Mexican avocados are “very important” in the U.S. distribution network of McDaniel Fruit Co. in Fallbrook, CA, according to Rankin McDaniel Sr., president of the company.

“Perhaps 50 percent of our distribution requirements are going to be supplied out of Mexico during the 2014-15 season,” principally October through June, he said.

The importance of the Mexican product in McDaniel Fruit’s distribution is “market region specific,” McDaniel continued. “The northeastern part of the U.S. and the western part of the U.S. will be the primary destination points for the Mexican avocados” in the company’s “Linda Vista” brand.

McDaniel Fruit has consistently seen a 10 to 15 percent annual growth in its “Linda Vista” brand program out of Mexico, McDaniel added.

For the coming year, the company projects an increase of approximately 25 to 30 percent over last year in avocados out of Mexico for its U.S. distribution network, he said. The company’s relationships in Mexico “have expanded to include some new growers, directly and through some partnerships with additional traditional avocado grower-packer-shipper organizations.”

All of those relationships are “directed specifically towards the quality and the standards that we require for the ‘Linda Vista’ brand in the marketplace,” he said. “The Linda Vista brand has been in the marketplace for over half a century now, and it is a well-accepted, respected and sought-after brand in the markets where it is actively distributed. The reason for that is the quality of the product that goes into the pack.”

It is also important to be sure there is “a connect” between supply and logistics in order to assure that the supply “gets to the U.S. in a timely fashion so the customer can have the product on time, on schedule and in the condition they want,” whether that is at “a particular degree of preconditioned state or ripeness” or in a hard green state, McDaniel said.

“That is what McDaniel Fruit excels at,” he continued. “That is what a customer would expect when buying a ‘Linda Vista’ brand avocado from McDaniel Fruit Co.”

At McDaniel Fruit, “we apply the same standards to any of our global sourcing countries for the ‘Linda Vista’ sales and distribution network” in the United States, McDaniel said. “That would include Peru, Chile, California and Mexico,” he added. Customers “can expect, in any transition from any country of origin — including Mexico — the same quality standards on a consistent basis.”

McDaniel Fruit is currently expanding its distribution points in the United States for avocados from Mexico and all other sources, McDaniel noted. That includes an expansion of refrigeration and bagging capabilities “to accommodate the increased demand that we are seeing for ‘Linda Vista’ brand avocados.”