Guatemala could consolidate itself as the origin of the exotic citrus fruit known as finger lime. Prime Tropics, the Guatemalan company that specializes in exotic fruits, such as rambutan, achacha, and mangosteen, has decided to invest in the production of finger lime, an exclusive citrus fruit that is still not very well known by the public but that has a growing recognition in haute cuisine and positive future prospects.
“We are the first and only company in Guatemala to produce finger lime. We have 10,000 trees planted with green-pearled and pink-pearled fruit,” says Edilson Hernandez, the manager of Prime Tropics. "We planted the trees a few years ago and we'll reach our optimum production point in 2020. However, we can start supplying the fruit from December onward," he added.
According to Hernandez, even though the finger lime is originally from Australia, the country best known as its origin in the markets, it is still a seasonal product, so there are other origins, such as California, Morocco, or even Spain. "Our advantage over other producing countries, such as Australia, is that we can already supply finger lime throughout the year because we grow it at different altitudes, from 120 m to 750 m above sea level," Hernandez stated.
According to the producer and exporter, the main challenges will be to market a product that is still very unknown in the markets and to compete with the product of Australia and California, which have been in the market for a longer time and are tough competitors.
The company has already exported its products by plane to the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. “We are prepared to export to any European country by plane, ensuring the freshness of the product. We also aspire to reach Asian markets such as Singapore. All of our finger lime production is certified with Global GAP and we are strongly committed to the inclusion of women, in fact, 95% of our workers are women,” Hernandez added.
More information:
Edilson Hernandez
Prime Tropics
E: deddyhl@hotmail.com
T: +502 57000052
eddy@primetropics.com
www.primetropics.com