Demand appears to have recovered since 2012’s salmonella outbreak, traced to infected mangos from Sinaloa, Mexico. Such occurrences tend to have a lingering, negative effect on customer perception and sales.
“The issue with the salmonella outbreak with the mangos—it wasn’t our mangos, but there was just a general scare,” recalls Duarte. “Most people didn’t know where the product was coming from, so they assumed it was all affected. Consumers often generalize everything, even though mangos come from many different growers and areas in Mexico.”
Ethnic Specialties
In addition to melons and squash, Nogales suppliers continue to ride the wave of rising demand for ethnic produce.
By The Numbers
The Fresh Produce of the Americas Association’s ‘Nogales Import Report’ for the 2015-16 (from September 2015 through August 2016) season provides a fascinating glimpse into the border town’s produce scene. Here are some facts and figures for the above time period:• Overall U.S. imports of fresh produce were valued at $19.1 billion worldwide
• 17% of all U.S. global produce imports came through Nogales, weighing in at 6.1 billion pounds and valued at $3.3 billion
• Fresh produce trade grew in value by 15% from the previous season
• 54% of fresh produce imports came from Mexico, valued at $10.4 billion
• 88% of Nogales’ imports are comprised of 10 fruits and vegetables
• Top import months by volume were April, May, March, February, and January
• Total volume of the top 10 fruit and vegetable imports reached 5.5 billion pounds; the top commodity by weight was tomatoes at 1.2 billion pounds
• Total value of the top 10 fruit and vegetable imports was just under $2.8 billion; the top commodity by value was tomatoes at $679 million
• Fresh fruit imports rose from 1.7 billion pounds in 2011-12 to 2.1 billion pounds in 2015-16, with respective values of $843 million and $1.0 billion
• Fresh vegetable imports rose from 3.7 billion pounds in 2011-12 to 4.2 billion pounds in 2015-16, with respective values of $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion.
“At Ta-De, we’ve seen increased demand for ethnic produce, and we are now one of the premier Asian vegetable suppliers in Nogales,” says Bennen. Ta-De Distributing currently offers three categories under its Asian produce label: Shishito peppers, Asian eggplants, and squash varieties.
Bennen believes the heightened interest in ethnic produce reflects the increasing spending power of America’s growing Asian population. “According to our recent studies, Asian consumers spend around $27 dollars on produce per shopping trip,” he explains. “Ethnic groups also shop more frequently, say, twice a week, so that’s over $2,800 spent on produce per shopper per year.”
The oft-touted millennial demographic continues to account for a rising share of fresh fruits and vegetables too. Considered avid cooks, Bennan cites millennials as quite enthusiastic about exotic specialties and on the hunt for these ethnic produce items in their area conventional supermarkets.
