Sustainable AVOCADO Production

For us, sustainability is not a luxury, or an ethical decision, it is the only way we are able to truly create value for our investors.

Avocado is a high water consumer, and in many of the places where it has been grown it depletes the water reservoirs, affecting the surrounding communities and plantations.

90% of the avocados are grown in highly volatile regions, where education is not accesible and hunger is still a reality.

In AVO Oro Verde, we are conscious of the situation and take action to change this reality. The best way to have sustainable growth is making sure that the communities that we work with grow and persevere. The ecosystem in which our lands are situated has to be protected as much as possible, and the net effect of our company has to be positive; any other option is not acceptable nor is it economical for the long-term.

measurable social and environmental impact

The UN sustainable goals have become the generally accepted reference for sustainability, and because of this we describe our objectives regarding sustainability in their terms:

ZERO HUNGER & FOOD SECURITY

Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40 per cent of today’s global population. It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households.

840 million people have no access to electricity worldwide – most of whom live in rural areas of the developing world. Energy poverty in many regions is a fundamental barrier to reducing hunger and ensuring that the world can produce enough food to meet future demand.

The biggest issue in the region were we grow avocados is the lack of resources for quality and productive farming which affect 90 percent of avocado orchards and represents up to 80% of less productivity for this under-developed farms. Our company aims to integrate small farms into our structure so that the farmers are able to produce at a higher productivity-rate with large-scale production margins. This is the basis or our growth and yield capacity.

With higher production rates and lower costs, we can ensure the volume of production of a nutrient-rich fruit that can feed thousands of people, and any fruit that does not meet export-standards is distributed locally, so no food is wasted.

GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

For our clients it is of the most importance that our products are of the highest quality, which coincides with having the best-tasting most-nutritious avocados in the market. This in itself has a positive impact on the consumers. On the productive side, all of our workers and their families are covered under a state-run insurance for which we pay unconditionally. This is a very rare case since more than 90% of farms do not comply with this payment nor the benefits that it brings to their workers. This means that our workers and their families, even living hours away from the closest city, are able to receive medical care, medicines and treatments for them and their families free of cost.

DECENT WORK & ECONOMIC GROWTH

Some regions in which avocados are grown are very poor, and means of employment scarce. By growing our company and our orchards we are able to give quality jobs to more people and generate the need for qualified engineers and farmers, which in term create more jobs for the communities in which they live. This is more qualified jobs, more direct jobs and more indirect jobs that did not exist before our growth.

INDUSTRY, INNOVATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

One of our goals is to become the most efficient avocado producer in the world, and for this we need research an innovation. This is the reason why we have made a coalition with one of the most prestigious universities in the region to develop better farming techniques for our orchards using the best technology available to have a cost-efficient production and planting. This will not only impact our orchards but will probably permeate to the rest of the avocado production market.