California-based Giumarra Companies has attributed a three-week-early start for its west Mexican watermelon campaign to earlier transplanting, improved growing practices, and ideal weather conditions.

In a release, Giumarra Nogales sales manager Cesar Pacheco said the company was filling the watermelon supply gap by expanding from the traditional Mexican growing area of Sonora into the states of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Colima, and Michoacán.

East Coast business development manager Scott Ross.

"We will have a slight overlap as we transition out of the fruit from southern Mexico. Our Sonoran program starts just south of Guaymas and progresses northward as we work our way to Hermosillo," Pacheco said.

"These are some of the nicest quality fields I’ve seen, with excellent size, clean fruit, and great tonnage," added CEO John Corsaro, who visited Sonora plantations recently with Pacheco, Giumarra Nogales division manager Gil Munguia and East Coast business development manager Scott Ross.

The release added the Nogales office could service customers with excellent quality and volume throughout June, and could offer Fairtrade-certified watermelons to interested customers.

Selling fairtrade watermelons would carry a slight premium, while customers would be offered labeling and point-of-sale materials to let customers know their purchases directly benefit farm workers.

"Our grower is deeply invested in the Fair Trade program and for two years, has used it to complement the excellent social responsibility principles already in place at his ranches," Munguia said.

"We hope to see more customers interested in the program in the future as they realize the value of connecting with consumers in this way."

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