A GROWER GROUP CONNECTED BY FAMILY / UPDATES FROM WEST MEXICO

For this month’s 5 for 5, we sit down with Eduardo Cid Fuentes of Hortifresh. Originally from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Eduardo’s passion is his family. He’s been working with Hortifresh for the past 10 years as the operations manager. Let’s take a look at some questions we asked him and why he is dedicated to agriculture.

March 24^th, 2023

Nogales, AZ- Family is a word often used around the produce industry these days and for good reason. Many successful farm companies today come from families who have built their legacy over the years passing it from one generation to the next. In Mexico, Divine Flavor’s grower group is no different, and each of the growers the company works with today have ties to the produce distributor through family history.

Divine Flavor is currently harvesting in west Mexico in the state of Culiacan, a region which significantly compliments its principal growing region in Sonora with Grupo Alta. There, the company has several key growers who have been producing for the company since it was founded in 2007. Though, the history of these growers and their connection with Divine Flavor goes further back to when Carlos Bon, VP of sales for Divine Flavor, was just a child.

“Our farm partners in Culiacan are not only growers who share the same vision we have for producing fresh, high-quality produce like we do at our farms at Grupo Alta, but they are also family,” says Carlos.

“I spent my entire childhood around them going to family dinners, spending time at their farms, or having sleepovers at their house. We were all connected at an early age being family members and now our connection expands to our group of growers producing for the brand of Divine Flavor.”

In Culiacan, the Divine Flavor group consists of Hortifresh, Viva Orgánica, Grupo Chaparral, and Campaña Agricultores. Hortifresh, is owned and operated by Ernesto Urtusuastegui, Carlos’ second cousin and the company who produces organic bell peppers and mini peppers for Divine Flavor. Viva Orgánica is Divine Flavor’s specialty grower of tomatoes and cucumbers, and its owner is David Bon, Carlos’ younger brother. Grupo Chaparral is the primary producer of the company’s conventional bell peppers and tomatoes which is ran by Sergio Esquer, a lifelong friend of Carlos’ father, Carlos Bon Sr., and someone Carlos refers to as a “tío” which is uncle in Spanish. Campaña Agricultores, operated by Francisco and Horacio Campaña, is technically not family, but they have been friends of the Divine Flavor team from the earlier days of Pedro Batiz, the company’s former vice president of sales.

Carlos explains family is a unique component to the Divine Flavor group and because of having this connection with its partner growers, it makes the produce brand a tight niche team who produce unique commodities but within unison with the company’s product range.

“Being a company with strong family roots is what makes Divine Flavor a dynamic produce brand. Family is the epicenter of what bonds our businesses together. It gives us support, strength, and the ability to work closely together in ways other farm companies can’t. Each of our partners specializes in the items they produce whether it’s bell peppers, cucumbers, or tomatoes—all key commodities of our product range. Aside from being connected through family, we also share the passion of growing first-class, fresh produce for our customers.”

He also noted most traditional distributor companies have several growers who work with a variety of produce items, but he believes Divine Flavor specializing on a particular item allows them to be experts on the matter working with the single best growers of each of the commodities they do.

Though Carlos may not have the sleepovers he and his brothers once had as kids with his cousins in Culiacan, his relationship with them remains adjacent as most of them are the key vegetable growers for Divine Flavor.

The Season Update

So far in 2023, cooler weather has been the trend amongst growing regions for the produce industry. Throughout northern and western Mexico, the colder temperatures have delayed production in several categories for Divine Flavor including its bell pepper, mini pepper, cucumber, and tomato programs. Although the weather has been colder than usual for this time of year, the company expects production to be in a prime position moving into the month of April.

“None of the crops we grow had damage to them during the colder months and all of them look especially healthy,” says Carlos Bon.

“The plants actually look brand new and very comfortable and that’s because the cooler temperatures keep them this way. When there’s cooler weather, this controls the insect population. For organics, we expect to excel and for our conventional items, it’ll be a cleaner program, but all together, we expect quality to be top notch for the months of April and May.”

Generally, the west Mexico/Sinaloa season sees peaks from the end of February to mid-March, and different cycles of certain tomato and cucumber commodities starting up again at the end of March and early April. This season, the region won’t see the typical flush it’s used to, but the season could finish stronger than usual which will connect to the other growing regions in Mexico.

“This year, our production is shaping up to have a smoother transition,” says Carlos. “Since the plants were well preserved, this will give us opportunities to go later into the Sinaloa season and better bridge a narrow gap until our farms in Central and Baja Mexico begin.”