Page 156 - index

LOS ANGELES MARKET PROFILE
(L to R) Eric Redina, Abel Redina of Maui-Fresh International
(L to R) Christy Lopez and Jesse Rodriguez of Alamo Produce LLC
(L to R) Mayra Arias, Tomas Aramburo, Jocelyme Miebla of Aramburo Produce
grows fruits and vegetables in Mexico and has a major presence in Los Angeles as an important part of its distribution network.
“Peppers and tomatoes we bring in through McAllen, TX, and ship to New York,” says Lopez. “ e bell peppers and tomatoes bring us the best price on the East Coast. In Los Angeles, those prices are not so good.”
As everywhere near California’s coast, ight from high-housing costs has reduced the African-American population in Los Angeles, but there still are 300,000 in the metropolitan area.
ere are also nearly 750,000 residents from Asia, including immigrant populations from Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India, as well as descendants of the Japanese residents who were interned in camps during World War II. is large and diverse group is re ected in the city’s produce business.
“We sell all the ethnic Indian items; we have 80 or 90 items,” says Sam akker, sales director at Daaks International, Los Angeles. “ e consumers are also Southeast Asian, and some of the items have gone mainstream, like okra. e demand is increasing.”
Daaks grows a large variety of Asian produce varieties in the Western Hemisphere
idation hub of the West,” says Francisco Clothier, owner and general manager of Maui-Fresh International, Los Angeles.
Clothier started Maui Fresh at the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market nearly 15 years ago.
Although the company is true to its name with Hawaiian papayas and pineapples, Maui Fresh has a line of fresh produce with a distinct Hispanic avor, including tomatillos, limes, eggplants, chiles and bell peppers, squash, tomatoes, beans, melons and pickles.
“Retail consolidation has not really limited our outlets,” says Clothier. “We serve inde- pendent retailers and foodservice. e market is more diverse than it used to be; we have less national chain store business but a lot more ethnic chain store sales.”
A CITY OF DIVERSITY
Hispanics make up more than 45 percent of the metropolitan area’s 4.5 million resi- dents, giving Los Angeles the highest concentration of Hispanics in the country.
“Everything we sell comes from Mexico,” says Christy Lopez, general manager of Alamo Produce, Los Angeles. “We have our own orchards for Persian limes, and our own
156 / OCTOBER 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
“We serve independent retailers and foodservice. e market is more diverse than it used to be; we have less national chain store business but a lot more ethnic chain store sales.”
— Francisco Clothier, Maui Fresh
greenhouses. In the Los Angeles area, the Persian limes are the most important variety. We ship to stores, distributors and to whole- salers in the Wholesale Market. We also ship to San Francisco and Washington; we sell to the West Coast.”
e U.S. imports $12.4 billion in fruits and vegetables from Mexico, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, which is considerably more than 40 percent of all the produce coming into the country from the entire world.
Alamo Produce is one of the rms that