NOGALES, AZ — As the Midwest and Northeast endured one blizzard after the next in late January and early February, it was 90 degrees on Feb. 3 in the vegetable fields of Culiacan, noted Bobby Astengo, a partner in Healthy Trends Produce Co. LLC, located here in Nogales, which also experienced a stretch of warm weather.

Astengo and other Nogales shippers agreed that production was up with the warm weather and demand slowed because ofBobby Astengo declining demand due to cold weather at the opposite end of the United States.  

“Tomatoes are at the minimum price” allowed by U.S. trade regulations, “and the pepper market is lower than what is traditional,” Astengo observed.

“A lot of stores back east have slowed their businesses down and we have seen a little oversupply,” according to Omar Losolla, director of sales and marketing for Greenpoint Distributing LLC.

Omar LosollaLosolla indicated Feb. 3 that there was an oversupply of soft squash and tomatoes coming out of Mexico. “The retail sector has got to catch up and change,” as f.o.b.s have changed due to a dynamic market situation.

“February has always been a slower month, and then you compound that with the very bad weather back east,” said Losolla.

He indicated the situation becomes worse because growers in Sinaloa and Guaymas, in southern Sonora, are overlapping in production.

“If distributors were not aggressive enough with national retailers on promotional ads, they can’t move volume fast enough for us to be able to secure good markets,” Losolla said.

Losolla indicated another factor now making difficult markets is good production weather for growers in Florida and Honduras. Both sets of growers are shipping from farms, or ports, in Florida. The subsequent straight delivery up the East Coast “hurts our market out west” because of freight differentials. “This leaves us stuck in the west on the veg side.”

Chris and Chuck Ciruli III with a box of Jalapeño peppers at their warehouse in Rio Rico, AZ. Losolla offered that “as soon as temperatures change and the country thaws, markets should start to pick up.”

Chris Ciruli, chief operating officer of Ciruli Bros. LLC, said, “Our weather continues to get better. We are having warmer nights and longer days” in Mexican fields. Vegetable volumes can be expected to heighten until the end of March.

“It is a fun challenge to get out and promote product and move some stuff,” Ciruli continued. “The volume is not much different than last season. The crossings are a little up, but the volume is close to last year. We started a little later [this year] and there will be more pressure in February and March to get things sold.”

Eggplant is due for an upswing in Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18) sales, as retailers double their eggplant orders for Catholics to find a meaty item to replace meat in their diets. Ciruli said retailers in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston all promote eggplant during Lent.