Mission Produce Inc. released its latest sustainability report, “Finest for the Future,” which is the company’s fourth annual sustainability report to communicate on Mission’s operating procedures, projects, achievements and use of resources. Mission Produce’s sustainability strategy centers around three pillars: people, product and planet. “Every year, we strive to build on the progress we’ve made to promote a more sustainable future for generations to come,” said Steve Barnard, CEO of Mission Produce. “We’ve implemented initiatives throughout our global supply chain to help us be more

This spring the California Avocado Commission is debuting its “What’s Inside a California Avocado” marketing program. The advertising and social media campaign spotlights the California difference by going straight to the groves, showcasing growers’ deep roots and focusing on communication of locally grown and sustainably farmed. The ads were filmed in beautiful California avocado groves in San Diego and Ventura counties and feature two multi-generational families of California avocado growers, the Serratos and the Lambs. “This campaign is about confidently leaning into what makes California

As a longtime grower-packer-shipper of California avocados, Index Fresh has a full portfolio of the Hass variety with many different retail and foodservice offerings, but it has also made a concerted effort to be the leader with the new GEM variety. That variety has been available commercially for more than a decade but a big push was made a handful of years ago as more and more growers have planted acreage to augment their Hass plantings. “Index Fresh leaned into the GEM variety early on,” said John Dmytriw, vice president of business development for the Bloomington, CA-based operation. “We

With a portfolio of larger fruit, strong marketing conditions and a diminishing supply of Mexican avocados, Peter Shore of Calavo Growers Inc. is optimistic that 2024 will be a positive season for those California growers that have produced a reasonably good crop from their trees. While the total crop has been estimated to be down about 12 percent. Shore, who is Calavo’s vice president of production management, said the decline is not distributed evenly across the board. “The way the production is shaping up, the majority of the crop is going to be coming from Santa Paula, the Santa Clara

In total, the 2024 California avocado crop has been estimated to be down about 12 percent from last season, but McDaniel Fruit Co., headquartered in Fallbrook, CA, does not expect to see a decline in its production. “In conjunction with our growing partners, we do plant thousands of new trees every year in California,” said Carson McDaniel, a vice president for the longtime grower-shipper-packer. “So, while the industry is expected to be down, we expect to have the same volume of fruit as last year if not more.” He explained that McDaniel has been engaged in planting new trees on a continual

Heading in a new promotional direction for 2024, the California Avocado Commission is promoting the sustainable growing practices employed by its local growers in its new advertising and marketing campaign. Terry Splane, who is vice president of marketing for CAC, relayed that the commodity board went through an agency review in late 2023, picking a new advertising agency and developing a new campaign that will be kicked off officially in April. He explained that the previous campaign focused on the California lifestyle, connecting the point of origin and California avocados with many of that