BanderasNews
Puerto Vallarta Weather Report
Welcome to Puerto Vallarta's liveliest website!
Contact UsSearch
Why Vallarta?Vallarta WeddingsRestaurantsWeatherPhoto GalleriesToday's EventsMaps
 NEWS/HOME
 EDITORIALS
 ENTERTAINMENT
 RESTAURANTS & DINING
 NIGHTLIFE
 MOVIES
 BOOKS
 MUSIC
 EVENT CALENDAR
 VALLARTA LIVING
 PV REAL ESTATE
 TRAVEL / OUTDOORS
 HEALTH / BEAUTY
 SPORTS
 DAZED & CONFUSED
 PHOTOGRAPHY
 CLASSIFIEDS
 READERS CORNER
 BANDERAS NEWS TEAM
Sign up NOW!

Free Newsletter!
Puerto Vallarta News NetworkEntertainment | Restaurants & Dining | April 2007 

Berries Settle Into New Niche
email this pageprint this pageemail usEl Universal


There are thousands of acres of raspberries in Mexico, some owned by Chilean producers hedging their bets.
Usmajac, Jal. - Miles of blue agaves, the cactus from which Mexico´s potent tequila is made, line the road to this small farming village until you reach Hurst´s Berry Farm.

There, high, barrel-vaulted, white plastic tunnels dominate the landscape, protecting rows of tart red raspberries from sun, wind, rain and birds.

Pickers with bandoliers of three pails across their stomachs move slowly down lanes of head-high bushes.

They drop into one pail berries that are too ripe to make it across the border to the fresh berry counters of U.S. supermarkets. They´ll end up as jam or juice.

Into a second pail go firm orange berries that´ll be softer and crimson when they reach the supermarkets.

Berries picked by mistake go into the third pail.

When he started growing berries eight years ago, recalled the farm´s general manager, Salvador Álvarez, "They said it was crazy to produce these types of products."

It was an unknown fruit that had high startup costs and wasn´t native to the region and its harsh climate.

Now there are thousands of acres of raspberries in Mexico, some owned by Chilean producers hedging their bets.

For a day´s work, Hurst´s local subsidiary, Berries México S.A. de C.V., pays workers an average of US$11 to US$12, twice the local minimum daily wage, said Mark Hurst, the company´s president, who´s based in Sheridan, Oregon. That´s about a fifth of Oregon´s US$7.80 hourly minimum.

According to Álvarez, peak production is in March, April and May, when production from U.S. berry farms is minimal.

An independent inspector, Primus Labs of Santa Maria, California, certifies that Hurst´s Mexican berries meet U.S. food-safety, pest- and weed-control standards.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at the principal border crossings that Hurst uses - Yuma and Nogales in Arizona and Hidalgo in Texas - check out Hurst´s berries, too.

Then it´s on to U.S. supermarkets.



In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and educational purposes • m3 © 2008 BanderasNews ® all rights reserved • carpe aestus