Mission Produce turning to Peruvian avocados to bridge Mexico transition

Global hass avocado supplier and distributor Mission Produce says it has begun a strategic approach to maintain supply reliability and quality during the Mexican avocado crop transition. 

The company plans to first leverage its owned Peruvian supply to complement Mexican size availability, then implement a ripening strategy to ripen fruit at various maturity levels, according to a news release.  

“At Mission, we offer several competitive advantages to our customers as part of our commitment to world-class service,” Brooke Becker, Mission Produce's vice president of sales, said in the release. “Our stability of supply coupled with our innovative, avocado-specific ripening infrastructure positions us to provide a consistent, year-round supply of avocados ripened to customer specification.”  

Mexico’s transition from the normal to the flor loca crop is expected to continue through August, the release said. Because to the transition, the market is experiencing a lack of optimally sized fruit coming out of Mexico, though larger fruit from Peru can help to balance the size curve, according to Mission Produce.

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Mission Produce says it is the largest exporter of avocados from Peru and is vertically integrated with 3,365 hectares in production, a strategic advantage to fill in supply gaps and promote year-round availability.

For the 2023 season, Peru anticipates an approximate 16% increase in exportable volume, indicating promotional opportunities during the summer months, according to a recent ProHass volume report.

Separately, the current market is presenting fruit of various origins, dry matter levels and other characteristics, which calls for advanced ripening capabilities. Mission Produce’s high-tech ripening rooms are managed by ripening specialists to expertly ripen avocados to the correct stage, according to the release.

According to Mission Produce’s 2022 "Avocado Intel" consumer survey report, 28% of consumers are looking for avocados that are ripe and ready to eat, while 38% are looking for avocados to eat in the next two to three days.      

“Our custom ripe programs are designed to inspire impulse purchases by appealing to consumer preferences, driving avocado category sales for our customers,” Becker said in the release. “With our strong grower relationships, we source the highest-quality fruit available, and we are masters in the art of ripening to deliver ready-to-eat fruit.”

Mission Produce is currently sourcing avocados for the U.S. market from California, Mexico and Peru. Its California packhouse alone has 18 ripening rooms with the ability to pack up to 1.2 million pounds of avocados daily, demonstrating the company’s strength in volume and ripening capacity, the release said.