Locally grown, locally processed for freshness

  Fresh-cut fruit grown locally will soon no longer be shipped out of state before being sent back to the local area for resale.

  Lydia's Specialty Fruits, Inc. of San Luis, Ariz., recently announced the exclusive fresh-cut fruit marketing agreement with the Yuma company Desert Best Distributing LLC, as the sole marketing agent and distributor of fresh-cut fruits that will begin production in the summer of 2008.

  Lydia's Specialty Fruits Inc. will supply fresh-cut fruit servings in sizes that range from individual packages to commercial quantities. The fresh-cut fruit that will be supplied will include strawberries, mangos, watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew, apples, grapes, kiwi, jicama, pineapple and other available fresh fruits.

  "Fresh-cut fruit that is grown locally will no longer have to be shipped out of state, processed and then shipped back to the local area for resale," said Henry Chavez, owner/operator of Lydia's Specialty Fruit Operated Processing Plant currently being constructed in San Luis, Ariz.

  "Customers will be able to purchase fresh-cut fruit that's processed locally that is actually fresh," Chavez said. "Most of the fruit will either be grown locally or imported, depending upon orders supplied by Desert Best Distributing and seasonably available."

  Chavez, who is also the owner/operator of San Luis Cooling Inc. of San Luis, said that for years he has seen truckloads of fruit pass through the cooling facility, ship to other locations for processing and eventually back to the local area for resale.

  Frank Ruiz, president/ CEO of award-winning Desert Best Distributing LLC, said that negotiations for the exclusive marketing agreement have been under way for several months.

  Barry Webster, marketing director for Desert Best said, "We've been working on this particular project for about a year, doing market analysis and we finally came up with the idea  that fresh fruit mostly, from Southern California and Northern California, takes three to five days to get to Phoenix and our area once it's cut, packaged and shipped to distribution centers.

  "Our port here in San Luis has so much fruit going back and forth and Henry decided to open up a fresh-cut fruit plant in San Luis," Webster said.

  The new facility adjacent to San Luis Cooling is a 24,000-square-feet facility housing watering equipment that peels, cores, cuts and slices various fruits such as pineapples, mangos, papaya, canteloupe and other melons that are in season along with grapes, apples and other snack fruits. Construction is a three-phase project with the first phase completion and initial product shipment expected to take place this summer.

  "I just thought it made sense to build a fresh-cut fruit facility right here," said Chavez, "reduce the transportation cost, add additional jobs to the local area, help the local economy and have a product that will stay fresher for a longer period of time on retailer and commercial shelves.

  "We selected Desert Best Distributing as our marketing representative because of their sales channels, willingness to work with us while growing a new business, and their ability to partner not only as a marketing representative but also as a vendor of packaging and sanitation products."

  Chavez has over 45 years experience in the agriculture industry; bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from New Mexico State University; and his Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Arizona.

  In addition he is director of the operation of San Luis Industrial park, owner/operator of Spindle Cooling and Warehousing LLC in San Luis, Ariz.; has managed, leased and operated various table grape vineyards along with farming and distributing Mexican-grown produce in San Luis, Cavorca and Sonora, Mexico.

  As executive vice president and chief operations officer of a farming company in Bakersfield, Calif., he oversaw operations specializing in permanent tree and vine productions, commercial vegetable production, fresh fruit packaging and processing, food dehydration, whole storage services, irrigation, farm management, consulting services, plant breeding and produce marketing.

---

Stefani Guerrero Soucy can be reached at ssoucy@yumasun.com or 539-6857.