Sun Belle celebrates 30th anniversary in produce trade
Sun Belle celebrates 30th anniversary in produce trade
schiller park, il — Not all of us have a life plan that matches final results.
But, from a young age, Janice Honigberg knew that she wanted a career in international trading. Dreams, with a strong plan, soon met reality.
After receiving an undergraduate degree in Latin American studies and philosophy at Yale, she received a master’s degree with an emphasis in agribusiness and international marketing from the Harvard Business School.
This year her firm, Sun Belle Inc., celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Prior to starting Sun Belle, Honigberg gained valuable experience working in business development for international companies trading metals as well as grains and other bulk commodities.
In late January 1986, in her first days operating Sun Belle, she met the Chilean berry trade legend, Victor Moller, “and within a week I was importing berries from Hortifrut.” Sun Belle is a major berry marketer and shipper, including from Chile.
In March 1986, “I hung out my shingle in the Red Book” and she was soon marketing blackberries for Westmoreland Berry Farm in Virginia. Blackberries have been important to Sun Belle ever since.
In Washington, DC, at the 1993 PMA trade show, she introduced Dutch greenhouse TOVs to the North American market, and also was promoting Dutch peppers and Beefsteak tomatoes.
Along the way her packaging innovations boosted sales.
Sun Belle started in Washington, DC, and then Honigberg opened the office near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in 1991. The firm opened a Miami office in 2000 and around 2005 began shipping from Los Angeles. In 2002, sister companies were established in Chile and Mexico.
The growth has continued and the firm’s Sun Belle brand name is regularly to be seen in produce departments throughout North America.