Avocado Ripening

Ripening avocados is both a science and an art. It requires comprehensive knowledge of the fruit and years of experience to understand all the variables associated with ripening. It takes state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to deal with the volumes of fruit required to service customers nationwide. And, it takes a knowledgeable support staff to ensure that customer satisfaction is always foremost.

In order to ripen fruit correctly, you need the proper facilities. Most retailers have banana rooms – but banana rooms are not the equivalence of a state-of-the-art, Mission Ripening Center. In seven nationwide locations, these Centers were specifically designed to ripen avocados.

Because avocados have a higher density than bananas they require much more airflow in controlling fruit temperature. Avocados generate more heat than bananas, and once you get the fruit “started,” it is very difficult to stop the ripening process without the proper technology. Mission’s ripening rooms have twice the amount of refrigeration and airflow that’s found in a traditional banana room.

Ripened To Customer Specifications

Before any ripening begins, a determination is made as to how much fruit needs to be ripened. This is dependent upon customer needs, be it retail or food service. Volume is set on a weekly basis according to customer specifications and shipping schedules. Based on the same criteria, the degree of ripeness for each customer is determined. A food service customer that supplies restaurants for instance, would require a Stage 5 ripeness which is ready to eat that day. A retail customer like your local supermarket usually stock a Stage 3 or 4 ripeness which is ready to eat within one to three days.

Once the customer volume, size and degree of ripeness has been determined, hard green fruit is loaded into ventilated containers. Still at 40º F., the avocados are now moved from the cooler into ripening rooms.

Inside the ripening room two things occur. First the temperature is increased to warm up the fruit. This puts the avocados in the optimum condition to ripen. Next, ethylene gas is introduced into the room. Ethylene is a natural off-gas of many fruits and vegetables that is created when starch begins to convert to sugar. The gas encourages the avocados to give off their own ethylene and hence, the ripening process has begun.

The fruit is closely monitored during its 2 to 5 day stay in the ripening room. Within the airtight rooms, temperature and air circulation are controlled by computer while periodic physical visits are made by Mission personnel to check fruit condition.

Each load of fruit that is ripened has different characteristics. Country of origin, fruit maturity, weather conditions during the growing season – all have an influence on the ripening process.

No More Checking Boarding

In addition to these variables, each avocado that has left the ripening room also has slightly different characteristics and hence, a different degree of ripeness. If packed this way, you would see what the industry calls “checker-boarding.” It’s when a carton contains a broad range of fruit at different degrees of ripeness. Mission’s ability to pack fruit without checkerboarding is accomplished in the next step.

Firmness Testing and Sorting

Having reached the desired stage of ripeness, the avocados are removed from the ripening rooms and loaded onto a Sinclair IQ Firmness Testing machine. This piece of equipment will measure the firmness of each avocado and sort them accordingly.

Firmness of the fruit is measured, not by psi readings, but rather the actual feel of the fruit. This is far closer to what the consumer experiences than any other device used for measuring pressures.

After the cartons are palletized, loads are configured and it’s off to the customer. Mission applies a pack date on every carton that leaves a Ripe Center so the age of the fruit can always be identified.