Eco Farms doubles avocado bagging capacity

Eco Farms, Temecula, Calif., has doubled the ripening capacity in its packinghouse, said Gahl Crane, sales director.

“We’re seeing continued demand for (ripened avocados),” Crane said.

The project was finished just in time for the start of the California avocado season, he said.

A growing portion of the company’s avocados destined for retail and foodservice are preconditioned, he said.

If a retailer is looking for a way to boost sales, “ripened is a great way to sell more avocados,” he said.

The company also has increased its bagging capacity by adding bagging machines to keep up with demand, he said.

People are not buying one avocado at a time anymore, he said. They buy several to enjoy throughout the week.

“As we have seen more uses for avocados and their versatility grows, that correlates directly to buying more avocados at a single time,” he said.

“Bags is the most common way to get a value out of buying three, four, five or six avocados.”

Eco farms now has four bagging machines and can do custom bagging, labeling and branding.

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