Avocados From Mexico named to Fast Company’s list of most innovative companies

Dallas-based Avocados From Mexico has received double honors from media brand Fast Company.

Avocados from Mexico has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021 and also been recognized as the no. 1 innovator in the branding category, according to a news release.

The list honors businesses that have found a way to be resilient in the past year and turned those challenges into impact-making processes, according to the release.

This year’s list features 463 businesses from 29 countries; AFM’s honor follows being named to Fast Company’s List of 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators last year.

Avocados From Mexico is the first produce brand to make Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies and is ranked as No. 1 in the branding category in 2021, the release said.

“We are honored to be named to Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world and recognized for our continued innovation during a year that brought numerous challenges to every industry,” Alvaro Luque, CEO and president of Avocados From Mexico, said in the release. “At AFM, we’ve reinvented the way that produce is marketed in the U.S., creating a highly visible brand in a brandless category over the past seven years, on our way to become the most innovative produce company in the world.”

AFM was further recognized for their achievements by taking home the top spot in Fast Company’s category for Most Innovative Branding, according to the release. The category honors breakthrough brands that have “figured out their core identity and having fun from there,” which is of utmost importance to AFM’s marketing strategy. AFM joins brands including White Claw and Domino’s, which have achieved number one in branding in years’ past.

“As a package-less fruit, our innovative marketing strategies have taken the Mexican avocado from just another fruit in the produce aisle to Avocados From Mexico, one of the most recognized avocado brands on the market and the first-ever produce brand to be ranked number one in the branding category of this esteemed list,” Luque said in the release.

Avocados From Mexico’s innovation has been a driving force behind the brand’s market penetration and impressive growth since its inception in 2013, the release said, selling ideas that increase avocado imports into the U.S. and leading several “industry firsts” for the produce category.

From guacamole to avocado toast, the superfruit has become an American obsession with more than 2.5 billion pounds of avocados consumed yearly in the U.S., and Mexico supplying 80% of the country’s avocados. Brand preference has also increased from 20% to more than 55% since 2013. The

U.S. economy has benefited from the fruits of AFM’s labor, with the brand adding $6.5 billion in economic output during the 2019-20 growing season1.
While 2020 was a year like none before, Avocados From Mexico was up to the challenge. As the first-ever fresh produce brand to advertise during the Big Game, the brand also became the first to place an advertising asset on the blockchain as part of their 2020 Big Game campaign. The same month, AFM launched the world’s first polished-casual restaurant focused entirely on avocados that also served as an innovation incubator to test inventive avocado uses.

AFM launched the only Avo University certified program in existence, a free education platform for industry professionals that builds avocado product knowledge and strategies to drive consumer demand. The brand also launched its first-ever in-store celebrity shopper program, complemented with a virtual consumer extension, which drove record-breaking avocado imports in the weeks leading up to the 2021 Big Game.

“Throughout the years, we have been very proud of the many accolades and recognitions received for the innovations that we have introduced into our industry, however, this one is different,” Ivonne Kinser, head of digital marketing and eCommerce at Avocados From Mexico, said in the release.

“This recognition is the most consequential and preeminent of all, as it doesn’t award one project in particular, but instead recognizes our innovative culture as a company and the total product of AFM’s contributions.”

Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out the most groundbreaking businesses across the globe and industries. They also judged nominations received through their application process. The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year, according to the release.

“In a year of unprecedented challenges, the companies on this list exhibit fearlessness, ingenuity, and creativity in the face of crisis,” Fast Company Deputy Editor David Lidsky said in the release.