Agrovision’s Co-Founder on the Evolving Blueberry Industry
The executive heads up one of the fastest-growing companies in the sector, which he sees as being at a pivotal juncture.
by EDWARD VERNON
Photography by Jen Adams Photo
G rowing up in California in a health-con- scious family, Steve Magami was exposed to innovation, branding and food trends from a young age. After studying Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he began his career as a private equity in- vestor, but says he always saw himself as less of a financial engineer and more of an entrepreneurial business builder. Magami had his first foray into agriculture as an inves - tor in a Peru-based biofuel company, and he was instantly intrigued by the industry. As he began evaluating various agricultural projects, he says he started to understand the distinct advantages Peru represented for a produce suppli- er such as land, water, labor and climate. That’s when the idea for Agrovision materialized. The company, headquartered in Los Angeles, was established in 2012. It acquired 1000 hectares (2470 acres) of desert land in northern Peru each in 2014, 2016, and 2020, where it primarily planted blueberries. The first commercial harvest was in 2015. Magami says that back then the
company was able to acquire a strong land and water asset base at reasonable prices. The thesis for Agrovision was to overlay technology and genetics, creating a major, vertically integrated produce operation. He says the future opportunities were so entic- ing that he decided to put his private equity career to the side to focus on building Agrovision. Founder-led and backed by a strong group of family offices and institutional investors with long-term com - mitted capital, the company grew rapidly, becoming Peru’s No. 3 exporter and China’s No. 1 importer during their off-season within four years of its first commercial harvest. The company currently sells across the world’s largest consumer markets including North America, the UK, Europe and Asia. In 2021, Agrovision expanded its growing operations into Mexico and Morocco, and in 2022 into the U.S. with further geographical expansion planned in the coming years. Since its inception, it has also added other products, including raspberries and blackberries.
38 Vision Magazine
December 2022
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