Summerland Varieties
Nick Ibuki (acting General Manager), Rajiv Dasanjh (Horticultural Technician) and Nirmal Dhaliwal (President) at the Summerland Varieties Corp. tradeshow booth.
Summerland Varieties showed off their wares at the Asia Fruit Logistica show in Hong Kong. In September Nick Ibuki, acting GM, and Ragiv Dasanjh, a horticultural technician with Summerland Varieties joined representatives of the BC Blueberry Council, BC Tree Fruits and BC Cherry Association at the show.
“This is the first time Summerland Varieties has attended as an exhibitor,” said Erin Wallich, Project Manager for Summerland Varieties. “The four groups were the only ones from Canada in the entire trade show. Summerland Varieties represents the new varieties of fruit developed in Canada and promoted those varieties primarily to retailers and wholesalers at the show.”
“Asia is enormous,” said Wallich, “and if you can secure Asian markets, you can generate a lot of sales. We want our varieties to become popular in Asia, which gives our growers lots of security. We are targeting densely populated areas of the world. We now have partners in Italy, the United States, Chile and New Zealand. We try to have our varieties grown in both the northern and southern hemispheres so you will always have that variety in store year round.”
Cherry ice cream, made with BC Staccato cherries, and Ambrosia apple slices paired with Canadian cheddar were served at a reception at the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong after the trade show.
