Quintana Roo Plans Transfer Center to Connect Farmers With Hotels

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The state government is developing a product transfer center to allow farmers to sell directly to hotels and other tourism businesses, Governor Mara Lezama announced.

The project aims to reduce intermediaries and improve conditions for producers of food and artisan goods in rural communities, Lezama said. The center would serve as a collection point where farmers can consolidate their goods for easier distribution.

The initiative is part of broader efforts to strengthen the local economy and support growers of crops such as cacao, citrus, corn, pineapple, and pitaya, as well as artisans who make hammocks, embroidery, wood carvings, and wickerwork.

Lezama noted that the state is also building and improving farm-to-market roads to help communities transport their products to the transfer center.

“What we want, and what we have been working on, is to have a place in the center of the state, a transfer zone, where producers can come,” she said.

The governor explained that the infrastructure would give producers a direct channel to offer their goods to buyers, bypassing middlemen who cut into their earnings.

Hoteliers have already expressed interest in buying local products, Lezama said, citing demand for items such as limes, corn, and pineapple for their supply chains.

“The hoteliers have told us they are interested. We have shown them our production capacity because they ask how much we can supply of lime, corn, pineapple,” she said.

The project seeks to create a direct commercial relationship between producers and businesses, boosting income for rural families and promoting consumption of Quintana Roo products.

In addition to the transfer center, the state government runs programs to deliver tools and equipment directly to communities without intermediaries, Lezama said. Currently, 90 artisan groups, 41 social groups, 14 cooperatives, and individual producers across the state receive support.

The transfer center is intended to become a link between the state’s agricultural sector and the tourism industry, giving local products greater presence in hotels and other commercial establishments.