Mission buys Lee Pacific Asparagus
Mission buys Lee Pacific Asparagus
Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA, announced its entry into the fresh asparagus industry with its agreement to purchase the assets of Lee Pacific Asparagus in Salinas, CA.
The purchase includes a California and Mexican program which will strengthen Mission's strategic relationship with a Peruvian company to enable a year-round, fresh asparagus program.
Mission, a global avocado packer, processor and distributor, has operations in California, Denver, Chicago, New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and Mexico. Over the past five years, Mission has developed a national ripening and distribution network that has contributed to extraordinary growth in avocado sales.
The Lee Pacific purchase is the culmination of a yearlong project. Mission's significant Peruvian connection allows the leveraging of Mission's capabilities into another product line. The purchase gives Mission a California/Mexico asparagus source from January to June which complements its Peruvian source from May to January.
"Our partners in Peru represent a long-term alliance in our avocado program," Chief Executive Officer Steve Barnard said in a Dec. 11 statement. "They also represent an eight-month supply source for asparagus. Our thought process was to leverage our nationwide distribution network that we developed for ripe avocados." He added, "We have the capabilities in place, the contacts in place and a broad customer base that will utilize a year-round asparagus deal that's up to Mission quality standards. Marketing, merchandising, staffing and transportation are other Mission assets that contribute to the program."
"Mission asparagus sales began in December and will gradually build as we head into the Mexican season," Ross Wileman, vice president of sales and marketing at Mission, added in the statement. "Consistent with the tremendous success we have had in partnering with our retail and foodservice customers on the avocado program, we expect similar results as we launch the asparagus deal. There are definite synergies involved in providing two commodities -- sales, marketing and logistics to mention a few. As far as asparagus and avocados, our customers can have one-stop shopping on a year-round basis."
The purchase includes a California and Mexican program which will strengthen Mission's strategic relationship with a Peruvian company to enable a year-round, fresh asparagus program.
Mission, a global avocado packer, processor and distributor, has operations in California, Denver, Chicago, New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and Mexico. Over the past five years, Mission has developed a national ripening and distribution network that has contributed to extraordinary growth in avocado sales.
The Lee Pacific purchase is the culmination of a yearlong project. Mission's significant Peruvian connection allows the leveraging of Mission's capabilities into another product line. The purchase gives Mission a California/Mexico asparagus source from January to June which complements its Peruvian source from May to January.
"Our partners in Peru represent a long-term alliance in our avocado program," Chief Executive Officer Steve Barnard said in a Dec. 11 statement. "They also represent an eight-month supply source for asparagus. Our thought process was to leverage our nationwide distribution network that we developed for ripe avocados." He added, "We have the capabilities in place, the contacts in place and a broad customer base that will utilize a year-round asparagus deal that's up to Mission quality standards. Marketing, merchandising, staffing and transportation are other Mission assets that contribute to the program."
"Mission asparagus sales began in December and will gradually build as we head into the Mexican season," Ross Wileman, vice president of sales and marketing at Mission, added in the statement. "Consistent with the tremendous success we have had in partnering with our retail and foodservice customers on the avocado program, we expect similar results as we launch the asparagus deal. There are definite synergies involved in providing two commodities -- sales, marketing and logistics to mention a few. As far as asparagus and avocados, our customers can have one-stop shopping on a year-round basis."
