Mission Produce, Oxnard, California, announced the completion of a multi-million dollar, major renovation and expansion of their packing facility in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico. Mission, a global avocado packer-shipper, has operations in Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
Mission President, Steve Barnard said, “The Mexico packing plant has all of the newest fruit handling technology, energy efficient systems and operational efficiencies making it one of the most modern avocado facilities in the world.”
A 20% increase in demand for avocados in the U.S. was the primary reason behind the overall project. Major expansion was done in the packing area, pre-cooling area, receiving area, cold storage and bagging production area while an integrated automated computer system was incorporated throughout.
“The improvements have more than tripled the packing production rate where we can now easily move 1 million pounds of fruit a day,” said Barnard.
The project began in early 2009 and addresses every step in the packing and shipping of avocados. The cold storage capacity was also more than tripled in size and gives Mission logistical flexibility where we consolidate loads at the source which reduces costs downstream.
Other components of the project include a 3-story, 10,000 sq. ft. office building planned to start in December, production and facility monitoring cameras for internal quality control, state-of-the art-refrigeration with energy efficient equipment and controls, automated monitoring, alarms, messaging, remote access and support capability.
The majority of the avocados packed at the Mexico facility are trucked to one of Mission’s 8 ripening and distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada.
Source: Mission Produce Inc.