Interview: Santiago Lopez Ibarra – Agricultura Controlada Plant Manager
We had the opportunity to talk to Santiago Lopez Ibarra, a second-generation entrepreneur in the farming business. Santiago graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering for Management at Universidad Anahuac Querétaro. He holds a diploma in business leadership from the same university and was a member of various student associations and leadership groups at the university.
In 2019, he started working as an administrative coordinator at Agricultura Controlada, responsible for the cost system and managing a small administrative office. In 2021, he became a distribution and logistics manager, where he was in charge of post-harvest operations, quality control, and the supply chain for various clients. When they merged with Chada Farms in August 2024, he became a Facility Manager, keeping the duties for distribution and logistics management, in addition to managing greenhouse costs, nursery operation, and all production programs.
1. Would you mind sharing with us a brief story about the company?
Agricultura Controlada (AgriCo) started in 2005, when my father, along with several partners, founded the company with the mission of growing by using emerging technologies for the best use of resources and the lowest environmental impact. Just like all farmers in Sinaloa, each season represents a challenge; if not the exchange rate, then market prices; if not, government reforms, droughts, frosts, floods, you name it. As my father says, “the best season is the next.”
In 2019, we decided to move towards a much more advanced technology: high-tech in the state of Guanajuato, where the focus of our business was totally changed. Growing with high tech is not an easy task; although it takes fewer employees and production is magnified by the Data Driven Growing principle, a simple mistake can be very expensive.
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It took us years to master that technology, but that drives us to never stop innovating, to grow better, with a lower environmental impact; using the best practices and technologies available.
In August 2024, the farm production division for emerging technologies merged with Chada Farms, aligning strategic objectives to grow in this tech, in new crops, and with the challenge of becoming an energy company, where emissions and byproducts from energy production can be used in the greenhouse business.
2. What factors do you believe are critical for a farming company to be successful?
I believe that success is based on having firmly rooted values and ensuring that all employees are aligned with them. This helps shape the business acumen in line with the purpose of the company. Another significant factor is trying to “stay out of our comfort zone,” as this can make us arrogant and hinder innovation and the search for new ways of getting things done. And finally, “doing things because they are the right thing to do.”
Sometimes we make decisions that decrease or increase crop yields, but that is not the only indicator. It is critical to invest in our people, our environment, and our country, because it is simply right. By being responsible for supporting many Mexican families as part of our team, we owe a debt to improving our community, our country, and our planet.
3. What has it been like working in a family business, and what have been the main challenges you have faced?
It is a very rewarding experience in many ways, but it is also one with many challenges. Having the opportunity to team up with your father, brothers, cousins, uncles, and friends is something that, no matter how good the working environment of a company is, cannot be compared to this. Of course, there are challenges; letting go of the role of son to employee and viceversa is not easy, but it can be achievable with certain rules. Some of these are: working at work, with all that entails; from giving your parents, uncles, and cousins a professional, not family treatment within the organization, until before arriving home; letting go of pressures and frustrations, because, in the end, we are family and we love each other. And two, always making choices keeping the business as a priority, as it is the livelihood of our family and we must take care of it for the greater good.
4. What are the main fresh products you sell?
European cucumber, organic European cucumber, organic Persian cucumber.
5. What is the philosophy that makes Agricultura Controlada/Chada Farms stand out?
Innovation, improvement, and trust.
6. How have you brought together the new technologies for farming production?
As I said in the history of our company, it was not easy bringing together production management with data analytics, artificial intelligence, and ERP systems. But this is what is next, and we cannot fight progress. Currently, we are looking to make our greenhouses more productive per square meter through technology, systems, and processes, rather than seeking to have an expanded surface with less advanced technology.
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7. What impact do you think food safety and social responsibility have on the industry, and how has it changed over the years?
Certifications used to be a standard respected by farmers in the old days. Now, I believe it is a basic necessity: “doing things because they are right.” With regards to social responsibility, in the coming years it will be similar to what food safety audits and certifications were in the 1990s and 2000s. It is better to be ready and come to terms with it from now on.
8. How do you think consumer expectations have changed over the last ten years, what do they value the most while purchasing?
Definitely, the growth of organic products is noticeable, although most consumers have no idea what being organic involves. The market needs to adopt a term that is becoming popular in Europe: “Sustainable Agriculture,” consisting of making using resources more efficiently, rather than growing under stringent standards where yields and environmental impact are not being quantified.
9. What are the main trends you consider will influence the industry in the coming years?
Without a doubt, water. I believe that there will be a certification or indicator in a few years that sorts industries in terms of the amount of water they need to produce one kilogram of food.
10. Is there anything else you would like to add?
I am really grateful to the people of Veggies From Mexico for the space and opportunity to share the little information I can provide as a young man just starting out in this business. I am also thankful to the readers of older generations, because our generation is aware of the world we will get to work on. And to the young people reading this: keep your feet on the ground, honor the work for generations that came before you, be patient but active, and continue appreciating the good that previous generations have left behind.
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