TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Baja News Wire

Baja plays big role in tomato deal

The Packer | Tom Burfield
05/31/2011 10:49:38 AM

The Baja California tomato deal has advanced to such an extent over the past decade that it almost is considered synonymous with the California deal.

The peak season mirrors that of California, food safety standards have tightened as they have in California, and quality and yields have improved significantly.

Grower-shippers attribute many of the advances in yields and quality to the rise of shade houses.

San Diego-based Pinos Produce Inc. started offering shade house-grown tomatoes about 10 years ago, sales manager Danny Uribe said.

Shade houses are a “huge investment,” so they’re not something a company jumps into all at once.

“You put them up as you can afford them,” Uribe said.

Pinos just finished the last of its more than 100 shade houses last year, he said, adding that the project was well worth the capital investment.

“We’re experiencing enormous cost savings,” he said. “It was a godsend for us to go to the shade houses.”

Shade houses allow growers to use water more efficiently, protect plants from pests and other damage and improve yields per acre.

Pinos grows primarily roma tomatoes, along with some vine-ripes and a few grape and cherry tomatoes.

Nogales, Ariz.-based Frank’s Distributing of Produce LLC/Bionova Produce Inc. has had a Baja California deal for nearly 20 years to help ensure year-round availability, said Montie McGovern, sales director.

The company sources vine-ripe, roma and grape tomatoes from Baja, all grown in shade houses to enhance production.

“We do both organic and conventional,” McGovern added.

Springfield, Ill.-based Tom Lange Company, which has an Escondido, Calif., location, can source from just about anywhere, salesman Tim Biggar said. But Baja California, with its year-round availability, has become a major supplier.

“It’s come a long way from 20 years ago,” he said.

With increased emphasis on quality and safety, “they have really stepped it up,” Biggar said, just as U.S. growers have.

Biggar said that, from a food safety standpoint, he has no qualms about shipping product from Mexico.

“When it comes to food safety, we’re all interrelated,” said Mark Munger, vice president of marketing for Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce in San Diego.

A food safety problem affects every company, big and small, “until science identifies the issue and where it comes from,” he said.

The firm operates in a transparent environment when it comes to food safety, even inviting retail and foodservice customers to visit growers in Baja California and share their thoughts.

“That’s how we learn and get better,” Munger said. “Many retail and foodservice customers have amazing food safety expertise.”

Pinos Produce also is into food safety “big time,” Uribe said.

The company is audited twice a year and has a constantly evolving program that complies with the latest regulations, he said.

Product grown in Mexico actually is subjected to scrutiny that is “a little more stringent than it is in the U.S.,” Uribe said.


source...

I thought thr Rodriquez Bros. owned Pinos? Did not realize they were based out of San Diego?

They may be the reason you cant buy a good tomato in Ensenada all the good produce goes north what is avalible here are the seconds the buyers wont take it seems.

Originally Posted by J.P.

They may be the reason you cant buy a good tomato in Ensenada all the good produce goes north what is avalible here are the seconds the buyers wont take it seems.

That the same reason you can't get good fruit from Calif in Calif, it goes to Japan and other places around the world because their buyers pay more...

The Rodriguez Bros ought to be commended for creating so many jobs in the "San Quintin Valley".
I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me that tomatoes, per se, are not a great financial investment. In US business terms. Hence, the proliferation of tomato growers SOB.

I'm reminded of the Pescadero co-op just outside of Todos Santos, in BCS, that spurred Alaska Airlines to invest in a refrigerated plant at the SJD airport.

When i hauled produce this place in Salinis Ca. called Fresh Produce packaged Salad Mix WOW what a place.I was told back then the owner was from down here.

The Rodriguez family owns the Los Pinos farming operation here in the San Quintin Valley, the trucking operation that transports it north and the distribution centers north of the border. Most sales go through their San Diego offices.

Are they the poor Mexican Farmers?

If they are poor, I want in...

I have watched that grow over the years and still find it amazing the changes in production techniques.

Everything is planted inside tents where they save on water and minimize the access of pests which translates into very little use of pesticides. Overall it is a very impressive operation with modern facilities. Having spent several years in the San Joaquin Valley I can honestly say I saw nothing north of the border that beats it...

This year should be a banner year for the growers in Baja,with all the freezes in the US in places where they grow produce,
Remember up in the San Joaquin valley during tomato season the highway looked like BLOOD ALLEY from all the squashed tomatoes.

As someone who goes through an average of 250 lbs of Romas a week, I can say that the quality of the tomatoes coming from Baja are excellent and fortunately have come back down in price after the freeze caused prices to skyrocket. They went from $13 for 25 lb case to $50 almost overnight.

Don't know the details of their operations in Baja, but am a big fan of their product.