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Delta Fresh set to offer full roster of products from Mexico

By
John Groh

deltaDelta Fresh Sales, a leading distributor of Mexican produce items from Mexico, with a specialty in tomatoes, is looking forward to a good, if not typical, season of winter vegetables out of Mexico.

Frank Camera, vice president of sales and marketing for the Nogales, AZ-based company, said tomatoes were set to begin in late December.

“We’re a little later starting than others in Nogales in that we’re historically sourcing predominantly out of Sinaloa, but in past years we’ve been working more with growers in Sonora,” he said. “We are now working with five different ranches in Hermosillo, Sonora, bringing in squash, cucumbers, eggplant and cantaloupes. We’re also working with a few growers in Guaymas, Sonora, that will allow us to grow our winter portfolio on slicers, Romas, colored Bells and green Bells.”

Camera said in Nogales as green Bell production begins, they are currently competing with product out of the Coachella Valley in California and awaiting that deal to wrap up.

“We have some larger fruit that California is not seeing any longer that we can sell for a premium,” he noted, adding that by early December Delta would be into 11-pound cased on their colored Bell peppers and increased volumes of summer squash.

December also means the start of its tomato deal, for which Delta is best known.

“Our well-sought round ‘Aristo’ tomatoes will start toward the end of December to early January,” said Camera. “Those are our bread-and-butter and are always in high demand. We work with an outstanding grower on those.”

Camera said that in addition to the rounds, Delta has very strong programs for Romas and grape tomatoes.

Overall, Camera expects 2025 to be similar to 2024 despite the different conditions that greeted the season last year, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Lidia, which made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific Coast last October.

“This year, we’re just coming off a 12-day cold snap, which perked up demand and markets a bit,” he said. “We’ll continue to watch the weather, but this is normally a transitional time anyway, and so markets are usually strong when winter production picks up out of Mexico.”

“We’re in a good place right now starting our winter deal,” Camera continued. “We intentionally diversified our portfolio, but we are still best known for our tomatoes and cucumbers out of Sinaloa.”

He added that Delta’s fall cantaloupe deal was a bit of a nice surprise this year. “You don’t normally think of cantaloupe as a Thanksgiving crop, but with the cooler temperatures we’ve had and with California out of the mix and not much offshore production, we caught some good markets.”

Camera said the Delta Fresh team participated in the second annual SWIPE expo in early November in Tucson and had a very positive experience.

“The show had great traffic and continues to grow,” he said. “It brings a good ROI for companies here in Nogales. In the past it didn’t have as much value, but the FPAA has done a good job of bringing in more buyers so we had a very positive experience and plan to participate again next year.”

Additionally, he said moving the expo to January 2026 is much better timing for all involved.

“The November timing was intended to be the kick-off for the season, but it comes right on the heels of IFPA and right before the busy Thanksgiving push,” said Camera. “Tucson is a very desirable destination in January for a buyer from the Northeast or Midwest, and that also gives us the opportunity to showcase everything in our portfolio.”

John Groh

John Groh

About John Groh  |  email

John Groh graduated from the University of San Diego in 1989 with a bachelors of arts degree in English. Following a brief stint as a sportswriter covering the New York Giants football team, he joined The Produce News in 1995 as an assistant editor and worked his way up the ranks, becoming publisher in 2006. He and his wife, Mary Anne, live in northern New Jersey in the suburbs of New York City.

 

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