Miami is southern Florida’s cultural, financial, and economic center and abounds with locally-grown, organic, and imported produce. It has overcome nature’s unpredictable hand and continues to grow its undeniable success.
What’s new at the Miami terminal market? Well, pretty much everything, depending on how far back you go—as the market has undergone a transformation in recent years.
“The market is truly disappearing—at least the old-school part,” says Doug Tannehill, president of exporter Global Perishable Services LLP. “But there will always be viability.”
Tannehill believes Miami “will always have a vibrant market,” though it is certainly changing its look and scope, shifting from an open-air centralized location to independents with their own refrigerated warehouses dotting the busy thoroughfares.
Today’s Miami market is a burgeoning global hub.
“Whether it’s fruits and vegetables from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, or Colombia—it’s all about international trade,” says Tannehill.
Frank A. Ramos, president of customs broker, The Perishable Specialist Inc. in Miami, agrees, pointing out that both PortMiami and Port Everglades have reconfigured their waterways to handle the newest megaships.
“It’s excellent for our customers and the industry: the bigger the vessel, the more containers they can put on board.”
Marc Holbik, president of Ecoripe Tropicals Inc., is quick to point out Miami’s duality.
While it is certainly a dynamic port of entry for incoming shipments from Central America and the Caribbean, it is also “an important agricultural production area in its own right, with a diversity of tropical fruit and winter vegetables grown just outside the metropolitan area.”
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full article.
