Total avocado volume to the U.S. surpassed 3 billion pounds in 2025, a milestone that highlights the importance of the category, according to Emiliano Escobedo, Hass Avocado Board executive director.
“Avocados are no longer a niche item or a seasonal opportunity,” Escobedo says. “They are a mainstream, year-round, high-value fresh produce category with global supply, strong consumer demand and tremendous importance across retail, foodservice and the grower community. But that scale also changes the conversation.”
Escobedo says a conference centered entirely on avocados is the logical next step for the category. He joined “The Packer Podcast” to highlight The Avocado Conference, set for Nov. 18-20 in San Diego.
“When a category reaches this size and growth becomes, frankly, just more complex ... it’s no longer just about moving more volume,” he says. “It’s about understanding where demand is coming from, where the opportunities are and how consumers are changing, how retailers are merchandising and pricing the category and how foodservice is using avocados, and how growers and suppliers can remain profitable and resilient.”
Escobedo says The Avocado Conference will look at avocado production, seasonality, supply, global trade, retail performance, consumer behavior and more.
The theme of the event is “Meeting the Moment, Building the Future of Avocado Growth,” which he says highlights the industry’s current inflection point.
“The next era of growth will require more data, more insight, more alignment and more intentional strategy across the entire avocado supply chain,” he says. “[The Avocado Conference is] going to create the one place where the avocado industry can step back, look at the whole system, but also then come together and have a serious conversation about what it will take to build the future of the next wave of avocado growth in the United States.”
The event is designed for anyone with a stake in the U.S. avocado market, including producers, packers, importers, handlers, marketers, retailers, foodservice leaders, distributors, trade associations and service providers. While the event has a wide spectrum of attendees, Escobedo notes that “there’s no single segment that can build the future alone.”
“This is the place to think beyond the next shipment, the next promotion, the next deal that you’re going to do,” he says. “Even the next season, it’s more about focusing on the bigger question and thinking about, ‘How do we build sustainable, profitable, long-term growth for avocados in the United States?’”
Educational sessions will cover the entire supply chain, detailing trade flows, future demand challenges and foodservice trends. Specifically, Jonna Parker of Circana will examine retail performance, consumer habits and merchandising trends. Other panels will target growers with techniques to increase yield and profitability, highlighted by a CEO-level discussion on the forces shaping the market.
“We’re going to have high-level CEOs from the largest companies in each of these countries of origin sitting together in a panel and just sharing from their seat and their perspective how they see the future of the industry,” he says.
Networking is another key component of The Avocado Conference, which Escobedo describes as a true gathering to connect the leaders shaping the market. Along with an expo, attendees can expect dedicated networking events, food and wine tastings and a gala.
“The future of avocado growth is very bright, but it will require all of us, every one of us in the industry to meet the moment together,” he says. “We can’t assume that past growth automatically guarantees future growth. We need to understand the data. We need to listen to the consumer. We need to support retailers and foodservice and their growth. We need to strengthen demand. We need to improve our productivity, and we just need to stay aligned as an industry.”
