Canadian headquartered World Fresh Exports (formerly known as Sutherland, S.A.) does it all. Growing, picking, performing quality control, packing, exporting, and marketing of fruit. How did the company grow into becoming a one-stop shop? “We planted our first cherry orchards over 20 years ago,” says Ricky Chong, World Fresh Exports’ President & CEO. “Back then, we used brokers to market our fruit, which had many advantages. It gave us access to new customers all over the world and it was very exciting to know our fruit was being sold in markets like Shanghai, Dubai, Brussels, and Kuala Lumpur. We had become part of the class known as ‘exporters’,” he said. However, after a few years it became evident that there was a real disconnect between growers, marketers, and retailers. Often the marketers and retailers were doing fine, but the growers weren’t doing so well. “Is it acceptable to see apples retailing for $2.49/lb. in supermarkets while the grower is being paid $0.40/lb. at the farm gate? No, it is not.” After visiting many countries, the situation appeared to be similar in many parts of the world. “We strongly felt there should be a healthy balance between all partners.”
Ricky Chong and Rob van Westen, inspecting the oldest Lapin cherry trees in the world (over 50 years old).
Know what you are selling
Within the value chain, 90 percent of marketers spend most of their time at their desks. “They rarely visit farms and often don’t know the fruit they are selling.” As a result, many growers have left the old co-op style organizations that are often top-heavy and no longer offer the same value. “Back in 2007, we decided it was time to manage our own marketing and see what fate would bring us,” said Chong. “Many of our partners had diverse backgrounds in farming, packing, cold-chain management, and retail. Several of them joined us and together, we grow and export different fruits from around the world.” World Fresh Exports is involved in growing, packing, and exporting out of Canada, the US, Chile, Spain, China, Tasmania, and most recently Mozambique. Cherries are a very important part of the company’ business, but other fruits include apples, pears, grapes, citrus, pomegranates, stone fruit, melons, dates, strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi fruit. The majority of fruit is being sourced, packed, and exported by World Fresh Exports itself and on behalf of many growers.
What makes World Fresh Exports unique?
“It is our responsibility to maximize returns to growers, offer competitive prices, mitigate claims, and pack top quality produce for our retail partners. Achieving these goals is an ongoing work-in-progress. Spending a lot of time in the orchards has resulted in our team understanding growing conditions, as well as picking temperatures, the importance of cooling post-harvest, and reaching proper pulp temperatures before shipping.” These fundamentals are critical to the longevity of the fruit and vegetables on the produce shelf and many purchasers do not possess this experience or knowledge.
On the retail side, there is a thorough understanding as well. “We do our best to grow, harvest, and pack with our 40 years of retail experience in mind. For the many hours cherries, blueberries, and peaches will remain on the produce shelf, we always ask ourselves how to mitigate produce shrink for our retail partners and how to drive sales,” explained Chong. Produce clerks don’t know why a cantaloupe won’t ripen or how to get rid of fruit flies surrounding their berry displays. “We happily share our knowledge with growers, retailers, and other parties in the value chain. We respect our growers as people and friends, and do not base the quality of our friendship on how many acres you produce,” he commented.”
Explosive growth in demand of Chinese fruit
Chong has witnessed many changes in the industry over the years. However, what is most evident this year is a new middle-class population in Asia that is increasingly demanding premium quality fruit. Another development is the interest in fruit from China. World Fresh Exports has been working with growers and packers in China since 2020 and is seeing strong interest from Asia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East for their new China fruit category. “We continue to increase export quality volumes out of China, add more varieties, and offer better packaging that fits retailers’ needs. It is quite exciting as we are seeing an explosive growth.” China is the company’s fastest growing category and as a result, six quality control inspectors have recently been added to the team to maintain export quality standards at the farms and packing sheds.
Sarah Bistritz, Kim Hoang, and Dee Perera.
The women behind the success 
The success of World Fresh Exports can largely be attributed to three hard working women in key positions. Kim Hoang is Partner & Director of Sales at World Fresh Exports. Her passion and drive have been instrumental in the success of the company. “I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights she has had over the years worrying about our growers and her clients. It’s all about relationships.” Kim began her career in produce retail and has 20 years of retail experience. “Her ability to connect with people and speak four languages has opened many new markets for us. Add to that more than ten years of packinghouse experience and she understands fruit better than most people on the planet.” The most important part of her position is developing trust with World Fresh’s clients who are shipping fruit all over the world.
Sarah Bistritz is Global Sales & Operations Manager. “She is intelligent and has a super-friendly demeanour that everybody loves. Her ability to expand her scope easily, solve issues, stay calm and focused is amazing,” said Chong. Bistritz began her career with World Fresh, handling one of the most complicated parts of the company’s operations which is getting fruit from point A to point B. It is a very demanding position with 50 percent of shipments being time-sensitive (air cargo), working in multiple time zones, utilizing airlines, ocean vessels, and trucking. She deals with clients one-on-one, logistics companies, growers, as well as packers while simultaneously following compliance, food safety guidelines and proper documentation for multiple countries. “Her recent promotion to Global Sales & Operations is well deserved.”
Dilushi (Dee) Perera is responsible for Logistics & Operations. She started with World Fresh part-time in the summer of 2021 and accepted a full-time position with the company this year. “We were all quite surprised and impressed with her ability to adapt to the position so quickly. Dee is smart, business savvy, works tirelessly, asks the right questions, and doesn’t rest until the job gets done. There have been many times where we had to ask her to take a break, a day off or go to sleep because it was after midnight. She is a rare gem and thankfully a valuable addition to the team.”
It is unusual to have so many women in top roles, in an industry that is male dominated. Chong however believes they like the work environment. “It is very hard work during peak seasons, but then lots of time off the rest of the year.” The company usually hires 3rd or 4th year college co-op students as part of their ongoing program with the local community colleges and universities. The best interns are offered full-time positions based on their performance and future possibilities. “Most importantly, Chong wants his employees to be happy, confident, and think for themselves.”
For more information:
Ricky Chong
World Fresh Exports, Inc.
[email protected]
www.world-fresh.com
