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CapitalPress.com
January 13, 2017
People & Places
Winter berries boost U.S. demand
Hector Lujan
expands Mexico
operations for
domestic market
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
Hector Lujan enjoyed
working on his family’s farm
in Baja California as a boy,
but his main interest going
into college was finance.
Soon, however, he merged
his two interests, and his work
in Central Mexico helped es-
tablish berries in North Amer-
ica as a year-round fruit and
led to his hiring as chief ex-
ecutive officer of the world’s
largest berry producer.
Hector Lujan
Occupation: Chief execu-
tive officer, Reiter Affiliated
Companies
Residence: Santa Barbara,
Calif.
Family: Wife Beatriz, four
children
Website: http://www.berry.
net
Better quality, yield
Largest producer
With acreage and invest-
ments in the U.S., Mexico,
Calendar
Monday, Jan. 16
Oregon Blueberry Conference.
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Salem Convention
Center, 200 Commercial St. SE,
Salem. Presented by the Oregon
Blueberry Commission and the
North Willamette Research and
Extension Center. 503-589-1700
or oregonblueberry.com.
Tuesday, Jan. 17
Succession Planning Work-
shop orientation. 9 a.m.-noon.
This is the first of two workshops
on succession planning. Cost in-
cludes planning workbook and
food. Presenters from: OSU’s Ties
to the Land, Green Belt Land Trust,
Farm Credit Services and attor-
neys specializing in conservation
and farm and ranch estate plan-
ning. Western Oregon University
Werner University Center, Pacific
Room, Monmouth, Ore. Cost: $50
per family. http://www.polkswcd.
com/success.html
Tuesday-Thursday
Jan. 17-19
38th Annual
Ag Expo. Idaho
Holt Arena, 921
Pocatello, Idaho.
ductions.com
Courtesy of Reiter Affiliated Companies
Hector Lujan has been hired as chief executive officer of Southern California-based Reiter Affiliated
Companies, which describes itself as the world’s largest berry producer. A native of Mexico, Lujan
worked his way up through the company by expanding its reach in the U.S.
Courtesy of Reiter Affiliated Companies
Hector Lujan, left, the newly hired chief executive officer of
Southern California-based Reiter Affiliated Companies, stands with
executive chairman Garland Reiter.
Portugal and Morocco, Re-
iter is the world’s largest
multi-berry producer, grow-
ing Driscoll’s proprietary
varieties of strawberries,
raspberries, blueberries and
blackberries year-round, ac-
cording to a news release.
Reiter is a pioneer in farm-
ing. The company established
the first U.S. private primary
health care clinic for farm-
workers and collaborated with
the University of California to
implement obesity and diabe-
tes prevention programs for
workers.
“I was very impressed by
the company’s culture ... their
commitment to agriculture,
how they ran their business
and the people engaged” in it,
Lujan said.
Lujan began as vice pres-
ident of Central Mexico op-
erations for Berrymex, a sub-
sidiary, and within three years
his territory had expanded to
Sponsored by:
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mit an Event.” Calendar items can
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1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR
97301.
Eastern Idaho
State University
South 8th Ave.,
www.spectrapro-
Wednesday-Thursday
Jan. 18-19
Northwest Hay Expo. Three
Rivers Convention Center, 7016
W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick,
Wash. www.wa-hay.org
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester ..........................President
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Sid Freeman .................. Outside director
Mike Omeg .................... Outside director
Corporate officer
John Perry
Chief operating officer
By TIM HEARDEN
A native of Tijuana, Lujan
ran Mexico operations for the
Oxnard, Calif.-based Reiter
Affiliated Companies, bring-
ing in experts to teach grow-
ers cultural practices that im-
proved the quality and yields
of winter berries. The result-
ing availability of Mexican
strawberries, raspberries and
other berries helped build de-
mand for the fruit during their
offseason in the U.S.
“We grew up having sum-
mer berries — they were a
seasonal item,” said Lujan,
who became Reiter’s CEO on
Jan. 1 and lives with his fami-
ly in Santa Barbara, Calif.
“Berries are, I would con-
sider, the most delightful fruit
you can find in the supermar-
ket,” he said. “Today people
are growing up seeing berries
every day. It’s great. It’s a
very delightful fruit that kids
pick up as candy. It’s healthy
candy.”
Having earned a bache-
lor’s degree in business ad-
ministration at the Instituto
Tecnologico de Estudios Su-
periores de Monterrey, Lujan
worked several years in the
financial sector before joining
one of his former professors at
Bionova Fresh. The company
was a subsidiary of the hold-
ing company Grupo Pulsar,
and Lujan managed its farm-
ing and marketing operations.
One of Lujan’s tasks was to
defend Mexican growers’ inter-
ests amid a U.S. tomato dump-
ing investigation in the 1990s.
But he went from competing
against U.S. growers to joining
forces with them by going to
work for Reiter in 2002.
Capital Press
49th Annual Idaho Potato Con-
ference. Idaho State University’s
Pond Student Union Building, 921
S. Eighth Ave., Pocatello, Idaho.
Speakers include Idaho Potato
Commission President and CEO
Frank Muir, Potatoes USA Pres-
ident and CEO Blair Richardson
and National Potato Council Exec-
utive Vice President John Keeling.
http://bit.ly/2fayqPE
Idaho Noxious Weed Con-
ference. Riverside Hotel, 2900
Chinden Blvd., Boise, Idaho. www.
idahoweedcontrol.org
Wednesday-Friday
Jan. 18-20
Idaho Horticulture Expo. Boise
Centre on the Grove, 850 W. Front
St., Boise, Idaho. Sponsored by
the Idaho Nursery and Landscape
Association, this annual event of-
fers seminars and workshops on
topics important to the nursery
industry. inlagrow.org
Thursday, Jan. 19
Oregon Tall Fescue Commis-
sion meeting. 6-8 p.m. Cascade
Grill restaurant, 110 Opal St. NE,
Albany, Ore. www.oregontallfes-
cue.org/
Friday, Jan. 20
Ninth Annual Ag Summit. 7:30
a.m.-1:30 p.m. Salem Convention
Center, 200 Commercial St. SE,
Salem, Ore. Features include a leg-
islative preview and panel discus-
sions about emerging trends and
changing laws in water resources,
employment law and real estate
sales. Presented by the Dunn Car-
ney law firm. Admission is free.
www.dunncarney.com
Family Foresters Workshop,
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Coeur d’Alene
Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave., Coeur
include all of Mexico. It was
then that he helped growers
improve their practices.
Mexico expansion
Northwestern
Mexico
“had been an exporter for-
ever” and knew how to meet
the standards of foreign trade
partners, but “Central Mexico
had not,” Lujan said. Farmers
there grew for domestic con-
sumption, for which both re-
wards and investments were
small, he said.
Lujan’s team taught grow-
ers that the more they put into
their crops, the greater the re-
ward could be.
“We were getting people to
believe you work the ground
well, you work the ground
deep and you build up a strong
plant and get strong yields and
great fruit,” he said.
Reiter now has more than
100 contract growers in Mex-
ico in addition to its own
farms, and demand for winter
berries has exploded. In 2014,
the U.S. imported 355.9 mil-
lion pounds of fresh straw-
berries valued at $374.7 mil-
lion, nearly all of which came
from Mexico, according to the
USDA Economic Research
Service.
Mexico’s strawberry pro-
duction overlaps with Flor-
ida’s, whose industry has
raised concerns about com-
petition. But fresh-market
strawberry production in
Florida has shown no signs
of decline over the years, ac-
cording to the USDA-funded
Agricultural Marketing Re-
search Center.
In 2013, the annual
per-person consumption of
fresh strawberries in the U.S.
reached a record high of 7.9
pounds, according to the ERS.
Lujan moved to the U.S. in
2011, he said. He continued
to run Mexican operations
as well as those in California
and wholly owned farms until
2013, when he became Reit-
er’s chief operating officer.
His promotion to CEO
comes as former CEO Gar-
land Reiter moves to the role
of executive chairman.
Lujan’s work has “allowed
him to establish a great depth
of knowledge and business
acumen for our diverse inter-
national business,” Reiter said
in a statement.
Immigration, trade
As a Mexican citizen help-
ing to run a U.S.-based com-
pany, Lujan arrives at what
could be a crucial time for ag-
ricultural labor and trade, as
President-elect Donald Trump
has vowed to curb illegal im-
migration and renegotiate the
North American Free Trade
Agreement and other trade
deals.
Lujan believes public at-
tention on these issues could
finally produce a compre-
hensive immigration reform
package, he said. He hopes
that Trump’s use of the H-2A
work visa program gives him
an appreciation for the value
of imported labor, and that his
business background will lead
to better trade with other na-
tions, he said.
“I don’t think this admin-
istration or any administration
would go counter to the op-
portunities driven ... (by) free
enterprise,” Lujan said. “And
I think that the U.S. is looking
to reward or create high-value
jobs, and ... people want their
food.”
Agriculture “is very pos-
itive for both countries,” he
said. “We need to work to-
gether to bring affordable
food to the populations of
both countries.”
And he hopes that as future
generations grow up enjoying
berries year-round, per capita
consumption — and thus de-
mand — will continue to in-
crease.
“I’m excited,” Lujan said.
“There’s excitement within
the company. We have a lot
of challenges, but we have
a lot of great people. We’re
starting the year after having
a really successful previous
year. 2016 was a good year
for us, and we’re carrying
that momentum and really
looking at a really positive
outlook.
“I’m energized by that, and
I think the company’s ener-
gized by it, too,” he said.
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
20 Northwest Locations
d’Alene, Idaho. The program will
feature presentations on up and
coming forest products, changes
in Inland Northwest family forest-
ry, managing forests in the face of
droughts, effectiveness of prescribed
burns in preventing fire; research up-
dates on forest biofuels, managing
family forest habitats for moose and
the annual family forest economics/
policy update. Register by Jan. 13.
Cost: $85-$90, www.uidaho.edu/
FamilyForesterWorkshop
Act regulation requires every pro-
cessing facility to have a trained
resource person or “Preventive
Controls Qualified Individual”
who has completed a specialized
training course (such as this one)
developed by the Food Safety
Preventive Controls Alliance that
is recognized by the FDA. This
person will oversee the imple-
mentation of the facility’s food
safety plan and other key tasks.
http://bit.ly/2f6cogT
Saturday, Jan. 21
Wednesday-Saturday
Jan. 25-28
13th Annual Cattlemen’s Work-
shop. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Blue Mountain
Conference Center, 404 12th St.,
La Grande, Ore. http://oregonstate.
edu/dept/eoarcunion
Tuesday-Wednesday
Jan. 24-25
Western Idaho Ag Expo. 9 a.m.-
4 p.m. Caldwell Events Center,
2207 Blaine St., Caldwell, Idaho.
http://www.spectraproductions.com
Tuesday-Thursday
Jan. 24-26
Northwest Agricultural Show.
Portland Expo Center, 2060 N.
Marine Drive, Portland, Ore. The
hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Tues-
day, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. on Wednesday
and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Thursday.
www.nwagshow.com
Washington-Oregon
Conference 2017. Three
Convention Center, 7016
dridge Blvd., Kennewick,
www.potatoconference.com
Potato
Rivers
Gran-
Wash.
Wednesday-Friday
Jan. 25-27
FSPCA Preventive Controls for
Human Food Course. Idaho De-
partment of Labor, 600 N. Thorn-
ton St., Post Falls, Idaho. The
new Food Safety Modernization
American Sheep industry Asso-
ciation Convention. Denver Mar-
riott City Center, 1701 California
St., Denver, Colo. www.sheepu-
sa.org/About_Events_Conven-
tion
EcoFarm Conference. Asilo-
mar Conference Grounds, 800
Asilomar Ave., Pacific Grove,
Calif. The theme of this year’s
meeting is “Cultivating Diversi-
ty.” https://eco-farm.org/confer-
ence
Wednesday, Feb. 1
California Prune Industry Sum-
mit. Orchard Creek Lodge, Lincoln,
Calif. www.californiadriedplums.org
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Pesticide Short Course-IPM. 8
a.m.-4:10 p.m. Lane Community
College, Center for Meeting and
Learning, Bldg. 19, 4000 E. 30th
Ave., Eugene, Ore. $85 if registered
by Jan. 23; $95 after. http://exten-
sion.oregonstae.edu/lane/farms
Alfalfa U. Learn how alfalfa
can contribute to a farm’s profit-
ability. Canyon Crest Dining and
Event Center, 330 Canyon Crest
Drive, Twin Falls, Idaho. alfalfaU.
com
1-800-765-9055
Tuesday-Thursday
Feb. 7-9
Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific
Northwest Farm Forum. Spokane
Convention Center, 334 W. Spo-
kane Falls Blvd., Spokane, Wash.
Spokane Ag Expo is the largest
farm machinery show in the In-
land Northwest. https://greater-
spokane.org/ag-expo/
Washington Association of
Wine Grape Growers 2017 Con-
vention. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Three
Rivers Convention Center, 7016
Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick,
Wash. This annual event includes
the second largest industry trade
show in the nation and a welcome
breakfast. wawgg.org
Wednesday-Feb. 8
Oregon Clover Growers Annual
Meeting. Noon-1 p.m. Holiday Inn,
Wilsonville. www.oregonclover.org
Wednesday-Thursday
Feb. 8-9
The 8th Annual Organic Farm-
ing Conference. Canyon Crest
Event Center, 330 Canyon Crest
Drive, Twin Falls, Idaho. The event
is organized by the Northwest
Center for Alternatives to Pesti-
cides. www.pesticide.org events
Friday, Feb. 10
University of Idaho Cropping
School. 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Best West-
ern Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites, 908
Specht Ave., Caldwell, Idaho. This
event will have presentations on
fertilizer and irrigation water man-
agement, crop diseases, falling
numbers, soil health, precision ag,
unmanned aerial systems and a
drone flight demonstration (weather
permitting). CEUs available. The
cost is $20 and includes breakfast
and lunch. owalsh@uidaho.edu,
208-722-6701
Capital Press Managers
John Perry ................................Publisher
Joe Beach ..................................... Editor
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
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Index
California ................................ 9
Farm Bureau Convention ...... 7
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Markets ............................... 13
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Washington ..........................11
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