Divine Flavor’s Persian cuke demand is booming

Persian cucumber popularity is quickly expanding and Divine Flavor is providing the item, according to Michael DuPuis, the firm’s marketing coordinator. The product came into strong volume in November.

“We and our customers are very pleased” with the product, he said. “We are very keen on the Persian cukes. They are a great-tasting, snacking produce item.”

Divine Flavor produces Persian cucumbers through Viva Organica, which is the firm’s specialty organic vegetable growing wing. Greenhouses in Ensenada, North Baja, and Culiacan, Sinaloa, are producing these cukes.

“We have been producing them for a couple of years now. We have seen back to back seasons of success. It’s a challenging commodity to produce. You have to have the right conditions. But Viva Organica has had a lot of success for our clients and their final customers. Demand has grown exponentially. It is a hot commodity. It’s a new, trendy product. We are very happy with the results.”

The Persian cucumbers are packed in one-pound resealable, clear tote bags. The attractive bags are easy for produce departments to merchandise. DuPuis noted that the resealable feature makes it easy to grab a couple of crisp cucumbers for a quick snack and replace the package into the refrigerator. The skins don’t need to be removed, he noted.

Another popular Divine Flavor product will be coming into the market in late December. This is the specialty Tribelli organic mini-sweet pepper. Hortifresh, S.A. de C.V. in Culiacan is a Divine Flavor grower-ally producing the pepper, which comes from seed bred and provided by Enza Zaden.

“Hortifresh is one of the biggest Bell pepper producers in Mexico,” DuPuis offered. “They are a core Divine Flavor partner. For all of these years they have been key to our Bell program.”

In early November, DuPuis said the market for organic mini-sweet peppers had been extremely tight. “There has not been production to cover demand.” Greater supplies beginning in late December or early January should improve the situation.

“Like Persian cucumbers, mini-sweet peppers are an easy kitchen commodity,” he noted. Both are good snacking items that can be eaten out of the bag.

But, he added, the Divine Flavor website offers recipes for mini-sweet peppers.

The mini-sweets are, like Persian cukes, also hard to produce. “Not everyone can grow them” and theirs is an expensive production process. “It takes a lot of effort to grow them organically.”

DuPuis noted that Divine Flavor will begin shipping organic Bell peppers in the first weeks of December.

Early winter grapes

Divine Flavor is perhaps Mexico’s largest-volume table grape grower. The firm starts its Mexico deal from young new Jalisco vineyards in early April.

But Divine Flavor has worked for years to establish itself with strong Chilean and Peruvian grape producing partners.

DuPuis said the Peruvian harvest started earlier this fall. That early production of red and green grapes was shipped to Europe to avoid competition in North America with late California grapes.

But as California supplies dwindle in early December, Divine Flavor will be shipping Peruvian Jelly Berries, Sweet Globes and other specialty grapes from Philadelphia, where the sea containers will land.

That early fruit will mostly be sold on the U.S. east coast. The fruit will move west as seasonal volumes increase.

Divine Flavor, which is based in Nogales, AZ, is owned by Grupo Alta in Hermosillo, Sonora.