Argentina’s organic lemons make inroads in US

The company Argenti Lemon, based in Tucuman, Argentina, saw “very good conditions and quality” arrivals of their first two cargoes of organic lemons in the US.

“For Argenti Lemon it is important to highlight the fact of reaching such a demanding market as the US, with a fresh, safe and clean Certified Organic product. This was the achievement of a great team, with 75 tons total entering the port of Philadelphia, in order to be offered in different points of sale in the United States. This fact has encouraged us to add efforts and volume to a fast growing and highly demanded segment,” says Carlos Parravicini, CEO of Argenti Lemon.

“Upon the opening of the US market, we shipped the first containers with certified organic lemon. In July 2022 we achieved a relevant milestone when the first 2 cargoes arrived in the United States with very good condition and quality. The organic fruit is a living product and during its production and selection processes, no synthetic products are involved. Instead, only certified organic fruit is used to maintain its condition. In fact, maintaining the lemon freshness and life is more expensive and harder, considering it has no authorized preservatives as traditional lemons do,” stated Parravicini in a company notice.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Argenti steps to certification of organic lemon

Producing certified organic lemons is not new for the company. Argenti Lemon plantations known as La Isla, located in the mountain foot of southern Tucuman, have been certified for 10 years now. This is a long process demanding technology and supplies different from those used in traditional production. The area of Tucuman is regarded as having the world’s leading lemon growers.

As a company Argenti Lemon has done the following:

• For 20 years they have shipped fresh lemons without post-harvest treatment to markets in the EU and Canada.
• Since 2016, they have certified industrial products (concentrated juice and essential lemon oil)
• In 2019, they shipped fresh Certified Organic lemons to Canada.
• In 2021, they shipped fresh Certified Organic lemons to México

Main characteristics of an organic fruit consumer

“These types of consumers share a philosophy of life that identifies them, a view of the world, and their food in particular, that makes them attractive as globalized subjects and highly competitive in terms of the activity. They act as users and preservers of the environment, as well as the natural and sustainable products. They are demanding and they pay for their demand. This trend of thought is growing and is already gaining presence in northern European countries, the United States and Canada.”

“However, this fact does not disqualify traditional production; it is another line of production and sales, more mature, and more developed. All of them meet those high standards imposed by ourselves and demanded by everyone today,” he states.

Parravicini says that, as a company, their commitment is to offer “tailor-made” solutions following each customer’s needs and preferences. “Within this framework, in Argenti we envision an opportunity to satisfy this demand of certified organic lemons and we are working hard to achieve the highest quality, also in this segment. This year, we have launched 2 brands of our own: EcoArgenti for organic lemons, and ArgentiNat, a brand of lemons without post-harvest treatment.”

“Argenti Lemon will continue harvesting the type of lemon demanded by each customer, always ensuring standardised quality and guaranteed traceability throughout the season. Exactly as we have been doing for these 25 years,” Parravicini concluded.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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