Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. — As part of its ongoing efforts to bring protected horticulture in Mexico to the next level, the nearly 200 grower members of AMHPAC (Mexican Protected Horticulture Association), located across 24 states, are working together to become the one-stop-shopping for premium indoor quality out of Mexico, 365 days a year.
This young leading organization founded in 2007, now represents an elite group of progressive growers who are centered on the association’s values for Productivity, Competitiveness, Sustainability, Quality, Safety, Responsibility and Organization. These are 2nd and 3rd generation indoor farming operations with state-of-the-industry technology and the use of world’s best agricultural, food safety and sustainability practices not only at the production stage but through packaging, handling and distribution process. Today, they are the largest and most reliable source of top of the line quality for fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, eggplants and any other veggies the North American consumers demand under more than 11,600 acres of combined indoor production.
“These core values identify our grower’s profile; therefore, it is not easy for a Mexican grower to become an AMHPAC member. To qualify, the grower and his entire staff, have to be committed and trained to achieve those values. This way, the AMHPAC grower is becoming a synonymous of the highest quality and safety standards within the produce industry.” Said Eric Viramontes, AMHPAC’s general manager.
Every Mexican grower looking for an AMHPAC membership is obligated to fulfill and apply the following four core values as described below:
1) Productivity; the way we see it, you can’t talk about producing high yields unless you operation is efficient, competitive and sustainable. Is not enough to be productive, you have to produce in order to satisfy the consumers’ expectations.
2) Quality and safety: for our grower, quality and food safety are concepts connected to each other, you can’t leave any of them out if you really want to achieve both. We have set the bar higher on our quality and safety standards, so if you want to be part of this group, you must aim higher than the set requirement.
3) Responsibility: As growers, we commonly believe we have gained significant accountability, however, it is not enough to be responsible for delivering a high quality, safe and fresh product, we also have to take care of our environment, through the use of our natural resources in a rational way, by recovering the balance of the ecosystems where we operate, and taking care of the people that work with us, by supporting our communities and investing on future generations.
4) Organization: We are firm believers of what can be achieved if we all work as a unified elite growing group. As an organization, we are addressing all food safety, security, quality and sustainability issues to the Mexican protected horticulture industry. These are not to be looked as individual challenges but as those all our members are working together to be able to meet the growing demand of the North American fresh produce consumer.
For the last two decades, Nogales, Arizona has been the predominantly point of entry for greenhouse-grown vegetables out of Mexico, and during the last five years, the development of alliances and partnerships between U.S. distributors located in Nogales and produce exporters from several Mexican states has intensify as buyers are demanding more greenhouse production due to better quality and a more extended shelf life.
When asked about the benefits he receives when working with AMHPAC growers and what makes AMHPAC growers different from the rest of the Mexican or U.S. growers, Chris Ciruli, CEO for the Nogalez, AZ.-based Ciruli Brothers, said, “Food safety, social responsibility and consistent quality are becoming ever more important in our industry. Ciruli Brothers proudly sponsors AMHPAC because of the organization’s commitment to the continuous development, education and support of Mexico’s most renowned growers in these areas.”
Source: AMHPAC