Spotlight On Mexican Growers: Grupo Agros Makes US Its Export Focus

Grupo Agros is far from a conventional fresh produce grower-exporter. Originally established in 1992 with the aim of seeking investment opportunities in agriculture, Grupo Agros’s reach stretches across sectors, from salads for the domestic market and export through tomatoes to Christmas tree and natural rubber production. Although based in Mexico City, the company operates in sites throughout the country, covering Chiapas in the far south up to central Querétaro state.

Agros’s path to export success may at first seem a somewhat unlikely one. Until 1991, Agros managing director Enrique Portilla headed Mexican financial broker Probursa. Aged 38, Portilla made the move into agriculture and fresh produce, beginning with hydroponic tomato production in Querétaro, before moving onto a range of other ventures — some more successful than others. Notably, cashew nut, honey and lime ventures have all fallen by the wayside during the course of the company’s development. Portilla here explains how Agros was created and where its export business is now focused.

Produce Business (PB): What is the story behind the creation of Grupo Agros?

Enrique Portilla (EP): Twenty-five years ago, before NAFTA, I looked at sectors in Mexico we could compete effectively in. At that time, I was managing director of a broker. Mexico has the climate, Mexico has the manpower and Mexico is next door to the largest market in the world. Considering these factors, we got involved in agriculture, and we developed several agricultural projects, including tomatoes under glass.

PB: What are Agros’s principal export products?

EP: We have 21 hectares (about 52 acres) of tomatoes in glasshouses in the city of Querétaro, and between 80 to 90 percent are for export to the U.S. We also became involved in salad production in 2000, principally for the domestic Mexican market. We are focused on specialty products rather than iceberg lettuce, including watercress, rocket, spinach and kale, and using these we created combinations. This reason is that these types of products have a nutritional value that is higher than standard lettuce. Standard lettuce contains 80 percent water and 20 percent nutrition. In comparison, these kinds of varieties offer 80 percent nutrition and 20 percent water. We’re now selling the products to all major Mexican supermarket chains, including Wal-Mart México, Chedraui [Mexican grocery store], Commercial Mexicana, and Soriana. In the U.S., we sell to Wal-Mart and also export through Mastronardi/Sunset Produce and [Vero Beach, FL-based] Greenhouse Produce.

PB: Apart from the U.S., is Agros exploring any other export markets?

EP: When we first started, we looked at Europe, so we went to Spain to look for clients. They said to us, ‘Why come here? The market you have in the U.S. is more than enough,’ and they were right. For us, the U.S. is a fantastic market — why make things more complicated?

PB: Does Agros have plans to introduce any new products or varieties?

EP: We are constantly investigating markets and products. In terms of tomatoes, we produce round and on-the-vine. We are also looking at specialist varieties, with a view to seeing what we can supply. This is also the case for our salad products. We introduced kale this year, watercress about four years ago, and Rocket greens five years ago, so we are constantly evolving and looking at new trends in the market. We don’t want to be in a market, like the lettuce market, which is very mature and very competitive. We want to focus on specialties.

PB: What challenges has Agros faced during its development?

EP: Watercress is a good, nutritional product, but people didn’t want to eat it in Mexico because it was produced in water that contained larvae causing Cysticercosis [parasitic tissue infection]. What did we do? We built greenhouses containing pools with water drawn from deep wells. As a result, people started to recognize that they liked watercress because it was a healthy, safe product and demand for watercress has increased substantially. As a company, we harvest, wash and pack products. We are looking at all of these kinds of products to continue growing and developing.

Source: PRODUCE BUSINESS