(Watsonville, CA) Inn Foods, Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive sales and marketing contract with Cointer, S.A., which produces frozen fruits and vegetables, which are individually quick frozen (I.Q.F.) and packed at its plant near Antigua, Guatemala.
In addition to marketing Cointer products through Inn Foods sales representatives, the agreement also calls for Inn Foods to finance Cointer's seeds and fertilizers.
The contract covers a wide variety of I.Q.F. fruits and vegetable Cointer produces, including broccoli, honeydew and cantaloupe melon balls, pineapple, Brazzos blackberries, mangos, and strawberries. Some of the products will be blended at the plant; however most will be shipped directly to Inn Foods's customers in the U.S. and Europe.
According to Inn Foods president Mike Randle, "We are very excited about this agreement with Cointer. It is another example of the successful relationships we develop with processors that benefit our customers. There is a growing demand for Guatemalan fruits and vegetables because of their high quality and the cost benefits to our customers. There is significant cost efficiency in shipping, as goods can be transported from Guatemala to the East Coast of the U.S. for the same customer cost as shipping from Mexico to the Texas border."
Volume from the Guatemalan plant in fiscal 2004 is expected to exceed nine million pounds with an ultimate production goal of twenty million pounds.
Inn Foods, Inc. was founded in 1976 and has production operations in North and Central America and is a major importer of frozen food products from Europe, Central and South America, and Asia. Inn Foods is a subsidiary of the VPS Companies of Watsonville, CA, a 55-year-old group of vertically integrated enterprises operating in the frozen food business.