In past years, the season for “SlimCado” brand green-skin Florida avocados from Brooks Tropicals LLC in Homestead, FL, has wound down with the arrival of the new year. But this year “we’ve got new ‘SlimCado’ varieties that extend our calendar dates,” said Marketing Director Mary Ostlund.

Giumarra Agricom International LLC in Escondido, CA, has “just recently hired an individual that will be working with our East Coast team to develop Midwest and East Coast wholesale, foodservice and retail accounts,” said General Manager Bruce Dowhan in an interview with The Produce News July 25.

Preconditioning and bagging programs at Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA, have grown steadily through the years, but not always as a percentage of volume, according to Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales.

In 2010, which was a large crop year for California avocados and a record year for aggregate avocado volume in the United States, “we saw a smaller percentage of those value-added programs in our sales,” he said.

Chiquita Brands released financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2012 and announced restructuring activities designed to increase long-term profitability.

The company said that the restructuring will result in at least $60 million in annual savings, and that a focus on its core banana and salad businesses will be a key element to the plan.

“This season, we are moving more volume than we ever have,” Dana Thomas, president of Index Fresh Inc. in Bloomington, CA, said July 27.

“What we see right now [are] markets that are consuming a tremendous amount of avocados,” he said. “The combination of all the different countries of origin” together with attractive market pricing “has allowed a lot of promotions,” and that has allowed “a lot of customers to move a lot of product.”

Large crops in any commodity generally bring promotional opportunities, and the record aggregate volume of avocados in the U.S. market this year from all sources is certainly providing customers with those promotional opportunities.