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Fru-Veg Marketing, Inc. is one of the country’s leading importers of organic produce utilizing growers in Europe and Latin America and operating under the philosophy of company founder Conchita Espinosa, who believed in the principle of selecting the finest growers in each region.
“She put together a niche company of high-end products, imported from South America, Central America, and Europe,” said Steven Espinosa, co-president of Fru-Veg Marketing. “There became a great trust with these growers, and together they built a tremendous program.”
Conchita Espinosa, Founder, Fru-Veg Marketing
Over the last three decades, the Doral, FL-based company has found success by ignoring the benchmarks of its competitors and letting its customers set the standards, resulting in long-lasting relationships.
Today, the company works about 70 percent for supermarkets and 30 percent for foodservice and wholesale clients. The program for supermarkets includes grapes, stone fruit, asparagus, clementines, cherries, and much more.
“We have a niche of high-end products at the supermarket level, and now we’re looking to have more of a year-round relationship in a number of categories,” Steven Espinosa said.
Over the last three decades, Fru-Veg has found success by ignoring the benchmarks of its competitors and letting its customers set the standards, resulting in long-lasting relationships.
When Albert Grimaldi, co-president of Fru-Veg Marketing, came to the company, he had the presence of mind to add some value-added products and include domestic growers in the mix, allowing the company to become a year-round supplier.
After working together for a while, Grimaldi and Steven Espinosa acquired the company in 2020 and, continue to work with the top growers available.
Steven Espinosa, Co-President, Fru-Veg Marketing
“We see ourselves like a nice boutique, with some private label programs, and we ship all the way to the East Coast, Midwest, and have some supermarkets in Canada,” Steven Espinosa said. “We have two different entry points and bring in a lot of product by air. We also do private packaging for different customers.”
In 2014, the company started working with organic blueberries, though the volume really started coming in strong around four years ago.
“We see ourselves like a nice boutique, with some private label programs, and we ship all the way to the East Coast, Midwest, and have some supermarkets in Canada.” -Steven Espinosa
“We’ve grown tremendously over the last few years in the blueberry arena, mostly on imports,” Grimaldi said. “We source from three different countries—Peru, Argentina, and Chile. We have some really big clients that help us support that program.”
Fru-Veg Marketing ships its organic product under the Valley Fresh Organic label and is Fair Trade Certified. The company’s organic blueberry business has grown about 15 to 20 percent a year and is expected to continue growing.
Albert Grimaldi, Co-President, Fru-Veg Marketing
“One of the advantages we have in the organic arena is pack sizes vary by retailer based on their price points and how they want to go to market,” Grimaldi said. “Because we source from different countries, some of our growers like to send us a percentage of their fruit in bulk, so we can accommodate the retailers based on their needs.”
“One of the advantages we have in the organic arena is pack sizes vary by retailer based on their price points and how they want to go to market. Because we source from different countries, some of our growers like to send us a percentage of their fruit in bulk, so we can accommodate the retailers based on their needs.” -Albert Grimaldi
“One of our real strengths is moving on those sizes based on demand,” Grimaldi said. “We partnered with one of the largest domestic blueberry growers, and that’s been a real success. We’re so invested with so many large growers. We feel confident we will grow with large retailers.”
One of the ways Fru-Veg is looking to the future is by expanding to other products, and the company has plans to start selling organic kiwi in a special clamshell packaging.
“We are a fairly mid-size kiwi shipper year-round from Italy, Greece, and Chile, and we recently introduced a kiwi clamshell that we patented ourselves, and we can barely keep that package supply going,” Grimaldi said. “The growth has been so dynamic, and we are looking to roll that out for the whole marketplace.”
Another large category the company handles for 10 months of the year is asparagus out of Peru (and a little out of Mexico). Fru-Veg sees itself growing in organic asparagus over the next 3-5 years.
“We also import organic pears and apples,” Steven Espinosa said. “Summertime we are heavy in pears and service large retailers east of the Mississippi River and don’t interfere with the domestic season at all. We’ll also do organic apples when the domestic season is completed.”
