All PFN ARTICLES

Canned fruit is having a very unromantic moment. In California, Del Monte’s bankruptcy and cannery closures have left peach growers stranded, with USDA approving up to US$9 million to help remove trees after around 74,000 tonnes of cling fruit were left unsold. Pacific Coast Producers has picked up some volume, but roughly 50,000 tonnes still lacks a buyer.

Heineken has just nudged beer into strange new territory: the gym bag. Its UK launch of Outd00r Brewing is a 0.0% alcohol-free lager range with electrolytes, vitamin C and magnesium, positioned as an “isotonic 0.0 lager” for the post-run, post-ride, post-padel, post-whatever crowd. In other words, beer is no longer just trying to be booze-free. This functional beer now wants to be useful.

China’s blueberry market has gone weirdly two-speed. Ordinary blueberries are being pushed into bargain-bin territory, with some local prices reportedly as low as “10 yuan for two boxes”, while viral pink blueberries are being hyped at up to 400 yuan per jin, roughly US$120 per kilogram. That is not a fruit category, that's a social media costume change.