The big thing produce buyers are going to notice out of Mexico over the next few weeks is a shortage of the items that usually come out the La Paz area at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula during the early part of the Mexican vegetable season, Joe Bernardi, president of Bernardi & Associates in Nogales, AZ, said Nov. 17.

That is because a hurricane in September hit the La Paz deal hard and “totally knocked it out,” he said.

RIO RICO, AZ — At Ciruli Bros. LLC, “We look at every season and try to see if there are opportunities to diversify. We also try to be bigger in our core items,” said Chris Ciruli, chief operating officer of the family-owned produce distributor, located here.

In the last two summers, Ciruli extended well beyond its core Mexican produce business to handle squashes grown in Sunnyside, CA. The firm sold California-grown green and yellow squash, Mexican Grey squash and hard squash.

RIO RICO, AZ — Mike Smith has been in the Nogales produce business for 36 years. This is his 23rd year owning and operating Sigma Sales Inc., located here.

Smith is pleased by the formula that has always driven his business. He has observed the development of the Nogales deal.

He recently discussed those topics with The Produce News.

For Sigma, “our focus is still to provide a service. We have had a really good customer base for a long time.”

“We’re currently seeing asparagus, melons, grapes, blueberries and cucumbers being imported from several Latin American countries,” said Nelly Yunta, vice president of Customized Brokers, headquartered in Miami. “These are mostly originating from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica.” We’ll see these produce items run from about October through April.”

Kay Riley, president of Certified Onions Inc., said customers who purchase onions from the organization’s members are assured that product meets and exceeds the highest food-safety standards available today.

The nonprofit organization was formed in July 2009. “This is our sixth year of testing,” Riley told The Produce News.

Members voluntarily undergo stringent testing for off-label pesticide use and random maximum residue levels, and pathogen testing is also available. Third-party auditing is performed at both the field and shed levels.

Maverick Potato Co. Co-owner Roger Christensen was spot-on going into the 2014 potato harvest when he called for good quality and sizes. Now, several weeks into the shipping season, Christensen said demand is steady for the holidays, and he and Co-owner Michael Kruse continue to see good reception in both the domestic and Mexican markets.