A joint venture with ZZ2 Boerdery, one of South Africa’s leading farming firms, and Criterion Africa Partners, a private equity firm developing assets along the forestry value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa, was announced by Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVO), a global leader in sourcing, producing, and distributing fresh Hass avocados with complementary offerings in mangos and blueberries.
In the prestigious developing region of Limpopo, South Africa, the joint venture firm Selokwe Agri (“Selokwe”) is anticipated to grow to over 1,000 hectares of avocado orchards. At Selokwe, ZZ2 has developed more than 250 hectares of avocado trees, the first of which should be harvested in 2023.
The mission has hired Core Fruit to handle its shipping and operations to the European market, where the majority of the volume from South Africa is planned for distribution. Mission Produce is vertically integrated in Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, and South Africa, and manages over 5,500 hectares of avocados.
