Since there is only a slight difference in the Panamanian winter and summer season, papayas are able to be cultivated all year-round. A new hybrid papaya variety has been developed in the region, called the Hawaiian Big Papaya.
Panafruit S.A. is based in the western part of Panama. Panafruit is a family business that has been exporting papaya for over 20 years in the region and to USA and Canada. Next to the well-known variety Tainung Papaya, the firm has developed a new hybrid: the Hawaiian Big Papaya.
Maryan Safi, Director of the Packaging Plant, explains what makes this variety special: “Hawaiian Big Papaya is a hybrid between Taiwanese and Hawaiian varieties, and produces flavorful, sweet and slightly larger Papaya’s than the average fruit. It is a registered trademark in the United States and Panama.”
Safi adds: “In Panama, there is only a slight difference between summer and winter. This means our papaya is produced year-round. Panafruit controls the entire supply chain, from planting to shipping. After packing we ship it by sea, via Panama City to the US and Canada.”
According to Safi, both air freight as well as sea freight are options when exporting to Europe. “After the difficult logistic year due to the COVID pandemic, freight options and freight rates now seem to stabilize, so we started again looking into air freight options for Europe to get them to the customers faster, allowing them a wider time frame to distribute the fruit throughout Europe. However, sea freight from Panama to Europe only takes 14 days so is still an option.”
The production of the papayas is Global G.A.P and GRASP certified, Safi states: “The company is keeping up to date with the latest technologies and methods in the production and packing of the fruit. Next to this, we have implemented the use of solar energy in their supply chain, as we realize the importance of sustainability and find it important to contribute.”
The family business is looking ahead and keeps up with the needs of the market. “By improving our infrastructure and increasing our staff, we can maintain high quality and build strong partnerships with clients, while also continuing to benefit our local community.” Safi concludes.
Learn more about Panafruit via the Virtual Farm Tour, CBI success story on YouTube or the Panafruit website.
Panafuit is being promoted by the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) as a part of CBI’s Connecting Central America initiative. This initiative is co-financed by the European Union and coordinated by the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA).
For more information:
Maryan Safi
Panafruit
Mob: +507 6293-8697
Email: maryan.safi@panafruit.com.pa
http://www.panafruit.com.pa/
Arno van der Maden
Mob: +506 884 74 746
Email: arno@nsdeltropico.com