Dominican Republic

Cocaine found in orange shipment at Florida port

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:13:46 GMT

Customs and Border Protection officers at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., found cocaine stashed in boxes of oranges.

The orange shipment from the Dominican Republic concealed 46.5 pounds of cocaine, according to a CBP news release. The drugs, seized over the weekend, have a street value in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to the release.

CBP officers with the Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team detected “anomalies while examining a container,” according to the release. A trained dog detected the drugs, and officers discovered the cocaine in multiple boxes of the oranges.

They conducted a field test, which confirmed the substance was cocaine. Evidence was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations, according to the release.

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Holistic Solutions Global treats fruit with Hazel Tech products

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:13:00 GMT

Holistic Solutions Global , a grower and distributor of Dominican Republic tropical fruit, will be using shelf life extension products from Hazel Technologies on mangoes and other fruit.

Holistic Solutions Global (HSG), which has an office in Atlanta, is the parent company of Caribe Farms, which imports fruit under the Tropicados and Sweet Caribe brands.

In the Dominican Republic, keitts, mingolo and banilejo varieties are most produced varieties, according to a news release from Hazel Technologies, Chicago.

“The addition of Hazel Tech to our full line of tropical fruits is just the latest of many steps we have taken at HSG to ensure the highest product quality,” Harvey Garcia, president, said in the release. “Our expectation based on test data is to consistently achieve over 30% longer shelf-life with Hazel Tech in our supply chain.”

“Expanding our international footprint is a key future focus,” Aidan Mouat, CEO of Hazel Technologies, said in the release. “Hazel is determined to reduce waste and improve the efficiency of the perishable supply chain not just in the U.S. but across the globe.”

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WP Produce takes green-skinned avocados year-round

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:41:19 GMT

Tropical fruit grower, packer and shipper WP Produce, Miami, is kicking off its 2019 season with green-skinned avocado varieties that will be available year-round.

According to the company, which markets fruit under the Desbry brand, green-skinned avocadoes are seeing a surge in popularity.

Desiree Morales, vice president of WP Produce, said the non-hass varieties, instead of being used for guacamole, have a firmer texture and are ideal for salads, smoothies, toast, sushi and in soups.

The company sources from growers in Florida and imports from the Dominican Republic, and packs them at a new facility.

“Because we own the land we farm and have strong relationships with our growers, we can ensure a consistent supply of produce throughout the season,” Morales said in the release. “Our customers have come to depend on the care we take in selecting and packing our produce.”

The company has farms in the Valdesia and Ocoa regions of the Dominican Republic, and partners with growers in the Cambita and Puerto Plata regions, according to the release.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the International Executive Service Corps are educating consumers on the Dominican green-skinned fruit.

“We are very excited for the work being done to promote green skin avocados in the U.S.,” said Christopher Gonzalez, vice president of sales at WP Produce, said in the release. “Consumers are becoming more and more interested in exotic, tropical produce, and green skin avocados are really starting to see a surge in popularity, especially with the continued demand for avocados as a whole. Consumers want to try the next big thing in avocados.”

Dominican Republic avocados give Brooks Tropicals year-round supply

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:21:04 GMT

As the 2020-21 Florida tropical avocado season winds down, Brooks Tropicals has been supplementing supplies of their original tropical avocado branded SlimCado™ with fresh fruit from the Dominican Republic.

“We had a pretty good year in terms of crop-size here in Florida”, says Peter Leifermann, VP of Sales and Marketing at Brooks.

“Although we may not quite make our industry-wide goal of bushels, each variety produced a good crop and we were especially pleased with the late fall varieties.

We have a few more months of Florida fruit to harvest but it will be limited. Our partnerships in the Dominican Republic have allowed us to serve our customers for the entire calendar year.”

To continue to meet growing consumer demand for tropical avocado, Brooks Tropicals has partners in the Dominican Republic that grow and pack that country’s several varieties.

Almost 30 years ago, Brooks and Agroindustria Ocoena, S.A. (AIOSA) struck a relationship that began with an avocado packing line and continues today with the shared generations of agricultural knowledge between the firms.

Brooks Tropicals has been growing tropical avocado, fruits, and vegetables in the Caribbean and South Florida for nearly a hundred years and AIOSA began exporting in 1987. Brooks also has another decades-old partner in AMR-AGRO.

Similar to the Florida crop, the Dominican Republic has over 20 different varieties in production, but January begins the transition from a Lula and Semil dominant crop to the Carla variety.

Carla tropical avocado are characterized by their more round shape – as opposed to pear-like – and being a late season variety, it’s higher oil content.

“Tropical avocados are so near perfect, it’s like they take into consideration our diets!” Leifermann continues. “In the summer they are lighter in flavor, and as the cooler months come they have a richer flavor. The Carla – similar to our proprietary Florida winter varieties – is a delicious fruit that pleases even the most hardened hass-lovers.”

Brooks Tropicals will distribute Carla variety tropical avocado from January until the end of April.

WP Produce adds solar and builds sustainability in the Dominican Republic

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 20:42:30 GMT

WP Produce , and their Desbry Tropical Avocado brand, has completed a major milestone towards their initiatives to increase sustainability in the Dominican Republic.

“Our packing and shipping compound in the province of Bonao, which is the largest, state-of-the-art tropical avocado facility in the region, is now energy independent. Since June 2021, our new 20,000-kilowatt renewable solar power installation has been producing more than 100% of the electricity needed to power the facility,” said Christopher Gonzalez, VP of Sales for WP Produce, “During peak solar production, our excess power generation is going back to the power grid to support the local community.”

WP Produce, which is the largest distributor of tropical avocados in the U.S. and is the largest packer and shipper in the Dominican Republic, is on a mission to improve sustainability throughout the Caribbean nation. “In addition to moving towards energy independence and reducing our carbon footprint throughout our supply chain, we have a focus on improving the lives of our workers. We have significant worker welfare initiatives including increased wages, supporting community medical clinics, and providing our workers and their families with food and water,” Gonzalez added.

Tropical avocados, which have been a staple throughout the Caribbean and tropical regions around the globe, have been gaining traction, spreading from Florida, up the Eastern Seaboard, and now across the country. Shoppers routinely exclaim “wow” as they walk by a display of large, bright green Desbry® Tropical Avocados, and then add them to their shopping cart. Now they can do so while supporting a sustainable, environmentally friendly, family farming operation.

WP Produce avocado box designed for longer shelf life

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:14:45 GMT

Miami-based WP Produce is shipping Desbry brand avocados in a box it designed to lengthen the fruit’s shelf life.

“Tropical avocados typically have a shelf life of 5-6 days,” Christopher Gonzalez, WP Produce vice president of sales, said in a news release. “With our new ventilated box designs and ethylene reduction technology, we’re looking at potentially doubling the shelf life by adding up to an additional 4-5 days of freshness.”

The company imports the green-skinned avocados from the Dominican Republic and also markets avocados grown in Florida.

WP Produce has begun using ethylene-filtering technology to slow the ripening process, according to the release. The company also created a new carton to enhance air circulation and improve ventilation, further lengthening the shelf life. The new cartons feature updated graphics.

“By taking steps to improve the shelf life of our products, we saw an opportunity to increase supply chain efficiencies, reduce waste at retail and improve user experience for both consumers and chefs alike,” Desiree Morales, vice president of WP Produce, said in the release.

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Avocado shipper slows ripening with Hazel Technologies

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:15:40 GMT

Shelf-life enhancement company Hazel Technologies has a new partnership with AMR Agro, a Dominican Republic green-skin avocado packer-exporter.

Hazel’s post-harvest technology involves placing a small packaging insert into boxes before they’re shipped. The inserts reduce respiration rates of fresh fruit and increase a resistance to ethylene, which ripens the fruit.

The Hazel Avocado inserts have been successfully tested, according to a news release, and AMR Agro is using the Hazel Technology products in other produce shipments to export markets, according to the release.

“Over the past decade, AMR Agro has grown to be a premier packer and exporter of agricultural products from the Dominican Republic,” Raul Reyes, general manager of AMR Agro, said in the release. “Through our dedicated partnerships and investments in new, proven technologies such as Hazel Avocado, we are able to provide higher quality fruit to our customers, increase profits, and reduce waste.”

AMR Agro was founded in 2007, and it exports from the Dominican Republic to the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Spain, Holland, France and the United Kingdom, according to the release. The company also ships mangoes, citrus and papayas.