President John Pawlowski will replace founder Steve Barnard as chief executive officer in April next year
Mission Produce has announced a leadership succession plan that will see founder Steve Barnard replaced as chief executive officer by current president and COO John Pawlowski.
The changes will become effective at the close of the company’s annual meeting of shareholders in April 2026.
Barnard, who co-founded Mission in 1983 and served as its CEO since 1988, will transition to executive Chairman of the board, where he will continue to support Mission’s strategic direction as board chair while working closely with Pawlowski and the leadership team in an advisory capacity.
In a statement, Mission said the actions position it to successfully execute on its long-term strategic plan, accelerate growth, and deliver value to shareholders.
“Over the past four decades, our team has built Mission into the global leader in avocados – expanding our world-class growing operations, strengthening our distribution network across four continents, and establishing Mission as the partner of choice for retailers and foodservice customers worldwide,” noted Barnard.
”In the past two fiscal years, we delivered phenomenal results that demonstrate the extraordinary coordination and effectiveness of our team, completed a multi-year transformational capital investment cycle, and further enhanced the company’s cash flow generation and balance sheet to capitalise on exciting future opportunities.
”Since joining Mission, John has brought tremendous leadership and operational expertise, and I am confident that his strategic vision and decades of experience in the global food industry makes him the ideal leader to guide Mission through its next chapter of growth,” he continued.
”I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I look forward to supporting John and the team in my new role as executive chairman of the board.”
Pawlowski, who joined Mission in 2024, said he is “honoured” to take on the role of CEO, and expressed gratitude to Barnard and the group board for their confidence in him.
“Mission Produce is exceptionally well-positioned – our investments in world-class growing operations and global distribution infrastructure have created significant durable competitive advantages that are driving our strong performance,” he enthused.
“As we pivot to a period of greater free cash flow generation, I am excited to lead our talented team as we continue to drive avocado consumption globally and deliver value for our customers, grower partners, and shareholders.
”The future is bright for Mission Produce, and I look forward to building on the incredible foundation we have created under Steve’s leadership,” he added.
Results revealed
In a separate statement, Mission also revealed its results for full year of fiscal 2025, with the company achieving record annual revenue levels.
Total revenue increased 13 per cent to US$1.39bn for the year, it said, driven by ”strong execution” and avocado volume growth of 7 per cent in marketing and distribution and ”significantly higher yields” from owned Peruvian orchards in international farming.
Net income attributable to Mission Produce increased 3 per cent to US$37.7mn, compared to US$36.7mn in fiscal 2024.
Adjusted net income grew 6 per cent to US$56.2mn, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 3 per cent to US$110.8mn.
Owned exportable avocado production volume sold increased approximately 144 per cent to 105mn pounds for the 2025 harvest season.
Volume was positively impacted by a return to normal growing conditions following a period of challenging weather-related events in the prior year.
“Fiscal 2025 was a defining year for Mission Produce,” said Barnard.
”Throughout the year, our connected commercial organisation demonstrated remarkable agility – pivoting to capitalise on market opportunities across North America, Europe, and Asia – each of which experienced growth for the quarter and full year.
”We were able to optimise our owned Peruvian production across customers and markets in a balanced fashion that drove category penetration and deepened key customer relationships,” he explained.
”Whether navigating pricing dynamics or managing supply across regions, our team leveraged the full breadth of our capabilities to drive volume growth and optimise per-unit margins.
”Combined with our company-wide effort to enhance collaboration, data-driven decision making, and disciplined execution, I’m confident Mission is well positioned to continue growing share through expanding our presence in the years ahead,” Barnard commented.
“We enter fiscal 2026 with strong financial momentum and a very healthy balance sheet. We generated more than US$180mn of operating cash flow over the past two years.
”With our heavy capital investment cycle now complete and capital expenditures expected to step down to approximately US$40mn in fiscal 2026, we are positioned to accelerate free cash flow generation which provides us with great flexibility to create value for our shareholders,” he concluded.
