NOGALES, AZ — The volatile nature of the produce industry is good for its long-term health, noted Alejandro Canelos, director of Apache Produce Imports LLC.

Speaking in early December in the conference room of Apache’s Nogales, AZ, facility, Canelos said, “I see no other way to approach agriculture other than to have the organizational stability to withstand a couple of bad years.Beto Maldonado, general manager, and Alejandro Canelos, director of Apache Produce Imports LLC. The bad years make the good years possible. If you have good year after good year, the bubble grows and more and more people are in the business.”

As in the real estate business, when the bubble occasionally pops, less efficient operators go out of business. If too many people are in the business, Canelos said, the industry faces inevitable oversupply and an economic “train wreck.”  

“The bad years assure good operators and good customer service,” he added. “The pros survive, but not the ‘Johnny come latelies.’”  

When Canelos spoke with The Produce News in mid-December, the tomato market was at $30 per box. “It could be at $10 in two weeks and it could be at the minimum in four weeks. I bought a couple of crystal balls but none of them work very well.”

While the produce business is often at least jokingly compared to gambling in Las Vegas, Canelos disagrees with that parallel.

“In this business, if you do a good job and are well capitalized, you will win,” he said. “Vegas is against you.”

He noted that people must eat and agriculture is supplying the energy that people must have to live. “That will never change. If you’re a better operator and you can withstand extended periods of bad luck, the odds are with your being able to survive.

“We have been in this building for 50 years and we have seen some incredibly painful and hard times,” he continued. “But if you hold out, eventually it turns around.”

He added, “This is a family here. Not just us” who own the business. “I feel pressure for every single person that works here. It’s a feeling that Beto (Apache General Manager Alberto Maldonado) instilled here 50 years ago.”

As to the tomato business, Canelos said Culiacan tomato production was gearing up in mid-December. Meanwhile, “Florida is gearing up.” As markets will inevitably decline “I hope for a soft landing.”

Asked about his expectations for this winter’s tomato business, Canelos said, “I expect the abnormal. There has been one year of normalcy in the last decade.”

Apache’s European cucumber volume was building toward mid-December. “We’ve had a tough two weeks” to begin the cuke deal. “It’s getting better.” Mexican growers have produced a large volume of seedless cucumbers over the last two years, and supply has exceeded demand, Canelos said. “We keep going after it. We are not cutting back.”  

Culiacan was starting to ship American cucumbers in mid-December. Bell pepper volume was building for Apache, with volume coming “in a big way from Culiacan” starting in late December, Canelos said.