Bernardi: Tomato trade faces uncertainties with new suspension pact
Movement for Mexican-grown tomatoes this winter has been “very good across all parts of the country, and prices have been … above the minimum until this past week” when volume increased, said Joe Bernardi, president of Bernardi & Associates Inc. in Nogales, AZ, Feb. 8. “Now we have come into our typical heavy February volume, and prices are at or near the minimum on pretty much all the tomato items. We continue to have good distribution around the country. That is where we are currently.”
Grower Alliance expands significantly in Romas
“The biggest change we have from the past” for the spring deal this year is that “our Roma tomato deal will be a lot larger than it was last season, said Jorge Quintero Jr., managing partner of Grower Alliance LLC in Nogales, AZ. “We are expecting a Roma tomato deal … of about 500,000 boxes, which is a significant increase” from the 150,000 boxes of Romas the company shipped in the spring of 2012.
The deal will start in March and run to the middle of June, he said.
Malena Produce is now growing green bell peppers in shadehouses
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.
Daily Fresh spring program mainly cukes, squash, grapes
Daily Fresh Distributing Inc. in Nogales, AZ, now in its second year in business, will have primarily cucumbers, green and yellow squash and fresh grapes for its spring program this year, according to Paul Bachelier, who started the company in September 2011 after 18 years with Omega Produce Co.
The company had expected to also have green and red bell peppers through mid-March, but “we lost all our bells” due to a freeze in mid-January, he said.
Short supplies, high prices make firms like Thomas Produce vital
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
AMHPAC urges member compliance with five standard categories
The Associación Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida A.C., or Mexican Association of Protected Horticulture, headquartered in Culiacan, Sinaloa, better known by its Spanish acronym, AMHPAC, has been involved in a variety of activities for the benefit of its members since its founding six years ago, but for the current year, a major focus of the organization is to urge member compliance with five categories of industry standards in order to assure the industry’s ability to compete in a global marketplace, according to Eric Viramontes, chief executive officer of the organization.
FPAA seminars helping member companies improve their businesses
One of the regular activities of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, AZ, is to hold seminars on various subjects that will help member companies to improve their businesses.
According to Allison Moore, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for FPAA, the association holds about eight such educational programs a year on a range of subjects, many of them in conjunction with the Eller College of Management, “which is the business school out of the University of Arizona.”
Uncertainties facing Mexican tomato business over new suspension agreement
A 10-day comment period closed Feb. 11 on a tentative proposal from the U.S. Department of Commerce for a new tomato suspension agreement with Mexico that is scheduled to take effect March 4, right at the peak of the season.
The proposed new agreement would mandate that all exporters be signatories, whereas the requirement under the current agreement, that has been in place since 1996, was just 85 percent. It would also significantly increase the minimum reference price for all tomato products from Mexico, in some cases nearly three times as high as under the current agreement.
Grower Alliance expands Sonora mini program, adds winter deal
Grower Alliance LLC in Nogales, AZ, which markets a wide assortment of produce commodities from Mexico, has an expanded watermelon program for the 2012-13 season. That expansion is in two areas: the addition of a winter watermelon deal out of the state of Nayarit to supplement the spring and fall programs in Sonora and an increase in mini-seedless watermelon production for the spring and fall.
New warehouses have enabled Sambrailo to expand customer base
A little more than a year ago, Sambrailo Packaging in Watsonville, CA, opened two new warehouses, one in Oxnard, CA, and one in Santa Maria, CA, to accommodate the company’s growing business in those areas. The expansion proved fruitful, allowing Sambrailo not only to better service customers in Southern California and the Central Coast, and also northern Baja California, Mexico, but also enabling the company “to expand our customer base” in those areas, according to Jim Scattini, vice president of sales and marketing.