Calavo Growers facts for kids
| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: CVGW |
| Industry | Agricultural Food Products |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters |
1141 Cummings Rd, Santa Paula, CA 93060
,
United States
|
|
Key people
|
Lecil E. Cole (CEO and chairman of the board) |
| Revenue |  $1.08 billion (2017) |
|
Number of employees
|
1,848 (As of 2014[update]) |
Calavo Growers, Inc. is a big company that works with fruits, especially avocados. They package and send avocados and other fresh fruits to restaurants, stores, and people all over the world.
Even though the company is based in Santa Paula, California, their avocados grow in many places. These include California, Central America, and South America. Calavo Growers started in 1924. It began as a group of farmers working together, called an agricultural cooperative. This company was very important in starting the avocado growing business in California.
Calavo Growers used to have three main parts: Fresh Products, Calavo Foods, and Renaissance Food Group (RFG). However, the RFG part of the company was sold on August 15, 2024, to another company called F & S Fresh Foods.
Contents
How Calavo Growers Started
Calavo Growers, Inc. began on January 21, 1924. It was first called the California Avocado Growers' Exchange. Many farmers in California were very interested in growing avocados. They had planted avocado seeds that came from Mexico.
By 1923, these avocado trees were growing enough fruit to sell. But there was a problem: farmers didn't have a good way to sell their avocados. The founders of Calavo looked at other successful farmer groups. They learned from groups like the California Fruit Growers Exchange. They used ideas that would work best for avocados.
In its first year, the California Avocado Growers Exchange packed 18,000 pounds of fruit. This was the start of the California avocado industry. Soon after, the group started using the name "Calavo" as a brand. This name came from a contest where people combined "California" and "avocado." Calavo quickly became known for high-quality avocados.
In the early 1930s, Calavo started selling more than just avocados. They added limes, coconuts, kiwis, mangos, and persimmons. Papayas were added to their products in the late 1940s.
Helping the Avocado Industry
In 1961, the California Avocado Advisory Board was created. Calavo played a big part in setting it up. The goal of this board was to help sell all Californian avocados. It wasn't just for the farmers in the Calavo group. Today, this board is known as the California Avocado Commission.
After 78 years, the farmers who owned Calavo decided to make it a public company. This means anyone could buy shares of the company. In 2002, Calavo Growers Inc. started trading on the NASDAQ stock market. Its special symbol there is CVGW. Even today, many people on the company's board of directors are longtime avocado growers.
What Calavo Growers Sells Today
Calavo Growers sells fresh avocados grown in California, Mexico, and Chile. They also sell other fruits like tomatoes, pineapples, and Hawaiian papayas.
In Mexico, Calavo has a large building where they pack and ship fresh avocados. They also have another big facility that prepares fresh avocado products, like guacamole. Their products are sent all over the U.S. to stores and restaurants. They also send products to Canada, Europe, and Asia.
See also
- California Avocado Society
- California Avocado Commission
