The impact of the freeze that hit northern Mexico in mid-January may be temporary, but it was not insignificant, as short supplies consequent to the freeze and high prices consequent to the diminished supply on a number of commodities were expected to continue to the end of March. For a retail buyer, that is six to seven weeks worth of frustration and disruption to a supermarket’s usual plans for the season

Beyond concerns over price and availability, there is also the issue of quality, which, according to Chuck Thomas, president of Thomas Produce Sales Inc. in Nogales, AZ, has seen considerable variability since the freeze.

Thomas Produce brokers tomatoes and vegetable items from Mexico.

“Some people lost the majority of their crop” in Sonora and northern Sinaloa, Mr. Thomas said Feb. 5.

Chuck ThomasNor was it just commodities in the freeze area that have been in short supply this winter. Watermelons from central Mexico have been tight as well due to rain and other weather problems shortening an already reduced volume caused by fewer acres being planted. “I’ve never seen [watermelons] this high,” with prices as high as 40 cents a pound, Mr. Thomas said. “There are virtually no watermelons coming into town. What few are here are not of superior quality, and they sure have bigger prices on them.”

Such situations make it “so much more important to be out there every day looking at almost every shed,” Mr. Thomas said. The quality of the products available in town “can change daily, obviously.”

As an example, even though “there seems to be a lot of hard squash around, except maybe Spaghetti, the quality on the majority of it is poor. So you can see the effect of weather even on the hard squash, which is a pretty hardy item for the wintertime,” he said.

It is necessary “to be much more diligent” not only in making sure that the product shipped to buyers is fresh but also to be sure it is product “that is not going to break down because of some of the issues they have had in the fields down there,” Mr. Thomas said.

The tomato situation was a little different because tomatoes are generally grown south of the affected areas so were not currently in short supply. In fact, tomatoes had become so abundant by early February that prices were generally down to the minimum. “With a market like this, when you are down to the minimum, you can’t sell a number two, because the price is for the number one,” so most of the lower grade product is “staying in Mexico,” he said.

But with bell peppers, as another example, Mr. Thomas said he was “seeing a little more choice bell peppers than you normally would, as opposed to a number one pepper.”

The problem was “probably most prevalent in zucchini and yellow squash,” he said. They were hit hard by the freeze, and prices were high. “You are seeing a lot of people quote number twos, and I have even seen some people quoting number threes on yellow squash. That I haven’t seen before. But hey, when you’ve got a $28 to $30 market on number ones and you can sell a number two for $18 to $20 and get $10 out of a number three that will work for a restaurant or something,” of course people are going to “pack them and bring them up.”

That makes the services offered by a broker that does inspections before loading all the more important, according to Mr. Thomas.

“As far as our company goes, there have been no changes here,” he said. But “it has been a rather slow season for us with the weather problems we have had and Florida having pretty much perfect weather the whole winter.”

The bulk of Thomas Produce’s customers are in the southeastern part of the United States, in proximity to Florida, “so it has been a challenging season so far,” he said.

The prospect of a new suspension agreement for tomatoes from Mexico that is expected to take effect March 4 with a significantly higher reference price, just as the already planted west Mexico tomato crop comes into peak volume, will present further challenges. It will “definitely give Florida a competitive edge,” especially in Eastern markets, he said. “It is definitely going to weed out some of the weaker sisters” in the Nogales tomato deal.

In the future, he expects to see fewer acres of tomatoes planted in Mexico and an increase in vegetable plantings, and he expects more buyers in Eastern markets to “be looking more seriously toward McAllen, TX, crossings,” rather than looking to Nogales.