Kingston seeing strong sales with ‘Sugar Pine’ program
Kingston seeing strong sales with ‘Sugar Pine’ program
Kingston Fresh is experiencing strong early sales of its Costa Rican MD2 variety golden pineapple program — the Kingston “Sugar Pine” — which has increased significantly over 2014 amid strong customer demand.
Mike Anderson, director of procurement at Kingston Fresh, who was recently in Costa Rica to visit partner farms, said, “Overall, I am extremely pleased with what I am seeing in the fields and with the job of our QA team here on ground. We have seen some supply as well as quality issues lingering from heavy rains this past fall, but those challenges are behind us now and the spring crop is looking great. We expect good volume and high quality for Easter promotions at Kingston. Further, we have communicated to our sales team that volume forecasts for April and May also look to be great. Now is the time to push for strong pineapples promotions in that period.”
While the company’s pineapple program remains the flagship import program for Kingston Fresh, the import division has experienced steady expansion into several other key globally sourced programs.
Kingston has expanded its product menu to include blueberries from Argentina and Chile, specialty vegetables from Central America and South America, seedless grapes from Chile and Mexico, and citrus from Chile.
Additionally, the company is excited for its spring mango campaign, which begins in mid-March with Tommy Atkins and Ataulfo varieties from Guatemala.
“Our strong ’boots on the ground‘ presence in the countries we operate provides Kingston with a distinct advantage as it relates understanding markets and monitoring overall quality,” said Ken Nabal, president of Kingston. “We remain focused in delivering on our brand promise — a relentless commitment to quality, food safety and customer service.”
