Colored bell peppers out of Mexico are seeing a small gap in supply. "We're between growing areas," says Jose Luis Obregon of IPR Fresh, adding that this gap is seen annually between the growing regions. "The main growing area of Sinaloa doesn't start until mid-December and right now, we're growing in Nayarit and Jalisco and those areas are winding down."
Demand has strengthened compared to where it was a few weeks ago, thanks partly to that gap in supply. "Demand for bell peppers throughout the year has been pretty good. We've had consistent demand and the prices haven't dropped as much. It means that we've done a good job of promoting peppers," says Obregon, adding that peppers are also seeing more consistent consumption in both retail and foodservice. However, he hopes to see continued, if not more, promotion of the vegetable.
Import options
All of this means that for IPR Fresh if there is such a gap, it looks to import peppers from the Netherlands, Israel, or Spain to ensure supply stays consistent.
As for pricing, normally in November, the market gets pretty active because of the lack of supply. "The return to the growers has been good as well which helps because production costs have increased substantially," says Obregon. "The exchange rate of Mexico to the U.S. dollar a few months ago was also not as good as it had been in the past. So even though demand is good, it's more expensive to grow now."
Looking ahead, the weeks before both Thanksgiving and the holiday season, prices often strengthen on colored bell peppers.
For more information:
Jose Luis Obregon
IPR Fresh
Tel.: +1 (520) 377-5710
[email protected]
www.iprfresh.com