Grove signs supply deal with mexican avocado oil producer
Eighteen years ago, we had a brainwave about turning avocados in to oil – and, it turns out, consumers love it. Grove avocado oil sells to 13 countries, and every year demand seems to surge as more consumers cotton on to the taste, health benefits and versatility of New Zealand’s favourite avocado oil.
But there’s a certain amount of pressure that goes hand-in-hand with this kind of popularity. The avocado may be a gorgeous fruit but, in the New Zealand climate, it’s frustratingly inconsistent – a bumper crop is almost always followed the next year by a small crop.
Grove avocado oil is now so popular that, even in a bumper year, we’ve realised we won’t be able to satisfy all our customers on our own. To ensure certainty for consumers and ourselves, we have signed a supply agreement with a large Mexican avocado oil producer.
This long-standing food produce company has an exemplary record for food safety. We knew New Zealand standards were stringent (and at Grove, we exceed those) but we took a tour of their state-of-the-art plant and this crowd really impressed us.
The company’s oil, made from avocados grown on the sun-drenched plains of centralMexico, has a similar taste profile to ours and performs well on all the other criteria we use to measure our oil.
In other words, it’s Grove Standard.
As avocado oil has grown in popularity, we have seen the low supply/high demand scenario coming down the pipeline so this year we gave this reputable Mexican supplier a run. We imported some of their oil, testing it relentlessly to ensure every batch met Grove Standard, and processed it at our plant in TePuna, Bay of Plenty.
The Mexican product exceeded all taste and performance expectations and we’re impressed with this company’s rigorous processes, so we’ve signed a three-year deal to ensure supply for consumers, come bumper year or small.
This exciting development signals the maturing of our proudly home-grown Kiwi business, transitoning to global supply to secure consistent supply of Grove standard product for consumers.
Now we have the certainty of a supply deal, we will be refreshing our packaging to reflect the fact Grove Standard oil from Mexico will be a regular feature of our product. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with our new colleagues from the home of Guacamole.