Many colored bell peppers grown in Mexico, particularly blocky-style peppers, are grown in shadehouses, but the majority of green bell peppers are still grown open field. Many elongated red bell peppers are also grown open-field.

But at Malena Produce Inc. in Nogales, AZ, “what is new this year is we have green bell peppers grown under shadehouse down in Culiacan,” said Vice President Gonzalo Avila.

Gonzalo AvilaMalena also grows the red elongated peppers “coming out of shadehouses” and expects “a volume very similar to last year,” he said. “We have the red elongated and the green both under shade, and it makes a big difference. It really keeps the sun damage away,” and the difference also shows “in the thickness of the walls of the peppers. It keeps them solid. We really like that.”

For the spring season this year, Malena will have “a slight increase in pickles,” Mr. Avila said. “The plan is to go through all of April and into early May. This is our second year doing pickles. Last year, we ended mid-March.”

The company also has a larger Persian pickle or mini cucumber program this year, with a much longer season, he said. Those will go through the end of March or into the beginning of April. Last year, the company didn’t have the Persian pickles in the spring at all, but only for the fall and winter.

In southern Sonora, for the spring deal, “we will have colored bell peppers,” Mr. Avila said. Those are mostly the blocky-style peppers. “We had a little bit of cold there in the month of January that may or may not reflect in how our crop sets come off from mid-April onward. We are still waiting to see how the plants are doing after that.”

Everything that was already set on the plants before the freeze is “fine, healthy, doing very well,” he said. But from mid-April onward “there could be a decrease in what we normally would have done” if there is bloom drop consequent to the cold temperatures in mid-January. “We are waiting to see how the plants are going to come around and react to that.”

In the same region, “we have one-layer greenhouse tomatoes,” Mr. Avila said. “Those just started in January. Those are coming in real nice” and should go “probably through May.”

The new tomato suspension agreement, if implemented as expected March 4, could influence the extent to which those tomatoes are shipped to the United States. “We all have a big question mark over our heads now. If and when it kicks in … it is definitely going to be a big hit to our industry down here, that is for sure,” he said.

Also in the tomato category, “we have some new shadehouse Romas coming out of southern Sonora,” Mr. Avila said. “Actually we will receive the first ones tomorrow, and we have another grower coming in from there the beginning of March. Those always go to the end of May.” That deal also will be “very dependent on what happens with the tomato suspension agreement.”

The colored bell peppers and the greenhouse tomatoes are being grown in Navajoa, and the Roma tomatoes are coming from Obregon, he said.

Further north in Sonora, Malena expected to have new squash fields starting the end of February, with new cucumber fields ready for harvest in March. “Both of those should go to the end of May, more or less,” he said.

“Then we also have our table grapes May and June” out of Sonora.

The company’s eggplant and the green and elongated red bells being grown under shade are all packed in the “Malena” label. “Everything else is grower labels,” he said.

There are several changes in the sales team at Malena for the current season, Mr. Avila said. Humberto Cerezo “moved up from warehouse foreman to sales.” Sergio Manriquez, who was previously part-time sales and part-time sales coordinator “moved into a full-time sales position.” Also, Kevin Stoller, son of Sales Manager Danny Stoller, who worked with Malena last year “doing QC for us in the warehouse” is back with the company now after spending some time with another company in the watermelon industry. “He is in the sales department as sales coordinator and also doing some sales,” Mr. Avila said.