Malena Produce Inc. in Nogales, AZ, is a diversified shipper and distributor of vegetables from Mexico best known for its eggplant but also handling an assortment of other commodities. Founded in the 1950s, the family business has traditionally crossed its products into the United States at Nogales.

Three years ago, however, Malena began going through McAllen, TX, with some of its products, according to Chief Executive Officer Gonzalo Avila.

This year, “through the summer we have been crossing, and will continue to cross, some bell peppers from the Guanajuato, Central Mexico area,” Avila said Nov. 4.”It has been a small program for us,” and it is the first time the company has brought product through McAllen during the summer months.

The bell pepper program out of Guanajuato started in late July and ran all summer and into fall. When The Produce News talked to Avila, it was still ongoing. He expected that it would continue throughout the balance of the fall and through the winter, “and will probably continue through the spring,” Avila said.

Historically, most of Malena’s products have come from West Mexico, mainly from the state of Sinaloa. This year, “as we start up our Sinaloa program,” a portion of the shipments from Sinaloa will be crossing at McAllen. “This is going to be our fourth season” bringing product through McAllen, Avila said. “We will be bringing to McAllen, mostly from Culiacan, eggplant, green bell peppers, red elongated peppers, cucumbers, mini cucumbers and pickles.”

The amount of product Malena has crossed at McAllen has increased each year from the beginning, “except for the big freeze year.” After the freeze in spring 2011, Malena brought all of what was left through Nogales, he said. Since then, the company has been ramping up its McAllen crossings each year.

“It is still not a big percentage of our deal, but we are looking to grow it and increase it every year,” Avila said.

For Malena’s growers in Sinaloa, “it does involve a little more freight cost” going from the packinghouses to the border, he said. But for shipments destined for the East Coast, shipping costs from the border are much less out of McAllen than out of Nogales, making the overall freight cost from source to customer lower. “Our customers benefit from it because if they load out of McAllen versus Nogales, they definitely have a cost savings,” he said.

In McAllen, Malena does its in-and-outs at Loop Cold Storage, he said.

In addition to the freight savings, Avila said there is another benefit to bringing some of its product into McAllen. While there are some disadvantages along with the advantages, overall “I think it is good to be able to have product in two different ports of entry” rather than having it all at one place.