Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. is not the largest importer of Peruvian asparagus and the firm doesn’t survive by swinging huge ad deals with nationwide chains. However, Paul Auerbach, president of the Secaucus, NJ-based firm, said its claim to fame is that it takes care of its customers regardless of the circumstances.

He used limes to illustrate the high level of service and reliability for which the company is noted.

“We had a situation with limes this year when they were selling for six times their normal price,” he said. “We didn’t have to prorate any of our steady customers. We were serving nine divisions of a major foodservice chain and delivered on every order.”

Auerbach said that same commitment is what has enabled the firm to quickly grow its Peruvian asparagus deal over the last four years.

“We are increasing our volume every year,” he said. “I expect to double this year what we were doing four years ago.”

The company has a mix of business including foodservice operators, other wholesalers and retailers. Auerbach said the firm specializes in next-day business. “You don’t have to place your order seven days out. Call me on Monday for Tuesday,” he said.

Helping the company offer this type of business is the state-of-the-art cold-storage facility it built in Secaucus two-and-a-half years ago.

Known for its garlic sales of both whole and peeled garlic, the company offers several items that are complementary though different. In that group are sno peas, limes, radicchio and, of course, asparagus from both Peru and domestic sources.

Under domestic, Auerbach includes asparagus from Baja California in Mexico. “Technically it’s not domestic but logistically it is,” he said. “It is distributed through San Diego as if it were a domestic crop.”

He added that the items are niche items but very important to their customers. They may not all be high-volume products, but they are items that customers want every day.

Speaking specifically of Peruvian asparagus, he said it works well with Auerbach’s business model because that South American country is a year-round exporter of asparagus to the United States. Auerbach likes to service its customers with its list of niche products 52 weeks a year. In fact, it prides itself on supplying those items all year round.

Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. joined the Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association two years ago and Paul Auerbach said the membership has been extremely positive.

“We’ve been very active and have received lots of benefits going to the meetings,” he said. “It has given us a lot of knowledge and great networking. Priscilla Lleras does a great job for the industry and is really a great asset for the importers.”

While green asparagus makes up the bulk of Auerbach’s business, true to form, the New Jersey company offers white asparagus to its customers 52 weeks a year.

“We’ve been offering white asparagus year-round for 20 years now,” he said.

Purple asparagus is a different story. The company carries it when it can get it, but Auerbach said it is more difficult to produce so it is more difficult to source.

Turning his attention to the current Peruvian asparagus deal, Auerbach said, “It will be fairly typical this year in that it will be atypical.”

He said there are many factors that will influence supply and demand throughout the season and that will create a fluctuating market. He said weather will obviously affect supplies but so will transportation.

“Most Peruvian asparagus is shipped by air and sometimes that is very challenging,” said Auerbach. “You might have a shortage of supplies because you have a shortage of air freight.”

Auerbach said at certain times of the year, other products are willing to pay a premium for that air space causing the asparagus importers to compete for what’s left. He said recently producers of Chilean seafood were paying a premium for the space causing a shortage of space. During some holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, flower producers offer competition. Chilean fruit is a competitor during the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas period.

“[Transportation] is not a new challenge but it is a dynamic in that marketplace that has to be considered,” he said. “We all have to deal with it.”

All in all, Auerbach is very pleased with the Peruvian asparagus deal and his firm’s role in it. “It’s a good deal and good people are involved. From the growers and importers to the customs brokers and the fumigators. It is a more mature segment of our industry.”