Last Thursday, January 18, a group of Japanese businessmen and buyers visited CAADES facilities looking to do business with Sinaloa growers. These businessmen, specifically, were investigating the production of Bell Pepper in the State, both in open fields and greenhouses. 

They wanted to know the growth trends in surface area, varieties, seasonality, types of packaging, main destination markets, and the possibility of being sent to Japan. 

It was made clear that there are two main challenges for this, the first being that the Japanese market allowed the Mexican Bell Pepper to enter the market due to phytosanitary issues (tobacco blue mold). This process has already been initiated by both the National Service of Health, Safety, and Agri-Food Quality (Senasica) and the corresponding Japanese Phytosanitary Agency. It is important to emphasize that this process is well underway. 

The next challenge identified was logistics since it is a short-term perishable product and difficult to export by sea. The only possibility left was to ship by air. On behalf of CAADES, the meeting was headed by Mr. Mario Robles, General Director of CIDH, who was accompanied by his collaborators, and the director of Veggies from Mexico, Mr. Georgius Gotsis. We know that as we get closer to the approval of exporting Chile Bell to Japan, we will be hosting more and more visits from potential buyers from Japan.