“We promote limes year- round,” Ronnie Cohen, vice president of sales for Vision Import Group headquartered in River Edge, NJ, told The Produce News.

“For the first time this year we are testing the one-pound sleeve of ‘Mojito’ brand limes,” he said.

“We introduced the sleeve earlier this year, and we feel that it will open new space on produce departments’ retail shelves. So far the response has been great, and we hope to make it a wide-spread offering in the future.”

Vision Import Group continues with its popular two-pound bags of “Mojito” brand limes.

Cohen explained that a consumer called the office to say that she had just purchased a bag and wanted to know if the company had recipes available for their use.

“I told her to just pick her favorite recipe that calls for limes and use the ‘Mojito’ limes for a truly outstanding flavor result,” he said.

Cohen added that when consumers contact the company, it is a strong message that the “Mojito” brand limes are being sought out in produce departments.

Vision Import Group shares unified national distribution with Vision Produce Co. in Los Angeles.

While they are separate companies and they do business in slightly different ways, being united enables both to market their popular brands nationwide.

Vision Import Group markets products to customers east of the Mississippi River, and Vision Produce Co. handles the western portion of the nation.

The brands that both companies market include “Van Gogh” mangos as well as limes under brand names that include “Mojito,” “Havana” and “Mr. Squeeze.”

Vision Produce Co. also sells limes under the “Bonito” and “Logger” brands in the western part of the country. The companies are well-known for their colorful graphic logos and clever names.

Cohen said that the company’s “Van Gogh” Mexican mango program was winding down in early August and that the Brazilian season was about to get started.

“We should see movement by late August or early September from Brazil,” he explained. “There were some weather issues in parts of Brazil and so production is having a little bit of a slow start this year by one to two weeks compared to normal. Once it gets underway we expect things to get back on track quickly.”

Bill Vogel, president and chief executive officer of Vision Produce Co., is a partner along with Cohen and Raul Millan, who is executive vice president of Vision Import Group.

The company maintains an office in Pharr, TX, which is used for quality control and distribution.

It is operated under the Vision Import Group banner. It also recently opened a facility in Lakeland, FL, which is managed by Bruce Letchworth.