December 12, 2008

Sponsored by:

Fresh Produce Association of the Americas

Nogales Vegetables

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on selected vegetables entering the U.S. through the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry:

Bell peppers: 1 1/9 bushel cartons, green, jumbo, mostly $12.95-14.95, extra-large, mostly $10.95-12.95, large, mostly 10.95; red, medium, mostly $14.95.

Cucumbers: 1 1/9 bushel cartons, medium, mostly $18.95, small and large, mostly $14.95.

Squash: 1 1/9 bushel cartons, zucchini, large, $5.95-6.95; yellow straightneck, large, $12.95; gray, large, $3.95-5.95; acorn, medium, $20.85; butternut, medium, $14.95, large, $16.95-18.95; spaghetti, medium, $20.95-22.95.

Tomatoes: 11-pound flats, greenhouse, on-the-vine, large, $10.95, small-medium, $7-8; two-layer flats, vine-ripes, 4x4 and 4x5, mostly $14.95; 5x5m mostly, $12.95; 5x6, $10.95-12.95.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Dec. 10.

The Shipping Scene

As cooler temperatures sweep over the U.S., and farmers in many areas put away their tractors for the winter, the vegetable season is just kicking off in West Mexico.

More than half the tomatoes, squash, peppers and other vegetables that U.S. consumers will enjoy during the coming months are grown in Mexico, said Jesse Driskill, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, Ariz., the port of entry for many of Mexico's winter vegetables.

Although the season kicks off in late September and early October, volume is coming up to speed in December and should peak in January and February.

About 4 billion pounds of winter vegetables likely will come through Nogales from now through May. But volume could be down 5% to 10% this season compared to last year as growers cut back because of the weak world economy, Driskill said.

Early volume has been strong, he reported, with increases expected for tomatoes grown in protected agriculture - like shade houses and greenhouses.

Driskill emphasized that food safety has taken on a more important role than ever in Nogales, with growers' facilities in Mexico as well as warehouses in Nogales subject to third-party inspections and other safety and security precautions.

Vegetable volume already is picking up steam in Nogales.

"We've got most of the mixed (vegetables) coming in at this point," said Mike Smith, owner of Sigma Sales Inc.

Green bell peppers are arriving, colored bell peppers started this week, and good-quality zucchini and yellow and gray squash as well as round beans also are coming into Nogales, Smith said.

"We're in a little bit of a gap on field cucumbers," he said, adding that supplies may remain short for another week to 10 days, resulting in higher prices.

Overall in Nogales, "It's been a supply-driven deal," he said, with prices rising and falling as supplies drop off and pick up.

"It's been difficult to maintain consistency in the markets," Smith said. "There is kind of flat demand."

He attributed some of the lack of demand to the retail side, where supermarkets are "maintaining their margins" and not pricing aggressively, even when shippers lower prices in an attempt to encourage movement.

Smith expected good supplies of green bell peppers, zucchini and yellow and gray squash for Christmas, and he encouraged buyers to try greenhouse-grown English cucumbers in light of the shortage of field cucumbers. English cucumbers should be in good supply and reasonably priced, he said.

Tomatoes are running late because of weather problems and likely won't get back up to speed until January.

"That whole crop is pushed back a little bit," Smith said. "We've had an unusually warm fall."

Zucchini, yellow squash and gray squash from the Los Mochis area started shipping about two weeks ago from Premium Produce Distributors Inc., said Rene Martinez, sales manager.

Although arrivals were delayed somewhat by Hurricane Norbert, which pelted the area as a category one storm in mid-October, quality and markets for squash are good right now, he said.

Premium Produce also is packing value-added chili peppers - including jalapeno, caribe, serrano, anaheim and pablano varieties - in special 5- and 10-pound packs for foodservice and retail, Martinez said.

Omega Produce Co. Inc. is shipping cucumbers from Hermosillo, greenhouse-grown roma tomatoes from the central west coast of Mexico and green open-field bell peppers from the desert in Sonora, where the climate helps vegetables resist disease, said George Gotsis, president.

The company also has several varieties of squash, colored bell peppers and Persian pickles.

Quality has been good so far, Gotsis said, and he had his fingers crossed for the rest of the season.

"Hopefully, we'll have the weather in our favor," he said.

Now is the time to promote produce from Mexico, said Driskill of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. He encouraged retailers interested in conducting promotions or running ads featuring produce from Mexico to contact Amy Adams, the association's marketing director.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

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