CDMX/New York/Napa , September 4—Initially, some Mexican producers were skeptical about the project to export beans to the United States through Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc. If they spent a year producing more beans, how could they be sure the market would hold up?
Rancho Gordo owner Steve Sando understood that concern. The problem with traditional exports to supermarket suppliers or other distribution channels in the United States is that they require substantial discounts, and when they have demand for beans for one or two years, they can suddenly switch to other products, and when that demand disappears, the small producer is left with too much product on their hands.
“We started in 2008, that was our first shipment, and it’s grown slowly, but we’re growing, growing, growing,” explains Sando. He doesn’t offer discounts and isn’t looking to expand the project too quickly. Under this scheme, participating producers can grow alongside him, which is partly why he has thousands on the waiting list. To meet demand, they currently need a producer who can supply about 45.3 tons (100,000 pounds) of one type of bean, and “small farms, especially indigenous farmers in Mexico, can’t necessarily do that. But we simply use what they can offer us, and we send it to the club.”
In Mexico
In Mexico, for farmers, the project has represented "an important change," explains Gabriel Cortés, co-founder of Xoxoc. They set the price of the beans and are guaranteed their purchase. "There are people who have regained their roots in their land, young people who have said they no longer want to migrate," Cortés explained in an interview in Mexico.
