Mission adds asparagus with purchase of Lee Pacific
Mission adds asparagus with purchase of Lee Pacific
Oxnard, CA-based Mission Produce Inc. recently announced its entry into the fresh asparagus industry with its agreement to purchase the assets of Salinas, CA-based Lee Pacific LLC.
The purchase includes a California and Mexican program that will strengthen Mission's strategic relationship with a Peruvian company with which Mission works in avocados to enable a year-round fresh asparagus program, said Steve Barnard, president and chief executive officer of Mission Produce.
Mission Produce, 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 year-long project. Mission's 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," Mr. Barnard said. "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."
Mr. Barnard said that Mission has the capabilities and contacts in place and a broad customer base that will utilize a year-round asparagus deal that is up to Mission's quality standards. Marketing, merchandising, staffing and transportation are other Mission assets that contribute to the program, he said.
According to Ross Wileman, Mission's vice president of sales and marketing, Mission's asparagus sales began in December and will gradually build as it heads into the Mexican season.
"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," Mr. Wileman said in a press release. "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."
Mission has brought on "most of Lee Pacific's employees," which number about eight between field personnel and salespeople, Mr. Barnard said. Responses from Mission's customers have been "extremely positive," Mr. Barnard said.
The asparagus harvest in Mexico was scheduled to start the second week of January and run into March. The California asparagus harvest around Stockton will run from March through May, followed by a return to Peru. Mr. Barnard said that the deal with Lee Pacific -- previously managed by Salinas-based Growers Express LLC -- was in the works for about a year.
The purchase includes a California and Mexican program that will strengthen Mission's strategic relationship with a Peruvian company with which Mission works in avocados to enable a year-round fresh asparagus program, said Steve Barnard, president and chief executive officer of Mission Produce.
Mission Produce, 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 year-long project. Mission's 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," Mr. Barnard said. "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."
Mr. Barnard said that Mission has the capabilities and contacts in place and a broad customer base that will utilize a year-round asparagus deal that is up to Mission's quality standards. Marketing, merchandising, staffing and transportation are other Mission assets that contribute to the program, he said.
According to Ross Wileman, Mission's vice president of sales and marketing, Mission's asparagus sales began in December and will gradually build as it heads into the Mexican season.
"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," Mr. Wileman said in a press release. "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."
Mission has brought on "most of Lee Pacific's employees," which number about eight between field personnel and salespeople, Mr. Barnard said. Responses from Mission's customers have been "extremely positive," Mr. Barnard said.
The asparagus harvest in Mexico was scheduled to start the second week of January and run into March. The California asparagus harvest around Stockton will run from March through May, followed by a return to Peru. Mr. Barnard said that the deal with Lee Pacific -- previously managed by Salinas-based Growers Express LLC -- was in the works for about a year.
