It used to be that blueberries, grapes and other perishables aboard ships from Peru and Uruguay steamed right by South Florida ports to Philadelphia. Then the fruit was sent back down the coast to local supermarkets, hotel banquet tables and restaurants.
Because of a decades-old cold-treatment process designed to prevent infestations by the Mediterranean fruit fly and South American fruit fly and their spread to warmer climates, U.S. rules required certain fruits to enter at cooler northern ports above the 39th parallel.
But now a pilot program that began last October means fruit from Peru and Uruguay no longer has to go north to head south again. It can be treated aboard ship if the voyage is long enough to complete the 15-day process, at a trans-shipment port or in its country of origin and then sent directly to PortMiami and Port Everglades.
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