Consumers fall for avocados year-round

While fall traditionally isn’t prime time for avocado consumption, a year-round increase in consumer demand and availability is positioning the superfood for future growth in all seasons.

“Fall is typically the slowest avocado consumption period of the year,” said Brooke Becker, senior director of North American retail for Mission Produce, Oxnard, Calif.

“Weekly retail sales volume for the last two years shows September through November trending 10-15% lower than June to August,” added Becker, pointing to IRI data.

However, as avocado imports to the U.S. continue to expand from countries including Mexico — which, in late July was officially greenlighted by the USDA to export avocados to the U.S. from a second state, Jalisco — as well as Peru and Colombia, so, too, are opportunities to promote the fruit.

“We’re expecting healthy supplies out of Mexico [this fall] with stronger consistency now that Jalisco has been added to the mix,” said Rodrigo Lopez, category director of citrus and avocados for Oppy. “We’re excited to amplify promotions through the fall and winter.” 

While the U.S. has long imported Hass avocados from Michoacán, Mexico, growers and packers in Jalisco, just northwest of the state, have now begun shipping their fruit to the U.S.

Calavo, which has worked with growers in Michoacán for 25 years, is one such supplier. The Santa Paula, Calif.-based company recently expanded its avocado program through a partnership with growers in Jalisco. 

“This will elevate our sourcing capabilities to an even higher level, and we are poised to not only provide U.S. tables with the best quality of avocados on the market, but it will also provide opportunities to supply the international community,” said Dionisio Ortiz, vice president of Calavo de Mexico, in a release.

Mission Produce has also begun importing avocados from Jalisco. The majority of Mission’s avocado imports from Jalisco will be routed through the company’s mega distribution center in Laredo, Texas, to the rest of its domestic network, the company said.

The additional supply from Jalisco may also help to temper rising avocado prices in the U.S., as well as ensure more consistent supplies in-store.

“During the fall, the majority of avocados are sourced from Mexico. Volume from Peru is also anticipated through September,” said Becker. “This year, the industry anticipates plenty of supply to be available, indicating promotion opportunities.”

Peter Shore, vice president business development and marketing for Calavo, agrees. “Calavo is expecting excellent supplies this fall, with a good mix of sizing,” he told The Packer.

On the domestic front, Florida’s Brooks Tropicals will supply the market with its SlimCado tropical avocados.

“The Florida avocado crop will be predominantly larger-sized fruit as we enter the fall season until more medium-sized fruit becomes available from the Dominican Republic in November,” said Peter Leifermann, vice president of sales and marketing for the Homestead, Fla.-based Brooks Tropicals. “During this transition, we encourage taking advantage of the opportunity to offer consumers some of the largest fruit they’ll see all year, when the average tropical avocado is over 1.3-pounds per piece,” he said.

A balanced approach

For the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Oppy, while the Super Bowl and holidays such as Cinco de Mayo and the Fourth of July create “good spikes in consumption,” successfully driving avocado sales is a long-term strategy.

“More than focusing efforts on a specific time of year, the key is consistency in supply with the right balance of demand,” Lopez said. “Promotions are one of the best vehicles to achieve that. We keep our focus on a steady flow of supply and demand and a steady flow of promotions to keep consumption on the rise.” 

Beyond running a variety of ads and promotions with its customers throughout the year, Oppy’s main priority, says Lopez, is “ensuring healthy movement in the market, which in turn makes avocados affordable for consumers considering current economic challenges — including inflation, supply chain and more.”

In 2020 Oppy acquired a majority stake holding in Temecula, Calif.-based Eco Farms, now the avocado brand of Oppy. The partnership allows the companies to provide a year-round, consistent and quality supply of organic and conventional avocados from California, as well as Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, Lopez explained.

California’s social fruit

While in some years, the California avocado season goes from the spring all the way through the fall, this year, the California Avocado Commission is expecting the season to ramp down in August into early September, notes Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the California Avocado Commission.

But though the consumer may not see the fruit from California in-store, CAC’s robust off-season marketing strategy, which kicks off in early autumn, ensures that California avocados remain on the shopper’s radar all year long.

“CAC conducts consumer marketing communications year-round through social media, email and via our website, CaliforniaAvocado.com,” DeLyser said. “The commission’s off-season marketing helps maintain brand awareness and encourages demand for avocados in general.”

CAC recently shared just how effective social media outreach is as a means of engaging with its target consumer audience. Since the start of CAC’s 2021-2022 fiscal year, beginning Nov. 1, 2021, social content posted on California avocado social pages has yielded more than 13.5 million impressions. Additionally, partnership content created in collaboration with the CAC and shared by TikTok influencers has yielded another 14.7 million potential impressions, according to CAC.

“For the fall, the commission focuses on providing our audience with a consistent flow of California avocado inspiration through recipe content and California avocado merchandise shop content related to diverse cultural moments,” DeLyser explained. “We currently have back-to-school snack ideas and merch content planned, and we will be featuring an ongoing stream of relevant recipes and how-to content throughout the fall across social channels and through our email newsletter.”

Peru pumps up the volume

Supported by innovative promotional campaigns, such as this summer’s Avo Tesla Sweepstakes Giveaway with Lidl and Meijer stores, Peruvian avocados are playing an increasingly important role in bolstering U.S. supplies of avocados.

Peru is exporting close to 350 million pounds to the U.S. this season — an increase of 48% versus 2021, Xavier Equihua, president of the Peruvian Avocado Commission, told The Packer in an email. Without the boost from Peru, which could help the U.S. end the year with the same 2.8 billion-pound supply as in 2021, avocados may have been at a deficit in 2022, added Equihua.

And the Peruvian Avocado Commission has its sights set on an even bigger 2023. In 2023, Peru will help the U.S. reach 3 billion pounds by exporting 500 million pounds to the country, Equihua predicted. Avocados from Peru are available in the U.S. from June through September.