Tag Archives: Philadelphia

Imports

Panama Canal Expansion Helps Boost Produce Imports

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Imports

Following the expansion of the Panama Canal, a massive construction project that intended to double the cargo capacity of the canal, U.S. ports on the East Coast are enjoying an import boom. In Philadelphia, the Parker Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia (ranked the 12th nationwide) experienced a 28% bump in April alone.

Over the past year, the Philadelphia port has brought in additional imports of fresh produce from several companies, including Walmart, according to The Inquirer. Since last summer, Mediterranean Shipping Co. has been shipping grapes, blueberries and other fruits from Chile, Peru and Ecuador to Philadelphia on a weekly basis. The company’s cargo ships are the largest to ever have sailed up the Delaware River. Fyffes, a European fresh produce company, began delivering bananas, plantains and pineapples from Costa Rica, Columbia and Guatemala in January.