What other Central or South American countries are gaining acceptance with FPAA members?
Jungmeyer: Some of our members do business with Chile, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Even though it is implicit in our association’s name that we would serve all those countries, we do not. We started out as the West Mexico Vegetable Distributor’s Association in the 1940s and changed to FPAA in the 1990s. We haven’t really received direction from our board of directors to expand to other countries yet.
What Hispanic commodities do you think show the most potential for growth in the next two to three years? Why?
Jungmeyer: Well, I don’t know if you would call mangos a Hispanic commodity, but because they are not as widely consumed, they probably have the biggest upside. We’ve already seen avocadoes become hugely popular.
In looking for something that will continue to grow, it is still avocadoes from Mexico—even though the market is saturated with a billion pounds. A few years ago, it was 500 million pounds and everyone thought the market couldn’t take anymore—but people keep eating more and more avocadoes. Typical Hispanic items like tomatillos and dried peppers may not have the same growth potential.
How has violence in Mexico and along the border impacted FPAA members?
Jungmeyer: It’s something everyone is careful about. When you travel in Mexico, you try to be where you want to be by nightfall; it’s not much different than it would be in downtown New York City or Chicago. It is a problem in certain parts of Mexico, more on the eastern side where there might be more conflict.
What consumer trends do you monitor and use to help your members?
Jungmeyer: Our association is focused primarily on government and regulatory issues. From a consumer standpoint, anytime there’s an outbreak or food safety problem, we try to provide the right kind of communication to help allay fears in the market. We also do seminars from time to time about selling trends in the United States.
Do you lobby the government on regulatory and other issues?
Jungmeyer: We try to help members understand regulations… When they want change, we go back to the government and try to explain the industry viewpoint and hope everyone sees eye to eye. We try to help get produce across the border quicker, cheaper, and with less red tape.
How much has the focus on food safety impacted transactions or logistics for FPAA members trading with Mexico?
Jungmeyer: They’ve had various standards for the past ten years. There were some problems with Mexican produce that forced Mexico to get better, and get better quick. And there are changes coming up under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), which basically says if you’re receiving imported produce, you—as the importer—have to prove it meets food safety standards.
