North Bay Produce received the first air freight shipment of Argentine blueberries at its new distribution center in St. Louis, Illinois this month, paving the way for fruits from other regions in the future.

A total of 18,000 boxes of fruit arrived at the MidAmerica Airport on Nov. 10 and were placed in the company's cold storage facility within an hour and 15 minutes.

The new facility allows for quicker transit to cities such as Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York, compared to the traditional point of entry Miami.

North Bay Produce Chile manager Ruy Barbosa told www.freshfruitportal.com while the flight was just with a charter plane, the new facility is very innovative as it allows for optimal logistics operations.

He added the company was looking into options to send cargo to the facility from other fruit supplying countries such as Mexico, Peru, Chile and Uruguay.

"What is attractive is that the operation was very quick and manipulation was minimal," Barbosa said.

"When you receive fruit in Miami it goes to the refrigerators of the operators and you have to go and look for the fruit.

"For our company it is a great opportunity because from there we also intend to ship to the East with fruit that is produced and traded by North Bay Produce in the U.S.," added the executive, highlighting the potential of direct shipments to South Korea.

www.freshfruitportal.com