North Bergen, NJ-based Exp Group LLC will be making its presence known at the 2019 PMA Fresh Summit in Anaheim, CA, on Oct.17-19.

Its team of executive, sales and marketing personal will be walking the floors, meeting with customers and introducing the company’s impressive line of specialty ethnic items.

Attending the show will be; President and Chief Executive Officer Emil Serafino, Vice President Anthony Serafino — who is also the son of Emil; Vice President Fraymil Rodriguez, Director of Foreign Affairs Erik Chikhani-Carrillo and; Business Development representative Omar Duarte.

For produce professionals who specialize in tropical and Latin items it’s imperative to stay in the know about where items are produced, the seasonal movements and the quality of the items.

Exp Group is an exemplary example of a company that knows its specialty programs from seed-to-shelf.

As a leading grower, importer and shipper, the company stays tuned in to its customers’ needs in the Northeast and beyond.

“We continue to have growing success with our Mexican papaya and Peruvian mango programs,” said Anthony Serafino. “Both programs continue to grow strongly in popularity and demand.”

In addition to papayas and mangos, Exp Group is a specialist in bananas and plantains, as well as green and ripe yuca, avocados, chayote, coconuts, yams, kabocha, yautia, sour oranges, sweet lemons, asito, hot peppers, ginger and more.

The company imports bananas and plantains from Ecuador, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, Guatemala, Jamaica and elsewhere when necessary to keep its customers supplied year-round.

Besides always increasing its line with new and exciting items, Exp Group also consistently expands internally.

In the past year Exp Group added an additional 6,000 square feet to its new state-of-the-art refrigerated storage space in North Bergen.

“This is giving us more accessibility to move our products around our warehouse,” said Serafino. “We take infrastructure investments very seriously and we are excited about how the additional space has benefited us this year. We anticipate that our growth and expansion will continue into the future.”

The expansion provided the company with a capacity of 580 pallets, or 28,000 boxes, of cold storage space.

Exp Group is also extremely proud of its SQF certification, which it acquired in February 2018.

The process was headed by Erik Chikhani Carrillo, who is largely responsible for its oversight and implementation. He continues to oversee the continuation of the company’s SQF commitment.

The certification ensures that Exp Group is doing ripening right.

“Having our first SQF certification has been excellent for us,” said Serafino.

In its warehouse, EXP Group has used RedLine Cooler traceability technology from RedLine Solutions for the past several years and is extremely satisfied with it.

Exp Group also completed its C-TPAT certification last year, which Serafino said is helping the company immensely with container releases at ports of arrival.

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism is a voluntary supply-chain security program led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It focuses on improving the security of private companies’ supply chains with respect to terrorism.

“The C-TPAT certifications helps to limit our inspections and to deliver products to our customers sooner and in a more efficient manner,” said Serafino.