By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTGrowers, importers and shippers of Mexican produce have two major concerns when it comes to selling to the US market: obtaining US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification, and getting the produce to market quickly. Ciruli Brothers, a family-owned and operated company now into its third generation, is successful at both. Headquartered in Rio Rico, AZ, less than one hour from Nogales, AZ, on the US/Mexican border, Ciruli Brothers operates as a major food source supplier and wholesaler to terminal markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. It offers large food service and ships direct to distribution centers. Among its retail clients are Safeway and Whole Foods. The company also sells and ships produce to overseas markets. In April, for example, it shipped mangoes to Australia. “We trucked the mangoes to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and air freighted them to Australia,” reveals Chris Ciruli, who operates the vegetable and procurement parts of the business. Produce heading to Alaska and Hawaii is also air freighted via LAX. The company trucks the produce directly from its refrigerated warehouses to LAX. “The No. 1 market for our kabocha squash is Japan,” he reveals. “They prefer this vegetable because it is rich in beta keratin.” The squash is sent to Japan from Mexico by ship. What is not exported is sold domestically. Like the kabocha, much of Ciruli’s produce is grown in Mexico. This includes mangoes, cucumbers, and yellow squash. “They produce a better yield,” says Ciruli. Consequenlty, the company owns two packing sheds in Mexico, both of which are US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified. “The USDA has locks to the sheds and can open and close them every day during the season,” Ciruli states. Ciruli Brothers also owns some farms in Mexico. Two have processing and packaging sheds. To transport the produce from Mexico into the United States, Ciruli Brothers utilizes high quality vehicles equipped with cutting-edge microprocessors that constantly monitor trailer temperature. If the temperature drifts so much as a degree, the driver is alerted. The produce is warehoused in two state-of-the-art cooling facilities in Nogales that combined total over 130,000 square feet. It also operates a 65,000 square-foot facility in Donna, Texas. Both are located just a few miles from the US/Mexico border and operate via zone-controlled refrigeration systems. Even the receiving and dispatching docks are temperature controlled. An expert team of professionals monitor the crops in the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, gather and analyze daily quotes, update daily market prices and perform on-ground inspections of every shipment received at Ciruli Brothers. Further measures are taken to wrap, bag and provide UPC codes to all produce for traceability and to ensure quality. Standard of excellenceCiruli Brothers is best known for its Champagne® mango. Setting a standard of excellence, this mango comes from the Ataulfo variety, named after Chiapas, Mexico, mango grower Ataulfo Morales Gordillo. Its origin was the result of random cross pollination of several mango trees in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico bordering Guatemala, and the state of Nayarit in central Mexico. The location is ideal. Here the fruit flourishes in the fertile volcanic soil native to these regions and the balmy breezes from the South Pacific Ocean. The Champagne® mango groves are meticulously cared for. Each tree is carefully pruned so the fruit-bearing branches receive uniform exposure to the sun. The groves are kept free of dead branches and debris that could produce undesirable fungi harmful to the fruit. Ciruli Brothers farmers participate in technologically innovative pest management and fertilization programs developed by it own agronomists. Champagne® mangos are left on the trees until they reach the perfect maturity for picking. Ci