Certain growing regions in Mexico have wrapped up their summer programs, but the Sinaloa region is set to begin its season this November. Michael Dupuis, the quality assurance manager and public relations coordinator of Divine Flavor, is getting ready to visit the company’s growers in Mexico next month.
Michael DuPuis at PMA Fresh Summit 2019.
DuPuis says: “We have growers located throughout Mexico, in Sonora, Baja, Sinaloa, and in Jalisco. Our company works with a mix of different products ranging from table grapes to vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Our most well-known product is the Cotton Candy grape, but most people don’t know that we have 30 other varieties as well. Each of these varieties are tailored to certain people and certain needs – some people prefer more tart grapes, others want smaller sizes for their kids, we have it all. We are currently working on extending the Mexican grape season by supplementing it with fruit from Chile and Peru, which will prolong the availability of our product.”
The company puts high value on sustainability as well as the quality of their production. “We market many of our products to families by creating really fun artwork for the packaging, or by developing varieties that are easy to eat and generally are assets in your kitchen. That is why it is really important to us that the products we sell are sustainably produced. Our fields are never over-farmed, and we are very focused on taking care of the soil that we grow in. Nearly all of our grapes that we import from Mexico are organically produced – even though it isn’t always labeled on the box. For most products or varieties the conventional market is bigger so we choose to sell our product alongside the conventional products, even when they are produced organically,” DuPuis explains.
The company’s values are outlined in the company’s six-pillar campaign, which was launched at PMA Fresh Summit last year, in 2018. The six pillars are quality, food safety, social responsibility, traceability, organics, and sustainability. “The pillars represent the core of what we require from and expect of our growers. Most growers are able to meet at least some of these values, but we are able to stand out by consistently hitting each of the six pillars. We visit our growers every month as a part of our better grower program. I focus on quality assurance and am the middleman between the company, the growers, and the customers. I ensure that the suppliers are meeting all the standards and requirements, but our company also goes beyond this – the growers also need to be aligned with our values. We work to create an interpersonal network between our growers – this program is our solution to ensuring that we have the best team possible,” DuPuis concludes.
For more information:
Michael DuPuis
Divine Flavor
Tel: +1 520 281 8328 ext. 136
Email: mdupuis@divineflavor.com
www.divineflavor.com