While some of our source countries get a lot of fanfare, others with smaller volumes perform quietly behind the scenes. One such country is Peru. In the late 1990s, we began marketing mangoes from Peru, building toward our current year-round category supply. Recently, we've added citrus, selling Peruvian Satsumas in Canada this spring.

While our total anticipated Peruvian volume for 2005 remains well under one million boxes, we've strengthened our supply from quality growers through streamlined communication.

Working hard on our behalf is Francisco Avendano, Oppenheimer's Peruvian connection. Our category directors communicate our requirements for various products, and Francisco the growers whose fruit meets our needs.

After selecting Peruvian suppliers, Francisco coordinates the agreements and channels general communication between them and Oppenheimer. He interprets grower information to provide weekly forecasts and projections, and also helps with EDI transactions and quality assurance requirements. Meanwhile, we deliver market intelligence and competitive information to our Peruvian growers through Francisco. Generally speaking, he acts as our "eyes and ears" in Peru.

Francisco's association with Oppenheimer began at the PMA convention in 2001. Not long afterward, he connected us with a Peruvian grape grower, the producer of ECO brand grapes. Our relationship with this grower continues today. In 2002, he began recruiting mango growers for Oppenheimer.

"It was hard at first to convince growers to work with us," Francisco said. "We were unproven, and the Peruvian growers did not know a lot about Oppenheimer. But one group, Agricolas Unidas, was willing to work with us on a small volume. Our results were good, and now we have five companies on board."

In 2004, Oppenheimer received over 690,000 cartons of Peruvian mangoes. According to Steve Woodyear-Smith, mango category director, we anticipate about 850,000 this year. About 80 percent of our Peruvian mangoes will be sold in the Oppenheimer box.

Steve finds the mangoes from Peru to be, "generally outstanding with high color, apparently a result of favorable growing conditions, harvest and packing techniques. Also, all fruit is pre-cooled prior to shipping."

Francisco and Steve are working to enhance our Peruvian mango deal. This season, they arranged a direct shipment to Canada. This is important, because, unlike the U.S., Canada does not require hot water treatment of mangoes as a precaution against med fly. If untreated mangoes can enter the country directly, the quality and integrity of the fruit can be much better.

Our business from Peru is evolving to include citrus, with Satsumas currently in Western Canada. Our first shipments of these arrived in April, and the season extends through June. We anticipate a volume of about 12,000 10-kg cartons. Vancouver Sales Manager Walt Breeden is enthusiastic about the fruit quality and would like to see the volume grow over time.

However, the deal is not without logistical challenges. Because Peruvian Satsumas are not currently allowed into the U.S., the fruit is shipped to New York, placed in bond, cleared, then trucked across the border into Western Canada.

Interestingly, these Satsumas are grown from seeds once given to the producers by Japanese mandarin growers. The Peruvian fruit has the same appearance and flavor characteristics of our Japanese seedless oranges.

Francisco's experience is not limited to mangoes and oranges. He has "always worked in produce," selling Chilean apples, pears, kiwifruit and grapes, along with Peruvian grapes and citrus into the U.S. and Eastern Canada in 2000. He later opened an office in Lima to import such items as Washington apples and Chilean apples, grapes, stone fruit and oranges for sale in Peruvian supermarkets. Shortly after that, he began assisting us with our Peruvian sourcing needs.

Francisco is the proud daddy of 6-month-old Maria José, born Dec. 11, 2004 while he was working on Peruvian mangoes 800 kilometers from her birthplace. He met her more than 12 hours later after the speediest drive of his life!

In his spare time, Francisco enjoys fishing, waterskiing, and the occasional ski trip to Chile.