Posts Tagged “West Mexico winter vegetable shipments”
Cold winter weather combined with a number of tropica storms in October, including two hurricanes, has severely limited shipments of vegetables from Mexico’s main winter production areas.
Divine Flavor of Nogales, AZ reports there is no solution for the vegetables coming out of Sinaloa for the entire season, describing it as one of the most challenging on record.
Most of the Culican vegetables in the state of Sinaloa are in short supply. Much of the woes result from the hurricane Otis last October, where there was a lot of significant damage, excessive rain, humidity, and disease.
Bernardi & Associates, also in Nogales, notes weather issues have caused a lack of supply with no letup in sight, adversely affecting nearly all commodities.
Bernardi reports short tomato supplies, when under normal condtions would mean peak volume by now. The supply problems extend beyond Sinaloa and include many of the production areas in Sonora and Baja California as well.
GR Fresh of McAllen, TX. reports volumes of all vegetables are down considerably.
January typically is when produce shipments from West Mexico build in volume and continue for the next three to four months. A majority of it crosses the border at Nogales, AZ.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Nogales expects to have the same acreage in Mexico this winter, but has shifted emphasis with commodities grown. It is increasing roma tomato volume, while and decreasing round tomatoes.
There will be a 15% increase on romas and a 15% decrease on round tomatoes.
The roma harvest got underway the third week of December, and round tomatoes will start in limited volume this week.
Significant volume of romas should be available by mid-January.
Volume of round tomatoes likely will be lighter than normal until mid-February.
Calavo also will have a winter grape tomato shipments out of Culiacan for the first time. The harvest starts in early January and loadings continue until April.
Crown Jewels Produce of launched its green bean program the first week of November and hopes to make the program year-round by adding product out of Baja California and Texas. The company also now ships cucumbers year-round, sourcing from Nogales, Baja California and Texas.
Crown Jewels was receiving Mexican green, yellow and gray squash, bell peppers and eggplant in November received its first colored hothouse bell peppers the first half of December.
Overall, the firm’s volume should be 20% to 30% higher than last year.
Divine Flavor of Nogales has transitioned its organic program from Baja California to West Mexico. The company is shipping cucumbers, grape tomatoes, watermelons and table grapes.
Earth Blend LLC of Nogales is shipping European cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, eggplant, squash, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. The company has also added organic Italian squash and yellow squash.
Fresh Farms of Rio Rico, AZ already is looking forward to its spring table grape season out of Mexico, with volume growing each season. Mexican grape shipments usually get underway as the last of the Chilean import grapes finish.
Table grapes are described as backbone of its company. The grapes start in Jalisco in late March with several new varieties and an abundance of fresh grapes including Cotton Candy. Fresh Farms also will offer some organic squash.
MAS Melons & Grapes LLC of Rio Rico has honeydew melons, seedless watermelons, mini watermelons, cantaloupes and orange candy melons this season. The program will continued until late December out of northern Mexico and then switched to fields in the south for the winter and spring months.
The company had butternut, kabocha, spaghetti and zucchini squash until mid-December.
Grower Alliance LLC of Nogales, Ariz.-based has launched a logistics company and added a produce brokerage.
The move was made to get loads out the same day the produce was picked, resulting in a fresher product.
The new entity, which came about as a result of a merger with Lugo’s Trucking, formerly of Tucson, AZ., will have access to eight trucks, three of which will be dedicated exclusively to Grower Alliance. Eventually the fleet will expand.
For now, the new company will cover primarily a route from Nogales to the greater Los Angeles area, but eventually the service area will expand nationwide and into Canada.
Grower Alliance also has launched a produce brokerage called Grow-All Procurement. The brokerage will be able to offer items like citrus that Grower Alliance does not handle.
IPR Fresh of Rio Rico now has expanded its slicer cucumber program, which was offer intermittently in the past. Slicers began shipping in mid-November and will continue through April.
IPR Fresh also has increased volume of sweet corn through the end of March, and will continue to have its year-round supply of organic and conventional colored bell peppers as well as a green bell peppers.
IPR Fresh also will have more watermelon this winter, which will run through April, and has organic and conventional yellow and zucchini squash.
Produce House of Nogales expected to have similar volume this season out of Mexico.
New items include mini watermelons, seedless watermelons and honeydews.
The company also is entering into the southern state of Sinaloa to source tomatoes, roma tomatoes and bell peppers this season.
Tricar Sales Inc. of Rio Rico will have its same West Mexico program as last year, which will include cucumbers, European cucumbers, roma tomatoes, round tomatoes, eggplant and green, red, yellow and orange bell peppers.
West Mexico winter vegetable shipments are crossing the border into Nogales, AZ, although heavier volume typically doesn’t occur until January.
Shipping gaps of product from Mexico are not as common as they used to be thanks in part to signicant volume coming from vegetables grown under shade houses and in green houses.
Tomato shipments including romas, grape tomatoes and some round tomatoes are gradually increasing in December, with heaviest volume occurring January through March. Mexican red peppers are in very light volume, and similar to tomatoes, are not expected to have significant loadings until around Christmas.
Melons such as watermelons and honeydew are more unpredictable due to winter growing conditions south of the border, but light volumes are expected through the end of the year.
Cucumber shipments have been underway since mid-September, which were soon followed by zucchini, yellow and gray squash, English cucumbers started the third week of October and hard squash in early November. Loadings of those items as well as green beans, and eggplant were underway with the arrival of December.
Mexican vegetable shipments crossing at Nogales – grossing about $2800 to Chicago.