Houston, like elsewhere in the United States, has a dearth of steady, skilled labor.
It remains difficult to not only find and hire workers, but to retain them.
“There’s a lot of turnover. and it’s exhausting,” said Jorge Vazquez, president of Latin Specialties, LLC, who adds that workers often spend only a week or two on the job before moving on, due to several factors, including wage caps.
“If something’s not agreeable, they go work for the competition, then sometimes they cycle back to us,” he said.
Retaining an adequate labor force is but one of many financial concerns.
“The customer is putting too high of expectations on the supplier, and in many ways, offloading risks and costs that were traditionally previously shouldered by multiple parties,” Vazquez said.
“Suppliers are now, for example, not only responsible for product safety and quality—but, in many cases, responsible for logistics.”
If loads don’t arrive on time and in good shape, the resulting charges, penalties, and fees cut into already slim margins of contract pricing. “With all these pressures through the supply chain, something has to give,” Vazquez said.
Loading docks also continue to be a challenge, especially in the era of electronic loggers. When drivers are forced to wait to unload, they can’t take a break and risk losing their place in line.
As Vasquez puts it, drivers are sitting on a very valuable but rapidly depreciating asset, “So you lose time and money.”
Suppliers and drivers both lose hours, he points out, “but we can’t increase the price to customers.”
Alternatively, suppliers like Ramos Produce, Inc., that ship and deliver locally, have experienced little impact from the electronic logger mandate or the driver shortage.
“Our trucks are all in-state, so we haven’t had an issue,” said Jimmy Ramos, salesman at Ramos Produce, whose business serves buyers in Houston and Dallas.
Despite there being various trials, they aren’t seen as tribulations—just part of everyday life in the produce industry. Businesses in and around Houston have grown accustomed to the ups and downs.
When asked about the city’s market, Leo Villa, Jr., produce manager for Tex-Mex Produce, LLC, said he expects the unexpected.
“Before, it seemed like you could expect some things, and now each year is different,” he said. “Between days when items sell or don’t sell, and unpredictability with the weather, nothing runs as expected and the variables are always changing.”
For now, Villa says Tex-Mex Produce’s priority is “keeping our business small and paying more attention to our customers instead of growing larger than we can handle.”
Ramos Produce is on a similar page: “We stay low key, have business that’s steady, pay the bills, and provide what retail needs,” Ramos said.
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full version.
