Index Fresh Breaks Ground on New Pharr, Texas Facility
PHARR, TX - It’s a big day for California-based avocado distributor Index Fresh. Today, June 6th, marks the ground breaking for its new 60,000-square-foot packing and ripening facility in Pharr, Texas, with plans to finish before the year is through.
“I’m excited about the operational possibilities,” shared President and CEO, Dana Thomas. “This will allow us to more effectively use our California and Texas facilities in a complementary fashion. When our California facility is at full ripening capacity, we can ripen out of Texas, and vice-versa. It is a great opportunity to provide even better service to our customers.”
According to a press release, the new operation will provide a 300-pallet cold storage ripening facility once fully equipped, allowing the company to better serve its customers by efficiently providing ripe avocados to an even larger area of the country. In addition to state-of-the art ripening capabilities, the eight-acre Pharr facility will house nine truck offices for both operational and sales staff, as well as giving Index Fresh increased flexibility for both pack styles and re-packaging.
The move is part of a greater expansion for produce in the city of Pharr. Index Fresh will be the first occupant in the Pharr Produce Park, approximately one-quarter mile from the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. Thomas added, “We’re hopeful that we will be followed by other facilities, and that [Pharr] will become a destination for produce trucks.”
Prior to choosing a location for the new facility, which will initially create 15 permanent jobs in the city, Index Fresh conducted a number of economic and transportation studies to see if Pharr was an appropriate site to occupy. Before choosing Pharr, Index Fresh also looked to Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, the company said.
“We also asked our customers where they would prefer us to have a facility, and they responded overwhelmingly that, right here—at the foot of the Pharr Bridge, where the majority of produce crosses into the United States—was where Index Fresh should be,” continued Thomas.
California-based Index Fresh distributes premium avocados from seven states across the country. Pharr will be its first facility in Texas.
Congratulations to Index Fresh on this exciting move, and happy ground breaking!
