GreenFruit Avocados' Brian Gomez Discusses Colombian Avocado Program
NEWPORT BEACH, CA - GreenFruit Avocados is expanding its reach into Colombia in a big way. Throughout 2018 and 2019, the company has planted over 450 acres of the Hass variety in Colombia, with additional plans to build out that acreage in 2020. I spoke with Brian Gomez, President, to learn more about GreenFruit’s growing practices, upcoming packing house, and more, and how these plans further its commitment to offering its foodservice and retail partners more options.
“Currently, we have adapted the same growing practices we mastered in Mexico for more than three generations,” Brian explained to me. “Additionally, 50 percent of our crop will be organic and Bio-Dynamic certified, which we feel is important for our retail partners.”
Working alongside a consortium of local growers, GreenFruit is helping those in the region develop their groves. Throughout this process, GreenFruit has cultivated deep relationships, which provides the grower, packer, and shipper to market this fruit in the United States.
As GreenFruit leans into expanding both its footprint and its distribution capabilities, I asked Brian how this state-of-the-art packing house will help support these plans.
“The packing house will help us expand into emerging markets where we are seeing the biggest growth happen. We will also help growers in Colombia by giving them the option of letting us market their fruit under our GreenFruit brand,” Brian remarked. “The packing house will allow us to supply our retail and foodservice programs year-round.”
Given that Colombia is the newest country to gain access into the United States over the last few years, the industry is relatively new. A few months ago, Brian shared that GreenFruit brought in Hass Colombian avocados from neighboring growers whose trees were a little over six years old. After sending the fruit to foodservice and retail partners, the positive feedback was immediate.
“Colombian avocados are an ideal investment for GreenFruit since we want to give our customers an alternative country of origin that will soon be able to supply the global markets 52 weeks out of the year. We are the grower, we are the packer, and we are the marketer, which for us is the best model to have in these growing years of the avocado industry,” Brian concluded.
For the latest on what’s happening in the ever-exciting world of avocados, keep reading AndNowUKnow.
