Nogales distributors caught in supply and demand void
Nogales distributors caught in supply and demand void
NOGALES, AZ — Buyers and distributors of Mexican produce have had a tough January. Forecasts that El Niño might disrupt Mexican growing areas certainly held true in December, first with rains and then, after Christmas, cold, cloudy days. Yuma vegetable growers endured short supplies for the same reason, and adverse weather also disrupted Florida supplies.
Like virtually every other produce distributor in Nogales, Healthy Trends Produce LLC's Bobby Astengo was short on product. But on Jan. 13, the elongated red Bell peppers his firm was shipping were of high quality.
Meanwhile, uncharacteristically warm weather in the populous Northeast saw strong retail draw.
In the second week of January, Nogales prices for items like squash and cucumbers were approached $40. Watermelon prices, if watermelons were available, were at 50 cents per pound.
Every Nogales warehouse visited by The Produce News showed much more open space than full pallets. The limited produce volume arriving from Mexico was shipped about as fast as it could be loaded for a hungry North American clientele.
On Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 18, product in Nogales was still light, but with the holiday, distributors were unclear about how demand and supply would balance in mid-January.
