Missouri-based Keith Connell opens new branch in booming Rio Grande Valley
Missouri-based Keith Connell opens new branch in booming Rio Grande Valley
Business is booming in south Texas, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by some of the produce industry’s leading players. Kansas City, MO-based Keith Connell Inc. is no exception.
The company recently launched Keith Connell Texas in Pharr to take advantage of the ever-increasing trade coming across the border.
Connell Texas just launched a few weeks ago, with Rio Grande Valley industry veteran Roy Salinas holding the reins.
“Out of the blue they contacted me and wanted to open up a branch here in Texas and asked if I was ready for a change,” Mr. Salinas said.
Limes are one of the year-round specialties at Kansas City, MO-based Keith Connell Inc.
He was.
“There’s a lot of big time traffic starting to come in — a lot more produce is coming into Texas than Nogales [AZ] – it just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year. The farming industry [in Texas] has gone down quite a bit — it’s getting a little tough with regulations and so forth and it’s going to continue to get a little harder — so we bring it in out of Mexico,” Mr. Salinas said.
Connell Texas handles limes and carrots year round, “we’re trying to get a real nice broccoli program going and hopefully get into the mango business, along with Roma tomatoes, pineapples — whatever we can get our hands on,” Mr. Salinas said.
”A lot of times it all depends on markets. And it depends on the season — sometimes everybody’s going to go for watermelons and somebody’s got ‘em, pineapples will flood the market — it depends on the demand. If there’s no demand it doesn’t matter how many loads you bring across.”
So far, demand has not been a problem for Connell Texas and Mr. Salinas is enjoying matching top-quality Mexican product with U.S. buyers.
“We’re doing great. I’m glad to be onboard and we’re going good and hopefully this year will be better than last year for the industry,” Mr. Salinas said. “We will get bigger and so will the Texas produce imports. That’s definite.”
“We’re looking forward to the growth and we’re ready to step in and get going,” he added. “We’ve been here about a month and half now and we’re doing good and it’s only going to get better. The peak of the season is just around the corner so we’ll get growing.”
