Customized Brokers’ new cold storage facility nears completion
Customized Brokers’ new cold storage facility nears completion
Customized Brokers, the customs brokerage division of Crowley Marine Corp. in Miami, FL, caters heavily to the clearance of fruits and vegetables coming into the United States.
Nelly Yunta, vice president of U.S. imports, customs brokerage and consulting for the company, said that it is able to clear anything that is imported into the United States.
“While we specialize in the clearing of imported fruits and vegetables, our dry import division focuses on apparel, medical devices and food products, among other things,” said Ms. Yunta. “Many of the products we are currently clearing are originating from Peru, Chile, South Africa, Spain, Argentina and several regions in Central America.”
She added that transit time depends on the origin of the product, and, of course, the season if dealing with perishable goods.
Ms. Yunta said that the company is seeing a definite steady increase in volume of the commodities that it normally handles.
Nelly Yunta“Volumes are up on the commodities that we normally handle, such as asparagus, melons and blueberries,” she said. But we expected this and have planned for the volumes.”
She also noted that there are some delays currently being experienced due to an increase in the amount of sampling that the Food & Drug Administration is conducting on imported cargo.
Heading into the next couple of months, which is when very strong produce movement from offshore sources occurs, Customized Brokers is anticipating a couple of things.
“We import a large variety of products,” said Ms. Yunta. “Some of the larger volumes are melons from Central America, blueberries and grapes from Chile, and citrus from Spain and Morocco.”
While Customized Brokers services mainly the East Coast, it does handle considerable volumes on the West Coast, in addition to cargo that comes through various ports and is forwarded on to distribution centers throughout the United States.
Customized Brokers joined Crowley Marine Corp. in sharing offices in the same building early in the year. The new facility was planned to include a cold-storage facility.
“Our new cold-storage facility in Miami is still underway,” said Ms. Yunta. “Construction is now scheduled to be completed by January, and by then we hope to provide this great service to our customers to ensure the freshness of their cargo is preserved.”
