Fresh fruit supplier Don Limón is launching a retail partnership program to offer greater flexibility amid an ongoing and intensifying trend towards direct sourcing.

The German-based company is calling on global retail buyers of table grapes and citrus to build long-term, tailored partnerships with Don Limón’s sourcing and distribution offices worldwide for "seamless and true direct procurement" from the country of origin straight to retail warehouses.

Don Limón is offering a direct supply of grapes from India, South Africa and Egypt, plus citrus from South Africa and Egypt, as well as limes from Mexico and Brazil.

Andreas Schindler, Co-Founder and CEO, said: “I want to intensify our dialogue with grape and citrus retail buyers to create long-term purchasing partnerships with Don Limón’s global sourcing and distribution offices in India, South Africa, Egypt and Mexico.”

He added that he wants to foster direct communication between retailers and growers with the support of Don Limon's risk management service to overcome the many supply chain eventualities that occur with perishables.

"Don Limón creates a seamless connection between the retailer and the grower to turn the retailer into the importer. Our consulting division wishes to deepen our dialogue with retail purchasing decision-makers to become the flexible unit within their mostly rigid buying departments," he said.

He added: "We also offer our retail customers the opportunity to make decisions about quality control at the source, pesticide residue management, logistics, and repacking for citrus or heat-sealing for grapes.” 

According to the company, direct sourcing requires a unique set of skills to establish a consistent supply of competitively-priced fresh fruits. Globally, Don Limón continues to develop a network of employees that is adept at managing the complexities of produce sourcing and commercialization.

Schindler explains: “We have the people skills, the product knowledge and the brand reputation to bridge the gap between growers and retailers.

"We are production-focused, we know the growers, we understand the supply chain and we are experts in communication and problem-solving. Each of our traders is specialized in a specific product, and assigned to individual customer accounts. Our traders take the job seriously.”