“Our supplies of imported papaya coming in from Mexico have been short for the past two weeks because of a tropical storm that hit Mexico,” says Mario Moreno, of South-coast Produce. This may have been Hurricane Blas, which struck the southern coast of Mexico in early July. Because of this storm, Southcoast Produce has seen the numbers of imported papaya it distributes cut by about 30 percent, according to Moreno. “Papa-ya is a seasonal item, so it can be affected by temperatures that are too high or bad weather, such as hurricanes or tropical storms,” shared Moreno.Southcoast Produce imports its papaya from the Veracruz region and from the state of Nayarit, located on the Pacific. Although Hawaiian papaya is generally golden, it competes with the Mexican papaya imported by Southcoast Produce.
“Prices have been steady. They haven’t gone up or down drastically,” says Moreno. “I expect that our supply will get better over the next two weeks. The quality and shelf life may not be as good, due to the excess water on the plants.”
Southcoast Produce mainly distributes its papaya to retailers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. From there, it is sold to other markets, such as schools. “Consumption should in-crease when our inventory goes back up. Also, when schools are getting ready to open, we normally see a slump in demand for many fruits, not just papaya. Once school is in session, the demand goes back up,” said Moreno.
Contact:
Mario Moreno
Southcoast Produce Company
Tel: 214-747-8118