Mexico's producers of the habanero chile pepper--one of the world's hottest chiles--are adding to their planting to satisfy increasing demand from the United States and from Japan, and to hold off Chinese competitors. Since 2003, exports of the chile pepper from Mexico have increased 5% annually, and growers expect demand to continue at that pace. "This chile has awoken interest among Anglo consumers thanks to their desire for anything from Latin America and because of the growing presence of Latin Americans in the United States," says Ali Charruf Alvarez, president of the Habanero Chile Association, a trade group of salsa makers and suppliers in the Yucatan, and project manager for La Anita, which makes hot sauces using the habanero chile. In the last decade, the United States has increased its consumption of all types of chiles by 38%, according to Mexico's Chile Producers Chamber of Commerce, Conaproch. Most habanero chiles, in terms of hotness, fall between 100,000 and 300,000 Scoville units, known as SHUs by the industry. This is a measure of heat due to the amount of capsaicin--the active component of chiles that produces the burning feeling when it comes into contact with the mouth--each chile contains. The habanero chiles growing in Yucatan state reach up to 500,000 SHUs, according to chile expert Dave DeWitt. It's so hot that it can be used by drug companies to make anesthetics. Industrial uses include capsaicin as an anti-corrosive. And it has long been used by police and the military in tear-gas bombs since it can put a person, a protestor for instance, completely out of commission for more than 20 minutes. The potential market has brought China into play. The Asian giant is reportedly growing habaneros and already harvests 12.5 million tons of chiles a year, more than half the world's output, according to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Mexico is second in the world, producing 1.8 million tons, which is 7% of the world total. Distance from key markets could be a disadvantage for China since habanero chiles cannot be frozen; they turn into mush when thawed. Nevertheless, some business leaders fear that China could create an industrial version that could be transported easily. "Some producers in China are already doing this and we cannot let our guard down. We have to continue to fight in order to defend our markets," says Mary Carmen Garcia, director of Salsas y Alimentos Yucatecos. Garcia would like to sell in China, but she says that she needs more government help to compete. "If the growers have no subsidies to lower costs we face, like plant disease and the rising cost of supplies, at what price do they expect us to sell in the United States?" she says. Yucatan state produces 4,000,000 tons a year of habanero chiles, two-thirds of Mexico's total output, which brings in US$3.6 million in profits. Of that, 20% is exported. "We are not able to cover 70% of the demand that's out there," says Roger Gonzalez, secretary of rural and fishing development for the eastern Mexican state. Strategy. "We are working on the productive chain and on training producers, something we see as a strategy, not an offensive move," says Javier Gonzalez, coordinator of the opposition party Partido de la Revolucion Democratica in Mexico's lower chamber. "The Asians are taking our plants that are ours and then selling them. There are laws to protect our biodiversity; we are not against biodiversity, but we haven't mounted a real defense in that respect." The Mexican strategy will include seeking control over the denomination of origin--legal control worldwide of the name "habanero," although not of the product itself, much like France controls "champagne"--for the habanero chile, which should be done this year. The country's Habanero Chile Association is organizing producers in order to get them more access to financing, marketing resources and training. Producers, meanwhile, are using technology to become more efficient. Maya Vegetales, a food grower, has stopped growing habaneros through traditional methods in favor of hydroponics, an indoor method that doesn't rely on soil and precisely controls water and food. "We no longer want to be dependent on bad weather and a lack of product supply," says Jorge Assy Barrera, head of production at Maya Vegetales. His company has put in four hothouses of 5,000 square meters each which it expects to produce 30 tons of chiles a month, up from the current 20 tons. Merida Farms, one of the main exporters of habanero chiles from Yucatan state, is moving to hydroponics as well. It harvests 500 tons of chiles a year, of which 85% is exported to the United States, and posts annual sales of $957,000. The company hopes that the Chinese will turn out to be no threat to Mexican habaneros. "The spiciness of our habanero is superior, beyond issues of color and taste," says Enrique Arce, marketing and logistics director of Merida Farms. What's coming could thus turn out to be a struggle between quality and price. MARISOL RUEDA * MEXICO CITY |
| Hotter by the minute: Mexico's chile pepper producers come together to battle coming Chinese imports. By Marisol Rueda | Latin Trade - April, 2007 |
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