If you’re like most people, you probably never give a great deal of thought to how you can be eating fresh blueberries, or grapes, or asparagus in the cold winter months. Until I started working in the maritime industry, I know I never did. Enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables year-round is more important today than it ever was. More and more Americans are choosing healthier, plant-based diets. But, the real need today is for all of us to eat more foods that will support our immune systems and increase our energy levels. That means fruits and veggies.
Enter the Delaware River (so to speak). Port marketing professionals have long touted our region as the “banana capital of the U.S.” With Del Monte, Dole, and Chiquita all having long-time operations here, that’s a distinction we can claim with honor. What may be less known is that the Delaware River also serves as the U.S. gateway for imported blueberries, primarily coming from Chile, Peru, and Argentina. With a total value of $481 million in 2019, this little berry not only goes great on our Corn Flakes, but it also directly supports hundreds of maritime jobs in the tri state region.
Love those clementines that come by the caseload? Me too. We usually start seeing clementines from Morocco in October, and those are followed by South African fruit shortly thereafter. Delaware River ports are also a key trading partner with Chile. Most of the grapes we eat from December through April are Chilean, and of course equally essential are the many wonderful Chilean wines. In fact, more than 60% of Chile’s exports in this field flow to the U.S. via the Delaware River.
We also see pineapples and melons from Central America, and apples and kiwis from Australia and New Zealand. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But, I can’t leave the subject without mentioning the almost 70 million tons of cocoa beans moving through our region each year that go directly to Hershey’s and other manufacturers to feed the American chocolate addiction. Cocoa beans are technically not fruit, but fruit seeds. Not a whole lot tops a steamy mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s evening, brought to you courtesy of the Delaware River.
In 2018, Delaware River ports handled nearly 700 million tons of break bulk fruit, though many fruits are now moving in containers. Terminal operators throughout the region buzz with activity during what we call “winter fruit season.” In all, imported fruit is responsible for about $143 billion in revenues in our region. And that amount translates into $1.6 billion of direct personal income and another $3.5 billion of indirect personal income and consumption expenditures at local businesses.
But it’s about more than business and local jobs, though these are especially important at a time when our economy is so fragile. Having access to healthy fruits and vegetables means we can enjoy a quality of life all year long that would not be available without international trade through our region’s seaports.