Welcome Rain, Hawaiian Ginger & Antimicrobial Activity

Ginger farmers in Queensland, and the Gympie region in particular, have been worried about the drought-like conditions they have endured since the middle of last year. So they were relieved when it eventually started to rain with the arrival of the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald. And rain it certainly has. According to The Gympie Times the Langshaw ginger farm received 600mm (nearly 24") of rain in four days. This amount of rain falling in four days would normally indicate very heavy downpours but it was actually gentle rain. Because of this there was remarkably little erosion and the crops survived. Queensland produces about 80% of Australia's ginger.

Patrick Atanalian, the executive chef at the Sanctuary restaurant in Minneapolis, has created a simple but unusual dish. He has taken a classic potato soup and given it a bit of a bite with the addition of ginger beer.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has revealed that Nepal has become the third largest producer of ginger in the world after India and China. In 2011 the country produced 216,289 tonnes of ginger. A continuing concern for the Nepalese government must be that India buys 98 percent of the country’s total ginger exports. (Source: The Kathmandu Post).

The Department of Botany at Gauhati University in North-East recently completed a research project entitled "Comparative Chemical Constituents And Antimicrobial Activity Of Normal And Organic Ginger Oils". It concluded that organic ginger oil was more effective than non-organic ginger oil at fighting Stephylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli and all the fungal strains except Penicillium sp.

The Ohio Breweries blog informs us that the Great Lakes Christmas Ale (which contains ginger as a significant component) was the top craft beer in terms of sales in Ohio and the ninth in the whole of the USA. And to think that it is only on sale for eight weeks. The brewery produced 359 batches (I don't know how large a batch is) which contained 7,000lbs of ginger.

For the last few years the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been conducting research into bacterial wilt of edible ginger in conjunction with Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE). Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) is the biggest threat to ginger farmers in Hawaii and many other ginger-growing countries. The aim of the project is to grow wilt-free ginger in pathogen-free soil. (Sources: University of Hawaii, SARE).

One of the participants in this research project is Hugh "Biker Dude" Johnson from Puna Organics in Hawaii. He supplies many of the ginger farms springing up in the eastern USA. Johnson was the first farmer in the world to export organic ginger.

Parts of Hawaii suffer from an infestation of Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum), an ornamental ginger which features in the top 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species. Interestingly, a strain of Ralstonia solanacearum has been used as a biological control against Kahili ginger.

The ginger harvest has started on time in the Nilphamari district of northern Bangladesh, according to The Financial Express. It is too early to speculate on the quality and quantity of this year's harvest but the district, which in the past produced enough ginger for the entire country, currently accounts for half of Bangladesh's needs.

Buderim Ginger announced recently that chief executive Murray Richardson had resigned for family reasons after just eight months in the role. I don't know what effect that will have on the company.

Import Concerns, Loans Write-Off, Crabbie's Back & Big Kahuna

Australian ginger farmers will be meeting this week to discuss a report which recommends the import of fresh ginger rhizomes from Fiji. According to The Weekly Times, it appears that the farmers are not necessarily concerned about the competition but more about the possibility that the imports could introduce exotic pests and diseases into the country. If the Australian government does allow imports, the ginger will have to pass a number of stringent tests and abide by certain conditions. Naturally, the ginger will have to be free from soil and any other visible foreign matter. Once harvested, the ginger must be inspected and certified by the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji. And finally, the ginger must be acceptable to the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The Press Association revealed that Tesco stores in Scotland will stock the latest offering from Mackintosh of Glendaveny - a ginger flavoured rapeseed oil. That could be interesting. Ginger flavoured chips perhaps.

Last year, Crabbie's became one of Everton Football Club's official partners. The drinks company has announced on the club's website that it will be back for the start of the new season this coming weekend with the popular Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer and the newly rebranded John Crabbie's Cloudy Ginger Beer.

The Guardian from Nigeria carried an interview with Dr.Gloria Elemo, the Director-General of the Nigerian Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO). When asked what technological initiatives the institute has undertaken, Dr.Elemo responded with a number of examples including some ginger developments. The domestic production of ginger powder under the institute's guidance has reduced imports which has resulted in a corresponding saving in foreign exchange. And the production of ginger oleoresin (a naturally occurring mixture of resin and essential oil) has the potential, it is believed, to stimulate the rural economy.

Stone's Ginger Punch is now available for a limited period in 250ml cans decorated with the Union flag. The drink is a mix of ginger wine and lemonade (source: Packaging Europe).

The Indian state of Karnataka is normally one of the country's major ginger growing regions. I say "normally" because this year many parts of the state have been hit by a drought. For some unknown reason the monsoons decided to give this state a miss. To help ginger farmers (and producers of vanilla and arecanut), the repayment of up to Rs25,000 of loans has been waived. But, according to the Deccan Herald, the state government has been urged to waive all farm loans.

The Canadian Beer News announced that Vancouver-based Granville Island Brewing's Ginger Beer is returning again for the summer only. The 5.0% abv beer is brewed with malt, hops, yeast and Big Kahuna ginger from Hawaii.

Big Kahuna is an organic white ginger which is ideally suited to Hawaii. It has been widely distributed to growers throughout North America. But I did notice earlier this year that East Branch Ginger, a major ginger 'seed' supplier from Pittsboro in North Carolina, stopped supplying Big Kahuna for this season and replaced it with another Hawaiian organic variety called Da Kine Ruhi. This replacement variety differs from Big Kahuna in that it has yellow tips. Yellow in ginger indicates a high level of curcumin, known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Ginger Recall, Codex, New Releases & Zero Waste

A YouGov poll for Very Lazy, the British cooking ingredients specialist, has found that nearly a quarter of men (24%) couldn't identify root ginger from this picture. I don't know whether to be surprised or not. I suppose I should be; then again I am biased. The corresponding figure for women is nearly one in ten (11%). So why do men find it more difficult? Discuss.

Sometimes we come across a ginger product recall but, thankfully, not too often. But last week we noted that Coop Denmark is recalling fresh ginger over fears that pesticide levels of HCH could be above permitted limits. Coop Denmark is Denmark's leading retailer operating six retail chains and subsidiaries. The Danes do like their ginger so there could be a lot of ginger being returned.

The ginger being recalled in Denmark originated in China where the government is attempting to reduce farmers use of pesticides. According to China Daily in 2007, farmers were applying 1.45 million tons of pesticides a year on a range of crops. This was almost twice the amount necessary. Regulated HCH use is still allowed in China but I have read that it has been banned in Nigeria, another major ginger producing country.

The Himalayan Times reported that Nepal is to raise the quality of ginger destined for export to meet the international Codex standard. Most of Nepal's ginger exports have normally gone to neighbouring India but this valuable avenue has now all but closed. By improving the standard of ginger, Nepal hopes to meet the import requirements of replacement countries. This change follows the recent announcement of the formation of a national ginger association to represent all interested parties.

If you are interested in the Codex standard for ginger (Codex Stan 218-1999) you can read it here. It covers everything you could possibly want to know regarding the export of ginger covering quality, sizing, tolerances, presentation and labelling.

Malaysia's Daily Express reported that the state government of Sabah, the second largest state in Malaysia, is planning to make it the largest producer of ginger in the country. The report did not mention how the government is going to achieve this but I did find news from over two years ago in Fresh Plaza which stated that ginger farmers in Sabah asked for government assistance to modernise the production process. It also stated that Sabah had to import ginger from China in order to meet domestic demand. So becoming the largest producer should mean that Sabah becomes a net exporter.

We have a number of new ginger products to report this week. We'll start with CaryTown Teas from Richmond, Virginia. This North American Tea Champion runner-up in 2010 has launched a ginger & turmeric herbal tea. The tea also contains liquorice root, orange peel and lemongrass.

Wheat beers are becoming, or have become, very popular in the USA. I've reported on a number of occasions about the increasing number of ginger wheat beers. Well, another one can be added to the list. Texas-based Faust Brewing Company has launched Holy Whit!, a summer seasonal wheat beer made with ginger & honey. I really must find one to try.

Another drink which is starting to take off both here in the UK and in the USA is ginger cider. Vermont-based Woodchuck Cidery has launched Private Reserve Ginger cider, according to Beerpulse.com. It contains organic yellow ginger from Hawaii's Big Island.

Interestingly, Hawaii is one of the few places in the world to grow organic ginger. According to Biker Dude of Puna Organics, yellow ginger comes from Japan but once grown on Hawaiian soil it ceases to be Japanese Yellow Ginger and becomes Hawaiian Yellow Ginger.

An unusual workshop took place recently in the Philippines. The Magsasaka Siyentista from WESVARRDEC (Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium) demonstrated to farmers a method of processing ginger with the aim of generating zero waste. This seems to be achieved by finding a use for the by-products. For example, ginger pulp, a by-product of producing ginger powder and previously just thrown away, can now be used in pastillae and jam. By the way, a Magsasaka Siyentista is a farmer scientist.

Jack Benny, Bunting, Spices Parks & Ginger Witbier

The Los Angeles Daily News reported on an unusual anniversary two weeks ago. It was on May 2nd, 1932 that Jack Benny took to the airwaves with his first radio programme. In those days, and for quite a while afterwards, radio programmes were sponsored and actually took the name of the sponsor. In Jack Benny's case, his show was called "The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program". It was broadcast twice a week for five months until Canada Dry stopped the show for what The Digital Deli referred to as Benny's 'persistent needling of his sponsor'. You may think that this was a case of don't bite the hand that feeds you. But, as we now know, Jack Benny went on to bigger and better things.

Here in the UK, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee is nearly upon us. If you want to participate and you're finding it difficult to purchase your bunting, you are in luck. Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer has very kindly created some downloadable bunting in PDF format. As George and Camilla might say, what a tickety boo idea.

Two neighbouring states in the north east of India could see the creation of spices parks, according to The Economic Times. The Indian government's Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry is keen to develop these parks in Meghalaya and Assam as centres where farmers can deliver their crops, such as ginger and turmeric, and have them graded, processed and packeged for export. It is hoped that by cutting out the middleman, farmers will receive a better price.

Later this month the New York Historical Society will open a fascinating exhibition called Beer Here: Brewing New York's History which will run until early September. A stalwart of the New York brewing scene, according to the society's website, is the Matt Brewing Company which has been around for 150 years. During the prohibition era, the company produced a range of soft drinks, including the popular Utica Club Ginger Ale, in order to stay in existence. What took my eye was a reference to another soft drink, a non-alcoholic malt tonic, which contained the following advice on the bottle label, “Caution: Do not ferment, do not add yeast, or you will create beer”.

If you live in Hawaii you may be interested in a very important project being undertaken by the Kohala Watershed Partnership (KWP). The role of the KWP is to maintain the 50,000 acres of Kohala tropical rain forest. Unfortunately the forest has been infested with one of the world's most invasive weeds, Kahili Ginger. This plant is native to the Himalayan region of India but has now taken root in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Australia. Its spread has been inadvertently caused by its popularity as an ornamental garden plant. The project aims to raise enough money to fund a specialist team of 'ginger ninjas' who will concentrate on the total eradication of this plant before it is too late. I'm sure the authorities in Queensland, where the plant has been officially designated as a weed and therefore a risk to biosecurity, will be interested in the progress of this project.

I've been reading about ginger produced in the Philippines and its export to Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and the UK. I only ever see Chinese ginger in the produce section of my local supermarkets so I have no idea when I have consumed Filipino ginger. Local farmers grow a mixture of lower yielding but more disease resistant native varieties and higher yielding but less disesase resistant foreign varieties such as Hawaiian and Jamaican. Apparently, if you slice open a piece of ginger and its colour is yellowish-brown with pinkish lines, you have a Hawaiian variety. And if you encounter a small, red and very pungent rhizome, it's a Red Native.

NTD Television carried the news from Chinese state-owned media reports that farmers in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province, have been preserving their ginger and cabbage in a cocktail of harmful chemicals. Farmers have been harvesting these crops, applying pesticides and an insecticide called dichlorvos (sold under trade names such as DDVP and Vapona), and also applying a poisonous chemical known as 'six-six powder' or 'sixty-six powder'. The crops are then stored until the price rises. According to the state-owned media reports, farmers have been using 20 bottles of DDVP and 150kg of 'six-six powder' for every 25,000kg of ginger.

The Deccan Herald has reported again on the continuing plight of ginger farmers in the Malnad region of the Indian state of Karnataka. The farmers switched to ginger last year following the failure of their non-ginger crops. But even though they have avoided disease this season, they haven't been able to do anything about the fall in the price of ginger. They will be lucky to recoup their investment.

A former athlete celebrated his 80th birthday whilst descending from a solo 17,000ft climb in the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal. According to the Croydon Guardian, he celebrated at the top with a ginger tea.

North Carolina's Highland Brewing Company launched a ginger Belgian-style witbier this month which will be available until August. No sooner had it been released than Esquire magazine named it as one of the Best Beers of 2012, according to Mountain Xpress. This must really be worth trying.

Jamaican Exports, Nigerian Strike, Employment Opportunities & Rapper Feud

Following recent calls from Jamaican politicians and businesses for the local ginger industry to re-discover its former glory, the US ambassador to Jamaica has now added her voice in support. Speaking to the Portland (Jamaica) Chamber of Commerce, Pamela Bridgewater urged Jamaica's ginger producers and exporters to take full advantage of the USA's duty-free import program under both the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Generalised System of Preferences. The ambassador's speech, reported in The Gleaner, also called for investors to support ginger farmers as the ginger "is of the highest quality in terms of its benefit to individuals, its taste, flavour, and its properties". Jamaican ginger was very popular in the US for much of the last century.

This week's mention of Crabbie's isn't going to be about Crabbie's itself. Marketing Magazine reported that Diageo has relaunched its ginger-flavoured Jeremiah Weed Root Brew to compete with the hugely successful Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Previously launched late last year in the UK with little fanfare, the 4pc abv bottled beer is said to be best served in a jam (or mason) jar over ice. I can't see that serving suggestion really catching on here in the UK as British drinkers prefer not to dilute their alcohol. It is made from ginger, fruit alcohol, spirit & flavours. Sounds interesting.

Ginger growers everywhere will be keeping a close watch on developments in Nigeria, the third largest exporter of ginger after China and India. The country has been hit by a general strike called by trade unions protesting against the removal of petrol subsidies which has led to a doubling of pump prices. According to agra-net.com, one area particularly badly affected is the export of dried ginger. An inability to export could result in a world shortage of dried ginger which, in turn, would increase the price. An increased price would be of immense benefit to growers in countries such as India who have witnessed a drop in income over the last year.

The potential damage caused by the Nigerian general strike on the ginger industry could be more than just a hiccup. A article last month in Nigerian Best Forum seems to indicate that the ginger industry in the state of Kaduna, Nigeria's ginger heartland, is in a parlous condition following decades of neglect.

Employment opportunities in the ginger industry featured a couple of times last week. The first was the news, reported by The Fiji Times, that Fiji's largest ginger processing company, Frespac, is looking to recruit more ginger farmers to help it meet this year's export commitments. Frespac, a subsidiary of Australia's Buderim Ginger, is targeting the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

This was followed by the Jamaica Observer story that the recently elected Jamaican government is looking to agriculture to create employment. Ian Hayles, Junior Agriculture and Fisheries minister, said that a number of crops, including ginger, will be given priority attention to attract young people into farming. With Jamaica's desire to become self-sufficient in food and the call to export more ginger to the US, a career in ginger farming seems very attractive.

Today sees the launch of a gelatin-free ginger confection at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, California. Ginger Spice Drops have been developed by The Ginger People, America's leading ginger company.

Produce News Daily carried an interesting article on the forthcoming Chinese New Year celebrations and how it is raising interest in Asian cuisine. The article also mentioned that the current Hawaiian ginger crop grown by California-based Christopher Ranch "is looking good". I'm not sure whether Christopher Ranch grows ginger in California but I can see why the company has a presence in Hawaii. Hawaiian ginger has a long harvesting season from December to June. In Hawaii's off-season, ginger is imported from Brazil, Thailand, Costa Rica and Peru. Back in 2007 the company had a problem with Chinese grown ginger containing pesticide residues. Maybe that is the reason why China is now missing from the list of Christopher Ranch's suppliers.

It may sound perverse but I'm sure that there is a good reason for it. Hawaii exports much of its ginger crop to the US but then has to import replacement ginger from Fiji. Discuss.

Over to Toronto in Canada now and an unusual story of rappers and ginger ale. The Star reported a feud between two North American rappers by the name of Drake and Common (I've no idea who they are either). Apparently Common calls Drake "you Canada Dry" on one of his songs, presumably in reference to Drake's penchant for the drink. This reached the Twittersphere like everything else does these days and before long Canada Dry Ginger Ale started trending. It would be interesting to know whether the brand registered a noticeable increase in sales in Canada last week.

I've found the link to last week's report on McCormick's global Flavour Forecast for 2012. I still don't know why it disappeared.

The Bangkok Post business section reported on a call by the honorary chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' pharmaceutical industry club to reduce the cost of the country's medicine imports. Chernporn Tengamnuay said that by developing a herbal industry would both reduce import costs and create employment in the cultivation sector. He said that over 90pc of the raw materials for Thai medicines are imported. Ginger is now undergoing clinical trials to determine its efficacy in easing joint pain. Thailand already has the advantage of being an established ginger producer.

The problems caused by falling ginger prices in India was highlighted in The Hindu Business Line which showed that the current ginger index (the Indians have a useful index for many crops) is not only lower than a year ago, it is also much lower than 2004-5.

We don't often read about ginger in crime (apart from the occasional pesticide incident) but I found one last week in the Waukesha Patch. The Wisconsin city reported that two drug addicts tried to sell fake marijuana to a police informant in order to feed their heroin habits. The fake marijuana was actually a mixture of ginger and leaves which the addicts hoped the informant would only feel and not see.

A new entry for my list of ginger growing countries - Israel (courtesy of Tekoa Farm).