RIO RICO, AZ — SunFed is celebratiing its 20th anniversary in 2014.

Second-generation family owner Matt Mandel has worked for the company for seven years and has seen the firm’s sales volume triple in that time. The 33-year-old Mandel is the firm’s vice president of sales and marketing.

The firm’s elegant office, which was built in 2005 and is highlighted by black stone wall etchings of the company’s name and trademark “Perfect Produce,” speaks to high standards pursued by SunFed.

Mandel said, “I never want to warehouse product” but as a practical matter, the firm needs warehouse space and has kept two such refrigerated facilities since 2008. “We have a 1.8-day average turnaround for all product, across the board,” he said.

The company offers a diverse product line with 300 SKUs. “Squash represents 30 percent of our entire portfolio,” Mandel said. Six or seven varieties of squash are shipped by SunFed.

Colored bell peppers, cantaloupes and cucumbers each account for 18 percent of the firm’s sales volume.

That leaves room for some quantities of honeydew, watermelon, eggplant, Beefsteak tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine.

“We look for other areas of opportunity,” Mandel added.

Almost all of these commodities come from conventional and organic production. “Perfect Organic” is another SunFed trademark.

SunFed ships to customers throughout the United States and Canada.

“Our focus is on extended shelf life technology. Seed varieties and agronomic practices, postharvest practices and the cold chain are key. There are a lot of small things that add up at the end of the day. Do it right and you’ll have consistency,” he said.

Mandel tells his customers that he never wants 100 percent of their business. “I want someone else to take 10 percent.” If SunFed is a sole supplier, “if I fall down they have no one to blame but me,” he said. If there is a weather problem, that will become evident. “I still can’t control the weather.”

SunFed owns no land but is a production partner with its grower-affiliates. “We don’t want to be owners of product. We would compete with ourselves and we want no conflicts,” Mandel said.

This winter a new grower-partner for SunFed was located in Guatemala, producing greenhouse tomatoes on the vine from November into June. “They are doing a bang-up job on volume and quantity,” Mandel said. Guatemalan greenhouse production has proven to be highly consistent, with four containers exported each Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Limited Roma tomato production is expected from Guatemala beginning in the second week of March.

For three years SunFed has had an interest in squash production in the Dominican Republic. SunFed’s produce from the Dominican Republic and Guatemala is distributed from Pompano Beach, FL.