AMC Direct recently launched its child-friendly citrus packs for the US market. What other new developments do you have in the pipeline?
Alvaro Muñoz: Our drive to remain at the forefront of new product development remains unchanged. We are excited to be launching our new Go Go convenience brand. Initially the range will include Go Go Mandarins, Go Go Blueberries and Go Go Grapes. We have also developed new packaging for South African oranges for the Halloween holiday. This has been specially designed to get children more excited about fresh produce.
AMC is working on many new endeavours, in particular increasing our grape and citrus production globally. We have a long history as citrus and grape growers in Spain, growing market leading grape and citrus varieties which include Orri Mandarin, Bella Satsuma and Cambria Navels in citrus and K-2 – aka Tutti Frutti – Ivory, Timpson, Melody, Apple Crisp and Carletta in grapes. We are now expanding our own production in key sources such as California, Chile, Peru and South Africa, the focus being on planting Sheehan table grape and Citrus Genesis citrus varieties.
We are also developing a superior eating quality clementine from Spain which will be available for Thanksgiving. We are steadily expanding our Southern Hemisphere grape import programme and expect to see growth in the upcoming season with an increased availability of Sheehan grape varieties, which are known for unique their flavour, aroma and texture. For this season, demand will still exceed supply, therefore we encourage customers to get in touch with us early to discuss their needs.
How has the summer citrus and grape season been up to now? Are you expecting to see an increase in your sales volume this year?
AM: Overall AMC North America has experienced an outstanding summer citrus season. This was particularly the case for mandarins and lemons. Orange sales remain steady which reflects the general trend of consumers preferring easy peel options. We are particularly excited about the growth of our West Coast summer citrus offering.
Our domestic grape season got off to an excellent start with Coachella and Mexico and we carried this momentum through to the San Joaquin Valley which has resulted in strong sales. Due to excellent quality, our export business is showing fantastic growth year on year. As usual, we will have an overlap with Peruvian and Chilean import grapes, providing our customers with a variety of options.
Looking forward, what are the main projects you'll be working on for the remainder of 2014 and into 2015 in the US?
AM: Beyond 2014 there is a fantastic pipeline of new grape and citrus varieties to look forward to. On grapes these include new black seedless, early green seedless and both early and late red seedless. We have not forgotten about the seeded grape category as this is still in demand in certain markets. With this in mind, we are getting ready to launch superb new red and black seeded varieties.
There are also many new developments on citrus, such as an early clementine and naturally seedless mandarins. There has been huge growth in the pigmented category, so are particularly excited about our blood oranges and clementines.
As discussed, AMC is currently working on expanding our global production and further develop new packaging styles. We will continue to promote our new Sweet Mandarins, Go Go convenience line and “California’s Finest” grape line which includes our bi- and tri-colour clamshells.
