Nelly Yunta, vice president of Customized Brokers in Miami, FL, said that she is hearing that there will be an increase in berry imports to the United States this year.

“I cannot pinpoint the exact reasons for the expected growth, but it could be at least in part attributed to new countries emerging in the berry market,” said Ms. Yunta. “Customized Brokers is currently clearing berries from Argentina and Chile, and we have seen a very consistent volume from both countries.”

Ms. Yunta noted that exporters and importers are better suited to accurately respond to anticipated volume increases because they are now in the process of preparing for the upcoming season. Nor can brokers speak to what kind of berries will be arriving or when.

“We do know that Argentina is slated to start production early this season,” said Ms. Yunta. “But we won’t be seeing the shipments until October. It is important to add, however, that there could be a shift and growth in the volume of berries now that Peru is entering the market this year. So I would say that is the biggest change, which may be a [market] factor.”

In late January, Customized Brokers, and its parent company, Crowley Maritime, moved into a new shared facility in Miami. Development of the facility also included plans for a cold storage section.

“We are glad to announce that our new cold storage facility, Crowley Fresh, which will be used for berries as well as other produce, will be ready by Dec. 1,” said Ms. Yunta. “This will help us to serve some customers’ needs.”

“Although Crowley and Customized Brokers are now in the same office, we will continue our separate operations,” she continued. “Our companies maintain individual identities.”

While Customized Brokers works with Crowley’s customers, it maintains strict confidentiality with its other clients. Ms. Yunta said the move is helping both companies to improve their transportation processes, but Customized Brokers will continue to focus on its services with the other carriers that it works with.

Crowley Maritime is a diversified company that does about a $1.5 billion in annual revenues in shipping, logistics and projection solutions.

Customized Brokers is a customs clearance broker. The company clears customs for importers and it specializes in fresh produce. Besides clearing shipments through government agencies, it also handles logistics for some of its customers by coordinating with Crowley.

As a leading customs brokerage agency, Customized Brokers stays on top of every regulation or procedure change that the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiates on imported fruits and vegetables.

Ms. Yunta said that last year there was an issue with the fumigation process. The USDA had extended the fumigation and aeration time, which cut down on the efficiency. As a practical matter, she said that every fumigated load required the paying of overtime to the USDA inspector on duty as the extra two hours of fumigation pushed the inspector into the overtime zone. This increased costs and delayed many a shipment, but most importantly it affected the quality of the product. The “new” protocol procedure was rescinded in December and the old protocol was put back in place. This year, Ms. Yunta expects no new issues related to regulations or protocol.

“We recently met with the USDA about the fumigation protocol, and we hope to see the results of those efforts before the season begins,” noted Ms. Yunta. “If those changes do take place we may see an even bigger increase related to blueberries from Argentina.