The market for limes was quite good this summer, and in general prices were acceptable to good. “We had an actual slump in prices, but that was just because exporting countries such as Brazil and Mexico together exported more than 200 containers per week at the height of the season, which is too much for the European market to absorb,” says Joey Deen of Denimpex.
“Seen as a total, we are approximately six per cent behind in volume compared with last year, but it is about the same as 2014. Supply will remain limited for the coming weeks, I expect. That is because Mexico is experiencing bad weather, and Sao Paolo in Brazil is as good as done, while Bahia is starting slowly. We do not expect shortages will be made up in 2016.”
“We cannot complain about quality this season. Brazilian quality has been a bit less in recent weeks, but everybody is affected by these problems. The limes we receive weekly from Mexico, are great quality. We had some setbacks last year, but we are selling a true quality product with our Mexican partner this year,” Deen continues. “We are also marketing a private label from Mexico for the first time this season, in order to distinguish ourselves from other importers.”
“We have chosen a bright box labeled ‘Mr Citrus,’ and all of the boxes are dual labeled, which takes a bit longer but looks very well. Multiple customers are already saying: ‘I want the limes with the red stickers.’ We have also had customers ringing us to specifically tell us how beautiful the limes are. And we all know how rare it is to be complimented in this trade, so we are quite proud of what we have achieved in two years.”
“We are also still receiving weekly shipments of our Delicio Frutas limes from Brazil. With these we are also striving to market higher than average quality. Besides limes, we have also already received the first containers of Brazilian ginger this year. Naturally the ginger is packaged in our personal brand Delicio Frutas, and provided with the necessary certificates and clean MRL analyses. The Brazilian ginger has been of excellent quality so far. We will receive weekly shipments until mid to late November,” Deen concludes.