Our Story
We are the leading supplier of tropical and exotic fruit juice concentrates and purees in North America.
Since our beginning in 1988, we have continued to:
Conduct our business on quality, reliability, innovation, and integrity, while focusing only on tropical ingredients.
Provide an enjoyable experience with whom we do business with, including our customers, our suppliers, and ourselves.
Seek and maintain long-term relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and other industry participants.
Because we operate in a global society and come into contact with diverse cultures and value systems, we need to live by these precepts. These are the reasons we have reached have become North America’s leading tropical juice supplier and why we will continue to grow our business.
Our Roots
iTi Tropicals was founded in 1988. iTi Tropicals is an independent company headquartered in Lawrenceville, NJ. We import the highest quality tropical and exotic fruit purees and concentrates in the world. Since 1988, iTi Tropicals has become the leading U.S supplier of processed exotic tropical fruit ingredients.
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We are often asked if we are agents or brokers. Surprisingly, we are neither. Agents and brokers sell on behalf of domestic food manufacturers or importers. Agents and brokers do not take legal possession of the goods. We are merchants, we take legal title of the goods as soon as they are loaded on the vessel at origin.
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iTi Tropicals began with importing banana products from Ecuador. Over the years, we have continued to grow our product portfolio and product knowledge. We take pride in offering an extensive portfolio of plant-based products, including organic and conventional products. We have partnered with the best local sources from around the globe who meet our high standard of excellence.
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We value innovation and creativity. iTi has a skilled staff of food scientists with extensive backgrounds in the food industry ranging from Quality Assurance to Product Development. We are passionate about using our knowledge and creativity to assist customers in creating new and exciting products.
Our Network
Our iTi team is constantly searching the globe for manufacturers who meet our high standards for tropical and exotic fruits. We travel across the world to various countries including Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia to create and maintain relationships with our suppliers.
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Over time, we have established many long-standing relationships with our suppliers throughout the world. These relationships enable us to guarantee a reliable and quality supply of ingredients for our customers.
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We travel continuously throughout the world to meet with farmers and processors allowing us to maintain strong bonds with the people who farm and process the products. We also regularly communicate with our processors to learn more about our products, how the products are processed, and more. We also communicate and work with them to address any issues that may arise.
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The intent of the program is not only to have supply partners comply with our Code, but also to assist in developing their own processes to improve the overall quality and well-being of their employees as well as the integrity of the products they produce. iTi Tropicals provides guidance and insight into effective in-factory management and processing systems that enable continuous improvement.
Our Ingredients
Every single one of our fruit ingredients is only added into our inventory once they have each been sampled and approved by our staff of experts as well as after numerous plant visits and a full review and approval of required technical documentation. As such, we import the finest fruit ingredients from only the best tropical fruit puree and fruit juice concentrate manufacturers to a network of warehouses throughout the United States.
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We maintain an inventory of both frozen and aseptic tropical and exotic purees, juices, and concentrates in our warehouses across the US. Our focus is on coconut cream, coconut water, banana, guava, papaya, mango, passion fruit, mangosteen, acai, acerola, pineapple, and dragon fruit.
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Our products are natural, GMO free, and produced from fresh, ripe, carefully selected fruit. The products do not contain any artificial colors or flavors. All products are processed in an FDA registered facility which is HACCP and Kosher-certified. Our ingredients are suitable for use in processed food products. They are commercial ingredients and not appropriate for home use.
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iTi Tropicals looks for packaging solutions that protect our juices and purees as well as the environment. We encourage our manufacturing facilities to use recyclable and degradable packaging materials and are proud to say that some of our manufacturing facilities have converted to cardboard “totes” and “drums” for shipping our products. This significantly reduces the use of steel and aluminum packaging.
Our Commitment
Our mission is to ensure that we are importing only the highest quality fruit purees, juices, and concentrates. We take away the hassle and uncertainties of importing products from our customers. We purchase, ship, insure, import, clear, and warehouse the goods.
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We anticipate crop fluctuations due to weather, pest, and other variables and take positions accordingly. We finance from the moment the goods are loaded on the vessel and offer most of our customers 30 days payment terms starting only from the moment they pick it up at the warehouse in the USA, thus bridging often more than 60-90 days of financing. We also arrange transport from Asia and South America to the USA.
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We liaise with FDA, DEA, and Homeland Security, which in recent years, has added a new level of complexity to importing. We are a C-TPAT certified importer. C-TPAT stands for Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and is a voluntary supply chain security program.
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We have a staff for Quality Control and R&D Technologists to help with product formulation concepts. We realize that some of the fruits we sell are extremely exotic and often, customers request some assistance with ideas for utilizing them in applications. We can provide samples of our ingredients, samples of applications, and presentations for application ideation and educational purposes.