TIPA celebrates 10th Viva Fresh anniversary

It was a decade ago that the Texas International Produce Association launched the Viva Fresh Expo as a regional produce show dedicated to celebrating the vital role of the Tex-Mex corridor as a key trade route and production hub for fresh produce.

“It was a game changer for the association and the industry,” said TIPA President and CEO Dante Galeazzi, who was on the founding committee as an industry member.

He noted that the association traditionally played a pivotal role in the advocacy space representing the Texas produce industry. The advent of Viva Fresh and its 10 years of year-over-year growth in size and importance has propelled TIPA into the promotional arena. “Viva Fresh helped increase our profile,” he said. “We took a big step in promoting the region as an important area for international produce trade.”

Viva Fresh 2025 will be held in Houston for the second year in a row with the expectation of once again breaking its attendance record and helping to facilitate both domestic and international trade through the Lone Star State. Galeazzi said a look at the statistics show the importance of Texas and the show itself. He noted that planning for Viva Fresh began three years before the first show was held in Austin in 2015.

“Look at how the Texas produce industry has changed over those years,” Galeazzi said, revealing that in the first decade of the 2000s, only about 100,000 loads of fresh produce from Mexico came through Texas annually. “Now we are at 350,000 loads of fresh produce through our border crossings and another 20,000 to 30,000 loads that come in through our ports and airports.”

He added that while the top commodities imported remain the same with increased tonnage, there are also a host of other products that have joined the party and created a very diverse portfolio of imports. “We are seeing loganberries, lychees, mangosteens, several varieties of dragon fruit and many, many new varieties of chili peppers,” Galeazzi said. “The depth of varieties and micro varieties are amazing.”

Galeazzi did allow that avocados, limes, mangos, cucumbers, tomatoes and Bell peppers have been the top six items for many years, with each commodity experiencing significant growth in volume over the years.

For the 2025 show, Viva Fresh organizers are expecting more than the 2,700 attendees that visited in 2024, which was double the number of convention-goers that came to the very first Viva Fresh Expo. While Galeazzi celebrates the increase in attendance, Viva Fresh has steadfastly protected the experience of exhibitors by limiting their numbers. “We want to stay at less than 200 exhibitors,” he said. “Right now, we are at 193 or 194 exhibitors and we want to maintain that level so the exhibitors and sponsors have a good opportunity to visit with their customers.”

He added the intimacy of the show is as important as any other aspect.

Another important element of the show will be updating the industry on the many advocacy issues that are keeping TIPA fully engaged. These are interesting times with an active Trump Administration creating activity on many different fronts.

Galeazzi said TIPA is involved in many ongoing areas such as Texas legislation, the tomato suspension agreement, border issues and labor concerns, but there are also many new areas in which the organization is working double-time to keep its members informed.

Climbing to the top of any list has to be the discussion around the implementation of tariffs on product from Mexico and retaliatory tariffs that could be imposed on U.S. product going into Mexico. “We are holding our breath to see what’s going to happen,” he said, of the not always consistent messaging coming from Washington D.C.

Galeazzi said the imposition of tariffs on Mexican produce is concerning on a number of fronts. In the first place, most Texas importers have not had to deal with a tariff on Mexican produce for the past three decades. There are logistical and financial challenges that need to be addressed. The cost alone is mind boggling.

He reasoned that a mid-level avocado importer bringing in 50 loads per week will incur more than a $1 million cost per week to pay a 25 percent tariff. Galeazzi expects very few importers will have the working capital available to pay those fees even for a couple of weeks without re-working their credit lines and operating budgets. “This will disrupt supply chains fairly quickly,” he said.

He also worried about the impact that a tariff will have on the eating habits of U.S. consumers. Galeazzi noted that healthy eating — including increased consumption of fruits and vegetables — got a boost during the pandemic. Over the last couple of years, he said produce consumption has flatlined or at least is not increasing. He suspects the increased cost of fresh produce because of the tariff will further decrease consumption and will have health consequences for the country with diet-related diseases increasing in numbers.

Most alarming for Galeazzi is the realization that concerns about the cost of fresh produce don’t appear as if they will be driving the discussion. The talk from the Trump Administration has been about a general, across-the-board tariff with no discussions of exemptions. On the grand scheme of things, he said cars, electronics, technology and many other non-food items account for the overwhelming majority of imports. The fresh produce industry does not appear to have much presence at the tariff discussion table.

Galeazzi does believe the date of this year’s Viva Fresh, April 10-12, may result in tariffs dominating the expo floor discussion, but he said there are several other concerning issues arising such as USDA staffing. Galeazzi said some USDA employees are being let go. One area of particular concern to TIPA is a reduction in the USDA’s statistics-gathering departments. He revealed that only 6 of 60 Texas agricultural crops qualify for federal crop insurance. For the other 54 crops, growers and farmers use those statistics to apply for insurance outside of the federal program.

What happens when there are no statistics? He said that there does not yet appear to be an effort to reduce the ag inspection staff that works the border. Any such reduction could greatly impact the crossing of those 350,000 loads.