Central American melon outlook is strong
Central American melon outlook is strong
Amid a variety of internal changes in the Central American melon business, North American produce buyers expect plenty of high-quality imported melons this winter.
While growers who tried to create an especially early Guatemalan melon deal were greeted by too much rain, those who planted according to conventional wisdom on and after Sept. 15 are "now coming with very good supplies and very good-quality melons," Mauro Suazo, founder and president of the Latin American Melon & Watermelon Grower-Exporters Confederation and the president of Suazo Agrotrading International in Pompano Beach, FL, said Dec. 1. "Market prices have come down as a result of that" and are averaging about $14-$15 a box. "Quality is good and supplies should be ample."
Mr. Suazo, whose Suazo Agrotrading is largely oriented to exporting Central American melons to Europe, added, "Guatemala is [seasonally] the first Central American country to produce cantaloupes, or melons in general, for export to the U.S. In the normal first cycle, Guatemala plants September 15, with harvesting by mid-November."
But this year some of the Guatemalan melon growers tried to catch the early market by planting in the first days of September. They experienced "unusually late and heavy rains, and the crops suffered tremendous losses and delays. The result was light volume and marginal quality of the first shipments of Guatemalan melons to the U.S. market. Fortunately for some of these growers, the melon market in early November was very high, ranging in the lower $18s to $20 a case, which will compensate for the lower production."
Jimmy Graves, a salesman for Fresh Quest Inc. in Pompano Beach, FL, said that his firm avoids planting in early September, but confirmed, "There has been some offshore fruit in the deal arriving in the first week of November. We never gear to that because you are exposed to crazy weather early on. Two or three shippers brought it in and I heard they had nothing but poor quality. That's why we begin in mid-November, with the bulk coming in around Thanksgiving and we gear up after that."
Mr. Graves added that early September rains caused replanting and land preparation problems. "That may push things back, but it should stabilize in a month. There is no huge disaster."
Mr. Suazo said that by Dec. 10, all of the Honduran growers would join Guatemala in supplying melons to the U.S. market.
"The countries that are currently suffering rains and poor weather for land prep and planting are Costa Rica and Panama," Mr. Suazo said. "[The problems] are due to later-than-usual heavy rains and cool weather, which prevented the ability to lay plastic and seedling transplants for planting." These countries can expect to be delayed two or three weeks in December as a result.
Furthermore, Mr. Suazo said, "Costa Rican volume is expected to decline because two or three of the old timers are deciding whether it is profitable and sensible for them to plant melons in the volumes they normally used to plant for both Europe and the U.S., as a result of the increased cost of production and cost and availability of transportation to both markets. On the other hand, Panama is showing a very aggressive attitude toward melon production and almost all the players are increasing acreage of melons that mostly will go to Europe. But a few are now trying to come back to the United States with seedless watermelon and white honeydews."
Mr. Graves said that the Central American melon industry would have fewer players this year. The grower-exporter Sol Group Marketing Co. in Pompano Beach, FL, Central American Produce Co. in Pompano Beach, FL, and Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. in Coral Gables, FL, are, with Fresh Quest, "pretty much it. Those are the big four," Mr. Graves said. "We are happy about that, but we need to strive to make money this year. We are definitely concerned that the movement of fruit will be here."
Fyffes plc in Dublin, Ireland, "entered the U.S. winter melon business by investing in a number of independent companies, including farming operations in Honduras and Guatemala, and the acquisition of 60 percent of Sol Group Marketing," Fyffes announced on Jan. 2, 2008. According to Fyffes, "Sol Group Marketing imports close to 8 million boxes of winter melons annually into the U.S., for sale to major retailers and fresh-cut fruit processors, making it the second-largest importer of winter melons in this market."
While growers who tried to create an especially early Guatemalan melon deal were greeted by too much rain, those who planted according to conventional wisdom on and after Sept. 15 are "now coming with very good supplies and very good-quality melons," Mauro Suazo, founder and president of the Latin American Melon & Watermelon Grower-Exporters Confederation and the president of Suazo Agrotrading International in Pompano Beach, FL, said Dec. 1. "Market prices have come down as a result of that" and are averaging about $14-$15 a box. "Quality is good and supplies should be ample."
Mr. Suazo, whose Suazo Agrotrading is largely oriented to exporting Central American melons to Europe, added, "Guatemala is [seasonally] the first Central American country to produce cantaloupes, or melons in general, for export to the U.S. In the normal first cycle, Guatemala plants September 15, with harvesting by mid-November."
But this year some of the Guatemalan melon growers tried to catch the early market by planting in the first days of September. They experienced "unusually late and heavy rains, and the crops suffered tremendous losses and delays. The result was light volume and marginal quality of the first shipments of Guatemalan melons to the U.S. market. Fortunately for some of these growers, the melon market in early November was very high, ranging in the lower $18s to $20 a case, which will compensate for the lower production."
Jimmy Graves, a salesman for Fresh Quest Inc. in Pompano Beach, FL, said that his firm avoids planting in early September, but confirmed, "There has been some offshore fruit in the deal arriving in the first week of November. We never gear to that because you are exposed to crazy weather early on. Two or three shippers brought it in and I heard they had nothing but poor quality. That's why we begin in mid-November, with the bulk coming in around Thanksgiving and we gear up after that."
Mr. Graves added that early September rains caused replanting and land preparation problems. "That may push things back, but it should stabilize in a month. There is no huge disaster."
Mr. Suazo said that by Dec. 10, all of the Honduran growers would join Guatemala in supplying melons to the U.S. market.
"The countries that are currently suffering rains and poor weather for land prep and planting are Costa Rica and Panama," Mr. Suazo said. "[The problems] are due to later-than-usual heavy rains and cool weather, which prevented the ability to lay plastic and seedling transplants for planting." These countries can expect to be delayed two or three weeks in December as a result.
Furthermore, Mr. Suazo said, "Costa Rican volume is expected to decline because two or three of the old timers are deciding whether it is profitable and sensible for them to plant melons in the volumes they normally used to plant for both Europe and the U.S., as a result of the increased cost of production and cost and availability of transportation to both markets. On the other hand, Panama is showing a very aggressive attitude toward melon production and almost all the players are increasing acreage of melons that mostly will go to Europe. But a few are now trying to come back to the United States with seedless watermelon and white honeydews."
Mr. Graves said that the Central American melon industry would have fewer players this year. The grower-exporter Sol Group Marketing Co. in Pompano Beach, FL, Central American Produce Co. in Pompano Beach, FL, and Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. in Coral Gables, FL, are, with Fresh Quest, "pretty much it. Those are the big four," Mr. Graves said. "We are happy about that, but we need to strive to make money this year. We are definitely concerned that the movement of fruit will be here."
Fyffes plc in Dublin, Ireland, "entered the U.S. winter melon business by investing in a number of independent companies, including farming operations in Honduras and Guatemala, and the acquisition of 60 percent of Sol Group Marketing," Fyffes announced on Jan. 2, 2008. According to Fyffes, "Sol Group Marketing imports close to 8 million boxes of winter melons annually into the U.S., for sale to major retailers and fresh-cut fruit processors, making it the second-largest importer of winter melons in this market."
