-February 26,2020-

LA port activity down one quarter

The Port of Los Angeles has seen a 25% decline in shipments in February. Cargo volume was down 4.6% in January at the Port of Long Beach, compared to the same month in 2019. Exports were down more, by 7.4%.

Big crop – lower prices for lemons

By Ching Lee,CFB

After several years of strong sales, greater supplies of lemons this season have soured market prices, though there’s hope the launch of a new seedless variety could help rejuvenate the category.

California lemon shippers and packers agree larger crops and overlapping harvests from different growing regions have put more pressure on the current market, with prices down from last year.

Mexico had a longer season, sending fruit as late as December when its season typically runs from July to October, said Glenn Miller, president of Saticoy Lemon Association, a cooperative packer in Ventura County. California production also rose, he added, particularly in the desert and in the San Joaquin Valley, both of which have recently added more acreage.

“Those trees are starting to produce fruit and it’s turning out to be a little bit heavier than the market can take at this point,” Miller said. “When supply started getting larger and the demand is going along at the same pace, then all of a sudden you have more product chasing the market.”

Unlike other citrus fruits, lemons are typically used as a condiment, with the biggest demand coming from food service, said Fred Strickland, director of grower relations for Corona-College Heights Orange and Lemon Association, a shipper-packer in Riverside County. Though restaurants are steady users of lemons, they don’t necessarily buy “too much more” when prices drop, he noted.

“Lemons are very inelastic,” Strickland said. “Right now, lemon sales are very, very slow. There’s a lot of lemons in the pipe.”

Sourdough bread popularity grows

According to Nielsen, sales of sourdough bread grew about 11 percent from 2015 to 2019 to over $325.9 million. Sourdough is also becoming more popular at restaurants. Last year, sourdough bread was on 14.3 percent of restaurant menus, up from 11.6 percent 10 years earlier.

A study by Grand View Research saw the market value of sourdough jump from $298.7 million in 2014 to $2.4 billion in 2018.

What’s up? Butter & Cheese consumption

from aei.ag

Trending Higher – Butter and Cheese

Figure 1 shows the U.S. annual per capita consumption of butter. After more than three decades between 4 and 5 pounds, consumption exceeded 5 pounds in 2011. In 2018, the USDA reported consumption at 5.8 pounds per person. Compared to 2001, when butter consumption was at a low of 4.3 pounds per person, per capita consumption in 2018 was 33% higher, increasing at an average annual rate of 1.6%

Figure 1. U.S. Consumption of Butter, Per Capita. 1975-2018. Data Source: USDA ERS.

Another bright spot for dairy has been cheese consumption (Figure 2). Since 1975, annual consumption has increased from 20 pounds per person to 40 pounds in 2018. The doubling in nearly 45 years is equal to a 1.7% average annual rate of increase.

Cheese is admittedly a broad category. Figure 3 breaks down 2018 U.S. cheese consumption. First, there are two major categories of cheese reported by the USDA: American cheese[1] (shown in shades of blue) and Italian cheeses (in shades of green). These two categories each accounted for 41% of the cheese consumed. Within the broad categories, mozzarella (32%) was the most popular, edging out the cheddar cheeses (30%).Mozzarella is most popular.