Flu fear boosting sales of Florida orange juice as industry touts immune system benefits

Wake up and good morning. And while you're at it, have an extra swig of orange juice. Just to be safe(r) against the colds and flu.

Florida's orange juice industry is pounding the message that OJ can help your immune system ... which, by the way, might keep swine flu away. Check out the ad here at the Florida Department of Citrus that has the reassuring voice of Tom Selleck cooing: "Once a day, you can support your immune system."

Yes, it seems OJ is a big beneficiary of the public's belief that drinking more juice might help fend off the spread of H1N1 flu. Analysts say retail orange-juice sales have climbed for the past six months on increased demand from the threat of flu, the approaching winter season and lower retail prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Here's the story.

And quoted in that story is James Cordier (see photo), analyst and founder of Optionsellers.com (part of Liberty Trading Group) in Tampa. We know Cordier best as a commentator on oil prices but at some level OJ and oil are both commodities and that's what Cordier watches. The St. Petersburg Times profiled him three years ago.

 As Cordier is quoted in today's WSJ story:

"I bet that 30% to 40% of the increase in sales that we've seen in orange juice can be attributed to health concerns."

That's just what the doctor ordered for Florida's orange juice crop which is expected to be 16 percent smaller than last year and have lower average prices at the grocery store. The Agriculture Department projects Florida's 2009-10 orange crop at a smaller-than-expected 136 million, 90-pound boxes.

So if a little flu fear can boost sales, so be it.

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist

Can Florida nurture (and retain) talent in state to make it a global competitor?

Wake up and good morning. Every political and economic development leader here at Monday's "Talent Summit" organized by the Florida Chamber of Commerce insists Florida's economy is in an historic transition from old school tourism and agriculture to new age biotech and green energy. The difference is old school requires workers with modest educations and pays below-average wages; new age industries require more sophisticated employees with better training who then earn above-average pay.

The next wave can happen, politicians and business leaders insist, as long as Florida puts a premium on "talent" and by that they mostly mean upgrading Florida's educational system. "As the economy transitions," says Florida Chamber CEO Mark Wilson (in photo), "talent is the new economic currency around the world."

Adds Florida Lieutenant Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, who spoke Monday: "A transformation is taking place in Florida." he told the audience, "Florida will experience a boom such as it's never seen before."

Hey, I'm all for economic transitions and transformations. Nobody's a bigger fan of the idea of raising Florida's educational bar, which at this point a Florida alligator could not limbo under. But I'm still left with that uneasy feeling that our Tallahassee politicians lack the will and discipline to make it happen. And, as was noted repeatedly here Monday by attendees, selling Florida residents (who will continue to be dominated by people over age 60) on the value of paying higher taxes for better schools is clearly an uphill battle.

Here are the five best insights expressed at Monday's Talent Summit:

* Jeff Lyash, Progress Energy executive (in second photo): Florida needs to "accelerate" its upgrading of the state educational system with an emphasis on math and science. "My concern is that we're moving too slow."

* Mark Wilson, Florida Chamber of Commerce CEO: Once considered a cheap state, Florida is now the 19th most expensive state in the country.

* Will Holcombe, chancellor of the "Florida College System" formerly known as the Community College System: 67 percent of Florida high school graduates are now enrolled in some type of postsecondary education, up from 50 percent a decade ago. "That's progress. Just not enough."

* Frank Brogan, recently named chancellor of the state university system: In 1994, Florida's educational system was often compared with (those of) third world nations.

* Jeff Kottkamp, lieutenant governor: Virgin Atlantic chose New Mexico as the site of its fledgling space tourism business, but Kottkamp's confident Florida can lure them here.

The Talent Summit was day one of a series in the Chamber's "Future of Florida" forums. Tuesday is dedicated to the "State of the State" with a focus on more of the six economic drivers -- talent, innovation, infrastructure, business climate, civic and government systems and quality of life -- that underpin Florida going forward.

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist

Florida tomato picker coalition wins more wage gains, looks ahead at Publix Super Markets

Wake up and good morning. The 4,000-member Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group committed to improve the pay and working conditions of Florida tomato pickers, forged a three-way agreement late last week with East Coast Growers and Compass, the world’s largest food-service company. Florida’s tomato business is a $400 million industry. (Photo: Florida tomato pickers, Bill Serne of the St. Petersburg Times.)

The raise means their annual earnings could rise from about $10,000 to between $16,000 and $17,000. Compass will pay a penny and a half more a pound for all tomatoes it buys annually. One cent goes directly to the workers; the other half-cent covers administrative costs. Tomato harvesters will now earn 82 cents for each 32-pound bucket they pick, up from 50 cents per bucket.

Compass also agreed to require a strict code of conduct including a time clock system, worker education, worker input and third-party auditing. It pledged only to buy tomatoes from suppliers that agree to the raise and work standards. Read the details here in the Fort Myers News-Press story.

In a Washington, D.C., ceremony Friday, Compass joined the three biggest fast-food companies — Yum Brands, McDonald’s and Burger King — and Whole Foods (here's a Venture blog post on the Whole Foods deal in June), the largest natural food grocery chain, to sign the agreement.

In a breaking of the ranks, the News-Press reports, East Coast  Growers, Florida’s No. 3 grower, chose to drop out of the powerful tomato industry group, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, in order to pay the increase. The Exchange has refused to pass on the wage gains and threatened to fine any member — 90 percent of the state’s growers — that did.

What's next? According to the News-Press, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers wants to pressure Publix Super Markets to also pay a penny more and improve workers conditions. In October, the grass-roots farm worker group will visit southwest Florida stores, asking to talk about the tomatoes Publix sells and handing out leaflets to customers.

Publix buys tomatoes from Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L’s. Last year, members of the Navarrete family went to federal prison for enslaving 12 men they forced to work on those growers’ farms, according to the News-Press. Here's a more detailed story and also St. Petersburg Times columnist Bill Maxwell's 2002 take on modern slavery in Florida's agriculture world. Publix spokesperson Shannon Patten told the newspaper in an e-mail that "Publix has a long history of non-intervention in disputes between suppliers and their employees. Unfortunately, I don’t have any additional information that would be helpful."

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist

Backed by Whole Foods, Florida tomato pickers gain in penny fight

Wake up and good morning. Here's another modest coup for Florida's tomato pickers. Two Florida farms -- Lady Moon Farms outside Punta Gorda and Alderman Farms, both medium-sized family farms that sell organic produce -- agreed to help increase the wages of the state's tomato pickers in a deal with a farmworker advocacy group and upscale Whole Foods Market.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Whole Foods said the farms will pay pickers 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes sold to the Austin, Texas, based company. Whole Foods will foot the bill. Locally, Whole Foods operates a store in Tampa on North Dale Mabry. (Pickers photo courtesy of Coalition of Immokalee Workers.)

Lady Moon and Alderman are the first Florida tomato growers to sign agreements with Whole Foods Market in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ "penny-per-pound" program, designed to improve wages for tomato harvesters. 

“Lady Moon and Alderman Farms are examples of Florida growers that we are proud to support,” said Karen Christensen, global produce coordinator for Whole Foods Market, in a company statement. “These farms are long-term partners of Whole Foods Market and we look forward to continued growth together."

According to the Immokalee coalition, the 2-farm deal effectively breaks a stalemate established nearly two seasons ago when the Florida Tomato Growers Exchangethreatened to fine any member $100,000 that sold tomatoes under the terms of the CIW agreements. At that time, the coalition says, two Florida growers who had been passing on the penny-per-pound increase under the Taco Bell agreement ceased doing so. Check out this PBS report on the original Taco Bell/tomato victory and this photo essay.

Florida workers earn about 47 cents per 32-pound bucket. That can mean an average of about $12 an hour during the picking season for the hardest workers, usually immigrants who receive no health insurance nor overtime. Here's a more in-depth story from AP.

Meanwhile the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a cooperative, points out that the tomato pickers continue to exaggerate the difficulties of their working conditions. Notes the Exchange: Florida tomato harvesters earn an average of $12.46 per hour, more than double the current federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour and nearly double Florida’s minimum wage of $6.79. The coop also cites increasing cost competition for Florida growers from Mexico, as explained in this recent Miami Herald story.

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist