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Wednesday, May 15, 2013 Produce Show Daily PHILLIP GARCIA: MINIMIZING CROSS-BORDER DELAYS Your field operations are producing the highest quality produce. Your sales department is bringing in the best price. Your transportation network is ready to quickly deliver your goods to the U.S. Market. You've got complete control over these processes. Now there is only that pesky little thing called the border, which will determine whether or not your goods will get to the customer on time in farm fresh condition. All of your growing, sales, and logistics efforts can come crashing down if your shipment is delayed for hours, days, weeks, or worse yet, refused admission into the U.S. Here are five areas where you can take control over delays when shipping your fresh produce to the United States. Documentation: The quality of your export documents will determine to a large extent how U.S. Customs (CBP), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and CBP Agriculture will treat your import shipments. Commercial Invoice: Your invoices should describe your product in detail, are required to be in the English Language (or have an English translation), can be in dollars or pesos, but must state which currency, with country of origin declared. Manifest of Goods: This document is the regulatory responsibility of your carrier, but be sure everything that is loaded onto the export conveyance matches exactly with your commercial invoice. NAFTA Certificate of Origin: A properly executed NAFTA document is required at the time of importation. This document can be completed on an annu- NNZ'S SNACK FRESH PACKAGE A FINALIST FOR UNITED FRESH NEW PACKAGING AWARD NNZ Inc.'s Snack Fresh package has been chosen as one of the finalists for the United Fresh New Packaging Award in the "Best New Packaging" category. "We are extremely excited to be recognized for this honor," said Steve Greenfield, Director of Sales and Marketing for NNZ Inc. Snack Fresh is a grab-and-go, highgraphic, earth-friendly and merchandisable package for fresh picked berries, grape tomatoes, or grapes, that comes in portion controlled sizes. It is extremely consumer-friendly (especially for kids) and takes up considerably less retail shelf space, cooler space and distribution channel space than traditional clamshell packaging. One of the big advantages is that it is packed in display ready transport boxes. Snack Fresh is unique in that it meets all the United Fresh packaging award judging criteria. First is marketing. The "Snack Fresh" package has a large real estate that allows for highgraphic images that draw a consumer's attention. Because of the large amount of graphic space on the boxes, a company's branding identity stays intact even into the fresh produce space. Traditional clamshells, with only a small self-adhesive label, don't allow much more than a logo and product information, thereby limiting the branding message. The second is sustainability. Snack SUGAR FOODS PROVIDE TOP-NOTCH INGREDIENTS By Tony Harmon, Vice President of Business Development Sugar Foods Corporation is a leading manufacturer/packager of toppers and ingredients. Our products are offered by leading retailers and foodservice distributors, and are used by restaurants and packers of a wide array of products to enhance flavor, texture and color of their consumer offerings. Sugar Foods covers the toppers category with more than 2,500 SKUs of croutons, tortilla products, wontons and crispy noodles, crispy vegetables, and dried fruit and nuts. Sugar Foods is a leading manufacturer/marketer of stuffing and bread crumbs. Sugar Foods has also developed an ever-growing line of tortilla-based coatings. Innovation through new product development, reformulations of existing products, and packaging is a Sugar Foods keystone. In any given year, the company will add more than 350 items to our product offering. Most of these new product innovations are driven by specific singular customer needs. In February, Sugar Foods was honored by the International Foodservice Distributors' Assocation. (IFDA) as the inaugural recipient of the IFDA Award for Leadership in Product Innovation. At Sugar Foods, our mission statement is summed up in four words: The customer is king. Visit us at the United Fresh Expo at booth No. 348 and let's discuss how we can make you a king. For more information, visit booth 348 at the United Fresh Show, go online to www.sugarfoods.com, call 865-548-1041 or email tharmon@sugarfoods.com. 11 al basis, or for each shipment. Phytosanitary Permits/Certificates: If your fresh produce requires this document, it is imperative that all statements as to description, quantities, and weights match exactly with your commercial invoice. Country of Origin: While your individual produce items are exempt from country of origin marking, your packaging is not. Your shipment can be delayed to mark external packages, or be sent back to Mexico to be marked. Wood packaging: All wood packaging materials (pallets, crates, dunnage, etc.) arriving into the United States are required to have an ISPM-15 marking. Your shipment will be sent back to Mexico if the CBP Agriculture Cargo Inspector cannot readily view these markings. Product labeling: Bulk commodities not put up for retail sales still require certain labeling. The product name (in English), product weight, country of origin, and responsible party (such as exporter, importer, or distributor) are required. cleanliness: CBP Product Agriculture will exam shipments for pests such as snails, insects, worms and other dangerous bugs. It is best to ensure your shipment will pass this examination prior to export. In addition, more produce than ever is being tested by the FDA for pesticides and filth issues such as mold and insect parts. Use a border consolidated service provider who can seamlessly move your goods from the Mexican side to the U.S. side, clear your shipment through U.S. Customs, cross dock or cold store your shipment, and deliver to market. Fresh is made of paperboard. It is highly recyclable and comes from a sustainable renewable resource. The small window in the front can be made of either PP which is recyclable or PLA which is compostable. Consumer convenience is the third criteria. Many times, consumers don't want to buy a large package of fresh produce because they want to eat something healthy immediately. There are very few packaging products that account for that desire. Snack Fresh currently comes in five different portion controlled sizes. These sizes are small enough to accommodate many different products, but also allows the consumer to buy a quick, healthy, grab-and-go, fresh produce alternative to junk food. The hinged locking top makes it easy to reclose for later consumption. An independent shelf life study was performed last year and resulted in a substantially lower weight loss for blueberries and grape tomatoes versus clamshells which yielded a much longer shelf life. Finally, supply chain efficiency/functionality is where Snack Fresh really shines. Because of the height-to-footprint ratio combined with the stackable retail display ready transport box, the Snack Fresh package offers a unique economy of scale allowing for significantly more units to be transported per pallet, thus lowering shipping costs. The package footprint is also specifically designed to deliver twice as much product per foot of retail shelf space as conventional clamshells. Urshel Laboratories (Cont'd from p. 1) driven spirit which has been key to the company's ongoing success all these years," stated Tim O'Brien, Vice President of Sales at Urschel. The E TranSlicer uses the same 20-inch wheel and delivers the same types of cuts as its predecessor, the TranSlicer 2000 Cutter. The machine also accepts the same size infeed of 4inch (102 mm) diameter firm products, more compressible products up to 6 inches (152 mm) in diameter, and offers the same production-proven operating principle. In addition, the E TranSlicer provides a newly designed cutting wheel mount/holder assembly that simplifies cutting wheel changeovers. Hinged/sliding access panels offer full access to all key areas of the machine. To further ease washdowns, surfaces are sloped. Sanitary design ensures that all mechanical components are separated from the food zone. To learn more about Phillip Garcia U.S. Customs Broker, please visit www.phillipgarcia.com or call 956-843-7050. NNZ Inc. will be exhibiting Snack Fresh at the United Fresh Expo in booth 1409. For more information, go online to www.nnz.com and call 800-634-7666. Electrical cables are slightly raised off of the machine frame to simplify washdowns and alleviate trapped food particulates. The E TranSlicer is available with across-the-line start or with a variable frequency drive. Other options include a prep table to assist operators and a remote operator stop button. The integrated electrical box uses circuit breakers instead of fuses and incorporates a brake motor button to easily release the brake when needed. Durable stainless steel guardlocks and sensors offer indicator lights that illuminate when guardlocks are properly engaged. The machine features continuous operation for uninterrupted production. Visit booth 1104 at United Fresh to learn more about the E TranSlicer, email info@urschel.com, call (219) 464-4811, or go online to www.urschel.com.