The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was prized for its large and unusually oily fruit. The tree likely originated in the highlands bridging south-central Mexico and Guatemala. Avocado trees have a native growth range from Mexico to Costa Rica. Its fruit, sometimes also referred to as an alligator pear or avocado pear, is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed. Sequencing of its genome showed that the evolution of avocados was shaped by polyploidy events and that commercial varieties have an hybrid origin. Avocado trees are partly self-pollinating, and are often propagated through grafting to maintain consistent fruit output. Avocados are presently cultivated in the tropical and Mediterranean climates of many countries. Mexico is the world's leading producer of avocados as of 2020, supplying nearly 30% of the global harvest in that year.
The Nasdaq-100 (^NDX) is a stock market index made up of equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is a modified capitalization-weighted index. The stocks' weights in the index are based on their market capitalizations, with certain rules capping the influence of the largest components. It is limited to companies from a single exchange, and it does not have any financial companies. The financial companies are in a separate index, the Nasdaq Financial-100.
Dole plc is an Irish-American agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is among the world's largest producers of fruit and vegetables, operating with 38,500 full-time and seasonal employees who supply some 300 products in 75 countries. Dole reported 2021 revenues of $6.5 billion.
Odwalla Inc. is an American health food company based in Dinuba, California. Founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 and formerly headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California from 1995 to 2020, the company's product lines include fruit juices, smoothies, soy milk, bottled water, organic beverages, and several types of energy bars known as "food bars".
Sunkist Growers, Incorporated, branded as Sunkist, is an American citrus growers' non-stock membership cooperative composed of over 1,000 members from California and Arizona headquartered in Valencia, California. Through 31 offices in the United States and Canada and four offices outside North America, its sales in 1991 totaled $956 million. It is the largest fresh produce shipper in the United States, the most diversified citrus processing and marketing operation in the world, and one of California's largest landowners.
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. is an American agricultural cooperative of growers of cranberries headquartered in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. It currently has over 700 member growers. The cooperative employs about 2,000 people, with sales of $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2013 and accounts for 70% of North American cranberry production. Their products include cranberry sauce, fruit juices, fruit snacks, and dried cranberries.
Nasdaq, Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation that owns and operates three stock exchanges in the United States: the namesake Nasdaq stock exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Boston Stock Exchange, and seven European stock exchanges: Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Iceland, Nasdaq Riga, Nasdaq Stockholm, Nasdaq Tallinn, and Nasdaq Vilnius. It is headquartered in New York City, and its president and chief executive officer is Adena Friedman.
J&J Snack Foods Corp. (JJSFC) is an American manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of name brand snack foods and frozen beverages. Headquartered in Mt. Laurel, NJ, JJSF uses over 175 facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, and distributing located in 44 states, Mexico, and Canada. The company is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as "JJSFC", and serves both national and international markets.
Fresh Del Monte Produce Incorporated is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, distributors, and marketers of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Their products include prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages, snacks, and desserts, and are sold in more than 90 countries around the world.
Del Monte Foods Inc. is an American food production and distribution company and subsidiary of NutriAsia, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributors and marketers of branded processed food for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $1.73 billion of annual sales. Its portfolio of brands includes Del Monte, S&W, Contadina, College Inn, Kitchen Basics, Joyba, and Take Root. Greg Longstreet is the current Chief Executive Officer of Del Monte Foods. Several Del Monte products hold the number one or two market share position. The company also produces, distributes and markets private-label food.
Freshpet, Inc. is an American pet food company. Its cat food and dog food products are marketed as fresh, and need to be kept refrigerated. It is listed on the Nasdaq exchange with the ticker symbol FRPT.
The California Avocado Commission is an agricultural marketing organization and trade association serving avocado producers in the American state of California.
Granot Central Cooperative Ltd. is a purchasing organization of the kibbutz movement in Israel. It markets fruits and vegetables directly to food chains and wholesale markets.
Qualtrics is an American experience management company, with co-headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and Provo, Utah, in the United States. The company was founded in 2002 by Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill.
Fresh Healthy Vending is a vending machine company located in San Diego, California specializing in healthy alternatives to traditional vending machine snack foods and beverages. It was founded in June 2010. The company's refrigerated machines offer carrots, yogurt, smoothies, granola bars and beverages such as milk, juice and teas.
Avocado production is important to the economy of Mexico with the country being the world's largest producer of the crop. Mexico supplies 45 percent of the international avocado market. Of the 57 avocado producing countries, the other major producers are Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Kenya, in that order.
Taro Pharmaceutical Industries is an Israeli research-based pharmaceutical manufacturer that was publicly listed in the New York Stock Exchange before it was acquired by Sun Pharma. The company has more than 180 of its own drugs sold all over the world, reaching the markets of over 25 countries. The company's products are mainly sold in the United States, Canada and Israel.
Limoneira is a public limited agribusiness and real estate development company based in Santa Paula, California, United States. The Company's operations mainly consist of production, sales and marketing of citrus and avocados. The company's real estate holdings and vast water rights support three business segments which are agribusiness, rental operations and real estate development. The company received the IPM Innovator Award at California Legislature Assembly Resolution.
NantHealth, Inc. is a provider of software solutions for the healthcare industry, including NaviNet for insurance companies and decision support systems targeted at healthcare. The publicly traded company is headquartered in Winterville, North Carolina.
Oplink Communications LLC is a US-based business manufacturing and selling optical components. Oplink's headquarters is located in Fremont, California, and it has facilities in China and Taiwan.
$1.08 billion (2017) [2] 