SEDA news and events
Can new apricot varieties spark renewed interest from consumers and growers?
The fresh apricot market has been struggling in recent years, due to the challenges of packing and shipping the soft, fragile fruit that develops its best flavor when tree-ripened. In Washington alone, bearing acreage is down almost 20 percent since 2007.
Could the solution be new genetics?
Brandt’s Fruit Trees plans to release a new program of about a dozen apricot cultivars with great flavors and good fruit size from breeding programs in France and Canada — including orange-skinned, red-skinned and white-fleshed varieties — that it hopes will be a good fit for Northwest growers.
The iconic SPC fruit and vegetable business based in Victoria's Goulburn Valley will live on, after Coca-Cola Amatil confirmed the sale of the historic business for $40 million.
The sale, to a group called Shepparton Partners Collective, is expected to be completed by the end of this month and generate a profit of $10-15 million for the bottler of Coke. - Read more of this Sydney Morning Herald article.
Date
DATE: 12 Jun 2019
Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM AEST
For detailed information about this event please refer to the event brochure (pdf).
Who should attend:Australian businesses in fresh produce
- Australian:
- Growers
- Consolidators
- Fruit exporters
- Horticulture associations.
The Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.0% increase to minimum wages following its 2019 Annual Wage Review.
The new national minimum wage will be $740.80 per week or $19.49 per hour.
The increase applies to base pay rates from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2019.
What do I need to do?
Nothing for now. We’re working on updating our pay tools with the new rates. This usually takes us around 3-4 weeks. We’ll send you an email when the updated pay rates are available.
Who does the increase apply to?
The change only applies to employees that get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a modern award or in some cases a registered agreement.
Most employees are covered by an award. If you’re not sure which award applies to you or your employees, you can use Find my award on our website.
Find out more:
The start of the stone fruit season is around the corner in the Mediterranean. Spain continues to increase its stone fruit volumes and thus dominates the market in Europe. A good harvest is also expected in Greece, with rising export volumes to Europe and the Middle East. In Italy, the season has been more dramatic for apricots and nectarines due to heavy rainfall in recent weeks, which has caused a lot of the harvest to be lost. In South Africa, the dry weather has been the reason for a smaller production. In South America, Chile can look back on a successful year, with a 20% growth in nectarine exports to China.
The Netherlands: Lower demand due to the weather
On the Dutch market, peaches and nectarines come mainly from Spain, a country that is currently dealing with a large production. Yet, consumption in the Netherlands is not yet really at the desired level. This is mainly due to the colder weather, which means there is less appetite for nectarines, peaches and apricots than usual. Nevertheless, traders expect this situation to improve in the coming weeks.
Read more of this article.........
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