The Port of Savannah has added Peruvian avocados to its expanding portfolio of perishable goods, the company said in its press release.
“Importing avocados through Savannah was a first for Mission Produce, and for the avocado industry,” said Jose Maldonado, Director of Global Logistics and Transportation for Mission Produce. “During the Peruvian season, we brought containers through Savannah to give us quicker access for our customers in the Southeast.”
With farms located in the La Libertad region, near the city of Chao in Peru, Mission Produce ships avocados to the U.S. from May through September.
Savannah’s Garden City Terminal offers 94 refrigerated container racks and 733 chassis plug-ins, powering 2,989 refrigerated boxes at a time. Another 10 racks will be complete by the end of the year, adding 240 slots for perishable goods.
In addition to operations in Peru, Mission Produce ships avocados on a year-round basis from multiple countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Chile and New Zealand.
“Although using the Port of Savannah was a first for Mission Produce, the operation went very smoothly this season,” said Ryan Keogh, FDC Operations Manager for Mission Produce. “We found GPA’s customer service and support to be extraordinary.”
The Georgia Ports Authority moved nearly 140,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units of refrigerated cargo in fiscal year 2015. The GPA anticipates a 4.5 percent growth rate of refrigerated cargo in the next year.
