Alvaro Muñoz is CEO of AMC and Muñoz Group, which serves the US and Canadian market through its three North American subsidiaries –AMC Direct, AMC Fazio and AMC Canada – each supplying year-round volumes of citrus, grapes and deciduous fruits from around the world. The family-owned company has built long-term relationships with grower partners and leading retailers.
How has the company’s citrus business evolved in the US since you first entered the market?
Alvaro Muñoz: Muñoz has really stepped up its citrus programmes in the US, where we work supplying retailers directly. In the past five years the company has tripled its sales volume, which mostly comprises clementines. Our Northern Hemisphere supply window runs from early October to late March/early April and the principal variety we sell in the US is Clemenules, although we also ship smaller quantities of Clemenvilla and Murcott. Our business is mostly into the East Coast, but from time to time we also send shipments to the West Coast.
From the Southern Hemisphere we supply from Peru, Chile and South Africa during the summer months and we are planning to introduce fruit from Uruguay as it comes on stream in the next season.
This spring Muñoz is opening its AMC RSA new citrus packing facility in Citrusdal, Quattro Citrus, that will facilitate the direct control of all the volumes of citrus from orchards that AMC RSA is planting in RSA either directly or with local partners. We have also some exciting plans coming over the next seasons out of Peru and Chile.
How is the current season progressing?
AM: Although the unseasonably warm autumn in Spain affected some of the very early varieties, overall I would say the quality of this year’s clementine crop has been outstanding. Eating quality is superb – among the best of recent years. Unfortunately the same is not true for oranges, particularly Navelinas, the main variety grown in Spain. The mild weather caused a high incidence of Clareta –or citrus creasing – which affects the external appearance of the fruit. It also meant there was an abundance of smaller sizes, while shelf-life has also been compromised in some cases.
What impact, if any, has last December’s California freeze had on your US business?
AM: The cold snap caused significant damage to groves, with recent estimates indicating that as much as 40 per cent of the mandarins that had yet to be harvested have been lost. There may well be a rise in wholesale prices as the shortage starts to bite, particularly from April onwards. Over recent months we have had strong interest in fruit from Morocco and Israel, countries in which we have strategic, long-term relationships with growers. We also anticipate strong demand for early Southern Hemisphere citrus, particularly from Peru.
You launched your new brand image at last October’s PMA Fresh Summit. How do you see your US business developing in the coming years?
AM: We believe the North American market will be extremely important for the Muñoz Group in the coming years. It has taken a number of years to learn what our US and Canadian customers demand and to organise what we believe is one of the best professional teams in the North American produce industry. Now we believe we are in a position to integrate fully the supply chain from orchard to store and to react quickly to customer trends. We are interested in creating unique supply partnerships, giving visibility and transparency for all stakeholders.
Over the coming months and years we will be introducing new citrus and grape cultivars that in our view will revolutionise the products that customers bring home, both in terms of quality and price. Our new cultivars are upgrades to existing products – better tasting, seedless, easy peeling etc., and have higher yields plus lower input costs, therefore allowing us to deliver a better product to consumers with better prices. Working closely with retailers, we can develop exclusive properties, with tailored packaging and branding options.
You already have some interesting new grape varieties under development. When do plan to bring these to market?
AM: One of our breeding programmes, Sheehan Genetics LLC, is approaching its cruising altitude. By the end 2014 we shall have over 7,000 hectares of our Sheehan varieties planted, some on our own farms and some by our grower partners. It is interesting that a recent Rabobank report (January 2014) on the US table grape industry highlighted both the growing domestic and export markets, and attributed much of this growth to the performance of the new varieties which are available today. We see this very clearly with the Sheehan varieties which provide consumers with a better tasting product, and at the same time offer the growers varieties which are much more productive and, crucially, require much lower labour inputs than the conventional varieties.
We are now in a position to offer year-round availability of these new varieties from our licensed partners in Chile, Peru, Mexico, and, of course, California. This year we plan to launch our new brand, “Sheehan Signature” which will be used only for the very highest quality fruit, with the best eating quality. We believe that this will offer consumers a real point of difference over the standard offer and will drive repeat purchases in this highly competitive market.
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