Perspective from a produce trip abroad

Travel, my father-in-law used to say, is the best education.

He would know. His education came while crisscrossing oceans as a Navy radioman during World War II. This, the Greatest Generation, fought for and won the peaceful era that followed.

One of those (somewhat) peaceful periods I enjoyed was visiting different growers, mostly in the U.S.

However, the most memorable buying trip was in early 1991 when visiting grape growers and shippers in Chile, something I could never otherwise afford. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

I was a produce specialist for my Denver-based chain. Our group was scheduled to depart in February. International travel at the time was discouraged amid the Persian Gulf War, thus our original group of 10 dropped to two: me and a buyer from the California-based Hughes Family Markets chain.

Our sponsor was sales manager Mark Berlinger with David Oppenheimer-California. Since it was just the three of us, I didn’t think the trip would proceed, but it did.
It was my first trip outside the country. I found the capital of Santiago to be beautiful and immaculately clean, especially for a city so large. The population was roughly the same as Los Angeles.

Our Chilean host and interpreter, Gaston, and his driver took us around Santiago the first couple of days. The city’s grocers were mostly street-corner operations, however, they did have a few larger chains.

In a moment of culture awkwardness, I took some photos of produce displays at one of these large chains. Since the area had martial law, a soldier holding a very imposing weapon confronted me. It took Gaston a few minutes to convince the soldier (and the equally nervous store manager) that I was just a curious visitor. I was allowed to continue.

I learned the country was only recently separated from its inauspicious rulers, which explained why people weren’t too keen with foreigners brandishing cameras, even if it was just in a grocery store.

It sure woke me up. Thanks to Gason and Mark, we continued.

We visited the Port of Valparaiso. In the early morning visit, we watched an enormous cold-storage vessel get loaded — enough to hold hundreds of truckloads — mostly with grapes, but it also held a fair amount of stone fruit. The vessel was loaded using several cranes, each lifting multiple pallets at a time. Workers within systematically loaded the ship, one layer at a time, levels separated with plywood.

I understood that while it took up to two weeks to unload the ships in foreign ports, it was loaded on the Chilean side in just a few days. I was impressed at the destination schedule posted. The vessels were headed all over the world.

Just across the port was Vina del Mar, which we passed through. It could have been any summer California seaside scene, with vacationers dancing to Beach Boys tunes.
The next few days we traversed the Chilean coastline, visiting many shippers that packed mostly uvas (grapes) in the David del Curto label. Fantastic quality.

I learned about the red and green grape varieties and how the growing regions harvest geography was north to south, the opposite of California. The people who expertly managed the packing sheds and their employees were very focused on their work, so proud and hardworking. They all took time out of their day to show us their operations.

At night, we viewed a different set of stars in the Southern Hemisphere sky while being around new friends. There was so much to absorb; not just the produce, which is amazing, but we also experienced a beautiful culture. I learned about Chilean cowboys (called huasos), the Concha Y Toro wine, the national gemstone (lapis lazuli) and enjoyed a refreshing local libation, the pisco sour.

The trip was an education. Even after nearly 40 years, it remains my favorite. I’ll always remember the proud Chilean growers and will never again take for granted the wonderful, imported grapes that that we enjoy during our winter months.

Travel will do this to a person. I am richer for the experience.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.