Expecting Perfection

Expecting Perfection

Expecting Perfection. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

As the 2015 cherry season gets into gear a lot of producers will be keeping an eye on the quality of fruit. Pears, apricots, apples all are expected by the consumers to be near perfection. Dr. Roland Fumasi, Assistant Vice President and Senior Analyst with Rabo Bank talks about the effect on producers.

FUMASI: They really expect perfection.They expect you to produce the safest, most consistent, most high quality supply of fresh fruit, they expect you to do it with the utmost transparency, give the world a year-round supply and by the way it still has to be a good value - it can’t cost too much while you are expected to leave a much lighter impact on the environment than you ever have before. And that’s intensifying.

He says at the same time you as producers still have to meet demands like labor.

FUMASI: Whether that’s increasing H2-A wages, increasing wages in general or just lack of available labor. Or maybe it’s labor at the ports that are impacting your logistics or whether it’s a cold train shutting down or a tight trucking supply. Pests, weather. The usual suspects.

On the upside he sees the increases in consumption of fresh fruit a positive side and he suggests that thinking outside the box like using fresh apples as a part of a main course at mealtime would help bolster that consumption.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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