Top Trade Trends
While there’s certainly plenty of the same-old, same-old in Nogales, buyers and sellers have noted some peaks and troughs in supply as well as budding trends and off-kilter developments.
One thing they can all agree on is the fluidity of change. “Our industry is constantly changing,” states Suarez. More importantly, however, is how to survive and thrive amidst the change. If Nogales businesses want to remain competitive, Suarez believes it is crucial to stay on top of the latest trends and not fall behind. “We all keep looking for better varieties of products to grow,” he says, “it’s very important to have good yields per acre.”
Price, too, is a significant factor. “Agriculture has become so efficient with all the new technological advances that business these days is more about achieving a good price for our product,” explains Suarez. “Many years ago, there were more windows of opportunity when prices used to go sky high for longer periods of time. I think nowadays we still see those high prices, but for shorter periods of time.”
Hot & Trending
Everybody knows about kale and its emergence as a superfood, but other fruits, vegetables, and herbs are enjoying more consumption as well. Bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, chile peppers, citrus, mangos, squash, and watermelon were among the winners this year, along with specialty and organic produce, garlic, and more greenhouse-grown vegetables.
“Watermelon continues to grow in popularity as evidenced by the increase in importation in recent years,” comments Jungmeyer, referring to upticks that began a few seasons ago. In the 2014-15 season, more than 1.1 billion pounds of watermelon was shipped through Nogales as compared to less than 906 million pounds during the previous year from 2012 to 2013.
Nogales importers are also seeing green related to squash sales. At the end of the summer, both spaghetti and butternut hard squash had experienced gains for Ciruli Brothers. “Demand for these items used to take a dip in warmer months, but this year we saw more demand for those particular varieties,” says Ciruli.
The increase, Ciruli surmises, could be due to consumer dietary changes, such as the skyrocketing popularity of Paleo and vegan-type diets. More than 622 million pounds of squash moved through Nogales in the 2014-15 season, with forecasts for higher numbers in 2015-16 shipments.
For Duarte, mangos were a top seller with rising demand. Though the season ended in October, it was worth mentioning. “We’ve seen quite a bit of an increase on our mango sales,” Duarte shares. “More than anything, we attribute it to the National Mango Board. They’ve been promoting the product a lot and offering different types of recipes and displays in stores.”
Top Trade Trends
While there’s certainly plenty of the same-old, same-old in Nogales, buyers and sellers have noted some peaks and troughs in supply as well as budding trends and off-kilter developments.
One thing they can all agree on is the fluidity of change. “Our industry is constantly changing,” states Suarez. More importantly, however, is how to survive and thrive amidst the change. If Nogales businesses want to remain competitive, Suarez believes it is crucial to stay on top of the latest trends and not fall behind. “We all keep looking for better varieties of products to grow,” he says, “it’s very important to have good yields per acre.”
Price, too, is a significant factor. “Agriculture has become so efficient with all the new technological advances that business these days is more about achieving a good price for our product,” explains Suarez. “Many years ago, there were more windows of opportunity when prices used to go sky high for longer periods of time. I think nowadays we still see those high prices, but for shorter periods of time.”
Hot & Trending
Everybody knows about kale and its emergence as a superfood, but other fruits, vegetables, and herbs are enjoying more consumption as well. Bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, chile peppers, citrus, mangos, squash, and watermelon were among the winners this year, along with specialty and organic produce, garlic, and more greenhouse-grown vegetables.
“Watermelon continues to grow in popularity as evidenced by the increase in importation in recent years,” comments Jungmeyer, referring to upticks that began a few seasons ago. In the 2014-15 season, more than 1.1 billion pounds of watermelon was shipped through Nogales as compared to less than 906 million pounds during the previous year from 2012 to 2013.
Nogales importers are also seeing green related to squash sales. At the end of the summer, both spaghetti and butternut hard squash had experienced gains for Ciruli Brothers. “Demand for these items used to take a dip in warmer months, but this year we saw more demand for those particular varieties,” says Ciruli.
The increase, Ciruli surmises, could be due to consumer dietary changes, such as the skyrocketing popularity of Paleo and vegan-type diets. More than 622 million pounds of squash moved through Nogales in the 2014-15 season, with forecasts for higher numbers in 2015-16 shipments.
For Duarte, mangos were a top seller with rising demand. Though the season ended in October, it was worth mentioning. “We’ve seen quite a bit of an increase on our mango sales,” Duarte shares. “More than anything, we attribute it to the National Mango Board. They’ve been promoting the product a lot and offering different types of recipes and displays in stores.”
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.
For Ciruli, jicama and tomatillos— formerly considered more regional, ethnic items—are also becoming more mainstream across the United States. “This is likely due to increased foodservice use and value-added processed, pre-cut sales,” he says.
Garlic Gains
Over the past couple of years, Ta-De Distributing has answered climbing demand for its Sonora-grown garlic, packed under the company’s Rio Sonora Rose brand. “This is a natural, bleach-free garlic that has good sizing, a purple hue, and sharp flavor that gourmet cooks seem to love,” enthuses Bennen. His customers prefer Chinese imports, he notes, with even major name-brand garlic companies purchasing the product.
In terms of volume, nearly 704,000 pounds of garlic valued at close to $1 million moved through Nogales in the 2014-15 season. Another hot trend revolving around garlic is the rage surrounding fermented, carmelized ‘black’ garlic.
Popular in Asian cuisine, this colorful addition to garlic products is remarkably sweet and tangy, and increasingly sought after. Not only is black garlic propelling higher sales of garlic for wholesalers and retailers, it is the new darling of adventurous chefs, hitting restaurant menus across the country.
After being touted in Bon Appetit magazine, specialty stores and traditional grocers were flooded with requests for black garlic. The dark favorite can now be found in several nationwide retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, and many shoppers are buying extra garlic and fermenting cloves themselves.
Greenhouses, Shade Houses & Organics
Nogales produce importers are also sourcing more greenhouse commodities from Mexican growers.
Ciruli says the vast majority of the supplier’s crops are grown in protected structures with drip irrigation, making them relatively immune to wild weather patterns. “There are many
benefits of sourcing product grown in protected structures, chiefly more consistent supplies and quality due to less exposure to the elements,” he explains. He says Ciruli Brothers sources green and colored bell peppers, cucumbers, Roma and vine-ripened tomatoes, and eggplant grown in protected agriculture in a mix of shade houses and greenhouses in Mexico.
Franzone says the company sources greenhouse-grown vegetables from both U.S. and Mexican growers. “We move between the two depending on quality, availability, and pricing,” he says, adding that greenhouse vegetables are “picture-perfect commodities for savvy consumers.”
Ta-De’s greenhouse production has also seen dramatic growth in recent seasons. “Due to hothouse production, we have been able to significantly increase our bell pepper supply and have product earlier in the market,” Bennen enthuses.
Suarez of MAS Melons has invested in protective structures as well. “We have a small shade house cucumber program, and the advantage is you’re better able to control temperatures and pest control, which results in better yields.”
Fresh Farms, too, uses shade houses. “This not only gives us outstanding product but helps protect our crops from the outside elements like weather that can be devastating in the winter months,” Havel says. He adds that organic produce is another area of demand for Nogales importers, with growers scrambling to find more land to grow organic crops.
