Coming to Fruition

The Ecuadorian company Forza Frut is putting down roots in Mexico and seducing the world’s palate with the quality of Mexican bananas.

Forza Frut’s story goes back to the partnership between Pascuale Mastricci and Luis Fernando Rivadeneira Dávalos, who have a combined experience of 50 years exporting fruits and vegetables from Ecuador and Mexico to be distributed in the European market.

The company is of Ecuadorian origin and started with an investment of 10 million dollars. It’s aim is clear: to market high-quality fruit with fair conditions for farmers. The results look promising. FORZA FRUT now has its main office in Guayaquil (Ecuador), and it is supported by offices in Argentina, Chile, China, the US’ East and West Coasts, Italy, Mexico and Russia.

The multinational company offers bananas, pineapples and mangos to make mouths water around the world and it has now successfully managed to break into the international markets, mainly the Ukraine, Syria, Turkey, Russia, Libya, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Iran, Tunisia, Albania and the US.

Bananas are its star product, and marketed under the brands Forza Bananas, Avanti, Piacere and Caramella, 250 thousand cases are exported to various countries and during seasons of high demand this number rises to 500 thousand.

In its constant search for quality, FORZA FRUT has not been content just to have obtained the certification ISO 9001-2000 and accreditation with the Ecuadorian Accreditation Organization (Organización de Acreditación Ecuatoriana, OAE), the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and the United States ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Since last May, it has continued its work with follow-up certification audits as well as having implemented the Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC), an international business alliance that promotes safe international trade in cooperation with governments and international organizations.

The company and all its producers are also committed to the GLOBALGAP standards, a private-sector body that sets voluntary standards for certification of agricultural products around the world.

May the force be in Mexico
Forza Frut’s success in Mexico began in 2008, after surplus production in Mexico’s two largest banana-producing areas in the southeastern states of Tabasco and Chiapas led Tabasco’s Local Banana Producer Association to look for alternative ways of placing this surplus in international markets.

Various Ecuadorian exporters were approached and Rivadeneira accepted the offer, which led him to send a team of professionals from Ecuador to study the feasibility of exporting the Mexican fruit. They were joined by representatives from Trust Control International, an international inspection company in Ecuador and with representatives in the world’s largest ports, providing services to minimize the risks within the supply chain of agricultural products.

This resulted in the signing of a sale and purchase agreement and the creation of a logistics and quality inspection operation to export Mexican bananas to the European markets.

The agreement paved the way for the creation of Avanti Bananas, a banana marketing and export company, and the signing of various sales and purchase agreements with producers in the Tabasco area, totaling 20 containers a week for a year. A similar number of contracts are currently being negotiated in the Tapachula area in Chiapas.

So far there has been a 2 million usd investment in Mexico but in the medium to long term this investment is expected to rise to the 50 million usd mark.

The Ecuadorian company considers that Mexico’s advantages include its geographic location, meaning that fruit shipments do not need to pass through the Panama Canal, a shorter journey time to the main ports of North Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East which also brings down shipment costs, and the presence of trade agreements between Europe and Mexico that means Mexico pays lower customs duties than Ecuador.

As part of its agreement with Mexican producers, Forza Frut has implemented in Mexico the systems that have distinguished the company, such as applying controls to ensure fruit quality for international buyers. These include the creation of the ECUAMEX guarantee that refers to packaging and marketing, guaranteeing buyers of Mexican bananas a product of the same quality and virtues as their Ecuadorian equivalents. The synergy has proved beneficial for both parties.

“After our successful entry into Mexico through a direct approach to reactivate its exports and reposition the prestige of Mexican fruit in the markets of Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and Russia, we are now working on a crop project so we can cut down the time it takes us to supply our increasing presence in new markets,” says Nelson Zambonino, CEO of Avanti Bananas and Forza Frut’s representative in Mexico.

“We are already in the North American market, and our operation goes beyond supplying direct importers as we are seeking to diversify our offer and distribution, added value and retail sales, not just for bananas but also other fruits and processed foods that are in high demand,” he adds.

To date the company has exported over 432,000 cases of Mexican bananas, weighing 20 kg (44 lbs.) each. From September to December 2008, it exported 332,625 cases of bananas, and so far in 2009 it has exported around 100,000 cases, all in refrigerated containers.

But this is just the beginning. Work is underway to create the company Forza Fresh Mex that will export other tropical Mexican fruits –including pineapples, plantains, mango and papaya– to the US.

While these ambitious plans for the future take shape, other short-term projects are already going full-steam ahead. “We are working on a pilot project to certify all our producers under contract with the GLOBALGAP certificate,” Zambonino explains, “and we are also increasing our profile and participation in international Expos to promote Mexican bananas.”