US (FL): HLB Specialties opens rambutan season with in-store demos
HLB Specialties will carry the fruit through November, when the Guatemalan season ends. The company will do tasting demos at several South Florida stores, where they will distribute flyers explaining how to eat the fruit, which can be a curious sight to people not familiar with it.
HLB Specialties recently promoted rambutans at a soccer match hosted by Argentinean soccer star Lionel Messi, called "Messi and Friends" in Miami. "The responses varied from curious stares to exclamations of recognition from people who knew the fruit from their home countries such as Honduras and Costa Rica," noted Mr. Lorenz Hartmann de Barros, director of sales at HLB Specialties. Its red spikes look like hairs and it carries the nickname "messy hair" in Vietnam. "Once we mentioned this moniker to the young soccer fans, they connected it to their idol’s name and were intrigued. They ate the rambutans and even asked for more," Mr. Hartmann de Barros continued.
HLB Specialties carries rambutans in a 5lb bulk box and a 5.8 lb box that carries 24 clamshells, each containing 4 fruits. The clamshell presentation is aimed at retailers and has instructions on how to peel and consume the fruit. It also extends the shelf life, since the fruit is protected and the humidity retained.
HLB Specialties continues carrying papayas from Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, and Jamaica and has recently started with avocados from Peru and mangoes from several countries.
For more information:
HLB Specialities
Tel: +1 954-475-8808
www.hlbspecialties.com
