He added that he is working the same ports of entries and has his same core customers. “Everything is going well; it’s been a good year,” he said. “The bulk of our business is through the Port of Miami, the Port of Everglades and Miami airport and we do handle files remotely in Philly.”
As his company name suggests, Ramos deals exclusively with perishables, with asparagus, blueberries and avocados being the top commodities he clears through customs for his clients. Though he admits to being very busy with lots to do, he seemingly is very content with his life and business. “I love this business,” he said. “Competition is irrelevant. There is always competition. My goal each and every day is to provide good service and let it speak for itself. This is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year business. That not just rhetoric. You always have to be available because issues pop up at all times of the day.”
Ramos said the asparagus deal was off a bit in 2023-24 season because of weather issues, but this year he is expecting that it will be a good season with good volume. “I’m an optimist,” he said, but also noted he is a realist. While others have talked for years about the Peruvian asparagus deal being destined for decline as the plantings age with few new acres being cultivated, Ramos believes the industry will continue to thrive.
He said asparagus is a good crop with a good following in the United States. “But we will work new commodities if that’s what our customers want,” he said. “Whatever crops our customers are expanding to, we do the same. We follow the customer.”
He has heard the chatter about Peruvian asparagus being next in line to potentially qualify for the development of a protocol system that eliminates the necessity of fumigation as a condition of entry into the U.S. market. Ramos said that will be a drastic change and good for the asparagus itself, but he also hopes the Peruvian grower-packers are ready for it. He relayed that fumigation is a fail-safe system that eliminates all pests. It has been in place for decades and growers and importers and customs brokers have developed a good system that results in efficient and timely movement of the cargo from the vessel to commerce.
When the fumigation requirement is relaxed and a new system put in place, there will be a learning curve on the receiving end. And grower-packers at the source may also have to alter their procedures as the reliable fumigation process will be eliminated. Instead, a detailed inspection system will be put in place, which could end up being much less efficient and result in more rejections.
Turning his attention back to the customs clearing part of the puzzle in which he excels, Ramos said the trend toward more Peruvian asparagus arriving into the United States by ocean rather than air will continue, in his estimation.
Technically speaking, he said the product goes through the same process regardless of how it arrives at the port. But from a customs broker’s point of view, air shipments require more work simply because of the much smaller size of each shipment. When arriving by ocean container, the entire container is fumigated as opposed to one pallet. “But it really doesn’t make any difference to us, it is the same process,” he said.