DiMuto, a global Agri-FinTech company, strengthens its presence in Latin America with the latest financing of Colombian fresh produce exporter Montana Fruits. The deal will first see DiMuto leverage its AI-powered financing solution to finance Montana Fruits’ exports to Europe, before expanding to its other export markets such as United States and Asia.
Montana Fruits is a Colombian packer and exporter of high-quality fresh produce items including avocados, as well as tropical items such as passionfruit and Tahiti limes. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Montana Fruits work with bees in its crop pollination process to support bee populations, and the diversity of food crops. The company’s main market is in Europe, with up-and-coming markets including United States and Asia. Montana Fruits processes around 400 containers a year, and exports over US$7 million worth of fresh produce.
DiMuto DACKY device and DID labels implemented on Montana avocados in Montana’s packing facilities.
“We are grateful to have DiMuto as our financing partner. Their expertise, experience, and commitment to providing financing for the AgriFood trade is invaluable to our business. With their support, we can continue to grow our export operations and reach new markets,” said Mauricio Moranth Zuluaga, General Manager of Montana Fruits and Board Member of Colombia AvocadoBoard (CAB).
Hui Min, DiMuto’s Chief Experience Officer, explains the recent cooperation and its advantages for the produce industry: “A month ago, we announced a financing deal with the Mexican grower exporter Grupo Paisano. Grupo Paisano supplies large retailers in the US through cooperation with smallholder farmers from Mexico."
She continues: “Now more recently we closed a deal with Montana Fruits to finance the company’s trade and exports to the European market. DiMuto is both supplying the traceability system and financing services. This means that all shipments are checked through our system of scannable QR codes. When the goods are being received in the export market, in Europe or US, then 60% to 70% of the invoice is paid directly on the arrival of the shipment. We send this share of the invoice to the export company. We are able to finance this trade because we have reliable data and information regarding the good’s quality and freshness on arrival. Our technology enables us to minimize risk.”
DiMuto and Montana team, with from L to R: Miguel Girraldo, Natalia Moranth Zuluaga, Gary Loh, Mauricio Moranth Zuluaga, Julie Escobar
“Both Grupo Paisano and Monta Fruits are using our traceability system. And because they use this traceability system, we are able to finance them,” says Hui Min: “Our financial services benefit the buyer, who can rely on our traceability system. This facilitates trust between parties.”
DiMuto Financial Services utilizes a two-tier AI algorithm to determine financing risks for each trade. The company’s proprietary Product Quality AI will be applied on every single carton of fresh produce tracked with DiMuto QR labels to get visibility on overall pre-shipment and post-shipment product quality. In addition, DiMuto Trade Health AI will execute financial health scoring based on not just historical financial statements, credit reports, and business performance data but also the real-time trade information and documents uploaded on the DiMuto Platform.
“The growers and exporters that we cooperate with are typically smaller to medium size companies. DiMuto's traceability system is very accessible to growers and packers of any size. However, particularly for our financing services, smaller to medium-sized growers can benefit most,” concludes Hui Min.
The company is looking to expand its presence in the Americas. It also has a large presence in the Asian market.
For more information:
DiMuto
dimuto.io