A new anti-pest protocol is enabling ports like Savannah to receive fruit from South America, shortening the supply chain and giving consumers a fresher product.
The number of United States ports of entry accepting Peruvian fruit continues to increase under the auspices of a federally approved cold-treatment program to control the introduction of harmful pests.
The Port of Savannah is now handling grapes imported from Peru, the Georgia Ports Authority said Thursday. The news follows the first deliveries to Savannah last fall of Peruvian citrus products and avocados.
A new Department of Agriculture program is opening the door for these and other types of products – blueberries, pears and apples – from Peru, Uruguay and Argentina, to be transported by ocean carriers to southern ports instead of requiring them to transit through ports such as Philadelphia or Wilmington, Del.
South Florida was the first region approved in 2014 by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a USDA agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to directly import of grapes from Peru after a pilot program successfully demonstrated logistics providers could use cold treatment techniques to prevent the introduction of fruit flies into South Florida.
Previously, many fruits from South America were required to be shipped to ports north of Baltimore where temperatures are cold enough to kill any fruit flies that avoid extermination and escape into the environment. Now they are allowed entry if they have been chilled for a minimum of 17 days prior to arrival. The treatment can be done at origin or during transit, and importing directly into Florida, Georgia and other Southeastern states can save thousands of dollars in transportation costs per shipment and increase shelf life because the grapes don’t have to be trucked back south for sale in those markets.
Fumigation does not work for fruit flies. Cold treatment at 36 degrees Fahrenheit also reduces the need for pesticides.
Ports now eligible to receive cold-treated fruit from South America include Miami, Port Everglades, Jacksonville, and Tampa.
The red globe grapes from Peruvian growers were shipped on a trial run by a Miami-based company called Andean Sun Produce under the “Gold Cup” brand. Other perishables from Peru that move through Savannah include sweet onions.
“It is nice to have only a four-hour truck ride to Atlanta versus a day and half from the Philadelphia ports,” Matt Jardina, owner of produce wholesaler J.J. Jardina, said in a GPA news release. “It allows us to get the product into our warehouse more quickly and begin selling the grapes a few days earlier.”
Andean Sun Produce says it plans to import all varieties of red and green seedless grapes through Savannah. It will use the Georgia port again for the summer citrus season.
Perishable cargo is a priority business for the Port of Savannah. The Garden City Terminal has more than 100 refrigerated container racks and more than 730 chassis plug ins, which power more than 3,200 refrigerated boxes at once.
Peruvian grapes land at Savannah port for first time
