Mission Produce to Distribute Columbian Avocados; Washington Cherries are on Record Pace

 “Colombia produces avocados on a year-round basis, and is a natural complement for our destination markets around the world,” Jim Donovan, senior vice president of global sourcing for Mission Produce, said in a press release. “Our agreement with Cartama to market and distribute Colombian avocados gives us an additional source of supply as the category continues to grow globally.”

Cartama is the largest producer of hass avocados in Colombia, and has been growing and distributing avocados for over 16 years.  It will have nearly 2,500 acres of hass in production by the end of 2017.

“We are very enthusiastic about the venture with Mission,” Ricardo Uribe, CEO of Cartama, said in the release. “Cartama is a world-class producer of hass avocados and working with Mission gives us access to world markets and the ability to accelerate our aggressive growth plans.”

Steve Barnard, president and CEO of Mission Produce, said Colombia is the eighth country where Mission has invested capital and infrastructure.

“We are continuing to grow our global footprint and planning for the future,” Barnard said in the release.

Just this year, Mission Produce has opened ripening centers in Beijing, Calgary, Alberta, and The Netherlands.

Washington cherry shipments are expected to be the largest one on record this season with an estimated 26 million-27 million 20-pound boxes being shipped, mostly by truck.

The record, set in 2014, was 23.2 million boxes.  The Washington cherry industry has averaged 530,000 boxes per day for the previous 30 days.  Previously, Washington had not come close to averaging even 500,000 boxes a day for that length of time.

This season the industry has already shipped 21 million boxes, and nearly a quarter of the crop remains to be shipped.  While a couple of grower-shippers have finished shipping cherries,  numerous others have several weeks remaining.