some of them have already worked with us for 8 years. Together with the production of our local partners we have managed to quadruple our export."
FreshMex is part of the Dutch Levarht Produce Group. Nine years ago it all started for FreshMex, explains Oscar. “Nine years ago Levarht and Kubo started to build our greenhouse, located in the AgroPark in Querétaro. The greenhouse is an exact copy of a glass greenhouse in The Netherlands, with 7.5 hectares of bell pepper production. We planted the first bell pepper plants in September 2007 and on December 12, 2007 we had our first harvest. Mexicans know how important that date is.”
The ninth season is about to finish continues Oscar. “We export bell peppers from September till May, which means we have two more weeks before we finish the season. The 25th of May is the last harvest and we start planting new plants on the 13th of June. We work with a rapid crop rotation, to be able to start harvesting in august again.”
FreshMex exports 85% of its produce to the US and the remaining 15% goes to Canada. The main competition comes from Canada, which takes over the market when they start their season. “The Canadian season normally starts in March till the beginning of November, so our seasons partially overlap,” tells Oscar. “Yet, the export of Mexico continues to grow. There is an annual growth of some 900 - 1000900-1000 hectares of protected agriculture. According to AMHPAC, the protected agriculture which includes shade houses, plastic and glass greenhouses, will continue to grow at this rate for several more years. The majority of these new hectares are either shade houses or plastic greenhouses. One should not judge wrongly. These technologies are appropriate to the climate in Mexico and their quality is very good. Lower or less technology does not mean lower or less quality. The quality produced in these operations is of export level. The volume of production is lower.
According to Oscar, the growing production isn’t causing any problems so far. “The American market has a growing consumption. Besides, I believe other countries like the Netherlands, Israel and Spain export less than the US. All of them have higher transportation costs. Spain isn’t allowed to export to the US market at the moment and Israel is more interested in Russia. If we have managed to quadruple our export in nine years, while keeping the same price level, we can state there is space on the USA and Canadian markets. We are by no means the only company growing so it is a fact that the consumption of bell peppers is steadily growing."
No concerns so far for the discounters, such as Lidl and Aldi, which are entering the US market. Oscar: “The price levels are quite stable in the American market. An advantage with this case is that we are vertically integrated. We produce, sort, pack and export the bell peppers ourselves. With Levarht, we have a very reliable and strong sales partner. Our suppliers benefit from the Levarht Produce Group and they have managed to increase their productive area thanks to the good returns obtained."
This isn’t the only advantage Freshmex has as a company. Their technology is high-tech, based on a long-term investment. According to Oscar the advantage isn’t the quality, but the quantity and stability they can offer. “For example, in North West Mexico many shade houses or plastic greenhouses produce bell peppers. Their investment is 5-10% compared to the investment we made per hectare with our technology. Let’s say, they produce 8/9 kilo bell peppers per m2 during 5 months of production each year. Their quality is similar to our production and they can easily export their production, but the quantity is much less. Besides, the weather can still easily influence their productivity as they have less protection from climate changes. Compare this to our stable production of 26-28 kilos per m2 over a 9 month period. It makes a big difference for example to retailers, which are looking for stability. However, our investment costs are much higher, which explains the long-term investment. We need to wait much longer to recover the investment”
Oscar concludes: “Being part of Levarht Produce Group, benefits all parties. Levarht has more than 80 years of experience in agriculture, which creates a lot of understanding towards the producers as they understand the variations one has even in a greenhouse like ours. Thanks to their knowledge of the agriculture and even more of the market, it’s a very trustful partner. On the other hand we have established many good relationships with local producers allowing us to increase the sales volume for Levarht. Honesty, reliability and good returns have been very important in these relations and we pay them good prices for their products. We grow together and increase our total amount of export annually. This also benefits Levarht. We try to achieve a good price, good quality and good volumes.”
