporters. Last year, the state produced 1.25 lakh tonne raisins of which 25 per cent to 30 per cent was exported to the Middle East.

This year, the processors expect the production to fall to 80,000 to 90,000 tonne as unseasonal rainfall has damaged the grape orchards on a large scale in Sangli and Solapur.

"We have assessed losses of Rs 200 crore in Sangli and another Rs 100 crore in Pandharpur region," said Ghuli. Most of the export is currently taking place to the Middle East. The lower quality raisins go for exports while the top quality is sold in the domestic market.

Top quality raisins are sold at Rs 150/ kg to Rs 200/kg by farmers, who do not get this rate for exports. As the season advances, farmers expect the prices to rise further.

"We hope the prices will move up as arrivals pick up," said Prakash Patil, grape grower and raisin manufacturer from Solapur. This year, grape growers have received good prices both in the domestic market as well as for exports.

The prices of table grapes, which had reduced after the unseasonal rainfall, have increased to Rs 40/kg to Rs 50/kg now. Irrespective of the prices of table grapes, raisins give better returns to farmers as the input costs for farmers are less as compared to table grapes.

Tags: #IndianRaisins #newcropRaisins 

BRC Certification

The food industry has recently implemented a universally recognized food safety auditing system, known as GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative). The purpose of which is to allow industries access to unbiased formal third party audit reports of any inspected facility, eliminating time consuming and costly audits from individual companies. The GFSI has several approved auditing systems, one of which is BRC (British Retail Consortium). Arat Company, has opted to undergo audits based upon the BRC standard. This annual audit is an in-depth examination of every single components of our food safety and quality systems. It is conducted by an independent third-party auditor over a period of several days.

Arat Company is proud to have achieved “A” level BRC certification for producing and exporting dried fruits including Sultanas, Raisins and Dates. This is the best possible level of certification. While we can always continue to improve, this “A” level BRC certification confirms our internal value that at Arat Company, quality is a way of life.


We'd like to thank every single member of our team for making this come true.http://www.brcdirectory.com/Site.aspx?BrcSiteCode=4151494

ndia: Grape board focuses on quality raisins for export to US

After grapes and mangoes, India has plans to ship its raisins abroad, especially to the US. The Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB) has met officials from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and Codex Alimentarius Commission to develop quality standards for raisin production in the country so that the product conforms to consumers' safety norms abroad.

The commission has been established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and World Health Organization in 1963 to develop international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice to protect the health of the consumers. At present, lack of standards in production and poor quality of raisins is a big trade barrier, said officials.

Chairman of the grape-processing board Jagadish Holkar told TOI that not much attention has been paid to marketing of raisins. It included devising quality standards according to global norms. "We want to promote Indian dried grapes or raisins in the international market. There is research in India, but nothing beyond. We want to first draw up the standards for raisin production and quality. The commission will help us," said Holkar.

He met Sanjay Dave, chairman of the commission and advisor to FSSAI, to discuss the idea. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had recently asked the heads of the grape board to look at raisin prospects.

"The grape processing board will look into productivity, quality and consumer safety of raisins and frame guidelines as per global standards for export," said Holkar. These guidelines have been issued by WHO and India's raisins must also adhere to them. Often, we think about taking our raisins to several countries but are stopped short due to lack of quality standards

He added that though India exports around 30,000 tonnes of raisins each year to 80 different countries (70% of which comes from Maharashtra),

There has been much discussion on the maximum residue limits of pesticides, and agricultural chemicals on raisins exported from India and they often do not conform to the residue standards of the country they are being exported to.

"Standards will also enhance raisin quality for the Indian market. Indian raisins are divided into three categories. Once the standards are in place and production procedures abide by them, raisins in the third category would be good enough to replace those in the second category and so on," he said.

The board will also have to explore the possibility of producing seeded grapes for raisins across India which come from Andhra Pradesh, apart from reviewing raisin clusters in the country.

IGPB will also ask National Research Centre for Grapes to prepare the draft for standards, apart from taking help from Codex and International Organisation of Vine and Wine or OIV.

The product standards, food safety standards, quality standards, standard packaging, label standard and standard drying practices for raisin will help increase export and also meet the private standards required in retail chains, thus will support value addition to grape growers and raisin manufacturer .

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Publication date: 12/23/2013