“Imports could hit a new record”/
Hector de Luna on the impact of Mexico’s bean deficit

Hi Hector, it's great to chat with you again! Talk to me about some of the difficulties and successes of the last year for Verde Valle.

The biggest difficulties have been combating the price rises that occurred during the pandemic and inflation at a global level, particularly in foods. As a retail company, we've been continuing to keep up the quality of the brand, finding ways to guarantee that the consumer is going to receive the same quality every single time they open a bag of our products. This is how we make sure we're successful and that the brand is well-positioned in the Mexican market. We were one of the first companies to bring out processed beans and lentil soups and pouches – although this is currently for the American market, where everything is moving towards value-added products.

Do you see a move towards value-added products in Mexico also?

Yes, that's the way things are going – there are lots of couples, for example, that both work and want something practical and ready to eat quickly. When we go to forums and conventions, it is the value-added products that people talk about. Where pulses are concerned, we have been hearing for a while about the different flours like lentil flour and pea flour, or products like lentil and pea pasta. I think we’re beginning to see a conversion in the use of pulses and the increase in sales of these types of ready-to-eat foods.

Let's talk about the upcoming seedings in Mexico – it’s been suggested that there may be a 450,000 metric ton deficit of beans in the market. How does that sound to you?

It's a little early to say, but we know that there is going to be a deficit of some kind. Whether it will be around 450,000 MT is impossible to say, but we still have the autumn/winter crop to come. Indeed, this other part of the cycle isn't going to compensate for the deficit we're going to have overall, but it certainly is going to help add to the stocks.

For these October and November seedings, do you foresee any changes in acreage?

We're going to see changes in the acreage compared to last year – there will be a lot more chickpeas seeded than last year. In 2018 we saw a huge jump in the production of chickpeas, and while I don't know if we are going to see a similar jump this year, I definitely think there will be very good chickpea production.

Why is this? Well, in Sinaloa this year they're not going to seed practically any corn. There's an issue with water in that the reservoirs in Sinaloa aren't at the levels they should be to be able to facilitate the next cycle of corn, which means people prefer to seed sesame, chickpeas, and some beans. These crops simply need less water and corn is the last thing you'd think about seeding when there are these kinds of restrictions on water.