Intermediaries characterization in the Mexican peach market

© 2019, Asociacion Interprofesional para el Desarrollo Agrario. All rights reserved. The market knowledge contributes to increase the profitability of agricultural production units; however, at the national scope and in some crops, this knowledge is incipient. For the peach market (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) it is necessary to analyze the functions and implication of the agents of the fruit distribution chain. The objective of this research was to characterize Mexican intermediaries who participate in the peach market in Mexico, under the hypothesis that the Mexican intermediaries from each region look for a particular type of peach based on specific quality attributes. A structured questionnaire was applied to 371 peach intermediaries in Mexico. The accepted quality attributes of peach included external color from red to yellow with 25% of red blush over a yellow background, the requested pulp color was from yellow to white, without reddish pigmentation in the pulp or around the seed, and fruit size with a minimum equatorial diameter of 56 mm. The following segments of intermediaries were also identified: 1) committed with healthy products identified as those that give importance to products naturally grown, (27.2%), 2) careless, the intermediaries of this segment were disconnected from current market considerations (49.8%), and 3) innovators (22.9%), they were characterized by looking for new technologies. Every segment showed different market strategies; therefore, this segmentation will allow Mexican peach growers to orient their fruit marketing according to the peach quality achieved during the current growing season.