May 3, 2025 marks the exhilarating 2-minute Kentucky Derby gallop, with mint, shrimp and Brussels sprouts gracing the race’s usually pricey menu. Food has been the heart and soul behind this grand race of the American South since its 1875 kick-off. The yearly meet excels with a julep mint cocktail, whose ingredients include water, mint leaves, ice and premium rum. According...
Fresh apple prices in Poland stable late April 2025
Fresh produce markets in Krakow and Warsaw, Poland, showed stability in apple prices in the week ending April 29, 2025. Retail offers among Krakow’s grocers were at least 3.77 euro ($4.29) a kg, with a maximum 4.19 euro ($4.77). The 15 varieties available in Poland’s wholesale markets stabilised week-on-week at 0.54-0.63 euro ($0.61-0.72) a kg. Golden Delicious and Gala started from...
Beet sugar turns bearish with prices in Europe at break even
Beet and sugar pricing in Europe have both turned bearish, forcing farmers to reduce the cultivated area. Prices for raw beets were down by 35% year-on-year in Europe by February 2025, to 541 euro ($617) a tonne. This downturn has France’s sugar processor Tereos estimating that farmers in Europe will cut their 2025 planting area by 9%. Could this decline help...
Spring lobster season in P.E.I starts amid fisheries’ dredging
The Prince Edward Island or P.E.I. in Atlantic Canada began its lobster spring season on April 25, amid selective harbor dredging. Although 2025 prospects are high, the possible effect of tariffs on landing prices beclouds the sector. Early Opening Fisheries this year also open earlier than in 2024 when windy conditions had delayed the season to May 3. For 2025, northern and southeastern shores including...
TZ ends agricultural embargo on two SADC members
A retaliatory ban on agricultural imports from two South African Development Community (SADC)’s members by TZ has ended amicably. The lifting of the temporary embargo came just two days after Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe had halted agricultural imports. A statement by the Plant Health and Pesticide Authority of Tanzania (TPHPA) on late April 26, 2025 cited diplomacy for the...
The PH rice program at 20 peso/kg draws embattled Vice President’s comments
Vice President Sara Duterte of the PH has kicked a hornet’s nest after suggesting that the 20 peso ($0.35)-per-kg rice ought to be “fit for human consumption.” Duterte, who awaits an impeachment trial just before upcoming elections, reiterated that such cheap palay is often for pigs. Fresh from a Hague visit, where her former President father faces trial, Duterte connected...
Humble Feast: Remembering Pope Francis Through His Favorite Foods
In a world that often equated power with extravagance, Pope Francis stood apart. His reign was marked not by opulence but by a quiet rebellion against it — a life built on simplicity, reflection, and the small, deliberate joys that defined his spirit. Now, even as the Vatican’s grand halls mourn his passing, it is perhaps at his humble table...
The Brazil soy sector lopes 2025 exports higher
Record production and less biodiesel blend percentage point to uptick soy product exports by Brazil in 2025, the industry says. According to the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove) on April 23, 2025, a bumper soy harvest at 170 million tonnes will push exports. The tally captures the output of the erstwhile harvest in February 2025, which was promising even during the...
Tanzania expands key agricultural plan, temporarily bans regional imports
Tanzania is launching an ambitious agricultural corridor plan on April 27, 2025, amid a surprise ban on agri-food imports from South Africa and Malawi. The East African nation boasts crop and livestock product diversity that inform both its ambitious agricultural plans and exports. Indeed, just before the retaliatory ban, the country announced the upcoming launch of the Agricultural Growth Corridors of...
The Türkiye apricot sector pines after past export glory following snowfall
A spring snow hail on April 10-12, 2025 that blighted apricot fields in Türkiye is bringing back recent export memories. The eastern Mediterranean nation cumulatively exported $330 million worth of apricots in the half decade ending 2024, reports Daily Sabah. Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is restoring orchards for the 2026 crop. However, valuable apricot export records inevitably inform the rehabilitation. From...