The Road to Nogales

“The new Port of Nogales has brought welcome efficiencies in crossing time and inspection logistics,” notes Robert Bennen Jr., president of Ta-De Distributing Company, a longtime grower-shipper, distributor, and cold storage provider in Nogales. “With eight lanes, more personnel and more security, our retail customers have peace of mind,” he says, with the majority of shipments getting through the produce pipeline without incident and able to “arrive on time with no issues in transit.”

The Texas Factor
Like feuds between squabbling siblings, the rivalry between the ports of Nogales, AZ and McAllen, TX is largely overblown. For decades, Nogales has been a pivotal port of entry for produce shipped from the western Mexican states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco bound for western portions of the United States and Canada.

And while it is true the completion of the Baluarte Bridge, located between Sinaloa and Durango in Mexico, has made it easier to truck produce to McAllen, much of this winter-season produce is bound for the East Coast.

A Friendly Rivalry?
Garcia weighs in on the Nogales vs. McAllen competition: “People are buying more product in McAllen because of the big, new freeway. But Nogales has handled more volume for a longer time.”

Despite the competition, the port of entry rivals have a symbiotic relationship; there are more than enough fresh fruit and vegetable shipments to go around, with Nogales and McAllen ably handling their respective share of the produce pie. The best news for both is an overall increase in Mexican produce coming through all points of entry.

If One is Good, Two is Better
A growing trend among Nogales distributors is to have offices and warehouses in both Arizona and Texas. Matt Mandel, chief operating officer for Nogales distributor and shipper SunFed, is one of them, and credits surging demand for increasing produce shipments through both McAllen and Nogales.

“We have a facility in McAllen and that makes us more agile,” Mandel states. “It’s an advantage to ship through McAllen if you’re shipping east. For growers in northwest Mexico, it makes sense to ship through Nogales even if the load is going east. The competition is sensationalized—the five largest companies in Nogales are in McAllen too. The bottom line is that Nogales crossings are increasing.”

Aguilar confirms several Nogales produce suppliers maintain a presence in McAllen, and for some, it’s not a new occurrence. “We’ve been importing and distributing through Texas for the last ten years.