How Tropical Fruit Box brings exotic produce to consumers

In 1984, Willy Pardo founded WP Produce, a produce grower, importer and supplier specializing in tropical fruits. Consumer interest in these fruits — such as large avocados, Hawaiian plantains and exotic fruits like dragon fruit continued to grow. He founded the company based on a need he saw when neighbors were unable to find tropical and exotic fruits at the local grocers.

Sourcing tropical fruits from Florida, the Dominical Republic, Central and South America, WP Produce ensures an abundant supply of year-round tropical and exotic fruits to consumers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company again saw a need — this time it was Pardo’s daughter, Desiree Pardo Morales, taking the initiative — and began shipping directly to consumers across the U.S. and Canada, with the company named Tropical Fruit Box, founded by Pardo Morales.

As vice president of WP Produce, Pardo Morales saw the opportunity to move even quicker with fresh perishables and expanded the company to include direct-to-consumer with TropicalFruitBox.com.

With existing infrastructure and relationships with farmers from various countries, Pardo Morales says the transition was smooth. Consumer demand influenced the selection in the boxes, such as increased imports of dragon fruit. The company continues to expand, and it recently introduced a chip line made from malanga and plantains. The tropical fruit boxes are becoming increasingly popular for gifting, especially during the holidays, Pardo Morales says.

“During the pandemic, I launched the tropical fruit boxes using the produce that we already handle and source, sending it directly to people’s doors," she said.

The fruit boxes ship throughout the U.S. and Canada.

A key focus for the company is its tropical avocados, a larger avocado than what is typically seen in grocery stores.

“You see them a lot in South Florida,” she said. “These are our main item — our bread and butter, I like to say.”

In addition to the tropical avocados, the company features a full line of tropical fruits: Hawaiian plantains, roots such as malanga, yuca, calabaza and white yams. Then there are the exotic fruits like lychee, longans, dragon fruit, guava and more.

Pardo Morales says transitioning from retail to direct-to-consumer was challenging but made easier by the company's established processes.

“We had to completely pivot. In essence, we did have the infrastructure, the employees, the boxes … We did have to order liners, but that was pretty much it," she said.

With a lot of systems in place, the main challenge became launching the website.

“We had the produce, so we said, ‘Let’s get it out to the people.’ Let’s demonstrate what we’re selling by getting it directly to people's doors,” Pardo Morales said.

Consumer demand led the direction of the new business. They knew that consumers were interested in tropical fruits, and the mail-order business allowed the company to learn even more about what customers were wanting, based on their orders.

“[Direct-to-consumer] gave us lots of opportunities to really know our customers," Pardo Morales said. "And since so many regions of the U.S. can’t easily access, say, tropical avocados at the grocery store, it gave us more of an opportunity to get in front of that buyer.

"People are wanting it because our palates are growing," she added. "People want fresher fruits, or different fruits, and they’re wanting them at home.”