Limoneira Hot Air Ballooning
July 2010

 
Limoneira - Climbing the Mountain


For several years Limoneira farming operations personnel, in partnership with Associates Insectary have trekked to the top of South Mountain in Santa Paula to freshen the large SP.  These large white letters can be seen for miles and welcome those traveling east to our valley from the ocean.  There are those in our community who believe the SP stands for Special People. We couldn't agree more. The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and thriving in the late nineteenth century when "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country,"  the famous clarion call of adventure and opportunity, could be read in the day's leading newspapers.  (Horace Greeley is often credited with this famous quote which was originally written by John B. L. Soule.) Nathan Blanchard, a native of Maine, and the founder of both Santa Paula and Limoneira, answered this call. The rest, as they say, is history.

This month we want to pay tribute to our farming teams.  Agriculture and farming are not for the faint of heart.  Not only do the standard challenges of running a business exist, Mother Nature can make life very interesting.  In 2006, Limoneira's avocado crop was 18 million pounds.  A severe frost occurred in 2007 and, as a result, our avocado crop production dropped dramatically to 4 million pounds.  The effects were still being felt in 2008 with production once more achieving only 4 million pounds.  In 2009, a very different weather pattern happened, and extremely hot weather early in the growing season impacted the crop, reducing production to 2 million pounds. 

This year we are happy to report that, as a result of very promising weather conditions, Limoneira's avocado crop is expected to be 20 million pounds.  

We see a bright future for avocados, and we continue to be extremely proud of our go-to-market partner Calavo, one of the largest avocado marketers in the world and the largest marketer in the nation.  U.S. per capita consumption of avocados continues to grow for a number of reasons. There is an increasing awareness of healthier foods.   Avocados are a good source of beneficial monounsaturated fat.  A medium sized avocado contains approximately 15% of the FDA's recommended daily amount of monounsaturated fat.  In addition, avocados have 60% more potassium than bananas.  Vitamins in avocados include A, B-complex, C, and E, as well as phosphorus and magnesium. They're also a great source of antioxidants.

U.S. demographic patterns also continue to change resulting in the growth of Mexican foods and restaurants. U.S. per-capita consumption of avocados is also contributing to growing avocado demand. In 1997, avocado pounds per capita consumed in the U.S. were 1.7 lbs.  and are now 3.0 lbs. Five years ago the U.S. consumed 650 million pounds of avocados. In 2010, we estimate U.S. consumption to be 1.5 billion lbs. If U.S. consumption grows to 5 lbs. per capita there aren't enough avocados produced in the world (currently) to meet this demand.

 
Best Regards,

The Limoneira Team


Limoneira's crops: avocados, citrus, and new communities 

We were very happy to read Marlize van Romburgh's article, in the June 28th issue of the Pacific Coast Business Times, which we provide here.
 
"Santa Paula-based Limoneira Co. has come a long way since its early days as a family-owned lemon grower. Today, it's traded on Wall Street and enjoys tens of millions of dollars in sales each year. And it's not just a citrus business - Limoneira is now one of the largest players in the tri-county real estate scene, with projects from Paso Robles to Santa Paula. In its most recent earnings report, the firm listed $64.5million in real estate development assets - almost 40 percent of its total assets. Roughly 150 miles north in SLO County wine country, Limoneira is actively promoting its 720-acre Windfall Farms. The Company recently created a "founder-member program" which gives investors the opportunity to earn interest and real property in exchange for a cash investment. Financiers can put either $1 million or $500,000, money that will earn 10 percent interest and be paid back in five years. At the end of that period, million-dollar investors will also receive a 10-acre parcel of prime Paso Robles land as a bonus. Those who put in $500,000 will have the opportunity to buy acreage at half price. So if you're interested in a 10-acre sprawl on which to raise kids, wine grapes, horses or all three, and want to make your money work for you in the meantime, get in touch with the guys at Limoneira".
Issue: 7

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Here is a fun, simple and refreshing summer recipe that chef Jason Collis from Jonathan's does out here at the ranch.

Avocado Mint Chocolate Chip Milk Shake

by: Chef Jason Collis

(recipe serves one)

Ingredients:
1 medium avocado
1/4 cup condensed milk
1 large scoops of natural mint
   chocolate chip ice cream 
1-2 tablespoon sugar (to taste)
1 cup ice

Directions:
Put everything in a blender and process until consistency is smooth.You might need to add milk to help the blending process. Adjust sugar to taste.

Jason J. Collis
www.jstapas.com
www.jonathansatpeiranos.com
204 E.Main Street Ventura CA 93001
ph.805-648-4853
fx.805-648-4953

Limoneira Kids Master Chef Kits

 
Hundreds of students visit Limoneria Ranch each year.  In an earlier edition of our newsletter we discussed our great collaboration with the Ventura County Resource Conservation District.  Students learn about sustainable agriculture, visit our demonstration, and solar, orchards, and our visitor's center.  They are taught about the parts of lemon and avocado trees, mulching, beneficial insects, solar energy and nutrition.  They learn that healthy eating can be fun.  To promote enjoyable good nutritional habits, we've developed our Boys and Girls Master Chef Kits complete with chef hats, aprons, utensils, kid's recipes, and avocados and lemons.  These will be sold on the Limoneira Lifestyles section at www.limoneira.com and soon at select retailers in Ventura County.