Mexican avocado business updates
Calavo expands cooling capacity
Santa Paula, Calif.-based Calavo Growers Inc. is expanding its cooling operation in Michoacan, Mexico, said Rob Wedin, executive vice president of fresh sales.
“We’ve expanded capacity there twice in the last four years,” he said. “We’re just making sure we’ve got our cooling caught up with it.”
Cooling capacity is being expanded by 30%, he said.
The company upgraded sizing and grading technology about 18 months ago and now can “really move the volume,” Wedin said.
Calavo also has completed the transformation of the labeling on its bags to enhance recyclability, he said.
The new, plastic bags have a tear-off label that advises consumers to remove the label for proper recycling.
The company has about 12 different bag styles in five locations throughout the U.S. and Mexico, so it took a while to clear out the old inventory, he said.
Del Rey expands Apeel process
Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc., Fallbrook, Calif., has used the Appel process from Goleta, Calif.-based Apeel Sciences to extend the shelf life of its avocados for some time, but this is the first season Apeel will be used with its avocados from Mexico, said Donny Lucy, Del Rey’s vice president of procurement and East Coast sales.
The company works with grower-packers in Mexico who have the machine to apply Apeel, or it can be applied to Mexican fruit at locations in New Jersey or California.
“It’s slowly catching on and becoming more popular,” Lucy said.
Some retailers already have tried the process and others continue to come on board, he said.
Eco Farms, Oppy form partnership
Vancouver, British Columbia-based The Oppenheimer Group and Temecula, Calif.-based Eco Farms have formed a partnership, said Gahl Crane, sales and marketing director for Eco Farms.
“Gaining synergies in grower relationships and building on decades of strong program business throughout the U.S. and Canada, we are heavily vested in the Mexican avocado industry and excited to see how the coming months will play out with continued promotable volume and pricing,” he said.
Eco Farms will have a new brand for its Mexican avocados and now will have ripening centers across the U.S. and Canada, “allowing us to deliver ripe Mexican avocados to every major retailer according to their specifications and needs,” Crane said.
Equal Exchange in growth mode
The Equal Exchange Mexican avocado season started in August with a strong flora loca crop on the tail end of the Peruvian avocado program, said Nicole Vitello, president of Oke USA Fruit Co./Equal Exchange Produce, West Bridgewater, Mass.
“This meant an uninterrupted supply of organic Fair Trade avocados for our customers in 2020,” she said.
Equal Exchange purchases 100% organic Fair Trade avocados from three small grower cooperatives in Michoacan, Mexico.
Bags on rise at Healthy Avocado
Healthy Avocado Inc., Berkeley, Calif., plans to ship more bagged avocados and more organic fruit from Mexico this year, said president Paul Weismann.
The company also has a new, more whimsical label for its bagged fruit.
“We changed the label because kids like avocados and cartoons, too,” Weismann said.
Weismann said sales of bagged avocados already were on the rise, but the increase has expanded as a result of the coronavirus and consumers trying to avoid taking home fruit that may have been touched by other shoppers.
“Everybody knows people squeeze avocados,” he said.
Consumers also have been visiting their supermarket less, and they tend to buy in larger quantities.
“This way, they just pick up the bag,” he said.
Sales of organic avocados also have increased as a result of additional suppliers and reasonable prices.
“There’s plenty of organic,” Weismann said, and there only has been about a 10% difference in price between organic and conventional, fruit.
At times, the gap has reached 30% or more, he said.
Ripening is big at Henry Avocado
Custom ripening is big business at Henry Avocado Corp., Escondido, Calif.
The company custom ripens at least 75% of its avocados at facilities in Escondido and Milpitas, Calif.; Charlotte, N.C.; Phoenix and San Antonio, said president Phil Henry.
In all, the firm has 100 forced-air ripening rooms.
While 75%-80% of avocados destined for retailers are ripened, 100% of the product sent to restaurants through distributors is ripened, he said.
“Distributors don’t have to be in the storage business or the ripening business,” Henry said. “They can use their valuable square footage to bring the product in and move it out as quickly as possible.”
At the same time, restaurants get food that’s ready to eat, and they don’t have to store it, he said.
“Speeding up the ripening process means the fruit is going to be fresher because we’re moving it through the distribution system faster,” he added.
The company was the first to convince customers — back in the 1980s — that custom-ripened avocados were better than hard, green fruit, he said.
Susie Rea moves to Index Fresh
Susie Rea, most recently with West Pak Avocado Inc., Murrieta, Calif., has joined the sales and business development team at Index Fresh Inc., Riverside, Calif., said Giovanni Cavaletto, vice president of sourcing.
Index Fresh expects to sell about 15% more avocados this year than last, Cavaletto said.
“Quality has been exceptional this year,” he said
The market has been stable, and all sizes of avocados were plentiful, he said in late October.
Mission sees good year from Mexico
Quality of Mexican avocados from Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce Inc. is expected to be good this year, and sizing should be favorable, said Patrick Cortes, senior director of business development.
“Combine that with good supply from Mexico, and we anticipate promotable volumes,” he said.
Construction continues on the company’s new packing facility in Laredo, Texas, which is slated to come on line next summer.
“This will give Mission packing, bagging and ripening flexibility capabilities,” Cortes said.
It will be the firm’s 10th facility in North America with ripening capacity, further meeting demand as the popularity of ripe fruit increases, he said.
Fortunately, COVID-19 has had almost no impact on Mission’s operations, Cortes said, and the company seems to be coping with the hit on foodservice business caused by the virus.
“Mission has been able to adjust to the impact in foodservice and anticipate(s) being able to navigate our business appropriately to support the shifts in all markets,” he said.
