Guatemalan melon grower shipping to Florida and California
Guatemalan melon grower shipping to Florida and California
GUATEMALA CITY -- One of Guatemala's larger melon grower- exporters, Agricola La Labor S.A., is increasingly focusing on the U.S. market vs. the European market and has created a strong logistical position in serving the United States.
Ricardo Alfaro, whose family owns the melon company, said that he is chartering Green Reefers ships for deliveries to port Manatee, FL, and San Diego, CA. The firm, which is more casually known as Alfaro Melons, consolidates customer loads and affirms quality for customers in cold storages located at the two ports.
The Produce News interviewed Mr. Alfaro at Agritrade held in Guatemala City in late March.
The company was formed in 1970, when it produced 10,000 boxes of honeydew in El Salvador. In 1980, the firm moved to Guatemala and produced 500,000 boxes of honeydew. This season the firm will ship 3.5 million boxes of cantaloupes, 1.5 million boxes of honeydew and 500,000 boxes of watermelons, plus some specialty melons. The firm ships melons from November to April.
Mr. Alfaro said that Alfaro Melons was one of several large-scale melon growers in Guatemala that are "all about the same size. We are all big." He lists the other large Guatemalan growers as Del Monte, Central American Produce, Sol Tech and Fresh Quest.
"Production is stable. Melons are a mature industry" in Guatemala, he noted.
He credited that industry with "trying to deliver a much better product. The Brix [levels] have improved a lot this year. That has helped."
Alfaro Melons farms in the melon-growing area of Zacapa, which is east of Guatemala City near the Honduran border. The firm also grows melons in the middle of the country to fill in the growing season.
Mr. Alfaro said that Hurricane Stan affected melons grown on the Pacific Coast last winter by flooding rivers, but his operations were spared except for one farm.
"It's been a good year. Prices were good [and] we had no major problems," he said.
Ricardo Alfaro, whose family owns the melon company, said that he is chartering Green Reefers ships for deliveries to port Manatee, FL, and San Diego, CA. The firm, which is more casually known as Alfaro Melons, consolidates customer loads and affirms quality for customers in cold storages located at the two ports.
The Produce News interviewed Mr. Alfaro at Agritrade held in Guatemala City in late March.
The company was formed in 1970, when it produced 10,000 boxes of honeydew in El Salvador. In 1980, the firm moved to Guatemala and produced 500,000 boxes of honeydew. This season the firm will ship 3.5 million boxes of cantaloupes, 1.5 million boxes of honeydew and 500,000 boxes of watermelons, plus some specialty melons. The firm ships melons from November to April.
Mr. Alfaro said that Alfaro Melons was one of several large-scale melon growers in Guatemala that are "all about the same size. We are all big." He lists the other large Guatemalan growers as Del Monte, Central American Produce, Sol Tech and Fresh Quest.
"Production is stable. Melons are a mature industry" in Guatemala, he noted.
He credited that industry with "trying to deliver a much better product. The Brix [levels] have improved a lot this year. That has helped."
Alfaro Melons farms in the melon-growing area of Zacapa, which is east of Guatemala City near the Honduran border. The firm also grows melons in the middle of the country to fill in the growing season.
Mr. Alfaro said that Hurricane Stan affected melons grown on the Pacific Coast last winter by flooding rivers, but his operations were spared except for one farm.
"It's been a good year. Prices were good [and] we had no major problems," he said.