PMA applying to boost Mexican produce handling
PMA applying to boost Mexican produce handling
NEWARK, DE " The Produce Marketing Association, here, will submit an application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for funding that would ultimately develop the Mexican market for U.S. fresh produce exports.
Nancy Tucker, PMA?s vice president for global business development, told The Produce News March 7 that the PMA proposal is to USDA?s Emerging Markets Program, which is a subset of USDA?s Marketing Assistance Project.
The emerging markets project helps foreign markets improve their operations and handling infrastructure. This will position such countries to more effectively market and import U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables.
In Mexico, PMA will be researching the current status of Mexico?s retail and wholesale sectors for produce handling. With this, PMA will also research what training programs are necessary to boost the distribution system.
?After we get a really good understanding of the needs, we will produce seminars for executives in each field to reinforce the value of training," Ms. Tucker said.
This project would run from October 2005 to October 2006. In the proposed second year of the program, training would be expanded to mid- and lower-level echelons of Mexico?s retail and wholesale industries. The grant would total about $60,000.
PMA has had similar training programs in Argentina, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
?It's been a good opportunity to do broader-scale programs with overall training, which has not been commodity-specific," said Ms. Tucker.
Such work emphasizes the importance of efficiency, improved handling, reducing shrink, customer service and improving the profitability and sales of produce departments. "This raises all bets? in produce sales "but we give specific examples of marketing U.S. produce exports," she said.
Ms. Tucker, who will celebrate 25 years on the staff at PMA on March 17, noted that the association also has extensive industry training experience with similar work in Mexico and has established strong ties with the Mexican produce industry.
She said that Mexico is a very important market for U.S. apple, pear and grape exporters, and "is a huge market even for tomatoes."
Mexico has a large membership in PMA and has an increasing presence on the exhibit hall during the PMA Fresh Summit.
Nancy Tucker, PMA?s vice president for global business development, told The Produce News March 7 that the PMA proposal is to USDA?s Emerging Markets Program, which is a subset of USDA?s Marketing Assistance Project.
The emerging markets project helps foreign markets improve their operations and handling infrastructure. This will position such countries to more effectively market and import U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables.
In Mexico, PMA will be researching the current status of Mexico?s retail and wholesale sectors for produce handling. With this, PMA will also research what training programs are necessary to boost the distribution system.
?After we get a really good understanding of the needs, we will produce seminars for executives in each field to reinforce the value of training," Ms. Tucker said.
This project would run from October 2005 to October 2006. In the proposed second year of the program, training would be expanded to mid- and lower-level echelons of Mexico?s retail and wholesale industries. The grant would total about $60,000.
PMA has had similar training programs in Argentina, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
?It's been a good opportunity to do broader-scale programs with overall training, which has not been commodity-specific," said Ms. Tucker.
Such work emphasizes the importance of efficiency, improved handling, reducing shrink, customer service and improving the profitability and sales of produce departments. "This raises all bets? in produce sales "but we give specific examples of marketing U.S. produce exports," she said.
Ms. Tucker, who will celebrate 25 years on the staff at PMA on March 17, noted that the association also has extensive industry training experience with similar work in Mexico and has established strong ties with the Mexican produce industry.
She said that Mexico is a very important market for U.S. apple, pear and grape exporters, and "is a huge market even for tomatoes."
Mexico has a large membership in PMA and has an increasing presence on the exhibit hall during the PMA Fresh Summit.
