The Mexican papaya industry has had a good run in recent years, with an increase in production of 48% during the last decade.

According to a report by Mexico's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, between 2013 and 2023, national production increased from 765,000 tons to 1,135,000 tons.

In 2022, papaya exports reached an all-time high, shipping 203,170 tons to 15 countries.

Hector del Razo, director of Proexport Papaya Mexico, an organization dedicated to the integral development of the papaya industry to position it with quality and safety to consumers abroad, told us about the factors that have led to this increase in production and consumption of the fruit.

"Proexport arises as a result of a problem that the papaya industry had presented during the last ten years where there was practically one salmonella outbreak per year in the United States. In 2019, after the last outbreak, we were given an ultimatum from the FDA to the industry. From then on, efforts begin to emerge from importers in the U.S. and exporting producers in Mexico to take action," explains del Razo.

As a result of this effort, associations, authorities, exporters, and importers from both countries developed a guide and Proexport was created with the objective of self-regulating the papaya export industry.

"We monitor around 90% of total papaya exports, working on safety issues and providing training at all levels of the industry, standardizing processes among our members," says del Razo.

An industry that stands out

According to the Director of the association, the IFPA indicates that papaya is the only industry in the world that has a root cause protocol, meaning that if the FDA detects a shipment contaminated with salmonella at the border, it can track and analyze what happened from the origin of that specific shipment.

"Last week we invited the FDA so that they could see firsthand what the entire industry has worked on and implemented. We are the first industry in Mexico to make an invitation to the FDA where they agreed to come and be present in an educational visit," explains del Razo.

Proexport has created what del Razo describes as a "network of synergies" that has allowed it to work with different authorities and regulators to develop processes that improve food safety in the industry.

"In four years we have radically changed the perception of the industry that was once at risk of never exporting to the U.S. again to today having as a model structure," del Razo adds.

Effect on consumption

The process of making the industry aware of the problem has been transversal, from owners, directors, importers, and those responsible for food safety in the companies, to the personnel that operates packaging and fieldwork.

"We trained the entire industry and that is when the impact began, when the companies implemented the improvements established in the best practices guide for Mexican papaya developed by United Fresh and Texas International Produce Association with the University of Florida and the University of Guadalajara," says del Razo.

Through these efforts, the industry has gained the trust not only of the authorities but also of the American consumer.

Between mid-2019 and early 2020 papaya exports dropped drastically, shipments per week were 120 to 140 containers maximum per week. Today, there are around 240 to 280 shipments per week to the United States.

Working with U.S. retailers

Proexport has invited U.S. retail chains to courses that guide them on the specific requirements that importers must request from their suppliers in Mexico to guarantee their consumers and customers are consuming safe papaya.

"This year we are going to work more directly with them to keep them involved," says del Razo.

Challenges

There is still a percentage of exporting producers that do not abide by Proexport's guidelines, and for its Director, the challenge is first to identify them and to invite them to carry out safe practices to protect and maintain the reputation that the industry has earned.

He adds that, "We do not know if this percentage (of producers) applies good practices but at the end of the day they continue to send the product. We want to approach them, convince them, and verify that they are implementing good practices."

National Papaya Board

To create even more awareness and reach out to industry members as well as consumers, Proexport is working to create a National Papaya Board.

"We started in September of last year and we hope to realize it in 2024. In the medium to long term this will allow us to generate information for the consumer and help us increase consumption," says del Razo.

Vision for the future

The organization's priority at the moment is to guarantee that no papaya leaving Mexico can make anyone sick. Parallel to that, the National Papaya Board will be able to generate useful resources and information with results visible, according to del Razo, in five to eight years.

Salmonella outbreaks

In the wake of the recent salmonella outbreak in cantaloupe melon that came out of a plant in Mexico, del Razo discusses how these episodes affect the country's overall image.

"This impacts us in a non-positive way because ultimately the consumer identifies it as a product of Mexico and added to the history of Mexican papaya, of course, it impacts us," he says.

Del Razo says that in previous weeks consumption has dropped concerning what happened with cantaloupe melon.

However, del Razo is optimistic and believes that all the work done guarantees that papaya production and consumption will continue to grow in the coming years.