Mission Produce leverages Mexican avocado size profile for promo opportunities

The 2023-24 Mexican avocado season is expected to produce plentiful volumes of excellent quality for both conventional and organic avocados, says Monica Robles, director of Mexico sourcing for Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce.

“Due to delays of the rain in Mexico, the crop didn’t properly size up, so the size curve is leaning toward smaller fruit,” Robles said.

Most avocados in the U.S. market come from Mexico, so the origin takes up a significant portion of Mission’s sourcing operations, Robles said.

“Our Mexico sourcing team leverages our long-standing relationships with top growers from Jalisco and Michoacán to stay up to date on crop transitions, supply availability, as well as fruit sizing and quality,” Robles said. “We negotiate prices daily to secure the highest-quality products for our customers and keep up with strong demand."

Marketing focus

Diana McClean, director of marketing and communications, said smaller avocados will create new promotion opportunities.

“With smaller-sized avocados anticipated this upcoming season, Mission Produce is looking forward to leveraging Mission Minis — our bagged avocados that are the perfect single-serving size for consumers looking to make avocado toast, slice avocados for sandwiches or eat avocados as a nutrient-packed snack,” McClean said. “Our Mission Minis bags come in both conventional and organic, so our retailers can capture both shoppers in the store and take advantage of the anticipated strong supply out of Mexico.”

Demand is growing over time, McLean said, with several factors contributing to the rise in sales.

“The first [factor] is the growth of the Hispanic population,” she said. “Avocados have a higher penetration rate among Hispanic shoppers, and Hispanics purchase avocados more frequently. So as this population continues to grow, we imagine avocado consumption will grow as well.”

Another factor, she said, is the fact that Generation Z is the first generation that has grown up with avocados as a household staple.

“Avocados are engrained into their diets, so as they age and become their own purchase decision makers, we imagine Generation Z will remain larger consumers of avocados than previous generations,” McLean said.

Consumer interest in healthy eating also plays a role in avocado demand, she said. With more than 20 essential vitamins and nutrients, including healthy fats and fiber, avocados are an easy choice for consumers looking for healthy options, she said.

“Avocados are also vegan-friendly, heart-healthy and gluten-free, so they appeal to shoppers with various diets,” she said.

Sustainable packaging

Mission Produce aims to advance on its packaging initiatives for 2024, McLean said.

“We plan to progress on our goal to reduce the plastic in 50% of our bags packed and shipped globally,” McLean said. “In 2022, we used reduced plastic in 46% of our bags in line with our commitment to sustainability and responsible packaging. Since we began this initiative in 2021, we’ve saved more than 5.4 million grams of plastic, the equivalent of 420,000 plastic bottles.”

Mission Produce also designs customer-specific programs to meet anticipated demand, so partners can get the most out of their avocado categories, McLean said.

“This year, we’ll be supporting programs and promotions around avo-ccasions, such as the Big Game and Cinco de Mayo,” she said.

In time with the recent International Fresh Produce Association 2023 Global Floral and Produce Show, Mission Produce announced its “Discover the Mission Advantage” marketing campaign to promote the benefits of partnering with Mission Produce.

“This campaign will showcase each of our company differentiators, and next up is Mission's global sourcing strategy,” she said. “We’ll be sharing how our diversified sourcing and vertical integration promote a reliable, year-round supply for our partners.”