Colombia Avocado Board adds two new members

Orlando, FL (December 13, 2023) – Last month, the Colombia Avocado Board (CAB) met at their annual meeting to elect two new directors to its Board of Directors. The new members will be vital in growing awareness and consumption of Colombian avocados in the United States market.

New to the nine-member Board of Directors are:

• Brian Gomez, Importer Director from GreenFruit Avocados
• Kathryn Mejía Vergel, CAB Vice Chair and Corpohass Director

Currently serving Board of Directors include:

• Ricardo Uribe, CAB Chair and Exporter Director from Cartama
• Brock Becker, CAB Secretary and Importer Director from Mission Produce
• Kellen Newhouse, CAB Treasurer and Importer Director from West Pak Avocado, Inc.
• Mauricio Moranth, CAB Exporter Director from Montana Fruits
• Ricardo Mejia, CAB Exporter Director from Fruty Green
• Sergio Plata Ortiz, CAB Exporter Director from Baika Fruit
• Dustin Hahn, CAB Importer Director from Naturipe

Brian Gomez of GreenFruit is the newly elected Importer Director replacing Gerardo Huerta of Del Rey Avocado and Kathryn Mejía is the newly elected Vice Chair replacing Jorge Restrepo of Corpohass.

“The Colombia Avocado Board congratulates and is grateful to Mr. Gomez and Ms. Mejía for accepting their appointments to the board,” said CAB Managing Director, Manuel Michel. “Their participation will be invaluable as we prepare for another record-breaking export year,” he continued. “Our unique growing region allows for the production of avocados year-round providing stability and consistency for our buyers.”

Colombian avocados have been approved to ship into the United States since 2019. Import volume to the United States has grown rapidly over the last several years with an estimated 5% increase in Hass avocado production this past year. Colombia is one of the top avocado exporters and anticipates an increase in avocado consumption leading to more opportunities within the domestic market.

About Colombia Avocado Board

The mission of CAB is to build the tools to work in sync with the Hass Avocado Board to cultivate consumers in the United States by aligning growers, exporters, and importers together under one cohesive marketing effort focused on Colombian avocados. CAB was certified by USDA on January 7, 2020, under the authorization of the Hass Avocado Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 7801-7813). For more information, please visit avocadoscolombia.com.

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