Interko to exhibit PMA Fruittrade Latin America
To that end, the Dutch manufacturer will be looking for new clients and local installation partners when it exhibits at the inaugural PMA Fruittrade Latin America trade show next week in Santiago, Chile, on 12-13 November.
Interko has done business with Chile, Brazil and Argentina since the early 2000s and is keen to develop a presence in Colombia and Peru too.
"We receive quite a lot of interest from South America; mainly for bananas and other fruits," explains Interko's managing director and partner, Chris Maat.
"We now want to connect better with the region as a whole, so we're exhibiting at the trade show to look for partners and opportunities with all fruit suppliers."
Maat claims there are significant ripening improvements that could be made on Latin America's local market for the benefit of consumers.
"At the moment the local markets are doing very basic ripening. Consumers are paying a lot of money for what is essentially poor quality fruit.
"The problem is that ripening is being done as a necessity to get the fruit on supermarket shelves, and not focusing enough on improving the quality for the customer."
To solve the problem, Maat says the local market needs firstly to improve its knowledge of ripening, and secondly to implement better technology.
Interko is therefore looking for local installation partners in countries including Colombia, Peru and Argentina to complement the support of its existing rated partner in Chile.
With that in mind, Maat says he is pleased there is now an event that also focuses on the local market in Latin America, as well as the export scene.
"This is the first real fresh produce-specific trade show for Latin America's domestic and export trades," he says. "We are delighted to be exhibiting at the inaugural edition."
Interko will exhibit at PMA Fruittrade Latin America 2014 on 12-13 November at Santiago's Espacio Riesco Convention Center in Chile. Come and meet us at Booth 21 to see first-hand our range of heat exchangers and ripening systems, as well as to find out more about becoming one of our preferred partners. We look forward to meeting you there!
For more information about Interko, visit:
www.interko.com