McAllen produce distributor plans $8M cold storage warehouse

A McAllen produce distributor specializing in Mexican-grown fruits and vegetables is planning an $8 million cold storage warehouse as it expands its presence in the city.

Amore Produce plans to build the 40,711-square-foot industrial warehouse at 5401 Honduras Ave. in McAllen, according to a new project filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The privately funded project is described as the first phase of a cold storage industrial warehouse. Construction is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and be completed by Oct. 1, 2027.

Amore Produce is a McAllen-based produce wholesaler and distributor that works with growers to bring Mexican-grown fruits and vegetables into the U.S. market. Its products include Roma tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, carrots and poblano, jalapeño and serrano peppers, according to the company’s website.

The company was founded in 2017 and lists operations in McAllen and Jessup, Maryland, according to its LinkedIn profile.

The state construction filing lists McAllen-based Eroma Group LLC as the owner of the warehouse project and Carlos Ayala as its contact. Public business records show connections between Eroma Group and people associated with Amore Produce, although the filing itself does not specify the relationship between the two companies.

The new warehouse would add temperature-controlled space in a region that serves as a major gateway for fresh produce moving from Mexico into the United States.

Amore Produce also appears in federal records related to food importing. The company is listed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration among participants associated with the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, which require covered U.S. food importers to verify that foreign suppliers meet applicable U.S. food safety standards.

Federal transportation records also list Amore Produce as an active interstate carrier based in McAllen.

The state filing contains one discrepancy in the project’s size. Its dedicated square-footage field lists the warehouse at 40,711 square feet, while the scope of work describes a 4,711-square-foot cold storage warehouse. The filing does not explain the difference.

San Antonio-based AP Architects LLC is listed as the project’s design firm.

The designation of the project as “Phase I” suggests additional development could be contemplated, but the filing provides no information about future phases.

It also does not disclose the warehouse’s cold storage capacity, how much additional produce Amore expects to handle, whether the facility would replace or supplement its existing McAllen operations or how many jobs the project could create.