Author: Timothy Wahome (Timothy Wahome)

Coffee value addition in Ethiopia gaining via foreign investments
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Coffee value addition in Ethiopia gaining via foreign investments

As Ethiopia navigates a possible 10% tariff by its biggest coffee market, the United States, value addition in the country is improving. According to the Ethiopian Herald, foreign investors have pooled $10 million since 2022 towards export value addition. The investments could expand the marginal export share of value added coffee, currently at 1% of the...

US groceries e.g. eggs and milk
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Easter eggs in the United States too pricey for rite of spring

A drop in wholesale prices has not stopped eggs to remain expensive at American grocers, downsizing Easter rites.  Holiday weekend demand could keep retail rates at $6.23 for a large dozen and spoil seasonal fun. One fun tradition is “dye Easter eggs,”where folks use natural ingredients or food grade chemicals to color hard-boiled eggs. A survey reveals...

Salmon fisheries in California reopen for recreational harvest only
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Salmon fisheries in California reopen for recreational harvest only

California has reopened its lucrative salmon fisheries after a 36-month hiatus but kept commercial fisheries shut.  The state’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (CDFW) on April 15, 2025 outlined limited openings for the sporting harvest. This limitation follows recommendations by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) that ocean stock are still recovering from adverse climate. Similar suggestions led to...

An apple a day for 363 years comes of age in South Africa 
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An apple a day for 363 years comes of age in South Africa 

South Africa on April 17 is marking 363 years since the first apple tree produced fruit on local soil. Over 150 years after Vasco Da Gama circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope, Jan van Riebeeck planted the first apple seedlings here.  The first harvest of two Witte Wijnappel apples on April 17, 1662 would then shape the...

Beef
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American retail beef steady despite Far East trade stoppage

A few days after China halted its beef imports from the U.S. to counter tariffs, American retail markets show price steadiness. In its April 7, 2025 weekly retail beef release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed marginal movements among cuts. While sirloin steak increased from $7.72 a pound to $9.40 week-on-week, boneless top sirloin roast shed...

Aussie avocados breaking 12-year silence in China market
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Aussie avocados breaking 12-year silence in China market

Industry body, Avocados Australia, could finally gain the export chance it has been awaiting since 2013 if China clears the Aussie fruit. The first breakthrough occurred in November 2024 at the China International Import Expo, where both sides signed an avocado deal.  Since then, the industry has secured pre-orders valued at A$300 million ($190.5 million) with Shanghai Huizhan...

Kiwifruit
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Vietnam spurs New Zealand’s price-unfeeling fruit exports

Even at a time when New Zealand is experiencing uptick food prices, exports of local fruits to Vietnam is flourishing. Outbound shipments seem not to affect fruit prices, which were domestically cheaper by 2% year-on-year (y-o-y) in March 2025. This is happening despite other foods getting costlier by 3.5%, y-o-y.  In 2024, New Zealand shipped some NZ$172...

Sugar pricing turning bearish from a barrage of factors
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Sugar pricing turning bearish from a barrage of factors

Multiple market factors from falling oil prices, demand fears and tariffs have undercut the pricing of global sugar up to mid-April 2025.   Early on the 14th, unrefined sugar in New York shed -0.88% day-on-day while white sugar in London eased -0.53%.  By the morning of April 15, most trade was below $0.18 a pound, continuing a...

Almonds from California cracking China tariffs, wary of India
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Almonds from California cracking China tariffs, wary of India

A need by California to deter markets like India from following China’s tariff example is lately underpinning the state’s outbound almonds. First it was a dip in almond prices in March 2025 amid annual acreage shrinkage, and now it is tariffs.  Before the current trade war, California had it all, including the removal of reciprocal duty by...

Milk
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Spot milk prices fall in the UK while Germany whips more cheese

Milk dairies in the UK report reduction in spot prices from oversupply even as dairy demand in Germany strongly favors cheese. On April 11, 2025, Farmers Weekly reported that farmers in England are finding alternatives for their excess milk. Some have been opting to sell the surplus at throw away rates to competitor dairies as their traditional...