Avocados were the No. 1 item that consumers said they bought as organic at least some of the time, based on those commodities studied in Organic Fresh Trends 2019. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they made a periodic organic avocado purchase in the past year.
Though avocados comprised only a small percentage of total organic produce sales (2% in 2017), organic avocados showed significant growth from 2016 to 2017 in dollar sales, pounds sold, and average retail price per pound, according to data from IRI/FreshLook Marketing. Merchandisers moved over 3.9 million pounds more organic avocados in 2017 than the previous year, to the tune of over $25.7 million more than in 2016. Organic product made up 5% of retail avocado sales in 2017, and the price per pound of organic avocados increased 41 cents from 2016, the data shows.
The presence of children clearly affects organic avocado purchases; in fact, shoppers with one child living at home comprised the group most likely to buy organic avocados periodically. The likelihood of a periodic organic purchase decreased as the number of children in the home increased. Only one-third of shoppers without kids said they bought organic avocados at least some of the time; 43% of those with kids said the same.
When it came to organic-only avocado purchases, shoppers in the Northeast were less likely than those in other regions to buy the green fruit, while those in the South were the least likely to buy organic avocados at least some of the time.
Younger consumers age 18-39 were the most likely to always buy organic avocados, followed by African American shoppers. When it came to periodic purchases, shoppers younger than 50 were more likely to buy organic avocados than older consumers.
