As fall Mexican vegetable shipping builds for Fresh Quality Produce, the firm has mostly dodged damage from Pacific hurricanes, which have continued to hit west Mexico.
Teddy Kazarian, who is in business development for Fresh Quality Produce Inc., said that Hurricane Willa had not affected his Sonora farm, Agricola Am Mex. Hurricane Sergio did bring high temperatures and high humidity, which caused the loss of about 12 acres of transplanted Romas, he said.
Kazarian said Fresh Quality Produce and its sister company, L.A. Vegetable Inc., have been in the business for more than 30 years, mostly serving the greater Los Angeles area.
“We are a medium-sized family business consisting of approximately 50 employees,” he said.
In 2017 the business turned into a father-and-son operation. His father, Kevin Kazarian is president of both companies and manages sales and finances. “I reside in both Los Angeles and Mexico to run the farm operation,” said Kazarian.
He said Fresh Quality Produce specializes in Persian cucumbers, with 250 acres of Persian cuke production. The firm also operates 50 acres of Romas in protected environment. Open field Roma production at the Am Mex farm totals 75 acres.
That Sonora production started two weeks later than normal this fall, commencing in mid-October. The farm ships 125 acres of Persian cukes from Sonora until June 15 and then completes a 12-month season with production near Ensenada, Baja. The Sonora production is primarily shipped to Nogales.
From Baja, the product goes to Los Angeles. Ranging far beyond California, the firm distributes to Canada and the East Coast of the United States. The customer base includes many independent retailers and terminal market wholesalers.
Two other key year-round commodities for the firm are Roma and round tomatoes. Sonora ships to Nogales from January to early June. Baja production goes from April to December.
Beyond these items, “We import all varieties of produce including wet veg, dry veg and fruits mostly from Mexico and a little bit of Chilean fruit and citrus. We work and finance farms in Mexico to grow for us, such as Persian cucumber, Roma tomato, green onion, parsley and other products,” said Kazarian. He added that the Los Angeles operation is outside of the LA produce market in the arts district.
