All thawed out
Tis the season for celebrations and stress on the supply chain. While every industry has its own peak season, it is without a doubt that time of year for Christmas trees. The logistics behind getting thousands of live Christmas trees into consumers’ homes before they start to turn brown is impressive.
The stats behind the trees:
- Every year, nearly 25 million-30 million trees are sold across the United States and placed in homes.
- There are 15,000 specialized farms for growing Christmas trees based in every state, and most are in Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, New York and Virginia.
- Consumers can buy real trees on Amazon now.
The real trees are shipped typically in dry vans or reefer trailers to maintain freshness as long as possible during the season. Some shippers even request trees be transported on ice to maximize longevity.
Around the beginning of November, the Christmas tree supply chain really ramps up. Trees are harvested and there’s a push to get them moving. Typically the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving will see the emergence of fir trees on trailers.
But no matter where it comes from, there will always be the debate on which is better: a real tree or a fake one.
Temperature Checks
Put a big win on the board for the Global Cold Chain Alliance, as it was able to get some restrictions surrounding imports of meat and poultry into the U.S. revised. Previously, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) had a rule that an import house (I-House) must be within a 50-mile radius of a U.S. port of entry.
According to a news release, “‘I- House’ designation means a storage warehouse has been permitted to serve as a holding area for goods called for import inspection by FSIS. ‘I-House’ status is granted by FSIS and comes with several requirements around the separation of products and making available space and equipment to conduct inspections. The rule change ends a longstanding policy requirement that ‘I-House’ status would only be granted to facilities within a 50-mile radius of a US Port of Entry.”
Through the advancements in the supply chain and technology around visibility, the removal of this rule will allow more organizations to become import houses and increase import efficiencies.
“For facilities more than 50 miles from a port of entry, FSIS will consider factors such as: 1) the availability of inspection program personnel to staff the establishment; 2) the expected volume of product; and 3) the hours the establishment would be operating. FSIS will assess these factors to help ensure that potential official import inspection establishments have a consistent work schedule that would provide for the efficient and effective use of FSIS import inspection personnel.”
Food and drug
Frozen food giant Conagra Brands has published its 2025 frozen food trend report. Frozen food is a $91 billion industry and is expected to continue to grow over the next few years as consumers look to make the swap to quick-fix options.
Some of the most important trends identified in the report:
- Consumers are looking for healthier options. There has been a rise in demand for foods that cater to gut health, portion control and other dietary restrictions.
- Premium options are on the rise. Consumers are swapping to frozen foods over eating out and therefore are looking for elevated options to enjoy at home.
- In a bit of a surprise, there is higher demand for international flavors. Indian-inspired dishes, Japanese flavors and other “street food” flavors are on the rise as younger generations are 24% more likely to purchase globally inspired products.
- Smaller portions or little bites and snacks are ever-growing. Everything from dessert bites to snacks is more appealing to families and younger consumers, with sales increasing to $2.4 billion.
The report focused on consumer buying patterns through a generational lens. Companies are trying to get more information on how millennials and Gen Z shop and their buying habits as they’re the future of frozen food. For example, there has never been stronger demand for international foods.
Cold chain lanes
This week’s market under a microscope is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Reefer outbound tender rejection levels have sharply risen heading into the holidays, taking a 492-basis-point increase week over week to top out at 6.36% rejections. Reefer outbound tender volumes haven’t kept pace with rejections, which has created a reefer capacity crunch in the market.
Reefer spot rates will continue to rise over the next two weeks as carriers transition to skeleton crews and shippers wind down operations for the year. Spot rates will start to mimic those leading up to Thanksgiving until the new year, when stability will return for a brief moment in time.
Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!
Shelf life
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Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at [email protected].
See you on the internet.
Mary
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The post Running on Ice: The one with all the trees appeared first on FreightWaves.
