March 16, 2018
CapitalPress.com
9
Bob’s Red Mill begins exporting to Japan
By RICHARD SMITH
For the Capital Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Idaho-Eastern Oregon Seed Association Executive Director Roger
Batt, right, speaks with leaders of the state’s dry bean industry
in Boise last week after speaking with lawmakers about the two
industries’ concerns about soybean production in Idaho. They will
introduce a bill soon that would ban soybean production in south-
western and southcentral Idaho.
Idaho Bean Commission
may drop idea of banning
soybean production
ed to help you grow out
some trials of varieties,” he
said.
BOISE — Idaho’s dry
IBC Administrator Andi
bean industry might drop Woolf-Weibye said the in-
its proposal to ban soybeans dustry will have a lot of
from being grown in some discussions this year with
parts of the state and instead possible stakeholders such
as the dairy and
help pave the
livestock
in-
way for that
dustries “to get
crop to be
the barometer
grown here.
of the industry
Soybean
to see where
acres in Idaho
they
would
have fluctuat-
ed between a
like to go with
few dozen and
this.”
a couple hun-
IBC Com-
dred, but some
missioner Mike
people believe
Goodson said
Associated Press File it’s
it’s only a
important
matter of time The Idaho Bean Com-
to get ahead of
before they in- mission is considering
the issue and he
crease because exploring ways to ensure
would like to
of the state’s people interested in grow-
have a source
large dairy and ing soybeans in the state
of certified dis-
cattle indus- have a source of seed that ease-free soy-
tries.
is certified disease-free and bean seed avail-
able in the next
Idaho Bean grows well in the region.
24 months.
Commission
“If the dairy or other in-
representatives told leg-
islators this year they are dustries want soybeans to
concerned about soybeans be grown here, then let’s
bringing in plant diseases make sure they’re safe for
such as soybean cyst nema- the bean industry as well,”
tode that could be harmful to he said.
dry beans.
A proposal by the IBC to
place a moratorium on soy-
bean production in south-
central and southwestern
Idaho, where the state’s dry
bean industry is centered,
has not turned into legisla-
tion because lawmakers ap-
parently are not convinced
that soybeans pose a real
threat to dry beans, IBC
Commissioner Don Tolmie
told Capital Press.
The commission may now
shift its focus to exploring
ways to ensure people inter-
ested in growing soybeans in
Idaho have a source of seed
that is certified disease-free
and grows well in the region.
During their regular
meeting Dec. 7, IBC com-
missioners talked about the
idea of bringing soybeans
under the umbrella of the
bean commission, which
would mean seed for that
crop would have to face the
same strict testing guidelines
that require dry bean seed to
undergo serology testing and
be certified disease-free.
If legislators aren’t going
to accept the industry’s con-
cerns, “then we are going to
have to do something differ-
ent and it seems to me the
only way we can do some-
thing different is to ... start
our own soybean production
under the umbrella of the
Idaho Bean Commission so
we can monitor it and con-
trol it,” Tolmie said.
“We can’t fight it so we
might as well make sure it’s
done safely,” said IBC Com-
missioner Gina Lohnes.
To ensure there is a sup-
ply of disease-free soybean
seed that is adapted to the
region’s growing conditions,
the IBC is talking with Clint
Shock, the retiring director
of Oregon State University’s
Malheur County agriculture
experiment station in Ontar-
io.
Shock has been research-
ing and testing soybean vari-
eties in the area for 30 years
and told IBC commissioners
he would be happy to assist
anyone interested in grow-
ing soybeans in the region.
“I would be delight-
CHIBA CITY, Japan
— Bob’s Red Mill, a niche
natural foods company in
Milwaukie, Ore., started ex-
porting to Japanese custom-
ers about six months ago.
The employee-owned
company’s certified organic,
non-GMO and gluten-free
milled grain products can
now be found in several
prominent retail chains in
Bob’s Red Mill
this country including Cost-
co Japan, National Azabu The Bob’s Red Mill store and restaurant in Milwaukie, Ore. The
natural foods company has begun exporting its products to Japan
and Jimmy’s in Okinawa.
Bob’s Red Mill’s prod- and exhibited at the recent Foodex in Chiba City.
ucts are also sold at baker-
ies, and can be ordered on cialty flours, muesli and gra- world, attracting more than
Amazon Japan, company ex- nola at the Foodex interna- 3,000 exhibitors. Since 1976
port regional sales manager tional food trade show, held it has brought together food
March 6-9.
Sandi Funk said.
exporters from around the
Foodex Japan is among world, and buyers from with-
The company showcased
its oats, baking flours, spe- the largest food expos in the in and outside Japan.
Most exhibitors group
themselves under their coun-
try’s pavilion, although some
prefer to exhibit alongside
companies producing similar
products, with a small num-
ber exhibiting independently.
Bob’s Red Mill was in the
U.S. pavilion.
“We’re here to meet some
additional retailers,” Funk
said.
“(Bluff Bakery in Yoko-
hama) used our flour to make
bread that we’re sampling,”
she said.
Ryuhei Suzuki, represen-
tative director for Upperleft,
a Tokyo company that im-
ports Bob’s Red Mill prod-
ucts, said not many stores in
Japan yet carry organic prod-
ucts. “But there are many
(consumers) who are looking
for better-quality products,”
Suzuki said.
Washington apple prices drop more
By SEAN ELLIS
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Just as some analysts predict-
ed a month ago, Washington
apple prices have continued to
slide due to a large state and
national crop and apparently
anemic consumer demand.
Wholesale prices aver-
aged $24 per 40-pound fresh
packed box season-to-date on
March 1 for all grades and siz-
es of the main varieties, said
Desmond O’Rourke, retired
Washington State University
agricultural economist and
world apple analyst. Without
Honeycrisp in the mix, the av-
erage is $21.50 per box.
“That’s probably a little
higher than it really is because
the season started later and at
high prices,” O’Rourke said.
The average is skating
along just above break-even
for growers, and marketers
need greater movement to get
prices back, he said. Break-
even averages about $20 per
box with $12 for packing
and marketing and $8 for the
grower, he said.
Tom Riggan, general man-
ager of Chelan Fresh Market-
ing, said he thinks prices will
rebound as the crop shrinks
but that this year is definite-
ly more difficult for growers
than the previous two years.
The main varieties outside
Honeycrisp O’Rourke sur-
veyed were Red Delicious,
Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji,
Golden Delicious and Cripps
Pink.
As of March 6, USDA
tracking of average asking
prices among Yakima and
Wenatchee shippers for extra
fancy (standard grade) medi-
um size 80 and 88 apples per
packed box was $12 to $15
for Red Delicious, down $1
on the low end and stable on
the high end since Feb. 9.
Most of the main varieties
have slid $1 to $2 per box or
more in the past two months,
according to USDA, with
only Honeycrisp gaining due
to less supply. Proprietary va-
rieties, while small in volume,
are doing well in price, and
organics are doing well.
A lot of small fruit pulls av-
erage prices down but grow-
ers with large fruit are doing
OK with Gala 72s and larger
over $26 per box, O’Rourke
said.
“We’re seeing some retail
prices we haven’t seen in a
while. The WinCo store in
Moscow, Idaho, had 3-pound
bags of Fuji, Gala, Reds and
Grannies for 97 cents per
bag,” O’Rourke said. “I was
blown away by that price. It
tells you some marketers are
under pressure to move prod-
uct. This is a tough time of the
year for the apple market. The
next couple of months could
be a real challenge.”
Prices usually stabilize in
January when crops are small-
er, but that didn’t happen this
year, he said.
His own index of move-
ment and prices shows con-
sumers spending 3.5 percent
less on apples in general na-
tionwide, he said.
Marketers may have “un-
derestimated the strength of re-
tail demand this year. It’s slug-
gish overall for fresh apples,”
O’Rourke said. “This year will
cause a lot of head-scratching
over what to do next, how fast
to push ahead with new vari-
eties and organics, how many
Red Delicious orchards to take
out when you still need some
for export.”
Nationally, there were
77.3 million boxes of fresh
apples in storage on March 1,
11 percent more than a year
earlier, according to the U.S.
Apple Association. Process-
ing apple inventory was also
up 11 percent at 33.3 mil-
lion boxes. That’s apples for
sauce, juice and baked ingre-
dients. Total apples were 17
percent above the five-year
average for March 1.
Washington accounts for
the bulk of the national fresh
crop and was at 68 million
boxes sold on March 1 ver-
sus 72.6 million a year ago.
Washington has the same
amount, 68 million, still in
storage.
The total 2017 Wash-
ington crop was estimated
at 135.6 million boxes on
March 1, down 6.7 million
from a high of 142.3 million
on Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, accord-
ing to the Washington State
Tree Fruit Association.
There has been “consid-
erable diversion” of fresh
apples to processing with the
estimated size of the process-
ing crop up 5 to 6 percent,
while the fresh crop has fall-
en nearly the same amount,
O’Rourke said.
11-3/102