Naturipe Farms is one of a number of U.S. agricultural businesses entering the global market and seizing opportunities to export American-grown food.
Naturipe Farms is a joint venture created by Michigan Blueberry Growers Marketing (MBG), Horifrut SA Naturipe Berry Growers (NBG) and Munger Farms. They saw an opportunity to form a partnership under a common brand and approaching the marketplace under a unified “One Voice” theme. By joining together the growers are able to provide smooth transitions of the multiple harvest seasons across the U.S and provide a consistent supply of berries to clients and consumers in the US and around the globe. Naturipe includes hundreds of berry farms in states across the country from Florida to Michigan to New Jersey and California to Washington. Berry farmers rely on Naturipe to market and export their strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, and blackberries to consumers, retailers and restaurants around the world.
These farmers are working together to provide a consistent supply of fresh berries all year round by strategically streamlining their distribution of fresh berries to customers. Teamwork has allowed these individual agricultural businesses to gain a competitive advantage by delivering what retailers and other customers want. This includes consistency in food safety standards, packaging, delivery, better products at competitive prices, and most importantly, a reliable supply of fresh berries throughout the year without pause.
“The ability to supply fresh berries throughout the year has significantly increased the consumption of berries throughout the world. We are seeing that more and more markets want to buy U.S. agricultural products because the ‘Made in America’ brand means high quality and trustworthy food standards,” says Naturipe’s VP of Marketing Robert Verloop. “Demand is growing, especially in the Asia-Pacific region in countries like Japan, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. As more international customers are coming across our fresh berries, and the reputation for better quality and standards of U.S.-grown fruit rises, the more demand rises as well.”
USTR is working hard to open market access for farmers like Naturipe’s berry growers. The quality of U.S.-grown products has repeatedly proven to win over new customers overseas, and USTR wants to help lower tariffs and other trade barriers so that U.S. products can compete fairly in international markets. That’s why the Obama Administration is emphasizing the importance of export opportunities in our trade agreements to growing the economy.
“Trade agreements can help us meet those demands with lower tariffs, and allow our farmers to increase their production and become more competitive.”
