Rico Farms has opened its third location Mexico and is shipping its first crop of organic hard squash.
The farm in Guaymas, Mexico, joins two other Rico Farm production areas in the state of Sonora, Mexico. All of the company’s product is packed under the Rico Farms label and marketed exclusively by Bridges Produce Inc., Portland, Ore.
All of the product is organic, audited by Primus and Fair Trade certified, according to a news release.
The Guaymas location is now harvesting and shipping hard squash, including organic acorn, butternut, delicata, spaghetti and kabocha squash through early April.
“The warmer winter weather in Guaymas allows us to have a consistent supply of organic Mexican hard squash from November through May,” Rico Farms President Ben Johnson said in the release.
The company previously had a gap in availability between the fall and spring at the Hermosillo operation, and Guaymas production fills the final gap in the Bridges produce year-round organic hard squash program.
Supplies come from California during the summer, the Pacific Northwest in the fall and Mexico for the winter and spring seasons, Johnson said in the release.
Rico Farms also grows cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, melons and chili peppers.
The Tapia family, which owns the Rico Farms locations, has seen the effects of the Fair Trade program on the employees and their families, according to the release.
“The Fair Trade committee is assembled and ready to work will all the employees on the next steps. We have a good plan and people are happy here.” Jacobo Yanes, operations manager for the three locations, said in the release.
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