Offering a product of excellent quality all year round, using packaging specially designed for its transportation and commercialization, storage, and distribution under strict standards to ensure its conservation and quality, with the effort of a professional and committed work team, has allowed RCF Distributors, a Mexican company, to become a market leader.
It is a family business that, for more than two decades, has been dedicated to the distribution in the United States of fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico. Since 2007, Malu Crespo has led the company, a position she filled when she was 23 years old after the death of her father, Roberto Crespo Fitch, who founded the business.
Today, RCF Distributors and its founding company in Mexico, Empaque Don Jorge, are the leading distributor and packers of Mexican mangoes to the United States.
Malu, the only woman and the oldest of the four Crespo siblings, with a tone of satisfaction and pride, states, “We are doing well, bless God.”
“Annually, we distribute 5.7 million boxes of mangoes, and we are striving to reach seven million this year because we have gained access to important chains such as Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Sprouts, and other supermarkets that have accepted us and recognized us for the quality of our products,” Crespo tells Abasto Magazine.
In addition to receiving mangoes year-round, RCF Distributors are also proud distributors of citrus fruits grown in the state of Sonora (grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, Persian lime, and yellow lime), chayote from Veracruz and watermelon from Sinaloa.
The synergy with the companies Empaque Don Jorge, founded in 1971 by Crespo’s father, one of the pioneers in exporting mangoes to the United States, and Crespo Organic, dedicated to distributing fresh organic mangoes and currently developing the dehydrated mango business, has contributed to its growth.
Crespo tells us, “We are knocking on doors in supermarkets to introduce the dehydrated mango. I am sure that once they try it, they will accept it immediately”, and emphasizes that they are different from the competition because of “the good agricultural practices, together with the perfect ripening we give to our product and with the methods applied in our facilities, we achieve an excellent dehydration, finally obtaining a product that is a delight for the palate, without adding any substance during the whole process.”
For the president of RCF Distributors, the company’s success is the systematic effort of teamwork with her three brothers (with the participation of her mother, María de la Luz, who has always been present since the company’s foundation) Roberto, Jorge, and José Ángel.
The first two take care of everything related to the field, agriculture, transportation, and packaging, and José Ángel manages the administration and management of the company in Mexico. In addition, there is the effort and commitment of the workers and farmers who grow the fruits and vegetables, a team of more than a thousand collaborators.
Reflecting on the future, Crespo shares with us: “We are always thinking about the company’s growth and the continuous improvement of our processes to offer the best product in the market. RCF Distributors is a family business that works hard to maintain and improve. With the help of professionals, we have the vision to take it to another level”.