After taking a hit due to poor weather and increased regulations, papaya supply looks ready to bounce back in mid-February. The tropic fruit had a stronger-than-usual start to 2016, with a short supply available to meet steady demand. But growers have been working to recover from low harvests, and supplies could see the payoff of that effort as early as next week.
Although January isn’t a strong papaya month, given the cold weather, it’s a commodity that Tadeo Better of Agromod Produce characterizes as steady.
“Even though the papaya is a tropical fruit and it requires a hot and humid weather to grow, it is pretty much steady during the whole year with some highs and lows, basically because of the weather conditions and the quality standards of the market,” said Better.
But 2016 has seen a difficult start for papaya. The market is stronger than usual, with higher prices and limited availability.
“This year, exceptional cold weather hit the Mexican crops, and besides that the hurricane Patricia hit and destroyed a vast amount of papaya fields that were grown in Colima,” Better shared.
Along with weather issues, the FDA now requires producers to apply for a “green list,” indicating testing and quality assurance. It caused some hiccups in trade, but Argomod was among the first to pass the tests.
Efforts to regrow in the Colima region, one of the primary Mexican supply areas for Argomod along with Chiapas, were successful for some, but many producers were unable to completely replace the lost crops due to high costs and lack of farm insurance. Even so, Better sees the supply rebounding this month.
“Next week will still have a low volume supply, but I expect this to change by the beginning of the second week of February,” Better shared. “I foresee an increase of volume in the market. Some growers have been working very hard on their farms and are ready to send good quality fruit to the United States. With warmer weather, and the end of this unusual raining season, the trees have been able to nourish the fruit, and it has been able to grow again”
For more information:
Tadeo Better
Agromod Produce
+1 956 618 2139