FOOD PROCESSORS AND OTHER NON TRANSPORT INTERMEDIARIES
 FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FIRMS


Packing Houses

 Packing houses have already been described to some extent in the preceding section.

These tend to be family-owned facilities that sort, clean, and package fresh produce. The

facilities are usually specialized to handle one or a few products. The operations are labor

intensive, reflecting the relative costs of capital and labor in Mexico. In addition, packers

frequently minimize mechanization due to perceived social obligations to keep workers

employed. The traditional sector packs for the traditional portion of the domestic market.

This market is interested in low-cost produce that will be consumed within 24 hours of purchase.

Only minimal sorting, grading, cleaning, and packaging occurs. The buyer expects to choose

the fruit from a mixture of sizes. The role of the traditional packing sector is to get the produce

to the central market as cheaply as possible. Any mechanization that exists in such facilities is

minimal and usually old. Boxes are rarely new and are often made of wood.

 The modem packing houses pack either for the U.S. market or the top of the Mexican

market. Only produce that fails to meet quality standards would go to the traditional Mexican

market. These firms grade, clean, and package to U.S. standards since the produce must

compete with U.S. produce directly. Almost all cartons and much of the machinery are made

in the United States. These packing houses are generally large, in part because of the minimum

size required to gain market access in the U.S. market. Also, the managerial requirements of

running a top-of-the-line facility and coordinating its operation with the farm production are

sizable and only within the abilities of a large firm.