Mission Produce Establishes Southern African Operations in Partnership with ZZ2

Oxnard, CA – Mission Produce, Inc.,
(“Mission”) the world’s most advanced avocado network, announced today it is
establishing operations in South Africa in partnership with ZZ2 and Core Fruit.
The new partnership will create the most powerful trading platform for avocados
produced in Africa, bringing the world’s finest African avocados to booming
markets such as Europe, China and other Asian countries, with anticipated
access to the U.S.

As avocado demand explodes
worldwide, Mission Produce is capitalizing on opportunities to provide
consistent, year-round supply to major global markets. In this partnership,
Mission will bring its marketing expertise, renowned brand and distribution
network while Core Fruit, the largest exporter of fresh produce out of South
Africa, will manage the logistics. ZZ2, an iconic South African brand and
farming operation, will offer its production, packing and ecosystem creation
knowhow together with its avocado technical knowledge, resource base, local
networks, nursery trees, packing facilities and its association with Criterion
Africa Partners who have access to significant land holdings. 

To enable all South African
growers to participate in this exciting initiative, Mission South Africa will
establish regional relationships and source product from quality growers. It is
expected that the functional ecosystem created by this partnership will add
value to growers and will assist to develop the full avocado potential of the
region. Mission also foresees rapidly expanding the company’s vertical
integration model in an advantageous supply window. 

“The Mission Produce-ZZ2
relationship is a strong combination and demonstrates our commitment to
expanding globally and leading the avocado industry. These powerhouse companies
are collaborating in South Africa to amplify state-of-the-art supply chain
practices from field to fork,” said Mission Produce’s President and CEO Steve
Barnard. “Southern Africa is an ideal source because of the region’s location,
fruit quality and access to Europe and Asia.” 

“We have hired an in-country manager, Lindie Stroebel, to hit the ground running and support fast growth. We are excited for her to establish a presence and start building local connections,” said Mission Produce’s Vice President of Global Sourcing Keith Barnard. “The addition of South Africa will ensure that Mission Produce’s supply keeps pace with demand. We are striving for full surety of supply.”

ZZ2 is a longstanding and highly
regarded agriculture company with an iconic domestic brand in Southern Africa.
In recent years, ZZ2 has developed and executed an aggressive growth strategy
for avocados and other export crops. “Given Mission Produce’s volition to
establish a strong global brand, world class ripening technology and the
ability to create and stimulate global demand for avocados, we have selected
the ideal partner. We are looking forward to taking the avocado industry to the
next level with Mission Produce by our side,” added CEO of ZZ2 Tommie Van Zyl.

#30

About
Mission Produce, Inc.: Mission Produce is the world’s most advanced avocado
network. The company owns and operates state-of-the-art avocado packing
facilities in multiple growing locations including California, Mexico, Peru and
Colombia, and it also sources product from countries such as

Chile, New
Zealand and Guatemala. In addition, Mission Produce’s global distribution
network includes 11 forward distribution centers in North America, China and
Europe. Over the past 35 years, Mission Produce has become recognized as the
leader in the worldwide avocado business.

About ZZ2:  The ZZ2 Group of companies is a corporatised family business who started their farming operations more than a hundred years ago. ZZ2 is one of the largest tomato growers in the world and has expanded its operations in Southern Africa over the last two decades to include dates, cherries, apples, pears, stone fruit, almonds, blueberries and an aggressive expansion into avocados. The ZZ2 brand is a
well-known icon in South Africa with a proud history backed by a great customer
value offering and ensuring superior value for all its stakeholders. www.ZZ2.co.za

About Core
Fruit: Core Fruit is a specialist sales platform for many of South
Africa’s leading growers of fruit. Core has an extensive global customer base,
working directly with many well-known retailers and importers. Core is well established in all the
fruit sectors in South Africa allowing global customers to buy the full range of South African fruit 52 weeks
of the year. Core has a long established relationship with the ZZ2
Group, and, with the basket of fruit and leading customer base strives to
provide all farms in the ecosystem with an improved economic value. www.corefruit.com