What Unifrutti’s New CEO Means for Canada’s Winter Fruit Supply

Unifrutti, the Abu Dhabi-owned fruit group that has bought three farm businesses in Peru and Chile since 2024, has named former Camposol chief José Antonio Gómez Bazán as Group CEO. Here is what the hire, and a shrinking Peruvian berry forecast, mean for Canadian produce buyers this winter.

By Yehuda B Abraham, November 11, 2026

Peru and Chile are Canada’s third and fifth largest sources of fresh fruit. The company buying farms in both has a new chief, and Peru’s blueberry crop is coming in short.

Canada bought $855 million of fresh fruit from Peru and Chile in 2024, much of it in the months when little grows here. The new Unifrutti CEO, José Antonio Gómez Bazán, now runs one of the most active buyers of farms in both countries. Unifrutti Group belongs to an Abu Dhabi state fund and named him on November 10. He ran Camposol, a large Peruvian berry and avocado exporter, until 2024.

For a Canadian produce buyer, the appointment matters less than what it confirms. Winter fruit is being grown, packed and shipped by fewer and larger companies, and they are hiring executives who know how to sell to supermarkets. That moves pricing power toward the grower at the time of year when a store has no domestic alternative.

The dependence is easy to measure. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada counted $8.24 billion of fresh fruit imports in 2024 and a farm gate value of $1.34 billion for fruit grown in Canada. That is roughly six dollars imported for every dollar grown. Grapes were the largest import at $914 million. The United States supplied 37.7 per cent of the total and Mexico 18.7 per cent. Peru came third at $485 million, Chile fifth at $370 million and South Africa sixth at $322 million. Unifrutti has farms in each of those three countries. Figures are in Canadian dollars unless marked.

A fruit company run from Abu Dhabi

ADQ, an Abu Dhabi state holding company, bought a majority of Unifrutti in 2022. In January this year ADQ was itself absorbed by a newer fund, L’imad, along with US$263 billion in assets.

Under that ownership Unifrutti has kept buying land. Verfrut, acquired in January 2024, came with 7,500 hectares in Chile and Peru. Two months later Bomarea and AvoAmerica Peru added close to 2,000 hectares of blueberries and avocados. In December 2025, the Chilean business daily Diario Financiero reported that Unifrutti had paid about US$150 million for two Peruvian table-grape exporters. The paper cited unnamed sources. One of the two, Safco, grows the Cotton Candy, Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp varieties.

The company’s published network now lists more than 90 farms, 25 packing facilities and four refrigerated ships of its own. It moves about 700,000 tonnes of fruit a year to more than 50 countries. Unifrutti does not report Canadian sales and lists no Canadian office, so the share of that volume reaching Canada is not public.

When ADQ bought in, it said the investment was meant to earn a return and to strengthen food supply in the United Arab Emirates. Reuters reports that the UAE imports 90 per cent of its food. A Canadian order therefore competes with the owner’s home market as well as with every other customer. Stores that have built a following for a named grape variety will find fewer independent growers to turn to if supply tightens.

Gómez Bazán is the fourth person to lead Unifrutti since late 2022, counting two interim chiefs. His predecessor, Mohamed Elsarky, came from Kellogg and Godiva. Gómez Bazán spent 13 years at Camposol, first running its commercial and international divisions and then as chief executive from September 2021. Camposol’s revenue passed US$450 million in 2023. He resigned on June 3, 2024, and Camposol gave no reason. Unifrutti’s announcement does not say what he has done in the 29 months since. An executive with that background is likely to push season-long supply programs with fixed volumes, which give a retailer certainty and leave less room to shop the spot market.

Peru’s blueberry crop is short, and the organic crop is shorter

Peru is the first place this will be felt. The country has about 15 per cent more blueberry land in production than last season, yet its growers’ association, Proarándanos, expects exports to fall 4.4 per cent to 366,000 tonnes. In August it was forecasting 404,000 tonnes. The association blames El Niño, which brought the crop on early and reduced berry size.

Organic fruit is hit harder. Proarándanos expects 31,000 tonnes of organic blueberries, down from 35,000 tonnes last season. Statistics Canada recorded 4.9 million kilograms of certified organic blueberry imports in 2024, and 26 per cent came from Peru.

Peruvian grapes already cost more. Export value rose 18.3 per cent in the first half of 2026 while volume barely changed, because the average price went from US$1.12 to US$1.30 a pound. A natural food store should expect smaller organic berries at a higher landed cost through the winter, which makes a deep discount on clamshells hard to fund.

Buying direct can move the import licence to the store

Large growers with their own ships can sell to a retailer without a Canadian importer in between. The price may be better. The paperwork changes hands.

Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, whoever imports fresh fruit needs an import licence, which lasts two years, and membership in the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency applies both requirements to the importer only. A store that buys from a Canadian wholesaler has a lighter duty: it must be able to trace the product one step back. If a store accepts a direct program and the grower is not licensed as a non-resident importer, the store becomes the importer.

Peruvian and Chilean fruit also has an advantage this year. Canada has had a free trade agreement with Chile since 1997 and with Peru since 2009. The Canadian Produce Marketing Association notes that fruit shipped in bond through the United States is not subject to tariffs. With Loblaw putting country-of-origin signs back in its produce departments, fruit labelled as a product of Peru or Chile gives shoppers a non-U.S. choice in winter. Organic lots need proof of certification to the Canada Organic Regime or to a standard Canada recognizes as equivalent.

What to settle before the winter program is set

1. Find out which growers packed the grapes, blueberries and cherries you sold last winter. The name is on the carton, and Unifrutti, Verfrut and Safco are the ones to look for.
2. Get the pricing basis for January to April in writing, including whether volumes are fixed.
3. Arrange a second origin for organic blueberries. Mexico and the United States are the other two sources Statistics Canada lists.
4. Before accepting any direct offer from a grower, confirm who holds the import licence and the dispute-resolution membership.

Who owns a supplier belongs in a category review. Our reports on who controls the shelf at Canada’s award-winning independents and on Cizzle Brands’ balance sheet made the same case. The first contracts written under Gómez Bazán will cover the early 2027 harvest in Chile and Peru, and their terms will show how much has changed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is José Antonio Gómez Bazán?

He is a fresh-produce executive with more than 20 years in the international food trade. He has sat on the boards of the United Fresh Produce Association and the Produce Marketing Association, and served as vice-chair of the Peruvian Avocado Commission. He holds an MBA from INCAE Business School and completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Who owns Unifrutti Group?

Unifrutti was founded in 1948 by Italian entrepreneur Guido De Nadai as a fruit and vegetable trader. The De Nadai and Mondin families sold a majority stake to Abu Dhabi’s ADQ in 2022, at an undisclosed price. ADQ was consolidated under L’imad Holding, chaired by Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, in January 2026.

What does Unifrutti grow, and where?

Its published network puts apples, pears and cherries in Chile, citrus and table grapes in South Africa, bananas in the Philippines, and citrus, peaches and pears in Italy. Peruvian acquisitions since 2024 added blueberries and avocados. The group also runs 15 cold stores and three banana-ripening centres, and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

What is the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation?

The DRC is a non-profit, member-based body that helps produce buyers and sellers resolve trading disputes. Membership became a federal requirement for most Canadian fresh fruit and vegetable traders when the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations took effect on January 15, 2019. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency lists a small number of exceptions.

This is independent editorial analysis. It refers to Unifrutti Group and Camposol as examples of consolidation in fresh fruit supply and does not endorse either company. Confirm licence and certification details with your importer and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

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