A very wet winter created difficult planting and scheduling conditions, followed by a spring and summer characterized by durations of extreme hot weather. While most Californians were happy with the rain, which eased concerns of drought, growers and producers struggled with adapting to the atypical climate and growing conditions.
Tomatoes have always laid claim to health benefits such as the reduction of cholesterol levels, lowering hypertension, and providing consumers with the powerful antioxidant lycopene. In addition to those already known,
Our Customer Service group is comprised of a diverse group of colleagues, each committed to their mission of “Consistently delivering the best service experience by providing timely, responsive service with integrity and a commitment to excellence
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) attempted to levy a $1.5 million fine against Morning Star in February 2016. Alleging that the processing factory in Williams, CA violated wastewater laws and completed an unauthorized expansion of wastewater ponds, the RWQCB repeatedly claimed that Morning Star’s actions were “egregious” in nature.
A year ago, the topic of choice for anyone involved in California’s agricultural industry was the drought. Today, we face a record-setting snowpack and concerns over potential flooding in the State. What a difference a year makes!
Morning Star participated in the sixth annual Los Banos Tomato Festival held downtown at the Los Banos Fairgrounds. As the presenting sponsor of the event, we welcomed thousands of visitors to learn about our processes, products, and colleagues.
November 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
Hans Younce has been a part of Morning Star since its inception 26 years ago. Even longer than that, he has known owner and founder Chris Rufer since his days at Ingomar Packing prior to Morning Star – Los Banos being built. He first learned about Morning Star while working at Ingomar but explains, “Chris was branching off to start something new and exciting, and I thought that sounded fun.”
November 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
As expected, global processed tomato production in 2016 decreased in volume from 2015 figures. According to the World Processing Tomato Congress, final quantities processed hit 38.047 million metric tonnes (mT), down from 2015 production of 41.374 mT.
November 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
The California processed tomato market in 2016 saw a significant decrease in total production by over 1.7 million tons from 2015. Final production numbers came in at 12,646,979 tons being processed compared to 2015’s final number of 14,361,188.
November 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
Rick Palmer is a new addition to the Morning Star colleague family, having just joined us last year. He originally met owner and founder Chris Rufer in 1995 when Rick was the Vice President of Operations for Authentic Specialty Foods and was looking for a co-packer.
Estimates for the 2016 AMITOM processed tomato crop were originally expected to be 300,000 metric tons less than last year with planned tonnage at 17.1 million metric tons (18.8 million short tons) in February. Due to adverse weather conditions, new estimates for the 15 AMITOM countries look to be closer to 16.3 million metric tons (mT).
May intentions, recently released by the California Department of Agriculture, show that California’s tomato processors reported that they intend to contract 13 million tons from 262,000 acres this season. This number represents an 11.8% decrease from last year’s final contracted acreage. Contracted production per acre is 49.6 tons/acre, a 1.5 tons/acre increase over the 5-year average and 1.1 tons/acre higher than the prior two years.
Since the end of the 2015 season, Morning Star Colleagues have worked hard preparing for what challenges 2016 has in store for us. Other than standard factory repairs and maintenance, our Colleagues are deeply involved in decisions at each stage of the production process.
In November 2012, California Proposition 37, known as the “Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative,” was placed before voters and failed to pass 51.4% against and 48.6% in favor. Mandatory GMO labeling has historically been a state-level issue; however, opponents to state labeling laws argue that increased costs cause competitive disadvantages for products relative to similar products from other states.
March 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
Derek Azevedo began working for Morning Star before the 2005 season. As a recent graduate of Kansas State University in Animal Science, he began his career in tomatoes working with our Aquisition group, organizing the purchase, management, and ultimate delivery of quality tomatoes for our processing plants.
March 7th, 2016 |. Categories: Uncategorized | Tags:
