VERO BEACH, FL - As time moves on, change is inevitable, especially for industry leaders like Seald Sweet/Greenyard USA. Since Seald Sweet joined the Greenyard Group in the late 90s, the global frontrunner has expanded its presence and portfolio beyond citrus. To find out more about the dynamic changes, I got in touch with Seald Sweet/Greenyard USA's Mayda Sotomayor, CEO, and Helena Fernandez Irastorza, Marketing Coordinator.
“The Greenyard Group does more than fresh produce, we are also in the prepared and frozen business, giving us a wider reach in the industry, with over 8,500 employees operating in more than 25 countries. Greenyard provides efficient and sustainable solutions to customers and suppliers through best-in-class products, market-leading innovation, operational excellence, and outstanding service,” Mayda tells me. “Nowadays in the USA, Seald Sweet products have a nationwide presence.”
With the strength of its sister company, Greenyard Logistics, Seald Sweet is a produce marketer with the advanced capabilities to cover almost every stage of the supply chain. Greenyard Logistics packs, stores, and distributes produce from its state-of-the-art facility as well as offering private label services.
The union allows Seald Sweet/Greenyard USA to share knowledge and best practices within the Greenyard Group, implement approaches that are used in other locations, and to be more efficient and effective.
“One of the key models that the Greenyard Group implements is the partnership model in Europe. The company believes that it is essential to continue to build partnerships with all in the supply chain, especially with retailers and growers,” Helena jumps in. “Greenyard creates partnerships in different forms that are suited to the retailer’s needs. Based on that, they organize the chain. As the chain is based on data, it is leaner and is more suited for demand, which allows for better supply, quality, and sustainability.”
The integrated model creates an open, transparent system between the grower, Greenyard, and the retailer. With information shared equally between all parties, the supply chain becomes more efficient and effective.
“The partnership model is based on the chain approach: Greenyard predicts the demand and organizes the supply—that is the basic principle. The second principle is that Greenyard works with long-term relationships, not only with retailers but also with growers,” Mayda explains. “For example, during the pandemic, the close relationships allowed them to fill in the gap caused in Europe. Although the chain was disrupted, it took a short period of time to restock again, proving how a partnership model can react quicker. Now, our strategy is to incorporate that vision into our U.S. business.”
Helena continues, “We see that the strength of implemented partnership is growing over the world. Technology and information are still at an early stage, but they are beneficial in helping us with data gathering that will help us to balance offer and demand in a better way.”
Seald Sweet/Greenyard USA is known for an expansive citrus line that includes clementines, oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Also, among its repertoire are grapes, pears, lychees, cucumbers, squash, peppers, and avocados.
A global reach with a fresh-forward mindset, Seald Sweet/Greenyard USA and its associate companies are a force to be reckoned with. As leaders in the industry continue to grow and expand, ANUK will continue to seek out the latest.
