Mission - Cartama

Steve Barnard, president/chief executive of Mission Produce, and Ricardo Uribe, chief executive of Cartama 

Colombia’s largest Hass avocado producer Cartama has entered a formal marketing and distribution agreement with Mission Produce.

With the addition of Colombia, Mission has now invested capital and infrastructure in eight avocado producing nations across the globe.

“Colombia produces avocados on a year-round basis, and is a natural complement for our destination markets around the world,” said Jim Donovan, Mission’s senior vice president of global sourcing.

“Our agreement with Cartama to market and distribute Colombian avocados gives us an additional source of supply as the category continues to grow globally.”

Cartama has been growing, packing and distributing avocados for over 16 years. The company has been rapidly expanding its production base over recent years, with its total planted area set to be around 1,000ha by the end of 2017.

“We are very enthusiastic about the venture with Mission,” said Ricardo Uribe, Cartama’s chief executive. “Cartama is a world-class producer of Hass avocados and working with Mission gives us access to world markets and the ability to accelerate our aggressive growth plans.”