Reader’s Digest May 2020

In May 2020, we published the following articles:

• WPTC Crop Update as of 30 April 2020.
• CoVid-19: in the USA tomato products saw a sharp increase in demand and tinned pasta becomes the most out of stock product, Morning Star activated a Pandemic Outbreak Plan, Kraft Heinz shifted resources to produce more packaged goods, and in Europe analysts from Euromonitor International are monitoring the impact of the virus.
• In the Spanish region of Extremadura, the planting started and the contracted tomato acreage increased by 4.5%.
• Dossier on the global trade of tomato products in 2018/2019.
• A controversy has arisen in Southern Italy around the price of raw materials.
• Conclusions of the report "Lycopene Market by Source, Application, Form, Property and Region – Global Forecast to 2025" released by reportlinker.com.
• Graco developed a dedicated top-performing disinfectant sprayer line: SaniSpray HP.
• The company Liquibox, a worldwide leader in bag-in-box packaging, recently launched an e-commerce website for U.S. based customers.
• A new study carried out in Sweden suggests that packaging sizes should be reduced to help tackle climate change, instead of going plastic-free.
• A group of plant pathologists based at the university of California Davis developed a diagnostic platform to detect the bacterial pathogen Clavibacter michiganensis, responsible for bacterial canker of tomato.
• Weather situation as of end of April: drought ad water shortages in California, significant rainfall in some parts of Europe, high temperatures in China.
• Paste Prices: USA, Spain, Portugal, Italy, China, Chile, as of 15 May 2020.
• Global Trade of Tomato Paste updated 15 May 2020.
• The imports of tomato paste are decreasing in Africa, and three quarters is now coming from China.
• Season update from The Morning Star.
• Michael Mariani was elected as the California League of Food Producers' (CLFP) 20-21 Chair in April.
• The Morning Star launched its new website.
• AMITOM Crop Update as of 22 May 2020.
• Africa: while Nigeria aims for self-sufficiency, Kenya plans to build a new tomato processing plant and Tuta absoluta resurfaced in Nigeria.
• The Pan African firm Development Partners International (DPI) invested heavily in the Tunisian tomato processing and agri-business SICAM, with a view to strengthen SICAM's leading position in Tunisia and developing its export strategy.
• California will see a significant drop in industrial capacity in 2020, following the termination of tomato operations at the Olam's processing plants of Lemoore and Williams, as well as a similar situation with the Unilever BestFoods Ragu factory in Stockton.
• The Dutch company Fytagoras delivered their first doubled haploid tomato plants to customers and intends to intensify the production capacity in the near future.
• California processing intentions as of May 28, 2020.
• Results of La Doria Group rose significantly in the first quarter, due to the CoVid-19 pandemic.
• What troubled times: Martin Stilwell discusses the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in an editorial. 

You can find the individual articles in the NEWS list and/or search by keyword, date etc.