Mexico Calidad Suprema A.C. director explains program's purpose and activities
Mexico Calidad Suprema A.C. director explains program's purpose and activities
HERMOSILLO, SONORA, MEXICO -- In an effort to counter a negative image for Mexican-grown produce in the United States and other export markets, the Mexican government implemented a program in 1999 called Mexico Calidad Suprema or, in its English translation, Mexico Supreme Quality.
The program had a two-fold purpose: to assure that product bearing the "Mexico Calidad Suprema" logo meets rigid standards with regard to quality and safety; and to promote the program so that buyers and consumers of Mexican produce in the United States and elsewhere would have confidence in the quality and safety of products bearing the "Mexico Calidad Suprema" logo.
The inaugural Sonora Spring Summit, held here April 19-21, brought together growers, distributors, retailers and others involved in the production and marketing of Mexican table grapes, and The Produce News had an opportunity to speak with Lizeth Quntero Posadas, director of Mexico Calidad Suprema AC, a private industry association that works with producers in implementing the government program and promoting the program to the retail trade.
Ms. Quintero described how the Mexico Calidad Suprema program came about through the cooperative efforts of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Economics as well as Bancomex, a government-owned export bank. She also described how the program works and explained its purpose and activities.
"The program was developed in the beginning because [Mexican produce] used to have a bad image," especially in the U.S. market, she said. At the time, "we did not have a standard" for size or quality, so the government decided "to develop a program which can guarantee the quality of the produce" grown in Mexico.
It was quickly realized that food-safety issues also needed to be addressed, so the program was expanded to comprise a certification process for both quality and food-safety standards, Ms. Quintero said. Certification requirements were established to include compliance with U.S. protocols for Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices.
In the eight years since the program started, "we have worked ... to build standards for each product," specifying the conditions that must be met for each product in order to achieve Mexico Calidad Suprema certification, she said.
Last year, the Mexico Calidad Suprema program also achieved equivalence with EurepGAP standards through a standard called MexicoGap, she said. Standards have now been established for 73 different products, mostly produce. They include major export items such as avocados, mangos, bananas, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes and vegetables, Ms. Quintero said.
So far, certifications have been achieved for 26 different products. During 2006 and the first three months of 2007, 712,000 tons of product were shipped under Mexico Calidad Suprema certifications, she said.
Not all producers have been able to comply with the standards. Also, for some commodities - mostly the smaller-volume items for which standards have been set - there were as yet no certified shippers. Helping growers achieve certification is one of the major objectives of Mexico Calidad Supreme AC.
A private-sector association, Mexico Calidad Supreme AC, is involved in several specific activities, such as training, consulting and coordinating with certification bodies and promotions, Ms. Quintero said.
"We do training for the growers to get the certification," she said. The consulting function has the same objective. The Mexican government absorbs a substantial portion of the costs of the training and consulting activities.
The actual certification "is not done by the government, and it is not done by the organization," she said. Rather, it is carried out by approved "independent certification bodies" that have complied with the requirements of "the Mexican Accreditation Entity." That entity audits the certification bodies to be sure they comply with all the requirements, she said.
Certification bodies are approved for specific products. For example, "there are two certification bodies which can do the certification for grapes. One is OCUM and the other is Primus Labs," she said. Mexico Calidad Suprema AC works with the producers to help them comply with the standards and then coordinates with the certification bodies which will audit those producers. If the audit shows that the producer has not yet met all the certification requirements, "they give us a report."
The Mexican government "really has a commitment to grow this program and to help all the growers" work toward becoming eligible for certification, Ms. Quintero said. Currently, there are still "a lot of growers which are not ready to comply with the certification system," and the government is interested in getting more growers certified. It has been deemed important that buyers in export markets have confidence in the program, because the presence of Mexican products in the marketplace that fall short of the standards could damage Mexican exports, she explained.
Promoting the Mexico Calidad Supreme program in export markets and also within Mexico is the association's other area of activity. In Mexico, "we have local promotions for the retailers and buyers and consumers," Ms. Quintero said.
In the United States, Mexico Calidad Suprema has retained Viva Marketing, headed by Veronica Kraushaar, to meet with distributors in Nogales as well as with retailers throughout the country to talk about the program. The objective is to enhance buyer and consumer confidence in products that carry the "Mexico Calidad Supreme" logo.
In Europe, the organization has representatives in Holland, Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom who "go to importers and retailers and explain MexicoGap," she said. "We have had a really big success with MexicoGAP in the European market."
In Asia, "we have one representative in Japan," she said.
The program had a two-fold purpose: to assure that product bearing the "Mexico Calidad Suprema" logo meets rigid standards with regard to quality and safety; and to promote the program so that buyers and consumers of Mexican produce in the United States and elsewhere would have confidence in the quality and safety of products bearing the "Mexico Calidad Suprema" logo.
The inaugural Sonora Spring Summit, held here April 19-21, brought together growers, distributors, retailers and others involved in the production and marketing of Mexican table grapes, and The Produce News had an opportunity to speak with Lizeth Quntero Posadas, director of Mexico Calidad Suprema AC, a private industry association that works with producers in implementing the government program and promoting the program to the retail trade.
Ms. Quintero described how the Mexico Calidad Suprema program came about through the cooperative efforts of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Economics as well as Bancomex, a government-owned export bank. She also described how the program works and explained its purpose and activities.
"The program was developed in the beginning because [Mexican produce] used to have a bad image," especially in the U.S. market, she said. At the time, "we did not have a standard" for size or quality, so the government decided "to develop a program which can guarantee the quality of the produce" grown in Mexico.
It was quickly realized that food-safety issues also needed to be addressed, so the program was expanded to comprise a certification process for both quality and food-safety standards, Ms. Quintero said. Certification requirements were established to include compliance with U.S. protocols for Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices.
In the eight years since the program started, "we have worked ... to build standards for each product," specifying the conditions that must be met for each product in order to achieve Mexico Calidad Suprema certification, she said.
Last year, the Mexico Calidad Suprema program also achieved equivalence with EurepGAP standards through a standard called MexicoGap, she said. Standards have now been established for 73 different products, mostly produce. They include major export items such as avocados, mangos, bananas, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes and vegetables, Ms. Quintero said.
So far, certifications have been achieved for 26 different products. During 2006 and the first three months of 2007, 712,000 tons of product were shipped under Mexico Calidad Suprema certifications, she said.
Not all producers have been able to comply with the standards. Also, for some commodities - mostly the smaller-volume items for which standards have been set - there were as yet no certified shippers. Helping growers achieve certification is one of the major objectives of Mexico Calidad Supreme AC.
A private-sector association, Mexico Calidad Supreme AC, is involved in several specific activities, such as training, consulting and coordinating with certification bodies and promotions, Ms. Quintero said.
"We do training for the growers to get the certification," she said. The consulting function has the same objective. The Mexican government absorbs a substantial portion of the costs of the training and consulting activities.
The actual certification "is not done by the government, and it is not done by the organization," she said. Rather, it is carried out by approved "independent certification bodies" that have complied with the requirements of "the Mexican Accreditation Entity." That entity audits the certification bodies to be sure they comply with all the requirements, she said.
Certification bodies are approved for specific products. For example, "there are two certification bodies which can do the certification for grapes. One is OCUM and the other is Primus Labs," she said. Mexico Calidad Suprema AC works with the producers to help them comply with the standards and then coordinates with the certification bodies which will audit those producers. If the audit shows that the producer has not yet met all the certification requirements, "they give us a report."
The Mexican government "really has a commitment to grow this program and to help all the growers" work toward becoming eligible for certification, Ms. Quintero said. Currently, there are still "a lot of growers which are not ready to comply with the certification system," and the government is interested in getting more growers certified. It has been deemed important that buyers in export markets have confidence in the program, because the presence of Mexican products in the marketplace that fall short of the standards could damage Mexican exports, she explained.
Promoting the Mexico Calidad Supreme program in export markets and also within Mexico is the association's other area of activity. In Mexico, "we have local promotions for the retailers and buyers and consumers," Ms. Quintero said.
In the United States, Mexico Calidad Suprema has retained Viva Marketing, headed by Veronica Kraushaar, to meet with distributors in Nogales as well as with retailers throughout the country to talk about the program. The objective is to enhance buyer and consumer confidence in products that carry the "Mexico Calidad Supreme" logo.
In Europe, the organization has representatives in Holland, Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom who "go to importers and retailers and explain MexicoGap," she said. "We have had a really big success with MexicoGAP in the European market."
In Asia, "we have one representative in Japan," she said.
