Southern Specialties and HLB Tropical Food USA have announced in a press release the establishment of a new joint venture, to be called HLB Specialties.
The new company will focus on sourcing, growing, packing, shipping and distributing several varieties of papayas grown in Brazil, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico and other countries in Central and South America.
HLB Specialties will be headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida, and will distribute from the Florida headquarters as well as from facilities in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and McAllen.
“HLB Tropical Foods’ main goal has been to be the most reliable, competitive and innovative distributor of papayas in the world and we are now ready for the next step in our expansion,” said Homero Levy de Barros, president and CEO of HLB Tropical Food.
“Robert Colescott, president and CEO of Southern Specialties, and I realized that the combined strengths of both companies will create exponential value for our customers.
“The joint venture will automatically offer our clients a logistical advantage, since we’ll be able to consolidate more items then previously possible,” Mr Levy de Barros said.
Mr Colescott added that the time is right to promote the benefits of papayas.
“Here is a fruit that has it all: flavor, color and tremendous nutritional value. We expect to see significant growth in the category and the company,” he explained.
“I have great respect for the job Homero and his team have done with this product. They have set the bar for marketing papayas in this country and Europe.”
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