Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/715089
Central America's close proximity and strong economic ties to the United States have played a large role in growers there meeting the increasing consumer demand for year-round fresh fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, pineapples and other tropical fruits, melons, tomatoes, beans and berries, as well as preserved and frozen fruits and vegetables. In 2011, U.S. imports of fruits and vegetables exceeded $18 billion compared to exports totaling more than $7 billion representing a gap of $11.2 billion, according to a Congressional Research Service 2014 report on U.S. Trade Situation for Fruit and Vegetable Products. By utilizing Crowley's ocean cargo and logistics services, customers like Westmoreland Sales-Topline Farms (WM) have been able to transform their businesses by sourcing from Guatemalan farms in order to fulfill demand for fresh produce. "This sourcing helped us offset our lull in production during the local winter, and allowed us to deliver the freshest products year round by using sustainable growing practices, directly from the grower to the consumers' table," said Jimmy Coppola, key account manager, WM. Originally founded in Ontario, Canada, in the 1950s by field produce and orchard farmers to market their crops, Westmoreland then progressed into hothouse farming in 1990. In 2013, WM began exporting its Premium TopLine Farms branded tomato varieties like beefsteak, roma tomato on the vine (TOV), cherry and grape tomatoes from farms like Delicias Hidroponicas SA and Tomato & Co. in Guatemala to America. "We are very grateful to have Crowley as our full-service [transportation] provider. It's been three years now exporting our beefsteak tomatoes and TOVs for WM and we've never had any incidents as our products always arrive in the U.S. on time," said Francisco Font, civil engineer, agronomist and owner of Delicias Hidroponicas. "We at Crowley are uniquely positioned to add value to our customers' supply chains by both increasing the velocity of those supply chains with our integrated services, and in doing so, reducing their total landed cost. Both things are critically important to produce shippers in Central America," said Frank Larkin, senior vice president and general Left: Crowley's Carlos Banegas, regional manager, reefer accounts, Central America, and Lillian Morales, logistics manager for Tomato & Co., discuss the benefits of integrated logistics solutions. Below: Crowley has invested millions of dollars in ocean cargo equipment including these state-of-the-art refrigerated containers. 16