Mexico: Tenth AMHPAC Annual Congress

On August 24 and 25, 2017, the Mexican Association of Protected Horticulture (AMHPAC) will celebrate the tenth edition of its annual congress, for all members of the horticultural industry. The congress will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico, and, according to Alfredo Diaz Belmontes, the general director of the association, "we want to hold a different congress and discuss strategic issues of great importance for the association and its partners; Issues that concern us all."

NAFTA

Currently, one of the most relevant issues for the Mexican sector is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Thus the congress will hold a panel discussion with experts from Mexico, Canada, and the US that will provide attendees with all the information they need to know about this trade agreement. Additionally, a sociopolitical analyst will explain the political, social, and economic context of Mexico and the international environment, a subject that is almost mandatory, according to Diaz.

The association also wants to address a series of strategic issues that are especially important for Mexico: market diversification, crop diversification and added value. "Currently, nearly 96% of what the AMHPAC produces goes to the US market and the remaining 4% to Canada. We depend almost entirely on a single market, the United States, which makes us very vulnerable, especially as President Trump is making threats," stated Diaz, which is why it is necessary to look for new markets.

The diversification of crops is equally important, according to the general director of the association: "Mexican horticulture is very focused on tomatoes. 60% of our production of protected vegetables is composed of tomatoes; While 19% are peppers and another 17% are cucumbers. There are producers who only sow tomatoes, and when you only sow a single product, you become very vulnerable," he said. In fact, this season tomatoes have had very low prices, which has hurt many of these producers.

Another of the solutions proposed by the association, and that it wishes to share with those attending the congress, is the added value. "We believe we are failing to earn money by not adding value to the primary product that we produce. That's why we want to put this topic on the table," Diaz said. "We want to make known the progress we've had and listen to producers," he said regarding the diversification and added value issues.

The Mexican sector needs to prepare conscientiously if it wants to embark on new markets. For example, seed companies have to offer new varieties, since European consumers have different tastes than the US market. AMHPAC is currently conducting studies to see how they could compete in European markets, or whether they can do so, since, apart from Mexico, the main tomato exporters are the Netherlands and Spain, which are already well entrenched in the European market. During the congress, the association will share its progress in this regard.

Technological Innovations

Another strategic issue that will be addressed at the conference has to do with technological innovations. In Mexico, protected horticulture is well advanced, "but we want to push technological innovation even further to extend shelf life, provide added value, automate some of the activities, and so on," said Diaz. The association is working with Mexico's research centers to try to extend the shelf life of vegetables to export them by ship and offer more competitive prices and a longer shelf life.

The association wants this congress to be different, and to achieve this, it will also talk about a topic that is not given much attention: family businesses and the problems that can arise when they change owners. "In Mexico, most companies are family businesses and the second and third generations are starting to lead them." The congress will have experts on this topic to advise attendees on how to make this kind of business work better; for example, protocols and methodologies to make the command transition from the founder to the children, which often leads to stumbling or failure of companies, or even problems of hierarchy among children. 

The AMHPAC congress has become a reference in the sector of protected horticulture in Mexico, and even an international reference, as it is attended by visitors from various countries of the world. The event is a trade fair with more than 50 stands, mostly of members of the AMHPAC and companies affiliated to the association: producers, marketers, suppliers of goods and services, and so on. In addition, the event will host several recreational activities, such as "a live rock concert, traditional 5 and 10 km races, and pleasant dinners," Diaz said. "We will also hold a general assembly of AMHPAC partners to make some decisions that we have to make. In conclusion, we are trying to organize a very profitable congress for all attendees."

The organization has clear goals for this year. "Before the end of 2017, we want to have a clearer picture of the most attractive markets to sell our vegetables, a process for which we have to evaluate many variables, such as consumption trends, phytosanitary protocols, logistics, and transportation costs, among other things." Having done this, the association hopes to start trial product shipments in early 2018.