Improved conditions for West Mexico produce may arrive with spring

West Mexico growers faced a tough fall/winter season, but distributors believe things are looking up for spring with increased supplies and more reasonable prices.

“January and February were wacky with supplies, so prices were pretty outrageous,” said Steve Spence, director of sales for Nogales, Ariz.-based Earth Blend LLC. “There were not the best yields for some of the growers.”

Earth Blend started off its spring crop with some squash trickling in from Hermosillo, Mexico. Cucumbers were expected to start March 20, with watermelons coming on at the end of the month or the first week of April. Honeydew melons should kick off around April 10, with roma tomatoes showing up in mid-April.

“We should have a pretty busy spring with a pretty decent lineup,” Spence said.

Bad weather kicked prices up to $30 a box for squash in January and February — about twice the usual price, he said. Prices had dropped significantly by early March.

“Retailers can finally go out and promote pretty good numbers this spring,” Spence said.

This has been an atypical year weatherwise, with rain and hurricanes delaying the start of crops in some areas last fall, said Louis Obregon, president of IPR Fresh, Rio Rico, Ariz.

“Prices have been historically high for bell peppers, and there’s not a lot of volume,” he said in early March. “Luckily for us, we’ve been able to supply our customers with our programs.”

Obregon said he hoped for better supplies as the weather warms.

“I just hope the market doesn’t get flooded with product as soon as the sunlight comes out and it warms up,” he said.

An unfavorable exchange rate also has been hurting growers in Mexico.

“That effects the growers because they sell in U.S. dollars, but they still have to make payments in Mexican pesos,” he said. “They’re getting fewer pesos for their dollar, and that’s really hurting them.”

The spring product line from IPR Fresh includes red, orange and yellow bell peppers, European cucumbers and watermelons.

“Quality has been very good,” Obregon said.

Water issues in certain growing areas, including Culiacan in northern Mexico, caused problems for some growers, said Edgar Duarte, sales manager and partner with his wife, Karina, at Rich River Produce LLC, Rio Rico.

Some growers cut their production 30% to 50% and were shipping only two or three loads of cucumbers or bell peppers a day rather than their usual six or seven loads, he said.

Certain areas, such as Hermosillo, Guaymas and Obregon, had ample water, but cold weather slowed production.

“Quality overall has been good, not great,” he said.

The company will transition to Baja California in the summer and focus on chili peppers and cucumbers.

Partner Chris Ciruli said Rio Rico-based Ciruli Bros. LLC should have plenty of Champagne mangoes on hand by the end of March.

“We should be getting full production as we go into Easter, so that’s a great time to align for a great holiday,” he said.

Eggplant is a big Eastertime item as well, he said. Cucumbers, squash and bell peppers also will be available as temperatures rise this spring.

Ciruli expected volume to be up in the spring, especially on mangoes. “Incredible demand” in the U.S. has resulted in double-digit growth in mango sales, he said.

Ciruli Bros. debuted its Rowdy Rabbit organic label last summer and offers an organic line that includes eggplant, squash, bell peppers, colored bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Honeydews, seedless watermelons, mini seedless watermelons, kabocha squash, butternut squash and all colors of table grapes will be among the core products shipping from Rio Rico-based MAS Melons & Grapes this spring, said sales manager Miguel Suarez Jr.

“Growing conditions this season have been favorable,” he said. “We passed the minimum threshold for chill hours on our table grapes, and the zone is starting to warm up nicely.”

Good weather should result in good quality and a nice mix of sizes on all the company’s products, he said.

Nogales-based Delta Fresh Produce will continue to offer its roma and round tomatoes and cucumbers out of Sinaloa this spring and will complement them with production on romas and cucumbers out of Sonora, said Frank Camera, vice president of sales, marketing and business development. The company also will have blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, yellow squash, gray squash, green bell peppers and table grapes in Nogales and, for the first time, asparagus that ships from Yuma, Ariz.  

“We anticipate decent supplies on asparagus, round tomatoes, roma tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers for Easter, he said.