Steve Barnard

Steve Barnard

Co-founder and CEO of Mission Produce

Steve Barnard is the Co-founder and CEO of Mission Produce (“Mission”), a world leader in the global avocado business. He is a respected agribusiness veteran with over four decades of experience in the produce sector.

Forty years ago, Steve saw the potential for avocados, made it a reality and struck green gold. Today, Mission Produce sells fresh Hass avocados to retail, wholesale and foodservice companies in over 25 countries, and as of 2021, fresh mangos. The company’s global operations consist of four packing facilities in the United States, Mexico and Peru; 13 ripening and distribution centers across the U.S., Canada, China, the UK and Europe. In addition to owning facilities and growing fruit in California, Peru, and Mexico, Mission sources avocados from 13 premium growing regions to promote a reliable supply of avocados and mangos year-round. Under Steve’s supervision, Mission was a pioneer of the avocado revolution. Mission Produce earned $1B in revenue in fiscal 2022, and Barnard is just getting started.

As the highest-ranking executive at Mission, Steve is responsible for making critical business decisions and providing the general direction of the organization. He acts as the liaison between the board of directors and the corporate office, serves as Mission’s public face and governs the overall resources and capital investments within the company.

Steve built Mission from the ground up. In his tenure, he has led the successful buyout of international partnerships, been a key player in navigating strategic shifts such as investing in Mexico, Peru and China, and was the brains behind the avocado ripening program concept. Steve is a forward-thinking, aggressive business leader whose mottos are “play offense” and “always think bigger.” Barnard is an expert in the avocado industry from understanding sourcing product to sales, and from operations to the field. With that, he also grows avocados in Ojai and Fillmore. Steve grew up surrounded by produce in Ventura County and is a true farmer at heart.

Prior to starting Mission Produce, Steve worked at Santa Clara Produce in various capacities. He made his way up through Santa Clara Produce but saw an opportunity for avocados, co-founded Mission and never looked back.