MEXICO - Businesses may be struggling worldwide. Monsanto and other agro-giants may be edging a toe-hold into the Mexican market. But it’s a great time to go organic, say Mexico’s smaller producers.
The greatest growth is in the United States, but worldwide, the little market-that-could has seen 15-25 percent annual growth for the last six or seven years. Kaufmann estimates it is now worth 50 billion dollars a year. There’s a reason why Bioterra advertises a “triple bottom line (People, Planet, Profit).”
Back in 2005, Thomas Harding, president of organic consulting firm AgriSystems International, termed the business a sleeping giant about to awaken. When it does, Mexican producers hope to be ready.
“Right now, Mexico is an incipient market, with a lot of gaps in information,” explains Kaufmann, who says Bioterra has informally received advice from Harding. “People have trouble distinguishing between an organic product, a natural product a diet product, and so on. But we’ve found that attitudes, once we explain the concepts, has been overwhelmingly positive.”
At its simplest, the organic movement is about process – the absence of man-made chemicals (natural fertilizers are acceptable) in the growing, processing and storing stages. There are three established norms worldwide to oversee organic producers, explains Kaufmann: the United States system, the European system and Japan’s (widely considered to be the toughest).
“The first premise is that there should be no application of chemicals to the soil for at least 36 months,” says Kaufmann. “That’s why it takes a few years just to get established.”
And that’s why Bioterra is currently offering a range of organic and transitional/natural (in process of becoming organic) products in Mexico: fresh and processed tropical fruits and greens, eggs and egg powder, dairy, cacao and derivatives, coffee, amaranth, fruit juice and pulps and even retail branded and packaged goods like Sawbona natural juices. Many of these products, says Kaufmann, can now enter the United States, though the company is also eyeing other markets.
That’s where the plight of Mexico’s organic producers gets complicated. Larger companies like Aires de Campo, Bioterra and Pro Organico of Monterrey can afford to sign on and get a seal of approval from organic certification experts (Bioterra uses Argentina’s OIA). Smaller producers face being locked out of the business because of a lack of support from the government.
“Honestly, you might have consumed organic fruit somewhere at small rural tianguis throughout Mexico,” says Yunuen Carrillo Quiroz, saleswoman with Xoxoc, a small producer of xoconostle (bitter tuna fruit) in Hidalgo. “For Mexico, it just means traditional farming, we need to remind people of that. And we need more involvement from the government, more support, more laws to weed out dishonest producers.”
Kaufmann agrees. Mexico already has the largest number of small organic parcels in the world and is the largest producer of organic coffee, he notes. All that’s needed is more investment and research – not dangerous distractions like the promotion of genetically-modified corn.
But is there a local market for more expensive, organic produce in Mexico?
Jaime Ortiz, a fruit vendor, doesn’t think so.
“Isn’t organic like an organism?” he asks in confusion. Once the concept is explained, he says it sounds “nice, but expensive.”
Counters Kaufmann: “There is a higher cost, but because of a lack of availability in Mexico, this has been exagerrated to nearly double. The norm worldwide is that organic produce costs about 25-30 percent more because of the higher cost of production, but that’s it. There’s no reason why distribution and sales costs should vary. Really, any person worried about their health who stops to think about what they eat is a potential client.”
Says Guadalajara Wal-Mart shopper Kika Velez: “When I see organic produce that’s priced closer to the rest, I always choose to buy it, even when it’s more expensive. The idea appeals to me, it makes me think of how my grandparents grew things.”
Both Carrillo and Kaufmann consider it a promising sign that Mexico’s agricultural authorities have finally decided to jump on the organic bandwagon with both legs. Last year, the Impulso Organico Mexicano committee was created to promote and support organic and natural production, not for purely altruistic reasons, but with an eye to a lucrative future in Mexico and abroad.
“Now, there’s just a lot of work to do teaching people,” says Kaufmann.
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