Catania Worldwide and Stellar Distributing will continue shipping more and more figs, kiwifruit and limes to North American markets. They have built new facilities in Mexico and are working on new facilities in the United States to meet consumer demand for these commodities.

“Retailers across North America have always been in love with figs, and now that we have Mexican figs year around, there is very little competition,” said Kurt Cappelutti, sales manager at Stellar Distributing, based in Madera, CA. Raul Bolanos, Brian Lapin, Paul Catania, Susie Catania, Roger Gay, Kurt Cappelluti and Nick Cappelluti of Catania Worldwide and Stellar Distributing.

Catania and Stellar will be shipping mostly the Black Mission variety out of Mexico, but they will also have a few green figs later this season, according to Paul Catania, owner of Catania Worldwide.

“We have 200 acres in the ground at various stages of production,” Catania said. “We also work with specific growers. We take their fruit, but also monitor their farming practices in order that they comply with the certification requirements.”

Catania and Stellar have become vertically integrated in several commodities. They grow, pack and ship figs in Mexico and the United States, limes from Mexico, and some kiwi. Vertical integration allows for greater control of growing, shipping and packaging decisions.

“We ship 15 to 20 loads of our own limes weekly from two regions, from our certified packingshed, and we are completing certification in the fields as well,” Catania said.

Chile opened containers of kiwis early this year and Catania and Stellar established relationships with great shippers in Chile, which have allowed them to have kiwis available for retailers, according to Cappelutti. Stellar was proactive and made sure to procure all it could for the late-summer window.

Limes have been a growing commodity over the last five years for Stellar Distributing, said Cappelutti, and they work with several different states in Mexico. So when supplies get short from one area they are able to keep limes moving to retailers from another region. 

“We have a new packingshed, which has given us much more flexibility, so we can pack, sort and grade as needed, as well as consolidate, Cappelutti said. “We are tirelessly working to drum up new business for our limes and we are confident that we can keep growing every year with our plan of attack. We demand the best quality because we absolutely can.”

“We are increasing our focus on lime distribution in the U.S.,” said Catania. “To that end, we will be opening a facility in McAllen, Texas, to pack and distribute limes and lemons to our American customers. Our focus is on food safety, providing greener alternatives to packaging, providing premium product at reasonable prices to our customers and service, service, service.”