Publication date: November 5, 2021
In the past 18 months, demand for tropical produce items like mangosteen, rambutan, and guava has shown considerable growth. “Retailers have become more adventurous,” says Melissa Hartmann de Barros with HLB Specialties. “Retailers are responding to the trend of consumers cooking at home more and trying to experience excitement. As a result, we have seen […]
Publication date: October 28, 2021
For more than 30 years, HLB Specialties has been bringing its own love of nutritious, delicious tropical fruits to health-conscious people all across the United States, Canada and Europe. “We’re passionate about tropical fruits and committed to bringing delicious and nutritious foods to consumers in North America and Europe,” said Melissa Hartmann de Barros, director […]
Publication date: October 6, 2021
“You get tired of eating the same that you’ve been eating all your life.” He explained, people’s habits changed during the pandemic, and it helped to drive up demand for tropical fruits, which is what he imports from South America to large supermarket chains. “And with that extra demand came more pressure on us to […]
Publication date: September 16, 2021
“I love my job.” “I love my company.” “I love my boss.” “I love my co-workers.” “I love being in sales.” “I love Washington (state).” “I love the weather here. People say it rains every day. They are lying. In Puerto Rico, it rains more.” The list goes on and on. Arroyo punctuates almost every […]
Publication date: March 26, 2021
Here we are, our second installment of “Seen on Social.” No worries if you missed the first one. The concept is pretty basic. These posts —related to the produce industry or fresh produce itself — caught our attention this week. It’s a simple way to keep up. There’s too much cool stuff online to follow […]
Publication date: January 25, 2021
HLB’s new papaya variety is already available in Europe and is now set to launch in the UK Exotics specialist HLB Specialties has launched a new papaya variety to bring cheer to consumers during their winter confinement. Samba, a proprietary variety developed by some of the company’s growers in Brazil, is slightly larger than a […]
Publication date: November 18, 2020
A rambutan importer was on Monday anticipating an unprecedented situation for growers in Central America, which was preparing for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Iota even as it recovered from another storm that struck just days before. The storm hit Nicaragua earlier this week with sustained winds of 155 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It […]
Publication date: September 4, 2020
Hurricane Nana made landfall in a sparsely populated part of Belize right after midnight on Thursday morning. From there, Nana weakened to a tropical storm, pushing across Guatemala on Thursday. “The storm affected the northern part of Guatemala, the heart of our papaya growing region,” said Andres Ocampo with HLB Specialties. “Fortunately, Nana had turned […]
Publication date: July 19, 2020
One of these products is rambutan, which is currently being sourced from Guatemala and Mexico. Andrés Ocampo of HLB Specialties, located in Florida, says: “We are currently sourcing our rambutan from Guatemala. The season started late April, early May in the Pacific region, which is just across the border from Mexico. Then, as the season […]
