Calavo Growers
An international produce and consumer-foods company specializing in avocados, fresh fruit, guacamole, and other prepared foods.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Calavo Growers, Inc. is a United States-based produce and consumer-foods company built around the marketing, packing, distribution, and preparation of avocados and related fresh foods. Its corporate headquarters are in Santa Paula, California, and its supply network has included avocado production and sourcing in California, Mexico, Chile, and other parts of Central and South America. The company serves retail and foodservice customers, distributing products to supermarkets, restaurants, institutional buyers, and individual consumers in the United States and selected international markets. The business originated on January 21, 1924, as the California Avocado Growers' Exchange. California growers had planted avocado trees from Mexican seed, but as those trees began producing commercial quantities of fruit, growers lacked an established marketing outlet. The new cooperative was created to aggregate production, standardize packing, and market avocados collectively. In its first year it packed approximately 18,000 pounds of fruit, helping establish a more organized commercial foundation for California's avocado industry. The cooperative subsequently adopted the Calavo name, formed from “California” and “avocado” through a naming contest. Calavo became associated with packaged, marketed, and branded avocados rather than with a single farm or growing region. During the 1930s, the cooperative expanded beyond avocados into products including limes, coconuts, kiwifruit, mangoes, and persimmons. Papayas were added later, in the late 1940s. Calavo also participated in broader industry promotion. In 1961, it played a role in the creation and development of the California Avocado Advisory Board, an organization intended to promote California avocados across the industry rather than only the cooperative's own growers. That organization is now known as the California Avocado Commission. For most of its early history, Calavo operated as a grower cooperative. After 78 years, its members voted to convert the business into a public company. Calavo Growers began trading under the ticker CVGW on the NASDAQ National Market System in 2002. The company retained strong ties to the grower community, with its board historically consisting largely of longtime avocado growers. In 2013, Calavo was included on Forbes' America's Best Small Companies list. The company's activities have included fresh produce, prepared foods, and distribution-related operations. Fresh offerings have centered on avocados, with additional products such as tomatoes, pineapples, papayas, and other fruit. Its prepared-food operations have included guacamole and fresh avocado products. Calavo has operated packing and preparation facilities in Mexico, including a 50,000-square-foot avocado packinghouse and a 90,000-square-foot facility for preparing and packaging fresh avocado products. These products have been supplied to retail and foodservice customers across the United States and to customers in Canada, Europe, and Asia. Until 2024, Calavo reported operations through three divisions: Fresh Products, Calavo Foods, and Renaissance Food Group, commonly referred to as RFG. On August 15, 2024, Calavo sold the RFG division to F&S Fresh Foods for $83 million. In January 2026, Mission Produce announced an agreement to acquire Calavo in a transaction described as having an approximate value of $483 million in cash and stock. The transaction's completion status is not established by the supplied reference material. Accordingly, Calavo's long-term ownership and operating structure should be checked against current company filings and transaction disclosures.
History
Calavo Growers traces its origins to the expansion of California's avocado industry in the early twentieth century. California growers had planted avocado trees originating from Mexico, and by 1923 those trees were producing enough fruit to create a commercial marketing problem: individual growers did not have a sufficiently developed outlet for the crop. On January 21, 1924, growers established the California Avocado Growers' Exchange as a cooperative modeled in part on successful agricultural marketing organizations. The cooperative's first-year packing volume was approximately 18,000 pounds, marking an early step in the organization of California avocado marketing. The exchange later adopted the Calavo name. The name combined “California” and “avocado” and was selected through a naming contest. Rather than functioning only as an agricultural association, Calavo developed a recognizable commercial identity for packaged and marketed avocados. This helped connect the cooperative's grower base with buyers and consumers and contributed to the development of a more unified California avocado category. Calavo broadened its produce range during the 1930s. Additions included limes, coconuts, kiwifruit, mangoes, and persimmons, while papayas were added in the late 1940s. The expansion made the organization less dependent on a single fruit while preserving avocado as its central product. Calavo also became involved in industry-level promotion. In 1961, it helped create and develop the California Avocado Advisory Board, whose remit was to promote California avocados for the benefit of the wider industry rather than solely for members of the cooperative. The board is now known as the California Avocado Commission. For 78 years, Calavo remained a growers cooperative. In 2002, its members approved a conversion to a publicly traded company, Calavo Growers, Inc. The company was assigned the NASDAQ ticker CVGW. Its public-company structure retained substantial continuity with its agricultural origins: the board was composed primarily of longtime avocado growers, according to the supplied reference. The company later received recognition in 2013 through inclusion on Forbes' America's Best Small Companies list. As a public company, Calavo developed a business spanning fresh produce, prepared foods, and related supply-chain activities. Its core fresh-produce business marketed avocados grown in California, Mexico, and Chile, while its broader produce portfolio included tomatoes, pineapples, and papayas from Hawaii, among other fruit. Calavo's activities included packing, preparation, distribution, and marketing rather than simply farming. In Mexico, the company operated a 50,000-square-foot packinghouse for fresh avocados and a separate 90,000-square-foot facility for fresh avocado preparations such as guacamole. Calavo's customers included retailers and foodservice operators throughout the United States, as well as customers in Canada, Europe, and Asia. This distribution model placed the company between growers, processors, logistics operations, retailers, restaurants, and end consumers. Its prepared-food offering addressed demand for convenient avocado products, particularly guacamole and other fresh avocado preparations. Until 2024, the company organized its activities into Fresh Products, Calavo Foods, and Renaissance Food Group. On August 15, 2024, Calavo sold Renaissance Food Group to F&S Fresh Foods for $83 million. The divestiture represented a portfolio decision affecting one of the company's operating divisions. In January 2026, Mission Produce announced an intended acquisition of Calavo in a transaction described as approximately $483 million in cash and stock. The supplied material does not confirm completion, so the post-announcement ownership position requires verification from current filings and transaction documents.
- 2026
Mission Produce announces proposed acquisition
[1]Mission Produce announces a proposed cash-and-stock acquisition of Calavo described as worth approximately $483 million.
- 2024
Renaissance Food Group is divested
[1]Calavo sells its Renaissance Food Group division to F&S Fresh Foods on August 15 for $83 million.
- 2013
Named to Forbes' America's Best Small Companies list
[1]Calavo is included in Forbes' America's Best Small Companies list.
- 2002
Calavo becomes publicly traded
[1]After 78 years as a grower cooperative, Calavo members approve the conversion to a public company. Calavo begins trading under CVGW on the NASDAQ National Market System.
- 1961
California Avocado Advisory Board is created
[1]Calavo helps create and develop an industry-wide advisory board for promoting California avocados, later known as the California Avocado Commission.
- 1940
Papayas are added
[1]Papayas are added to the product range in the late 1940s.
- 1930
Produce range expands beyond avocados
[1]During the early 1930s, the cooperative adds limes, coconuts, kiwifruit, mangoes, and persimmons to its offerings.
- 1924
California Avocado Growers' Exchange is established
[1]California growers establish a cooperative on January 21 to create a coordinated marketing outlet for the state's expanding avocado crop.
- 1924
The cooperative packs its first crop
[1]The exchange packs approximately 18,000 pounds of avocados during its first year of operation.
- 1920
The Calavo name is adopted
[1]The cooperative adopts a name combining California and avocado after a naming contest. The exact adoption year is not specified in the supplied source.
Products and positioning
A grower-connected, vertically coordinated produce and fresh-prepared-food supplier focused on avocados and convenient avocado-based foods for retail and foodservice customers.
Fresh produce · 1924
Fresh avocados
Calavo's principal product category consists of fresh avocados marketed from growing and sourcing regions including California, Mexico, and Chile. The company has historically connected growers with retail and foodservice buyers through packing, grading, distribution, and branded marketing activities.
Prepared foods
Guacamole
Calavo's prepared-food activities include guacamole and other fresh avocado preparations. These products are designed for convenient use by retailers, restaurants, foodservice operators, and individual consumers and are prepared and packaged through specialized facilities.
Fresh produce · 1930
Other fresh produce
The company's broader produce portfolio has included tomatoes, pineapples, Hawaiian papayas, limes, mangoes, kiwifruit, coconuts, and persimmons. The range reflects Calavo's historical effort to complement its avocado business with additional fruit and vegetable categories.
Marketing campaigns
- 1961Industry-wide California avocado promotion
California · United States
Calavo supported the creation and development of the California Avocado Advisory Board, an industry body intended to promote California avocados broadly rather than only the cooperative's own output. The organization later became the California Avocado Commission.
Outcome. The advisory organization continued under the California Avocado Commission name.
Brand decisions
2026
Proposed acquisition by Mission ProduceM&ABackground
Mission Produce announced an intention to acquire Calavo as part of a cash-and-stock transaction.
Action taken
Mission Produce announced a proposed acquisition described as having an approximate value of $483 million.
Aftermath
The supplied reference does not confirm transaction closing, final consideration, regulatory approval, or the resulting ownership structure.
Announced transaction value. Approximately $483 million (January 2026 announcement)
2024
Sale of Renaissance Food GroupM&ABackground
Until 2024, Renaissance Food Group was one of Calavo's three reported operating divisions alongside Fresh Products and Calavo Foods.
Action taken
Calavo sold the Renaissance Food Group division to F&S Fresh Foods on August 15, 2024.
Aftermath
The divestiture reduced Calavo's operating portfolio and left Fresh Products and Calavo Foods as the principal divisions identified in the supplied material.
Sale consideration. $83 million (August 15, 2024)
2002
Conversion from grower cooperative to public companyStrategyBackground
Calavo had operated as a growers cooperative for 78 years before its members voted to change the company's ownership and capital structure.
Action taken
The members approved conversion into Calavo Growers, Inc., which began trading under ticker CVGW on the NASDAQ National Market System.
Aftermath
The company became publicly traded while maintaining strong ties to avocado growers and a board historically dominated by longtime growers.
Recent events
Reported
Calavo Growers announces CFO appointment[3]
Calavo Growers announced that Mariela Matute had been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective October 11, 2021.
Reported
Calavo announces agreement to acquire Simply Fresh Fruit[4]
Calavo Growers announced that its Renaissance Food Group subsidiary signed a definitive agreement to acquire SFFI Company, which does business as Simply Fresh Fruit. The transaction was subject to customary closing conditions and was expected to close in Calavo’s first half.
Sources5 sources
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