“We are in the third year of our organic papaya program,” says Andres Ocampo with HLB Specialties. The program was started in response to increased consumer demand for organic papayas. “It was our first organic product and we definitely had some challenges to overcome in the beginning,” Ocampo shared. The main obstacle was to solve a gap in supply. “From the beginning, our goal was to supply consistent volumes on a year-round basis, but that wasn’t easy at first. We’ve overcome that difficulty and now have year-round production.”
HLB Specialties sources its organic Formosa papayas from Michoacán in Mexico. Although supplies are consistent throughout the year, production slightly dips in September and October.
