A rainier-than-usual 2019 is finishing up on a dry, cooperative note in Central America and the Caribbean, as the early winter season in the U.S. gets underway.
“It’s been nice,” said Michael Warren, president of Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Central American Produce Inc.
“They had some rain in the early part of the season, but it’s not affecting the quality of any of the produce coming off now.”
Central American has papayas coming from Guatemala year-round, and the first watermelons, galia melons, cantaloupes and honeydews likely would begin at the end of December, Warren said.
“The weather has been favorable, so we’re expecting good-quality melons from Honduras,” he said.
Last year was “great” for melons, and Central American Produce is anticipating the same this year, Warren said.
“We’ll have a few new cantaloupe and honeydew varieties coming into the market and will be interested to see how customers react,” Warren said.
Warren said his company also would be bringing in butternut squash in mid-December.
“We’ve been doing that there for a couple of years already,” he said. “It’s usually large, very clean squash.”
Rain has been a bit of an issue, said Andres Ocampo, CEO of Pompano Beach, Fla.-based HLB Specialties.
“Our strongest items from that region are papaya from Guatemala and rambutan from Guatemala and Honduras,” he
said.
“During November, we were affected by some rains in Honduras that diminished the rambutan volumes and also are cutting short the season.”
There have been “not significant” weather issues with papaya, with the rainy season now done, Ocampo said.
“However, we now face the cold fronts that sometimes make their way to northern Central America, bringing some localized heavy rains, and the cooler temperatures slow down production,” Ocampo said.
Calgary, Alberta-based Thomas Fresh also sources items from the Caribbean and Central America.
“Our red and green Thai chili peppers are sourced from the Dominican Republic, for a year-round program,” said Andrea Dubak, marketing specialist.
Weather has cooperated this year, Dubak said.
“The weather in 2019 was very stable for these regions, and we anticipate the same for our winter 2020 season,” she said.
Miami-based Ecoripe Tropicals will focus on its GlobalGAP-certified okra program from Honduras, said Marc Holbik, vice president of business development.
“While we import the product year-round, our strongest volumes come in from December to May,” he said. “We specialize in air arrivals so the product is extra-fresh, and supplement this with ocean arrivals.”
Ecoripe also has an off-season harvest of rambutan this year, Hoblik said.
“Usually our rambutan season from Guatemala wraps up in November, but an irregular rainy season has provided us with a second flowering that will provide us with our GlobalGAP-certified rambutan ‘til end of January — a very welcome surprise,” he said.
For Homestead, Fla.-based Brooks Tropicals Inc., “it’s papaya time,” said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing.
“Caribbean Red papaya hits its stride in our winter,” she said. “Brooks is projecting solid harvests throughout the winter and early spring.”
Brooks also has ample volumes of its SlimCado, and the company anticipates “solid harvest numbers” of limes, Ostlund said.
Miami-based J&C Tropicals “moves a lot of fruit,” but owner Jessie Capote noted the strong performance of its tropical tuber line.
“Stews and soups and hot plates are common when it’s cold out,” Capote said. “There’s also a lot of products tied to the holidays and they’re also in that category.”
Yuca root, for example, is well known today and “seems to have crossed over more than any other one,” Capote said.
J&C brings in malanga blanca from Costa Rica and Ecuador, and now the company is importing it from Honduras, starting in early December, Capote said.
“If that can perform well, that’s going to be a big deal for us,” he said.
J&C also has white yams and yuca root out of Costa Rica, Capote said.
There’s plenty of squash available, including chayote, over the winter, too, Capote said.
“That’s an enormous deal for us,” Capote said of tropical squash. “We had 20 containers in a two-week time span; for a specialty item, that’s a big deal,” he said.
For Coast Tropical’s Los Angeles-based Olympic Fruit and Vegetable, the dawn of winter in the U.S. brings increased demand for yuca from Costa Rica, said Julio Alvarado, sales and procurement agent.
“Yuca is used in a lot of soups and different dishes; Hispanic people have a tendency to consume more yuca over the winter months,” he said.
Weather in Costa Rica has cooperated, Alvarado said.
“There’s been no rain, so supplies will be very steady through first six months of 2020,” he said. “Prices will be about steady as now.”
Coast’s yuca shipments run year-round, he said.
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