"The lime season started well for us, as there were no weather problems caused by rain. This has allowed us to have a good performance in the harvest and post-harvest, reducing the mechanical and transport issues we have when taking the product to the packing plant. We work with fixed prices all season, so Christmas does not affect our activities much. Our only concern is to deliver high quality products and leave the Peru brand as well positioned as we can. 70% of the limes we produce have a diameter of 50 mm or more," stated Diego Oneto, of Frutícola Olmos, which is located in Lambayeque, Peru.
Frutícola Olmos is a family economic group dedicated to citriculture and that produces Tahiti or Persian lime and Sutil lemon. It is located in the Olmos Valley and has 35 years of experience in citriculture. "In fact, my father (Sebastián Oneto) was a pioneer in the sowing of limes. We have increased our hectares year after year."
The season
The company's season began in October, and they plan to deliver three containers per week to the market until July 2019. "Our dates have changed a bit, because the temperatures vary each campaign. In addition, the dates on which our customers require the fruit have also changed."
The supplier said that the United States was their most important export destination. "We have a strategic alliance with the Earth Source Trading Inc. company. The idea is to supply the missing limes that the Mexican or Brazilian offer doesn't supply between January to June. Traditionally, the American market receives the limes in 18-kilo boxes, but we are changing the packaging. We can send more kilos per container and more boxes per pallet by using boxes of 4.5 kilos. Thus transport freight becomes cheaper and more competitive." This has been a great challenge, because we are changing a custom of many years.
"Having an offer from different countries in the market isn't a problem for us. We try to differentiate ourselves with our product's quality and availability period," stated Diego. "We ship our product on different dates than Mexico, that's why we have an alliance with Earth Source Trading."
Organic offer
Fruticola Olmos only grows organic lemons. "We try to contribute to the environment and we fight to eliminate synthetic insecticides. We would like to stop using plastic in the near future by using paper or fabric bags in supermarkets."
Diego said that Peru had a great diversity of climates that allowed having products at different times of the year. "El Niño phenomenon happens every year, what varies is its intensity. The idea is to have well established roads and processes because we can't fight against nature."
For more information:
Diego Oneto
Frutícola Olmos
Peru
T: +51973997051
E: doneto@fruticolaolmos.com
www.fruticolaolmos.com