Growing organic produce in a tropical location comes with challenges. The same rain and sunshine that encourage abundant plant life can also mean more pest pressure. Christopher Palumbo, director of Goldenberry Farms, says there’s also a flip side for places like Colombia, where the company is in the midst of its proprietary Sugar Mango™ harvest.

“In Latin America and specifically in Colombia, you're dealing with an area that has some of the most fertile terrain in the world. It's surrounded by two oceans. It's nestled by cloud forests; it has the Amazon; it has volcanic soil,” he told FreshFruitPortal.com

With the right practices, Palumbo says organic production in Colombia is not only sustainable but healthier, starting with the growers.

“One of the big ones in Colombia has been our soil science programs, where we really are teaching farmers that they don't need to use herbicide. They don't need to use glyphosate. And there are chemicals that are actually not very good for them, for their families, for their workers or for the consumers,” he said.

“Tropical fruit is very difficult to grow organically. But we are taking it step by step to farm in a regenerative way, to farm in a sustainable way.”

Producer training has been a major focus of Goldenberry Farms since the grower-exporter company began operations in Colombia, and as it has expanded into new locations, like Ecuador. They carry out educational programs throughout the year.

The efforts incorporate growers from Goldenberry’s wholly owned farms, as well as growers from its producer network.

“Those farmers sign a pledge or sign a commitment to various things: soil sustainability, soil management, environmental standards, social compliance,” Palumbo said. “We want to make sure that we're aligned with the same philosophy as the growers.”

Investments in organic farming

With the right practices, Palumbo envisions Colombia becoming synonymous with natural and organic tropical fruit.

Investments in indoor growing operations in Latin America are contributing to that vision, he said. While indoor operations aren’t common in the region, Palumbo says the format can result in improved food safety and a more consistent supply for large grocers.

“Normally, you see a lot of greenhouse-type growing in North America and in places where the climate dictates it,” Palumbo said. 

“But this is something that we and others have been investing in for more high-value crops.”

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With more consumers interested in where their food comes from, Palumbo also sees the benefits at the end of the supply chain.

“The consumer expects that their food is grown in a reliable way, in an ethical way, that farmers were treated fairly, that the ground and the animals that lived in that area were taken care of,” he said.

“As growers, we have a big responsibility as stewards of land and I think it's more than lip service. Sustainability is not an afterthought. It's not a charity. It's not a thing we do later. It is the reason why we are profitable.”

Palumbo explained that distributors like Goldenberry Farms play an important role in incentivizing sustainable practices among growers. In the end, he says, farmers want to grow healthy foods. The key is providing them the means.

“Sometimes when farmers don't receive the education and when their entire livelihood is reliant on a very short season and they have to sustain their family with the results of a four month harvest, the farmer is going do whatever it takes to produce that fruit because their motivation is to sustain their family,” he said. “So, it is the job of larger exporters such as Goldenberry to come in and to provide an umbrella of coverage to help educate the farmers to help support them, to transition them.”

Sugar mango season

Natural production practices are particularly important for products with edible skins like Sugar mangos and Sweet Sugar mangos. The fruit is typically harvested in Colombia from March to July. 

Palumbo says their harvest started a bit late in Colombia this year, but the trees had good flowering, a sign of a strong crop.

“The zone where this fruit grows in Colombia is a tropical zone and it's very close to the ocean. It's on the Caribbean coast,” Palumbo said. 

The fruit has been exported to Canada and Europe for four years now. This year, the fruit will enjoy its first full season in the United States through agreements with 28 grocers.

The mini mangos, marketed as an easy lunchbox option, don’t need peeling like most mangos. That’s part of their appeal and their challenge.

“Any fruit that you're eating with the skin, it's especially important to manage the process in the field throughout the entire year,” Palumbo said.

“When Goldenberry Farms creates a unique commercial brand, we promise to the customer that we have put our sustainability and our good practices year round into developing that piece of fruit. … that's why distributors like Melissa's did a a distribution agreement with Goldenberry farmers.”

Treatment to enter the United States

To secure entry to the United States market, and to ensure fruit integrity, Goldenberry Farms had to determine the right phytosanitary process for their mangos. 

Until now, Colombia’s total fresh mango exports to the United States have remained low, at about 96,000 pounds in 2023. That’s out of a total 1.2 billion pounds imported from all destinations, according to USDA data. 

APHIS first approved entry of fresh Colombian mangos in 2021. Since then, producers have faced the task of implementing the appropriate protocol.

“The USDA work plan requires any mango that comes into the United States to be treated. It either can be treated by hot water or by radiation,” he said.

The hot water treatment proved too intense for the delicate skin of Sugar mangos. Instead, the company elected a process called electronic cold pasteurization, a modern form of radiation treatment carried out in Texas.

“This process kills all the pathogens on the outside of the fruit,” he said. “We feel this is a real value for the customer because we can ensure that even though the fruit has been traveling around the world that it's been treated, and any pathogens and any bacteria have been killed and cleaned when it comes into the United States.”

In addition to Colombia, Goldenberry Farms also has Sugar mango crops in Spain, Brazil and New Zealand.