as nasdaq cvgw industry agricultural food products founded 1924 founders founded as a grower co op headquarters 1141 cummings rd santa paula ca 93060 united states key people lecil e. cole ceo and chairman of the board 1 revenue 949 million as of july 2015 update 2 number of employees 1 848 as of 2014 update 3 website www.calavo.com calavo growers inc. nasdaq cvgw is an international consumer goods and farm products company . the company packages and distributes avocados and other fruits as well as their fresh prepared food to restaurants stores and individual customers worldwide . 4 while the company is based in santa paula california avocado production is cultivated throughout the state of california as well as central and south america . calavo growers was established in 1924 as an agricultural cooperative and was instrumental in launching the california avocado industry . the company operates its business through three divisions including fresh products calavo foods and renaissance food group rfg . 5 the company has been listed on the america s best small company list by forbes . 6 the company was assessed as a great value stock to pick by zacks investment research . 7 contents 1 history 2 products 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit calavo growers inc. was founded on january 21 1924 as the california avocado growers exchange . due to overwhelming interest in the avocado many california growers had planted avocado seeds that had originated in mexico . although slow to mature by 1923 those avocado trees were producing a large enough crop to be marketed . the problem was the lack of a marketing outlet . the founders studied grower cooperatives that were doing well at the time such as the california fruit growers exchange and adopted features that would work best for the avocado industry . 8 in the first year the california avocado growers exchange packed the 18 000 lbs . of fruit that launched the california avocado industry . 9 shortly after the growers exchange adopted the name calavo as a brand . this was the result of a naming contest in which multiple entries were submitted combining the words california and avocado . calavo quickly became the brand name of high quality avocados . 10 in the early 1930s the cooperative increased its offerings to include limes coconuts kiwis mangos and persimmons . papayas were added in the late 1940s . 11 the california avocado advisory board was created in 1961 calavo played a key role in its creation and development . the purpose was to market the california avocado industry as a whole and not just the avocado growers in the cooperative . today it is known as the california avocado commission . 12 after 78 years as a growers cooperative calavo members voted to take the company public . in 2002 calavo growers inc. was designated the ticker symbol cvgw on the nasdaq national market system . the seats on the company s board of directors were filled mainly with longtime avocado growers and that remains so today . products edit calavo growers markets fresh avocados grown in california mexico and chile . 13 additionally it distribute other fruit products such as tomatoes pineapples and hawaiian produced papayas . 5 operations in mexico pack and ship fresh avocados from their 50 000 sq. ft. packinghouse while a second 90 000 sq.ft . facility prepares and packages fresh avocado products such as guacamole . their products are distributed throughout the u.s. to retailers and foodservice operations nationwide as well as canada europe and asia . 14 see also edit california avocado society california avocado commission references edit people calavo growers inc cvgw . reuters . retrieved 12 may 2015 . cvgw key statistics calavo growers inc. stock yahoo finance . finance.yahoo.com . retrieved 2014 02 17 . calavo growers inc cvgw nasdaq gs stock quote & company profile businessweek . investing.businessweek.com . retrieved 2014 02 17 . cvgw profile calavo growers inc. stock yahoo finance . finance.yahoo.com . retrieved 2014 02 17 . a b calavo growers inc cvgw.o people . reuters . retrieved 2014 02 19 . calavo growers on the forbes america s best small companies list . october 2013 . retrieved 2014 02 19 . why calavo growers cvgw is such a great value stock pick right now . 2014 01 . retrieved 2014 02 21 . check date values in date help dead link calavo growers inc. company profile information business description history background information on calavo growers inc. . reference for business . retrieved may 12 2015 . calavo company history . calavo growers . calavo growers . retrieved may 12 2015 . calavo growers inc. company profile information business description history background information on calavo growers inc. . reference for business . retrieved may 12 2015 . calavo growers inc. company profile information business description history background information on calavo growers inc. . reference for business . retrieved may 12 2015 . calavo company history . calavo growers . calavo growers . retrieved may 12 2015 . calavo growers inc. nasdaq cvgw quotes & news google finance . google.com . retrieved 2014 02 17 . brewer reuben 2014 02 09 . if you love avocados you will want to read this . fool.com . retrieved 2014 02 17 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title calavo growers & oldid 742142116 categories agriculture companies of the united statesagriculture in californiacompanies based in ventura county californiasanta paula californiahistory of ventura county californiaamerican companies established in 1924food and drink companies established in 19241924 establishments in californiapublicly traded companies of the united stateshidden categories cs1 errors datesall articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from june 2016articles containing potentially dated statements from july 2015all articles containing potentially dated statementsarticles containing 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