Welcome to the Carriere Family Farms and Borges of California Newsletter
"The Walnut Appeal"

 

 

 

Food Safety: Hot Topic in Nut Crops
President’s Corner
By Bill Carriere, President

Walnut growers who also grow almonds, pistachios or other nut crops are most likely well aware of the importance of food safety issues. Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) are becoming a necessity in the nut industry. The walnut industry has been quite fortunate to not have had any significant issues with regard to food borne illnesses being traced back to walnuts specifically. Peanuts, Almonds, Pistachios, and most recently, Hazelnuts have all had their industries affected by negative press as a result of pathogens such as Salmonella, E-coli, or Listeria being found in the product which resulted in a recall of consumer products and in some cases consumer injury.

This issue is not going to go away, and certainly the EPA, FDA and the Obama administration have made it one of their high priority issues to address, and they are acting now to address it. Inspectors are currently out in the field more than ever before, showing up, unannounced at food plants all over California. They have been told to target Nut Processing Plants due to the recent Peanut, Almond and Pistachio issues.

Here at Borges of California and Carriere Family Farms, we are being very proactive in our approach. We have always felt that we were doing a good job with regard to food safety since our customers demand it. With these recent announcements by FDA we have been stepping up our program to even further protect the product from contamination. Once walnuts are received at our plant we want to eliminate any chance for problems to arise not only for the good of our growers but for the good of the industry. Negative press concerning one handler of walnuts often is reported by the media as all walnuts.

The industry has reacted well. At the annual Walnut Board meetings in Monterey this past February we had over 90% of the walnuts in the state represented to hear FDA and ACFSQ representatives discuss food safety issues in nuts. Most handlers are committed to doing all they can to reduce the possibility of ever having a threat of food borne illness in the walnut industry. In addition, the California Walnut Board has hired a new Technical Support Director, Carl Eidseth, whose initial primary focus will be food safety. This additional resource will keep the issue at the top of our priority list.
Growers also play a huge role in the prevention of contamination. Growers need to adhere to GAP’s and make sure that their dehydrator is also adhering to GMP’s in the processing of their crop. Salmonella can certainly start in the orchards and doing all you can to prevent contamination to the harvested crop is vital in keeping our industry healthy. If you would like more specifics please contact us or go directly to the California Walnut Board website and they can give you some of the basics that you should be following.

Grower Services:
We are accessible to answer your questions8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
During harvest we will be open everyday from 7:00 a.m.– 5:00 p.m. Sept. 1– Nov. 20

OFFICE:
Blanca Palomino (Documentation & Logistics)
Toni Burnworth-Cartwright (Accounting)
Lisa Carriere Berman (Grower Representative-Grade/Payment Info)

A view from the sales desk…
By Matt Doyle
Walnut Market Update…

Domestic and International Market Trends

The April kernel shipping numbers have arrived indicating the California walnut market has remained hot. Total pounds shipped in April were almost 59 million. This is down from last year in April but, last year buyers didn’t start buying until late February. We weren’t expecting this April to match last April but we were pleasantly surprised. Industry expectations had April shipments coming in around 45 million pounds. The 59 million was nice to see.

Inshell shipments this April were down considerably versus last year for the same reason mentioned above. Inshell walnuts are extremely difficult to find in California today. Leading the way in inshell purchases, Turkey and China are continuing their record receipt levels. Through April, Turkey and China have been shipped a combined 88.9 million pounds of inshell walnuts. This compares with 49.9 million pounds last year. Incredible!

For shelled walnuts, the demand has been strong albeit a lot more spread out geographically. Korea remains the largest importer of California walnuts growing 50% in just 1 year. Germany and Japan remain close in the #2 and #3 position. When you convert the kernels to inshell, Korea and Germany have received almost 73 million pounds of walnuts (adding Japan easily takes this number over 100 million pounds).

In the next 4 months, we anticipate the market to remain strong. The projected carry-over will be one of the lowest in history. We need a good quality, large crop this year to make-up for the low carry-in. Our hope is that the 2010 crop is 460,000-480,000 tons. This would give the buyers confidence that we have enough product to satisfy their needs at reasonable prices.

The concerns going into the new crop season is whether China and Turkey will come into the market early after purchasing so many pounds this past year and whether the Korean government lowers the import duty another 10% for walnut imports. If the outcome on these 2 concerns is positive… look for another successful year for California walnut growers!!