The cultivation of chia seeds has been exhibiting an increasing trend around the world, and projected to grow at a significant rate of 8.86% from 2019 to 2024 to reach a market value of USD 450 million by the end of 2024. The use of chia seeds in various food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products is growing globally, and has increased demand for chia seeds growers and helping the entry of new market players.

Organic production in Argentina is becoming increasingly important to international markets, and has the highest levels of quality, equivalent to those of the European Union, Japan and Switzerland. It currently has 3.2 million hectares certified, and ranks second in the world ranking. In the first quarter of the year, we could see a 10% increase in the volume of Argentine exports (of agricultural products) to the United States alone.

The cultivation of chia in Argentina begins in 1991 in the province of Salta. Our producers, Rodriguez Nochetti, grow more than 4,000 acres of organic farmland in Argentina and have been in agriculture for four generations. Harvest has been completed, and its a great time to close your contracts. Demand has dropped and prices are stable, however an increase is foreseen for the end of the season. You can see some photos and videos below! We would love to hear from you at sales@tradelinksa.com if you would like more information!

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Cassava Flour – Non-Allergenic (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free and Nut-Free)

Cassava Flour is gaining momentum as a “go-to” gluten-free, grain-free flour. Being a staple crop to millions of inhabitants in South America and parts of Asia and Africa, cassava flour is extracted from the whole root by peeling, drying and then ground. The process for the production of high-quality cassava flour requires the use of cleaned roots with the bark removed. Peel removal is optional. Roots are chipped and sun-dried on trays or artificially dried. The dried chips can then be reduced in size sufficiently to enable them to be used in standard wheat flour roller mills. Conversion rates can be obtained in excess of 90% this way, compared with 72% for wheat grains.

Cassava flour is gluten, grain and nut-free. It is a calorie-rich vegetable that contains plenty of carbohydrate and key vitamins and minerals. It has a very similar consistency, but it is lighter than all-purpose flour.

The Nature and Uses

Cassava flour is easy to use in recipes in place of traditional grain-based flours or even gluten-free flour blends. One of the best things about using cassava flour is its neutrality in terms of taste. It doesn’t have a dry, strong or unfamiliar taste or texture that often comes with using some gluten-free flours.

It is the most similar to wheat flour, it can be replaced on a 1:1 basis with wheat flour in many recipes, make cassava flour a preferred flour for gluten-free, grain-free baking and cooking.

Low In Calories, Fat and Sugar

Cassava has less than 120 calories for a quarter-cup serving, making it lower in calories than other gluten-free flours. Overall, it has a higher water content, lower fat content and lower calorie density than other flours, including corn, wheat, plantain, almond, coconut, rice and sorghum flour.

Cassava Flour vs. Tapioca Starch

While sometimes the terms cassava flour and tapioca flour are used interchangeably, there are in fact distinct differences. Cassava flour and tapioca flour (also sometimes called tapioca starch) are both made from the same plant — however, they’re from different parts of the plant. The cassava plant itself is brown with rough skin, while the inside is softer and a yellow-white color. Tapioca is the bleached and extracted starch of the cassava root, while cassava flour is more of a “whole food” made from the entire root. Extraction is usually not needed to make cassava flour since it’s naturally grown, peeled, dried and then milled.

Tapioca flour is typically used as a thickener because of its high starch content, while cassava flour contains the fiber from the root that makes it ideal for preparing more structured dishes.

Inexpensive, Sustainable and Easy to Grow

Cassava plants are highly intolerant to stressful environments and can be grown in regions of the world where fresh food is commonly scarce, which is why its considered a sustainable and important security crop for preventing famine.

Cassava plants are grown in over 90 countries worldwide and has been found to assimilate carbon at very high rates under high levels of humidity, withstand high temperatures and solar radiation, and survive in environments whether dry or humid. 

Common Uses

Some of the ways you might want to use cassava flour include adding it to recipes for:

  • Breads, cakes, fries, and noodles
  • Cereal-Based Nonalcoholic Beverages
  • Millet Based Fermented Beverages
  • pizza crust or dough
  • burgers
  • sauces or gravy
  • tempura batter

 

See more our Cassava Flour Market update and Product pages below. We would love you hear from you at sales@tradelinksa.com for more information! To ensure our products stand up to your requirements, we don’t take anything for granted.  Each lot is inspected and analysed by a reputable third party laboratory to ensure the product matches or exceeds the specifications agreed to.

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Tradelink is now able to offer Organic Argentine Raisins, picked directly from the farms which gives us the ability to trace the fruit from farm to the customer!  Our Organic Flame Raisin comes from the flame seedless red grape and are large (1.5 cm), plump, dark red and super sweet-tart. The Organic Thomson Raisins are from seedless sultana grapes, small and sweet, and have a golden colour.

Over ninety percent of Argentine raisins are produced in San Juan Province alongside the Andes mountains in western Argentina. They have high standards of quality and uniformity due to the application of good agricultural practices shared by the producers.

Our raisins are processed using the dehydration method DOV. The DOV (Dried on Vines) system is increasingly in use by producers due to its improved quality, it is also possible to find fruits with different colors, flavors, and above all the absence of mineral residues.

Benefits:

  • No stones.
  • No embedded grit.
  • No embedded sand.
  • No animal contamination.
  • No human contamination.
  • Fewer embedded stems.

With high-tech equipment and state-of-the-art processing plants, we are able to provide our customers with superior quality Organic Raisins. Argentina’s raisin production is forecast stable at 44,000 metric tons (MT) in CY 2020. Exports are forecast up to 40,000 MT on higher production over last year ) due to favorable conditions during the production season.

The raisin sector has benefitted from recent capital investment for the incorporation of new technology to obtain larger raisin volumes for processing and a higher-quality, more competitive product for export. This investment includes the incorporation of laser and x-ray technology to improve speed, efficiency, and accuracy for mechanical harvesting and processing. Private investments have also focused on irrigation systems to optimize water usage.

Read more on our raisins here, or email sales@tradelinksa.com!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Stock Footage by <a href=”http://videezy.com/”>Videezy!</a>

 

New Zealand

 

https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/106191/guy-trafford-tracks-underlying-demand-china-animal-feed-and-notes-product-moves-no

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https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/122197449/government-to-invest-114-million-in-agricultural-technology

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https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/106218/angus-kebbell-explores-how-land-use-diversification-can-build-value-farming

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Australia

https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/6851017/chinese-cotton-merchants-collapse-leaves-industry-spinning/?cs=5384

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https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/6849165/special-contracts-offered-to-help-fix-aussie-rice-shortage/?cs=4736

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https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/6847842/wines-big-three-vineyard-zones-survive-savage-season-quite-well/?cs=4736

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/25/australian-farmers-call-for-separation-between-foreign-relations-and-trade-ties-with-china

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South America

Forest restoration, not just halting deforestation, vital to Amazon

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https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/6844977/big-future-for-nuseeds-fourth-crop/

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https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2020/07/22/EU-Mercosur-deal-faces-mounting-opposition-as-soy-and-beef-exports-drive-deforestation-in-Brazil

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Food Updates

Horticultural lighting is a healthy ingredient for sustainable food production

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40 percent of leading food giants now have dedicated plant-based teams

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https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/eat/five-guys-cult-us-burger-chain-finally-coming-to-australia-and-new-zealand/news-story/4a28c56584de268fd6a80588023f12a3

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https://www.agrinews-pubs.com/2020/07/27/future-of-food-lusk-shares-ag-industry-outlook/a6lwsur/

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Argentina’s organic production has the highest levels of quality, ranking second place worldwide with more than 3.2 million organic certified hectares. In the first 5 months of this year, US$ 41 million worth of dried shelled chickpeas have been separated for sowing, compared to the US$ 23 million in the same period last year. Chickpeas are an item that has been growing at rates of more than 10 percent per year and that has enormous opportunities, since the global demand on the rise.

Argentina ranks 7th worldwide in the chickpea market, its advantages for its organic production is its fertile soils, water availability, and a variety of regional economies that can become organic. Also opposite seasons to buyer countries means Argentina can provide them with products they can’t produce.   Organic activity is regulated by law and certification is mandatory before any product can be called such. Obtaining a certificate takes a minimum of two to three years and can be expensive. But growing international demand makes it worthwhile and profitable.

The Chamber of Pulses of the Argentine Republic celebrated the opening of new tariff items, a measure that will also favor foreign trade in chickpeas. The importance of being able to distinguish from now on, the categories of peas and chickpeas, is to exports make more transparent, correctly segmented according to variety, quality and prices, which will allow us to improve commercial efficiency. It will be possible to differentiate the different sizes of chickpeas that Argentina exports, distinguishing their sizes and qualities.

In 2019, more than 100,000 tons of chickpeas, (over 50 million dollars) were exported to 55 countries. The production for 2020 is estimated at 120 thousand tons, with over 80% going towards exports. Most of the production and industrialization is done in Córdoba. In Cordoba the sowing of the 37,500 hectares estimated for the 20/21 campaign has already finished, the general condition is very good.

In Tucuman, the weather conditions that have characterized the first half of 2020 with a marked water shortage, and has not favored the planting of winter crops. Despite this, many Tucuman producers have chosen to bet on these crops.

Regarding pests, the specialist explained that at this time of year, given the low temperature environmental conditions, chickpea cultivation does not show major problems. In any case, preventive monitoring is being carried out in case pests should appear.

Tradelink can offer Organic Chickpeas direct from the Argentine farms. To ensure our products stand up to your requirements, we don’t take anything for granted.  Each lot is inspected and analysed by a reputable third party laboratory to ensure the product matches or exceeds the specifications agreed to.

Each one of our orders are tracked by our operations staff and weekly updates are sent to our client with information on the progress of the order, shipping information and any issues we foresee, such as delays in the shipping channels or ports. We guarantee full traceability of its products entirely complying with your demands. Please email sales@tradelinksa.com for more information!

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Stock Footage by <a href=”http://videezy.com/”>Videezy!</a>

We are now securing orders with our USA clients for high quality Organic White Long Grain Rice. This product cleaned in the US and available DDP East and West coast as of end of July. We have over 160MT in stock, and the price is sharp!

We have been working with our supply chain for over 10 years now, and can provide our customers with a clean, unstained product. The product is free from antibiotic, insecticide and herbicide residues and chemical fertilizer and TradeLink International works with quality assurance certifiers such as Control Union to check each container load as it is loaded.

Please email sales@tradelinksa.com for more information!

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Stock Footage by <a href=”http://videezy.com/”>Videezy!</a>

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New Zealand

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/122152018/horticulture-aims-to-spearhead-new-zealands-postcovid-recovery

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‘Beef price must be addressed urgently’

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https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/6831629/smashing-pumpkins/

 

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https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/106066/government%E2%80%99s-new-food-and-fibre-reset-document-pr-aspiration-fluff-hard-work

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Australia

 

https://www.theaustralianfarmer.com/rural-labourers-to-dry-up-in-aus-agricultural-sector

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https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/6841234/wa-rains-consolidate-big-national-crop-outlook/?cs=4699

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https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/6840595/whopper-rain-stabilises-wa-yield-potential/?cs=4714

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https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/6834748/wheat-heat-tolerance-ratings-could-be-on-their-way/?cs=4714

 

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South America

https://en.mercopress.com/2020/07/09/polynesian-sweet-potato-mystery-solved-epic-transoceanic-journey-to-south-america

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https://www.dinero.com.sv/en/economy/agricultural-exports-from-latin-america-expand-8-5-while-total-foreign-sales-fall-30.html

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Mapping Chinese interests in South American soy and beef

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Food Updates

 

Have You Tried Baking with Oat Hull Fiber?

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https://www.world-grain.com/articles/13967-excitement-over-wheat-genome-sequencing-grows

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https://www.agrinews-pubs.com/2020/07/19/local-food-trends-home-delivery-meal-kits-gain-popularity/ap32d6b/

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https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2020/07/20/PepsiCo-Future-Brands-talks-agile-innovation-We-are-identifying-which-trends-will-stay-versus-yesterday-s-fad#

 

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We are now shipping the first loads of the South American blueberry crop! Due to the demand for Blueberries, now is the best time to negotiate supply so we can work with you and our growers to secure your graded and packed IQF Fruit to your specifications. From the orchards to your company, we manage every detail of growing, processing, freezing and delivering our Frozen Fruit to assure a clean, wholesome product.

We have been operating in South America in the frozen fruit and vegetable market since 1994 and have had vast experiences not only with growers in the region, all of which comply with Global Gap and all traceability standards and pesticide policies.

Please email sales@tradelinksa.com for pricing and any questions you have.

 

Teff Update 2020

Teff is a staple food crop of Ethiopia, having originated and diversified there. It has been introduced to South Africa where it is cultivated as a cover and forage crop while it is cultivated as a cereal crop in Northern Kenya. The international teff market is expected to grow at the rate of 12.3% in the forecast period 2020 to 2027. This grain can be effortlessly combined in a low-calorie diet, vegetarian meals, stamina bars, and wholesome snacks – these attributes makes teff an ideal plant-based substitute over other alternate products available during the forecast period of 2020 to 2027.

Currently, Ethiopia is the largest teff producing country, producing 90 percent of the world’s teff, however it is not among the biggest teff exporters in the world. This is due to manifold reasons, one of which is the fact that teff cultivation is not yet at par with modern means of production.  It is the only country to have adopted teff as a staple crop and has the highest teff diversity globally. This ancient grain is a staple for 50 million people in the country with citizens across 7 million households working together to harvest the grain, which covers over 3 million acres of land in Ethiopia. However, the teff market here is limited by the government’s export ban. Instead, other countries such as USA are increasingly participating in the teff market.

As well locust devouring the teff crops in East Africa and the Middle East, dramatic temperature increases projected in Ethiopia by 2070 could force farmers to grow it only in mountainous areas at higher altitudes, driving down production at a time when food is already scarce and the population is rising. Teff, however, has secrets hidden within its DNA. For the first time, scientists have mapped the grain’s massive diversity, consisting of 3,850 known types. Each has unique characteristics, or “traits,” allowing them to cope with different environmental conditions. Farmers may be able to combat this by combining low-yielding types cultivated in hot areas, with highly productive types grown in cold areas, to get a highly productive, heat-tolerant grain.

Teff contains high and unique nutritional values, which will meet the need of health-conscious consumers. Retail prices of Teff, which had recorded atypical increases between December 2019 and March 2020, increased firmly again in April 2020. This increase could be due to production not being able to keep up with the fast-growing market demand.

Tradelink International has close monitoring of every stage of our production process from cultivation to processing and even up to final delivery. Packaging is usually specified by the customer, although our most common method is 1000kg tote bags. Please email us at sales@tradelinksa.com if you would like more information!
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New Zealand

 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018754714/regenerative-agriculture-road-show

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https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/122076010/what-happened-spring-jim-ward-has-managed-nzs-largest-farm-for-20-years

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https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018753418/the-gift-of-a-farm

 

 

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Australia

 

Big boost for small-scale and craft agribusinesses

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https://www.theaustralianfarmer.com/harvest-trail-employment-service-expanded-to-meet-labour-shortfall

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https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/6830751/patchy-rain-eases-crop-concerns/?cs=4785

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South America

https://en.mercopress.com/2020/07/09/polynesian-sweet-potato-mystery-solved-epic-transoceanic-journey-to-south-america

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Free seeds and South America without Transgenic Crops

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Latin American business leaders see pain, promise in post-pandemic economy

Food Updates

https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2020/07/13/Trimona-combines-Bulgarian-yogurt-with-superfoods-to-create-yogurt-snack

 

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The Importance of Proofing

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https://www.world-grain.com/articles/13937-whole-grains-lower-risk-of-diabetes-study-finds

 

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https://en.mercopress.com/2020/07/08/world-2020-cereal-production-forecasted-to-reach-new-record

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