The World Avocado Organization fired back at what it considers a smear campaign against avocados by a small group of London chefs who claim the water footprint to produce the fruit is too high and thus detrimental to the environment. The small culinary cabal has proposed using imitation guacamole instead of the real thing, and one chef even suggested using fava beans in place of avocados, which WAO Chief Executive Officer Xavier Equihua called the height of hypocrisy, since they require almost 10 times the water to produce. “It’s comical to see how these few London-based chefs propose to

The Hass Avocado Board is hosting their final industry webinar of 2021 on Thursday, Nov.18, 1-1:30 p.m. PDT. Hosted by Alejandro Gavito, HAB’s Senior Business Insights and Data Services Manager, the webinar will provide insider tips on leveraging HAB’s free data and research on their website, including their new store and key categories tracker. The new store and key categories tracker provides the industry with the opportunity to access important data such as overarching avocado sales, fruit and vegetable aisle performance and top U.S. fruit trends. The tracker is just one of many resources —

The Colombia Avocado Board is excited to reveal their new brand image as part of a new strategic plan to increase Colombian avocado imports to the U.S. The initiative is focused on building B2B relationships with U.S. buyers and sharing information about Colombia avocados to highlight their strengths and their opportunity to help supplement the growing U.S. avocado market. “As we kicked off our new strategy, it was important that our logo captured the essence of the diverse ecosystem and tropical rainforests of Colombia,” said Pedro Aguilar, chairman of CAB. “The Andes is the backdrop of our

At some point this fall, Calavo Growers Inc. is expecting to open a new distribution center in Portland, OR, to better service its customers in the Pacific Northwest, including Canada. Rob Wedin, executive vice president of fresh sales for the Santa Paula, CA-based company, said Calavo is continually upgrading its facilities to better serve the changing needs of the retail and foodservice industries. For example, it has added a new bagging machine in the United States this year to help meet the growing demand for bagged avocados. “We try to do as much bagging as we can at the packing

Building on efforts begun several years ago, Avocados from Mexico is continuing to develop promotions to build up sales during the first half of its July to June fiscal year. “Now is the time for Mexico,” said Alvaro Luque, president and CEO of the U.S.-based promotional arm of the Mexico avocado industry. Speaking to The Produce News in October, Luque said that AFM originally concentrated its efforts on the second half of the year — beginning in January — and didn’t develop the first half of the season. That was a good strategy as avocado sales in the United States doubled over the last seven

Terra Exports continues to expand its business with avocados being its leading commodity. Founder Nils Goldschmidt said the company did more than $100 million in business last year, anticipates about 20 percent growth for 2021, and has a short-term goal of surpassing $250 million in sales. “Within 10 years our goal is to be a billion-dollar company,” he said. The Las Vegas, NV-based company claims to do business across 65 countries, while handling a very diverse commodity portfolio, including avocados, berries, citrus and grapes, among 20-plus other commodities. Avocados, sourced mostly from