Founded in 1942, the Texas Produce Association was little more than a loose group of growers and shippers seeking mutual support and a chance to sell America on the virtues of Lone Star fruits and vegetables. Today, it is hundreds of members strong and represents the interests of the produce market in international law, education, insurance, technology, and marketing, with a vast array or resources at its disposal. John McClung is a veteran of the industry, involved with what is now the Texas International Produce Association (TIPA) for more than 40 years. Although he ceded the role of president and chief executive to Bret Erickson, McClung leads TIPA’s critical Border Issues Management Program.
An interview with John McClung, Texas International Produce Association
An interview with Lance Jungmeyer, Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
What would you consider as the most significant industry changes over the last few decades, particularly regarding the Hispanic market?
McClung: I think it’s pretty apparent most of the supermarket chains and major retailers tailor their stores to the ethnic requirements of their locations. Here in the Rio Grande Valley, we’re about 85 percent Hispanic on average, and there are stores clearly geared to this demographic, which is only to be expected.
As the produce industry globalizes, product becomes more available more of the time, and so you have the tropicals—mangos, papaya, etc.—becoming standard fare, particularly in ethnic communities, but also in nonethnic markets as well, as the appeal of these commodities grows.
Would you say we’re near the point of not referring to this segment as ‘the Hispanic produce market’—that it has become so normalized, it’s the de facto standard for the produce industry?
McClung: That’s a difficult question, because I’m not sure you can ever really say what the ‘standard’ is… But we are seeing substantial increases in mangos, papayas, bananas, and other tropicals in the American diet and these are all Latin American products for the most part. You continue to have the old standbys, but Hispanic buyers are becoming bigger consumers of these as well. All the old favorites are still here, but the guava, the passion fruit, the mamey—these are all finding an acceptance they never had before in the non-Hispanic community.
