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The Organic Option

Growing organic bananas runs in her family.

Mayra Velazquez de Leớn represents the fourth generation to carry on the tradition — though she’s quick to point out Organics Unlimited is her own company, built from the ground up.

Marco Garcia works in the Organics Unlimited warehouse in San Diego in the organic coconuts area. The company is a wholesaler of organic bananas, plantains and coconuts.

Learning the trade from her father, who imported organic bananas, after he retired, she and her then-husband, Manuel Velazquez de Leớn, had to decide what to do.

The pair founded Organics Unlimited in 2000.

And while the company continues its family legacy, it’s not a continuation of her father’s business.

“It’s totally separate,” Velazquez de Leớn said. “We started from scratch. We put a second mortgage on our house — that’s how everybody starts.”

But she was surprised by how well the company did. “We have had a continuous growth,” she said. “I believe we are in a market that is exploding. The new generations want to eat healthier, workout and take care of our planet.”

The private, family-run business, is growing at 19 percent to 21 percent a year, according to Velazquez de Leớn.

Organics Unlimited worker Emanuel Alvarez moves bananas in the warehouse of the company.

Growing Organics

The company’s business is 99.9 percent organic bananas. The remainder is organic plantains and organic coconuts.

Grown on farms in Colima, Mexico, and some in Ecuador, Mexico has long been the source for the company’s organic bananas.

The business bought its first farm in Mexico in 2005. Velazquez de Leớn explained it takes three years to convert regular, conventional land into organic.

Organics Unlimited now owns two farms in Mexico, totaling 160 hectares (about 395 acres). It also contracts with about seven growers in Mexico.

“We buy all their production year round,” she said. Velazquez de Leớn added the company contracts with growers in Ecuador, but doesn’t own land there.

Getting the Fruit

Trucks are bringing the fruit to the company’s distribution center in Otay Mesa constantly.

It’s four days after harvest when the fruit arrives from Mexico — from Ecuador it can take up to three weeks.

Velazquez de Leớn said as of last month they’ve also started using the Port of San Diego to import some fruit.

“I don’t think that many banana containers are allowed into the Port of San Diego except for Dole,” she said.

According to a Port of San Diego spokesperson, Dole Fresh Fruit Co., which is the largest importer of bananas to North America, imports about 238 million bananas per month, as well as organic bananas, pineapples and plantains through the Port’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.

Organics Unlimited uses the Port of Manzanillo in Colima, Mexico, to ship to Japan.

From San Diego, distributors send trucks to pick up the products for distribution to retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The Market

TechSci Research, a management consulting firm said in 2016, the global organic food market stood at $110.25 billion. By 2022, the organic food market is expected to reach $262.85 billion.

In the U.S., organic sales totaled around $47 billion in 2016, reflecting new sales of almost $3.7 billion from the previous year, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Organic Trade Association.

“The $43 billion in organic food sales marked the first time the American organic food market has broken though the $40-billion mark. Organic food now accounts for more than 5 percent…of total food sales in this country, another significant first for organic,” a report from the association said.

Big Biz Vs. Small Biz

“It’s experiencing a boom, but it’s also experiencing a difficult situation, in terms of everyone wants to get into it,” Velazquez de Leớn said. “We see the big corporations getting into it and trying to manipulate everything, trying to bring down the costs, and it comes to a point where you either grow real organic, or what’s going to happen?”

According to the Produce Marketing Association, a trade organization based in Delaware, retailers and their supply chain partners are already making significant efforts to lower prices in order to make organic produce more accessible and affordable for consumers at all income levels.

Controlling the Costs

But Velazquez de Leớn explained much of the costs for organic farming stem from the price of organic fertilizers, fungicides and labor.

“When you try to bring the costs down so much, it really hurts the organic industry, or I’d say the growers,” she said.

Her company is trying to overcome those challenges by lowering costs any way it can.

And while costs for organic fertilizers and organic fungicides have come down there’s also labor.

“We don’t use herbicides. The way we get rid of the weeds is with a machete. That’s labor intensive,” she said.

Online Question

“We’ve seen the market behaving so different during the last year-and-a-half to two years, and the main reason for that is we’re seeing Amazon buying Whole Foods. (There’s a) different way of buying. People are buying (food) on Amazon Fresh. But then again we see a lot of people that want to see and smell what they’re going to be eating.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen…Is everybody going to go online, or not?”

Whether Organics Unlimited plans to incorporate online sales, Velazquez de Leớn said the company will go with the market and see what it dictates.

“I’m not saying we’re not,” she said.

In 10 years, Velazquez de Leớn said she’d like to see the company continue to grow.

Her daughter will be joining the company later this year, integrating the next generation into the company.

CEO: Mayra Velazquez de León

No. of Local Employees: 9 in U.S.;

170 employees in Mexico

Year Founded: 2000

Revenue: No figures available (private company)

Company Description: Organic banana, plantain and coconut wholesaler and grower

Key Factors for Success: Reinvent yourself and creativity

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