OXNARD, Calif. – Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) (“Mission” or the “Company”), the world leader in sourcing, producing, and distributing fresh Hass avocados, with additional offerings in mangos, today announces the development of its sales and sourcing departments to promote the Company’s rapid growth into emerging markets and additional categories. As part of the advancement, Keith Barnard has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and Sourcing, Brooke Becker has been promoted to Senior Director of North American Retail, and Mark Solis joins Mission as a Sales Representative.
“Growing our business requires growing our talent,” said Steve Barnard, Chief Executive Officer and Founder. “At Mission, we believe in investing in our people and positioning them for maximum success in order to lead us forward in the industry. We are confident that Keith, Brooke and Mark will leverage their industry experience and skills in their new roles to support Mission’s expansive growth.”
Keith Barnard’s new responsibilities include overseeing the Company’s growth into emerging markets, as well as continuing to strengthen the relationship and collaboration between the Sales and Sourcing arms of the company.
“I’m eager to take things to the next level as we actively identify and capitalize on emerging markets,” said Keith Barnard. “We’ve got some exciting activities in the pipeline to match our competitive plans for continued growth.”
Becker will manage Mission’s North American retail development, as well as develop the Company’s sales personnel. She will focus on strengthening the department by enhancing the Company’s world-class service for its customer base and by leading a professional development program. Solis joins Mission with 25 years of experience in produce sales and account management. In support of the Company’s advancement, Solis’ responsibilities will be to build relationships with customers to achieve maximum sales profitability and market penetration.
“Brooke’s continued success in sales has driven impressive results for the Company, while Mark’s more than two decades of industry experience make him a valuable addition to the team,” said Stephen Fink, Vice President of North American Sales. “We are confident that Brooke and Mark will continue driving us forward, especially as we focus on the synergy between our avocado and mango programs and our ability to grow the categories for our customers.”
About Mission Produce, Inc.:
Mission Produce is the global leader in the worldwide avocado business. Since 1983, Mission Produce has been sourcing, producing and distributing fresh Hass avocados, and as of 2021, fresh mangos, to retail, wholesale and foodservice customers in over 25 countries. The vertically integrated Company owns and operates four state-of-the-art packing facilities in key growing locations globally including California, Mexico & Peru and has additional sourcing capabilities in Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, New Zealand, & South Africa, which allow the company to provide a year-round supply of premium fruit. Mission’s global distribution network includes twelve forward distribution centers in North America, China & Europe that offer value-added services such as ripening, bagging, custom packing and logistical management. In addition, Mission owns over 11,000 acres globally, allowing for diversified sourcing and access to complementary growing seasons, while ensuring its customers receive the highest quality fruit possible. For more information, please visit www.missionproduce.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements that, within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “seek”, “could”, “estimate”, “judgment”, “targeting”, “should”, “anticipate”, “goal” and variations of these words and similar expressions, are also intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release address a variety of subjects, including statements about our short-term and long-term assumptions, goals and targets, including our outlook for our fiscal year 2021 operating results. Many of these assumptions relate to matters that are beyond our control and changing rapidly. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurances that our expectations will be attained. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including: limitations regarding the supply of avocados, either through purchasing or growing; the loss of one or more of our largest customers or a reduction in the level of purchases by customers; doing business internationally, including Mexican and Peruvian economic, political and/or societal conditions; fluctuations in market prices of avocados; increasing competition; inherent farming risks; variations in operating results due to the seasonality of the business; general economic conditions; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; increases in costs of commodities or other products used in our business; food safety events and recalls of our products; changes to USDA and FDA regulations, U.S. trade policy, and/or tariff and import/export regulations; restrictions due to health and safety laws; significant costs associated with compliance with environmental laws and regulations; acquisitions of other businesses; the ability of our infrastructure to handle our business needs; supply chain optimization failures or disruptions; disruption to the supply of reliable and cost-effective transportation; loss of key personnel and an adequate labor supply; information system security risks, data protection breaches and systems integration issues; changes in privacy and/or information security laws, policies and/or contractual arrangements; failure to maintain or protect our brand; changes in tax rates or international tax legislation; the viability of an active, liquid, and orderly market for our common stock; volatility in the trading price of our common stock; failure to meet continued Nasdaq listing requirements; concentration of control in our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders over matters submitted to stockholders for approval; limited sources of capital appreciation; the sale into the market of restricted shares; reduced disclosure requirements due to our emerging growth company status; significant costs associated with being a public company and the allocation of significant management resources thereto; reliance on analyst reports; failure to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting; restrictions on takeover attempts in our charter documents and under Delaware law; and the selection of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders; and other risks and factors discussed from time to time in our Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
You can obtain copies of our SEC filings on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation does not intend to, nor does it assume any obligation to, update or supplement any forward-looking statements after the date hereof to reflect actual results or future events or circumstances.
