Orchestrating the Seasons

A year-round avocado program is far more than a series of shipments timed correctly. It is a musical score.

Arranging one is as complex as composing for an orchestra. And in avocados, the audience is the consumer. With the right supplier partners, the execution sounds seamless: the strings and the woodwinds blending so cleanly you never hear the seam between them, and the listener takes in all the pleasure of the performance without ever knowing the tuning that came before it, the dissonance, the last-minute revisions, or the section that entered late.

In partnership with the retailer, the consumer never feels the hiccup in the crop transition, the gaps in supply, the storm that brought the gentle hum of a well-tuned season to a roar, or the shrink that lived or died on a sourcing decision made weeks upstream.

Conducting such seamless programs are The Giumarra Companies’ Rich Thompson, Vice President, Escondido and Gary Caloroso, Regional Business Development Director, who share how this score comes together and the execution that turns produce into green gold.

Jordan Okumura-Wright: What does being a service-driven avocado partner look like in practice, week to week, for a retailer working with Giumarra?

Rich Thompson, Vice President, Escondido, The Giumarra Companies: Every day, we work hard to provide the highest level of customized service to our valued customers. We stay closely connected to the market and proactively keep our customers informed with timely, relevant updates that affect their avocado business. From the moment an order is placed through final delivery, we carefully manage every purchase order (PO) with effective communication, attention to detail, and consistent execution at the center of everything we do.

Our customers can count on us to deliver consistency, reliability, and accountability. We value their partnership in return. We make the customer our priority, tailoring our approach to meet their unique needs and expectations. 

JOW: Avocados ask a lot of a category: ripeness, timing, shrink, and shelf presence. What does your team bring to those conversations that a buyer wouldn’t get from a supplier who is simply moving volume?

Gary Caloroso, Regional Business Development Director, The Giumarra Companies: When it comes to ripeness, timing, shrink, and shelf presence, we help our customers source the best possible avocados from the right origins at the right time. We carefully plan and manage crop transitions with a focus on optimal sizing opportunities, fruit maturity, and consistent quality.

Our team works closely with customers to review specifications, shelf performance, and overall appearance to ensure the fruit meets their expectations. Giumarra’s avocado sales team is actively discussing program planning with our retail partners. We recommend solutions, but they are involved every step of the way to ensure they are fully integrated in the process.

We develop customized avocado sourcing programs for each valued customer, applying the supply chain expertise and best practices our team has refined over decades of experience. 

JOW: How do the relationships you’ve built across the supply chain, from grower to shipper to retailer, make the avocado category stronger for everyone in it?

 RT: Since entering the avocado business in 1982, we have built and maintained long-standing relationships with trusted growers and packers. Together, we have developed a multi-faceted avocado program designed to deliver reliable supply, consistent quality, and flexibility to meet our customers’ specific needs. 

We take pride in our daily communication and collaboration with our partners, sharing insights on sizing, quality, market conditions, and promotional planning. These strong, relationship-based partnerships provide us with greater security of supply and the ability to respond quickly to changing market conditions.

That commitment is especially valuable when supplies are tight. Our deep partnerships and decades of experience help us secure the right fruit and continue serving our customers with confidence—even when the market is short.

While our brand is Nature’s Partner, we take it one step further—we are truly produce partners. 

JOW: Merchandising and best practices help retailers make the avocado category a destination. How does Giumarra support in this area?

GC: Avocados are a star of the produce department—versatile, great-tasting, and backed by a powerful nutritional story. They are also a special invitation to bring family and friends together around the table.

As part of our commitment to our customers, we provide customized marketing and merchandising support designed to drive avocado sales, increase consumer engagement, and maximize profitability. We fully support customer-driven promotions and corporate initiatives, tailoring our programs to align with each retailer’s unique goals.

We also collaborate closely with our retail partners on bag designs and provide private-label support to help strengthen their avocado programs and brands. Our close relationships with avocado promotional boards and industry associations help us provide trade marketing and merchandising support that builds the category and creates greater opportunities for our customers.

RT: Our commitment is simple: Every customer matters. Every order matters. Every avocado line is a priority.

In addition, we work closely with avocado promotional boards and industry associations to provide trade marketing and merchandising support that helps build the category and create greater opportunities for our customers. 

JOW: What do you want the buying community to understand about Giumarra’s avocado program that they might not already know?

RT: At Giumarra, when we say we are going to do something, we do it. It’s ingrained in our culture. We make a full commitment to our customers and stand behind our promises. In an increasingly volatile market, our customers need peace of mind, confidence, and results—and that is what we strive to deliver every day.

We are one of the largest avocado suppliers in the United States, supported by two strategically located avocado packinghouses in California. Our Escondido facility serves the Southern California region, while our Ventura facility supports the growing volume of avocados available from the North.

Our size gives us strength, but our approach remains personal. We serve every customer with best-in-class communication and a boutique mindset, tailoring our service to their individual needs.

Behind it all is a strong team and robust infrastructure that provide enhanced sourcing capabilities both domestically and internationally. This combination of scale, relationships, expertise, and personalized service allows us to deliver the supply, quality, and reliability our customers can count on.

“In an increasingly volatile market, our customers need peace of mind, confidence, and results—and that is what we strive to deliver every day.”

-Rich Thompson, Vice President, Escondido, The Giumarra Companies

When the program is right, even the imperfections of such a score become the beautiful markers of challenges overcome by partnerships, and an industry with more passion and dedication than any score can truly encapsulate.