The supermarket chains handle most of their produce similarly. They have a site at the

central market where they consolidate loads and ship them directly to the stores. Frozen foods

are delivered to the warehouse and stored on the truck. The warehouse has no refrigerated

storage. Most refrigerated products are delivered directly to the stores. A frozen food load is

put on the front of a refrigerated truck, a divider is put in, and then the truck goes to the central

market and fills the load with produce. Since most sources for products are in Mexico City,

even chains with all of their stores in other areas might have their distribution center in Mexico

City. Like the central markets, fork lifts and other motorized hauling equipment are not

common in these distribution centers.

 Mexican consumers generally shop differently than U.S. consumers. Although home

refrigerators are becoming more common, doing an entire week's shopping in one trip is still

not the norm. Even affluent Mexican consumers still prefer to buy produce from a green grocer

and meat from a butcher shop, believing that the products are fresher in the smaller, more

specialized markets.5

 The most affluent segment of Mexican consumers eat a variety of foods and are

apparently quite willing to try new foods. In contrast, the traditional consumers are unwilling

to experiment with new foods and have a diet that changes very gradually. This has frustrated

efforts of Mexican produce growers to sell new items in the domestic market. For example,

green beans are a major export item, yet attempts to sell them to the traditional Mexican market

have not been successful.