IPR Fresh met early shortage and looks for expansion amid growth
IPR Fresh met early shortage and looks for expansion amid growth
“We are continually building accounts,” Jose Luis Obregon said of IPR Fresh. Obregon is the president of the family-owned business, based here in Rio Rico.
With Mexican vegetable supply challenges in the winter of 2015-16, it was a “tough” time to be aggressive in that expansion, he added. “So we laid low. We fulfilled our current customers and focused on that.”
But generally, beyond adding new customers, “our customers are growing as well. That helps us grow and we are constantly growing.
IPR Fresh — and other Nogales-area suppliers —received phone calls all winter from different buyers than usual, as everyone was trying to find a Mexican produce source in the face of short supplies. “We are looking at adjusting our customer base, but we are looking for someone who is willing to have a long-term relationship. We don’t want to sell someone only because it’s a tight market.”
In mid-January, Obregon said, “We have been very, very busy. It’s not easy because of a lack of supply. But we’ve been able to fulfill orders. When it’s high availability, it’s easy.” In a tight market, “we work with our customers so they can communicate to their customers and make them aware. And [ask that they] be a little more tolerant and adapt their specs” to the reality of the marketplace.
IPR sources in Nogales for its mixed-load distribution business. The firm also has a Bell pepper deal with a grower who produces in Culiacan and Jalisco. That grower is also producing European cucumbers, which IPR has begun to offer this year.
Obregon said IPR will operate from McAllen, TX, again this summer. “The, we will re-evaluate to see if we should do that year-round. It would increase our offerings. After this summer we will decide whether to leave someone over there that we would need on the ground to represent us.”
