How the World’s Best
Avocados Are Grown

I’m not even sure Buckingham Palace has a lawn as carefully manicured as this orchard. Every detail is tended to. And leading our tour is the man responsible for it all -- Jesús, the orchard’s head of operations...

Dressed sharply in jeans, a leather jacket, and a straw hat, he welcomes each us to the orchard.

Jesús shares how avocados are his life. He grew up helping out in his father’s orchard. And after taking a few years to get an advanced science degree in agriculture, he got a job here at this orchard, where he’s been working for the last six years.

“It’s not just me though,” Jesús tells us. “Everyone is highly qualified here.”

We pile into the back of his pickup truck (to Ava’s delight), and he shows us through what seem to be endless rows of trees. (We learned later that this particular orchard spans over 445 acres and contains well over 17,000 trees!).

Keeping everything watered is a massive drip irrigation system. “We’re very careful about water,” Jesús says. “Each tree is drip irrigated, and we have a reservoir to ensure a consistent water supply year round.”

As we drive, I notice the trees are shorter than at other orchards I’ve seen before. Workers keep them trimmed to just six feet tall. “This lets us care for and harvest them all by hand. No machinery,” Jesús explains. “Here, let me show you...”

He stops the truck and we hop out. We walk over to a tree and watch a bunch of small, green avocados swaying in the wind. They’re right at hand level. Perfect for picking.

“By the way,” Jesús notes, “If a windstorm knocks any avocados over on the ground, we don’t use it. We’re very serious about only processing ‘perfect’ fruits.”

You can catch the pride in his voice as he talks. From top to bottom, they do everything necessary to guarantee the world’s best avocados.