The Importance of a Ripening Strategy in Foodservice
If you tune into our blog each week, the most you probably know about me is that I work at JVI. And, based on some other blog topics, I like sports (yes, I’m still crying over the Phillies). This week, I’m scraping our usual blog strategy and taking this blog to a deeper, more personal level.
Why? Well, I just had a not-so-great dining experience and have some feelings about it I thought I’d share. And notice, I did not use the word terrible here. Really, the dining experience wasn’t terrible. My group had a nice evening out and many of us went on our merry ways afterwards. No one (except for me) is being kept up at night harping on one single thing from that night: the avocados. And let me tell you, these avocados sowed a deep-seeded mistrust in me. Looks can be deceiving, as the saying goes.
Picture this: You’re out at dinner for a birthday celebration. There are drinks, good conversation, and ambiance. You order a salad because there is indeed time left in 2025 to accomplish that pesky new year goal of losing weight that you’ve been putting off all year. Was the salad awful? Overall, no. It looked beautifully plated with a mix of crisp greens, juicy tomatoes, goat cheese (which is arguably the best cheese out there in my opinion), and just the right amount of dressing. The avocado looked green, ripe, and ready to add the perfect balance to the salad. So, no, the salad wasn’t particularly awful, but was it still a traumatizing experience? Absolutely. And it’s all thanks to those avocados…
Here’s the thing: the avocado was rock hard. The fact that I couldn’t stab my fork through a piece made me doubt a knife even touched it in the kitchen. Meaning, it likely wasn’t a fresh piece of avocado. But realistically, it could have been with the right ripening strategy.
What do Professional Ripeners Do?
If you’ve ever spoken to a professional ripener, you know they bring knowledge and mastery to the table. They bring their expertise in post-harvest ripening to ripen varieties like avocados, plantains, and mangoes to the exact specs needed for menu applications. These specs can include color, pressure, and even brix. By working with a professional ripener, there’s less impact on the dining experience with products that affect menus and margins. You can get an avocado at the exact stage you need and the diner will be able to stab right through it with a fork.
Why is Ripening Important to Your Business?
Did you know there’s four seasons to Mexican hass avocados? I won’t get into too much detail of those seasons (that’s a whole blog in itself!), but you can read more about how those four seasons can impact your business here. In short, each of these seasons produce a slightly different avocado, which means at home ripening methods may not always be the most effective in maximizing yields. Professional ripeners work directly with suppliers to know how the bloom of the tree, dry matter, and growing region will impact the ripening process. This ensures consistent, year-round specs that are reliable and dependable when building menus. Gone will be the days of disappointing diners with the promise of a creamy avocado, only for it to be missing completely from the plate.
Ripening at JVI
At John Vena Inc., our ripening department specializes in avocados (plus mangoes and plantains). We ripen to the exact pounds of pressure, rather than general stages, according to our clients’ needs and anticipated supply chain.
