The deal takes additional escalation of tariffs by both countries off the table but is lacking specifics on when existing tariffs on US fresh produce and other agricultural commodities will be removed.

The Office of the US Trade Representative said in December that the agreement requires structural reforms to China’s economic and trade rules in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.

The deal also has a commitment by China, according to the USTR, that it will make substantial additional purchases of US goods and services in the coming years.

Richard Owen, vice president of global membership and engagement for the Produce Marketing Association, said in a Dec. 13 e-mail that the deal is a good sign that trade relations are thawing of trade relations between the two countries.

However, the discouraging part of the announcement is that the tariffs imposed by China do not appear to be addressed in the phase one agreement, he said. “The tariffs currently in place by China range from 10% on frozen vegetables and fruit juices, up to 50% on fresh apples, cherries, oranges, grapes and plums.”

The dispute with China had its beginning on May 10 last year, when President Trump increased duties on USD200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10% to 25%. China retaliated in July last year with 40% retaliatory tariffs. US fresh non-citrus fruit exports to China from November 2018 to October 2019 totalled USD110.3 million, down 18% from USD122.2 million in 2018 and 44% down from USD177 million in 2017.US fresh citrus exports from November 2018 to October 2019 totalled USD23.7 million in 2019, down 61% from USD60.5 million in 2018 and 57% down from USD54.5 million in 2017. The Packer

Shares of energy-drinks expert Monster Beverage have absolutely crushed the market over the last decade, report Nasdaq. The stock returned a whopping 896% since the end of 2009. Over the last two years, however, Monster’s shares traded almost exactly sideways, with a total gain of 1%.

The company then known as Hansen Natural posted full-year net sales of USD1.14 billion in 2009. Energy drinks were still a relatively new and exciting concept, and the company’s flagship brand of Monster Energy was stealing market share from arch-rival Red Bull on a regular basis. A decade later, Monster has changed its name and replaced a ramshackle distribution system with a global partnership with Coca-Cola. As part of that deal, Monster now manages all of Coke’s energy-drink products, while the soft-drink giant took over Hansen’s non-energized juice and fruit-flavoured products. Coca-Cola also holds a 17% ownership stake in Monster Beverage.

Now ‘workout’ is the new rage in energy drinks

A brand new category of energy drinks entered the market in a big way last year, led by the workout-boosting drink known as Bang Energy from privately held company Vital Pharmaceuticals. Monster was quick to launch its own workout-energy drink, Reign Total Body Fuel. Vital Pharma and Monster have been slinging lawsuits at each other since the spring of 2019, with each company arguing that the other is using unfair business tactics of various forms.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola introduced a Coke-branded energy drink in dozens of international markets with plans to extend this new brand into the US next year. Nasdaq

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One of the Okanagan Valley’s largest brands has changed hands in a USD89.3 million agreement. Sun-Rype Products Ltd. was founded in 1946, and produces juices and fruit snacks in Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley. It also operates two other facilities in Washington.

Lassonde Industries Inc., which is based in Quebec, announced that they have completed the acquisition of Sun-Rype and its two US affiliates from The Jim Pattison Group for USD89.3 million, further to the satisfaction of closing conditions. Lassonde entered an agreement to acquire Sun-Rype back in October, 2019.

The amount includes USD9.3 million in preliminary working capital adjustments, and as part of the transaction, Lassonde assumed USD21 million in liabilities related to long-term leases for the three facilities. KelownaNow

Washington State University researchers have for the first time grown the bacteria in a laboratory that causes Citrus Greening Disease, considered the world’s most harmful citrus disease.

Being able to grow the elusive and poorly understood bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), will make it easier for researchers to find treatments for the disease that has destroyed millions of acres of orange, grapefruit and lemon groves around the world and has devastated the citrus industry in Florida.

WSU was selected three years ago for a USD2 million US Department of Agriculture grant to study the bacteria. The disease, formally known as Huánglóngbìng, (HLB), is spread by Asian citrus psyllids insects. It attacks the vascular system of citrus trees and causes fruit to become green, misshapen, and bitter-tasting.

A critical step in coming up with weapons to fight the disease is being able to study it in the lab, but the CLas bacterium is notoriously difficult to grow. With a small genome, CLas is thought to depend on very specific nutrient availability and possibly compounds secreted by other nearby bacteria.

Using infected citrus tissue as their starting point, the researchers developed a biofilm, a kind of bacterial city that allows a variety of bacteria to thrive. Instead of a rich growth medium that would crowd out the CLas, the researchers severely limited the growth of partner bacteria and created a medium with the specific nutrients, acidity, incubation temperatures, and oxygen levels that are optimal for CLas. The researchers were able to transfer the orange-coloured culture and grow new cultures in their biofilm reactors, which they have maintained for more than two years.

The team is now working to purify the culture, which will further help researchers to study it.  They are also developing genetic-based methods to understand and mitigate the spread of the disease. Phys.org