Among those are the influence and innovations of Henry Avocado, an Escondido-based grower packer, now celebrating its 100th-year of continuous service to its retail and foodservice customers. All with an eye to bringing fresh, on-time delivery from the sanitized environment of its seven distribution centers.
Briefly, this is its story.
Although Henry Avocado has played a leadership role in advancing the industry, it also points to its longevity as a statement of merit. Operating continually since 1925, it was founded by a newly-married couple with a mutual interest in agriculture that proved enduring beyond its humble origins.
Prior to service in World War I, Charles Henry was a gardener in the affluent Bel-Air area of Los Angeles. On one of the estates where he worked, he was impressed by how the newly planted avocado trees thrived in the mild Southern California climate.
Upon his return from the military, he met and married Florence Schoeffel, whose family-owned citrus groves east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley. Spurred by a mutual interest in farming, they agreed an orchard property would be an ideal place to raise a family.
By pooling their resources, the newlyweds purchased an 80-acre parcel in the Escondido area of northern San Diego County and planted an avocado orchard. Over the years the crop transitioned from the Fuerte to other varieties including its own short-lived Henry Select. The Hass variety, which the family helped popularize, literally took root on the ranch and the industry in the mid-1950s with its many product features that has made it the choice of 99 percent growers and consumers.
Henry’s Bravocado brand was a high note in its early history and has a serendipitous origin. The classically trained piano instructor for the Henry’s two sons, Gil and Warren, was moved to exclaim “Bravo” upon learning that the Henry avocado entry had won a blue ribbon at the 1938 Los Angeles County Fair. Charles and Florence Henry capitalized on the moment by uniting “bravo” with “avocado” and… Voila, a lyrical and lasting brand name was coined. Bravocado remains the name of the Henry premium label recognized by those insisting on consistent freshness and quality today. Complementing Bravocado is the Green Goddess brand that is primarily the option of its foodservice customers.
The tragic death of Charles in a tractor accident on the farm in 1953 shocked, but did not slow the family business. Gil and Warren took on leadership roles while their mother Florence continued to handle the accounting. From that point on, the family worked together and left indelible marks on the company as well as the industry.
Like his father, Gil Henry was a world war veteran with service in WWII. He took on the marketing and packing operations for the company. Warren, a Korean War vet, stepped up to manage the farming operation which was rapidly expanding with the planting of new groves.
Within a few years, they invited their cousin George Schoeffel, a grocery retailer, to open a sales office at the produce market in Los Angeles. The move quickly expanded the business and attracted additional partners from both coasts.
As the world now knows, ripening avocados (and other fruit) is managed by controlling its exposure to a gas called ethylene, which is produced naturally by the fruit itself. Controlling exposure to the gas ensures all the fruit ripens at the same time.
The first avocado producer to embrace this science, however, was Gil Henry, who was inspired by a consumer research project in 1983 that demonstrated how countless retail sales were lost by the natural hardness of the fruit. As a remedy, he designed the first ripening room in avocado history, assisted by Henry consultant Vic Tokar, to accelerate, and thereby control, the ripening process.
Gil, who passed away in 2013 at age 88, spent a career showing retailers they could greatly reduce the shrink from the bin and bottom line, by offering consumers the exact stage of ripeness they individually required. Today the company has 120 ripening rooms in its seven distribution centers.
Henry calls its process CustomRipe, which is a registered trademark. A one-page HASS AVOCADO CustomRipe Ordering Guide, a marketing fixture in the industry for almost four decades, is available from any of Henry’s marketing and sales offices listed on its website.
Henry expanded from being a grower, packer and shipper, to year-round supplier in 1990, when Avocados from Mexico became a reality. The combination of the company’s proven custom ripening process and abundant resources was the impetus to create the marketing mantra - Always Fresh, Always On Time, Always Just Ripe, which anchors the company’s promotions.
Year-round product availability also enabled Henry to open new regional markets. From 1994 to 2017, six regional distribution centers were opened in Arizona, Texas and North Carolina, in addition to California. All feature the same unbroken cold chain from field to final destination and have a total 120 ripening rooms.
All distribution sites are located near major highways and serve the select regional market with a fleet of GPS/temperature monitored tractor trailers. Such precision allows the fruit to be delivered as ordered at its optimal appearance. All to facilitate sales, reduce shrink and accommodate special orders on short notice.
Product purity from sourcing to delivery underscores Henry’s attention to freshness and quality.
An around the clock regimen that is among the finest in the fresh produce industry, and one that far exceeds industry standards, is the key element in an upgraded sanitation program that has been in place since 2019.
Capping the innovations is a product flow sequence that limits the possibility of cross contamination by isolating all product handling equipment to designated zones. For example, any bins used in overnight storage are cleaned and sanitized with a bin-washer before being returned to the field for reuse.
Henry also uses the products and services of Oxyion, whose process features a scientifically-validated antiviral and antimicrobial technology that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella and E.coli from the premises.
“Even as we recognize and celebrate our 100-year anniversary, the steps we’ve taken toward food safety - and consistent product excellence - keep us looking to the future rather than where we’ve been,” Phil Henry said.
