DFT, high-quality Guatemalan mango
DFT (Distribuidora de Frutas Tropicales) is a Guatemalan company founded in 2000 that grows, packages and markets mangoes of the Tommy Atkins, Ataulfo, Kent and Keitt varieties. Luis Carlos Martínez, general manager, said, “We started exporting Tommy Atkins mango to the United States and we gradually managed to expand in the North American market on the east and west coast, and in Canada and Europe.” Recently, the company has begun exporting mango to Chile after years of discussions between the governments of Guatemala and Chile, and DFT was the pioneer in sending the first fruits. The firm has more than 400 hectares of mango production,
“which allows us to control the entire crop cycle.”
The harvest season in Guatemala begins in February and ends in June. As part of its growth plans, DFT built a frozen food processing plant in 2016, and began producing mango pulp and frozen mango pieces in IQF.
“Although our strength has always been in the fresh product, in order to diversify and add value to our material, we decided to enter the world of frozen products. Our vision for our processed mango is to reach new markets and position ourselves as a leading company in the region and to sell mango all year round,” said Martínez.
DFT has a USDA-certified packaging plant for hydrothermal treatment, as well as GlobalG.A.P., Primus GFSI, and HACCP certifications, and is currently undergoing BRC certification. The plant can process over 1.5 million 4kg box of mangoes per season, pack 6kg boxes in ‘ready to eat’ air mode, up to 2,000kg per week, and process 3.6 million kg of frozen mango.
