Welcome to Miami

At the southeastern tip of the Sunshine State sits a lively, culturally rich, pastel paradise which also happens to be a critical gateway for the nation’s fresh produce trade: welcome to Miami.

Incorporated in 1896, this vibrant metropolis is steeped in colorful Cuban influence, steamy temperatures, and plentiful sunshine. Often called the “Capital of Latin America,” Miami is home to a huge, ever-growing Hispanic population. Nearly 2.7 million people live in Miami-Dade County—Hispanics or Latinos represent more than two-thirds of the county’s population—and new residents are flocking to the area by the thousands, bringing rich cultural traditions, delicious cuisine, and a love of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Growers & Growing in South Florida
Thanks to the region’s humid subtropical climate and year-round growing season, Miami-Dade County boasts one of the most diverse agriculture industries in the country. Unfortunately, record rainfall and flooding in December wiped out many of South Florida’s crops, affecting a number of Miami-Dade’s farms and the 11,000 residents employed by the county’s agriculture sector. The aftermath will also put a dent in the region’s $1.6 billion annual contribution to the state’s coffers.

Among the top producers in South Florida is the Redland region near Homestead, where a wide range of crops are grown. A small unincorporated community about 20 miles southwest of downtown Miami, Redland is famous for its tropical fruit, which cannot be grown commercially anywhere else in the nation. Redland growers harvest everything from mangos, papaya, and passion fruit to guava, dragon fruit, and plantains. The region’s top fruit, however, is the avocado—which accounts for approximately 7,500 acres of Miami-Dade’s prime acreage, providing $54 million to the regional economy.

Miami-Dade growers also produce an array of vegetables including beans, sweet corn, squash, sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and taro root. The county is also the Sunshine State’s leading growing region for fresh-market bush snap beans, producing 57 percent of Florida’s crop.

The Produce Center & Facilities
Some of this locally grown product is sold at the Miami Produce Center, but this wholesale operation has been on the decline in recent years. The nine-acre Produce Center, which opened in 1938 as the Dade County Market, is home to only a few small produce suppliers.

Some of the larger wholesalers and shippers have moved, setting up state-of-the-art facilities elsewhere in the county and Miami metropolitan region.

“The Miami market is very fragmented,” points out Rosann Cabrera, president of Bayshore Produce LLC, an importer, exporter, and distributor in Miami. “Many of the larger produce companies have moved away to other areas of Greater Miami.” Cabrera says these produce companies are not congregated in a specific area, but are scattered around the region from Doral and Medley to the northwest to Opa-locka, which is about 15 miles north of downtown Miami.

Direct Sourcing & More
A growing trend among produce suppliers in Miami and elsewhere is working directly— sometimes exclusively—with local growers. “A lot of chefs are asking about what we’re sourcing locally,” explains Nick Politis, who heads up sales at Mr. Green’s Produce, a distributor serving Miami restaurants, country clubs, and hotels. “There are interesting products grown here in Florida such as tomatoes, watermelon, and peppers, but it depends on the time of year.”

Before the next growing season, Politis plans to visit farms in nearby growing areas, including Homestead, Immokalee, and north of West Palm Beach. “We want to cultivate stronger relationships with the farmers directly, and set up agreements where we can suggest what items we want to grow,” he explains. “I have a meeting with the gentleman who supplies us with shishito peppers, and I’m going to talk to him about growing some other specialty peppers chefs are asking for, such as ‘long hots’ [a mildly spicy pepper often served fried or roasted with Italian food] and habañeros. Instead of trying to source them, we’re going to try to work with farmers to grow the products we need.”

New Varieties & Promising Produce
Florida’s innovative growers are constantly exploring exciting new fruit and vegetable varieties. During the 2014-15 growing season, the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, part of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Services (IFAS) released a new strawberry variety called “Florida 127.”

The Florida 127, which is marketed to consumers under the much more exciting name “Sensation,” offers a number of advantages, including excellent fruit size, great flavor, and longer shelf life. Perhaps most importantly, the variety offers early fruit production.

According to a University of Florida IFAS study, the Sunshine State’s strawberry growers must produce more fruit earlier in the growing season to keep a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. To help with this initiative, the IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, located in Wimauma, FL, about a half hour southeast of Tampa, has patented nine Florida strawberry varieties in the past 25 years.

Florida growers are also testing three new blueberry varieties, which could lead to significant growth in the state’s blueberry industry. The three new blueberry bushes—Arcadia, Avanti, and Endura—were bred to grow in Florida’s warmer climates. Although most of Florida’s blueberries are currently grown in Gainesville and Ocala in the northern part of the state, these new varieties can be grown as far south as Arcadia in South Central Florida.

Additionally, some Florida growers have been experimenting with another fruit that isn’t commonly harvested in the Sunshine State: olives. Working with University of Florida agriculture professors and entomologists, these pioneering growers are trying to determine which varieties of olives would work best in Florida’s subtropical climate—and where and when the crop should be planted and harvested.

As Spain’s olive farmers have been struggling with drought and Italian olives are being destroyed by a bacterial outbreak, the timing couldn’t be better. Americans use a whopping 80 million gallons of olive oil each year, according to the Florida Olive Council. Oddly enough, American farmers produce less than two percent of this oil currently, and most of what is produced in the United States comes from California.

Given California’s ongoing problems with drought, many University of Florida agricultural experts believe olives could be a boon to state growers and the next ‘big’ commodity. The downside? It will likely take another seven years or more before growers will know if it’s not only possible but potentially profitable to plant, harvest, and market Florida olives.

Ports in Paradise
Miami is known as the “Gateway to the Americas”—and for good reason. There are three major ports serving the Greater Miami area, including PortMiami, Port Everglades, and Port of Palm Beach. “We utilize all three of these major ports,” says Douglas Tannehill, president of Global Perishable Services LLP, who exports perishables to the Caribbean.

PortMiami’s largest trade regions are Latin America and the Caribbean. As the closest U.S. port to these locations, produce businesses importing or exporting through PortMiami enjoy shorter shipping times and extended shelf life. Each year, fruits and vegetables are among the top cargo that passes through PortMiami. In 2014, more than 170,000 tons of fruit and 124,000 tons of preserved vegetables and fruits were shipped in through the Port.

The Completion of the Deep Dredge
Thanks to a number of recent improvements, this volume may continue to rise. In September 2015, PortMiami announced the completion of its ‘Deep Dredge’ project, which greatly increased the Port’s channel depth.

As a result, PortMiami is now the only major logistics hub south of Virginia capable of handling fully laden Post-Panamax vessels—massive ships that were too large to pass through the canal before the expansion.

These vessels follow strict size regulations set by the Panama Canal Authority, as the entry and exit points of the Canal are narrow. This new generation of Post-Panamax vessels can hold significantly more cargo than previous ships, to the tune of 9,000 more containers or 18,000 more TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units; a standard 40-foot container is equal to two TEUs). By 2030, Post-Panamax ships could represent 62 percent of the world’s total container ship capacity.

“The Deep Dredge will allow for the Super Post-Panamax vessels to dock in Miami, which will bring more cargo to this already well-oiled machine we call PortMiami,” explains Frank Ramos, president of The Perishable Specialist Inc., a licensed customs broker.

Patricia Compres, president and CEO of Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting LLC, is also optimistic the Deep Dredge will lead to an upsurge of produce imports to PortMiami. “We hope it will provide more cargo once the larger vessels begin to arrive in the future, which will increase our sales.”

Located near Miami International Airport, Advance Customs Brokers helps produce importers with all facets of the regulatory process. “PortMiami is working on building a complex where we can have the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the same building, so we can have expedited services to process perishable cargo,” Compres adds.

Ramos says Miami produce businesses should see the benefits from the dredge project when the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2016. “More space availability on these huge vessels will definitely increase imports of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially from origin ports that have seen space shortages in the past.”

PortMiami also unveiled a fast access tunnel in 2014, connecting the port directly to the U.S. interstate highway system. These improvements are already proving to be extremely beneficial for produce businesses in the area. “We’re importing more through the Port of Miami now that these projects are finished,” confirms Cabrera.

Unprecedented Growth
In the past year, many Miami-based produce businesses have enjoyed extraordinary growth. “Business is up from last year,” comments Cabrera. “We project double-digit growth again for 2016.”

Business is also on the rise for Mr. Green’s Produce. “We’re still experiencing phenomenal growth, and we’re very excited,” enthuses Politis. Mr. Green’s recently celebrated its fourth anniversary with an open house. “As we enter our fifth year, we’re picking up market share and new clients, and we’re seeing a lot of acceptance in the Miami market.”

As Miami’s restaurant scene continues to evolve, this growth will likely continue. “We’re seeing a higher quality of restaurants in Miami, and the customer base—the people who are going to these restaurants—are much more sophisticated than they were a few years ago,” observes Politis. “Famous chefs from all over the world are opening restaurants here in Miami,” he notes, “and it’s good for everyone.”

Harvest Sensations, a grower-shipper and processor/repacker with facilities on both coasts, in Los Angeles and in South Florida, is also expanding with an eye to the future. “We’re opening a brand new 37,000-plus square foot state-of-the-art facility in Miami in February 2016,” says Doug Ranno, president of Harvest Sensations, which is one of the largest asparagus importers in the United States.

Harvest Sensations also specializes in French beans, snow and snap peas, various herbs, specialty produce, and a growing line of organics including value-added kale products. “We’re seeing growth in all categories, especially in organics. This year and next we expect continued steady growth in both our Los Angeles and Miami locations.”

Rough Seas
While many businesses are experiencing trmendous growth, things aren’t always smooth-sailing for Miami produce buyers and sellers. From weather issues to restrictive legislation, wholesalers and distributors in the region are still facing plenty of obstacles.

Weather Woes
Because many Miami businesses source from growers in Latin America, they have been impacted by drought, hurricanes, and other weather issues both in Florida and throughout Central and South America.

“The weather has been a big issue, and we don’t have as much product,” admits Soraya Londono, assistant manager of sales at Miami Agro Import, Inc., a produce distributor that imports from Guatemala. “In Guatemala, some seasons they get no rain and other seasons they get too much, which impacts the crops.”

Regulations, Rules & Mandates
Regulations that could potentially impact international trade are an ongoing concern for Miami produce suppliers—and with good reason. As Ramos mentions, the rules and regulations for imported fruits and vegetables continue to change and evolve.

This includes the Sanitary Transportation of Food rule for importers, part of the pending Food Safety Modernization Act rollout in March of this year and overseen by the USDA and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recently finalized Foreign Supplier Verification Program is another component of the process, placing further pressure on importers to thoroughly vet all their suppliers.

Fortunately, Ramos notes, most of Miami’s government personnel are not only supportive and ‘pro-trade’ but know a critical part of the equation is to keep perishables moving, fully understanding “the importance of expedited clearances and the handling of fruits and vegetables.”

Compres says a big challenge this year is a new automated system that import brokers will be required to use in providing information to Customs, the USDA, and FDA, switching from the Automated Broker Interface (known as ABI) to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Many are also feeling the financial heat from new rules and fees related to agricultural quarantine inspections. Last October, the USDA and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a final rule adjusting the fees the U.S. government charges to recoup the costs of conducting quarantine inspections at U.S. ports of entry.

The final rule went into effect in December, with stipulations requiring importers to pay “reimbursable overtime fees.” According to the USDA, when import and export-related services must be provided by federal employees outside of regular duty hours, the government will now charge an hourly overtime fee for the services. The fee “reimburses” the federal government for the cost of providing these services.

“The agricultural quarantine inspection fees and increase on USDA/APHIS overtime will have an impact on our customers,” Compres remarks. “The bottom line keeps shrinking, and we need to find solutions and efficiencies to lessen the burden to importers.”

Staffing Struggles
According to a 2015 survey by PI World-wide, a privately-held international management consulting company that specializes in business research and employee relations, U.S. businesses of all sizes say they are struggling to find qualified employees, including 65 percent of small companies and 45 percent of mid-sized businesses. Miami produce businesses can certainly relate.

“The biggest challenge has been managing our growth and finding good people to help us,” says Politis. “That’s probably the biggest challenge for most companies—finding the right talent that can be a part of the company culture.”

Sunny Days Ahead
Despite the challenges and struggles, Miami produce professionals remain optimistic about the future as their businesses continue to flourish.

“We have been blessed with loyal clients who have grown exponentially these last few years,” says Ramos. “And with their growth, we grow.”

“Business has been very good,” Tannehill remarks. “We see our customers getting stron-ger, and we see an increase in our business as well. I think we’ll continue to see an upswing in the economy, which will lead to a growth opportunity in 2016 as well.”

In other words, the forecast for Miami’s produce industry calls for plenty of sunshine.

Image: ©AdobeStock/jovannig