MAS looking forward to 2015 programs
MAS looking forward to 2015 programs
RIO RICO, AZ — After a rough fall start in the melon business, Miguel (Miky) Suarez is looking forward to a fresh start in the new year.
The owner of MAS Melons & Grapes LLC, headquartered here, said his firm’s December melon production will still be affected by two August hurricanes striking West Mexico growing areas. Northern Mexico will provide MAS with some melons, before the firm moves to growers in southern Mexico in the first days of January.
Otherwise this fall, MAS launched a new late September-through-November hothouse cucumber program “that is a very good thing for us. The grower does a very good job.” The cucumbers from Caborca, Sonora, have a good market window. They were packed in MAS’ “Desert Pride” brand.
Miguel (Miky) SuarezHigh-quality melons are critical for MAS’ Japanese customers, Suarez indicated. He built a strong export business to Japan using expensive technology to read melon Brix levels to assure high expectations are met.
In exporting melons to Japan this fall, “we have shipped less than any normal year. We were able to do about 75 percent of what they were looking for.”
MAS exports melons to Japan 10 months a year. The melons will be coming from the south, Colima, in early January and running from there as late as the first of May. The weather conditions for Colima production were “fine.” Pre-planting rainfall proved a benefit to production.
MAS will be exporting watermelons from Hermosillo from April 1 through June and honeydew from Caborca from May 10 into July.
In late October Suarez said he would “barely” make exporting honeydew to the third week of November. Normally the fruit is sent to Japan through the first week of December.
This fall, excessive water in honeydew production in Caborca caused a plant virus that killed the melons.
MAS is “more and more involved” with Caborca asparagus production. “We are growing very slowly every year but we are more into it.”
Beginning in mid-December until late March, Suarez will export Caborca avocados to Japan. From June through April, his Japanese customers will receive Michoacán avocados. Furthermore, from October through March, MAS will be exporting broccoli from Guanajuato.
