North Bay Produce flies 250,000 pounds of blueberries from Chile to St. Louis

North Bay Produce received its largest shipment ever in a single day when 250,000 pounds of blueberries from South America were delivered this week to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. The blueberries were flown into the Mascoutah-based airport from Santiago, Chile, on two 747 cargo planes on Monday. North Bay President Mark Girardin valued the blueberries at $1.3 million.

This shipment is more than double the past record shipment of 120,000 pounds of produce, according to Girardin. North Bay is planning to fly another 160,000 pounds of fruit into the St. Clair County-owned airport this weekend.

North Bay processes and distributes produce from its facility at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. Girardin said these blueberries arrived in time for retail Christmas promotions throughout the United States and Canada. "This is a positive all the nearby communities are looking for," Girardin said. "MidAmerica is starting to grow. Rome wasn't built in a day. It takes time to build and develop programs. Nothing is easy in life and this is one of those things in life."

The larger shipment of produce takes advantage of the recently completed expansion at its refrigerated warehouse at MidAmerica. The expansion is key to North Bay's plans to reach a 500-store food chain in China through MidAmerica.

North Bay is targeting the Asian market through MidAmerica's partnership with Ningbo Lishe International Airport in China. County officials have been working to establish MidAmerica as a cargo hub in a trade route between Latin America and Ningbo.

"Part of the whole plan is to expand that route through Asia," Girardin said. "Obviously, it's not done yet. It's part of a five-year plan."

Source: bnd.com