Avocado sales rose during 2022 fall and winter holidays, finds HAB

Shoppers celebrated fall and winter holidays with avocado dishes that drove sales of fresh hass avocados during the fourth quarter of 2022, finds the Hass Avocado Board.

Fall and winter holiday avocado sales in the U.S. reached 145.6 million units, with shoppers spending $158.3 million in retail sales, while average selling prices declined, according to a recent avocado sales recap published by the Mission Viejo, Calif.-based board.

The report indicates higher avocado sales during fall and winter holiday weeks, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve in 2022.

HAB says it produces quarterly reports about holiday retail sales performance across the U.S. to provide insightful sales information for retailers, category managers, marketers and industry leaders as they plan holiday promotions and look for opportunities to grow avocado sales in the upcoming year. 

The information below provides a snapshot of the volume and sales data for each fourth quarter 2022 holiday.

Halloween

• Avocado unit sales grew by 1.4% over 2021 to 37.8 million units, 12.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
• Total U.S. Halloween unit sales increased 520,000 units compared to the prior year, however, the dollar gains in California and the Southeast could not offset dollar losses in other regions.
• Small avocados held the largest share of dollars for the holiday week at 35.3%, however, extra large avocado dollar sales increased 20%, contributing more than $424,000 to the category.

Thanksgiving

• Thanksgiving week saw unit sales growth of 2% versus the prior year. Nationally, dollar sales declined 6% amid a lower average selling price versus 2021.
• The South Central region posted volume gains of 11% during the holiday week. Additionally, the Plains, West and mid-south regions saw volume growth.
• Total average selling price dropped 8% during Thanksgiving week over the prior year. Prices ranged from $0.85 per unit in the South Central region to $1.36 per unit in the Northeast.

Christmas

• Avocado unit sales grew 5% versus last year, reaching 35.9 million units. Dollar sales decreased by 7% to $39.6 million.
• Total U.S. avocado volume added 1.7 million units to the category during the week of Christmas. The South Central, Great Lakes and Plains regions showed the largest increases.
• Small avocados held the largest share of dollars for the holiday week at 33.2%, however, extra large avocados posted a dollar increase of 7.8% contributing more than $166,000 to the category.

New Year’s Eve

• New Year’s Eve avocado unit sales declined 5%, reaching $40.6 million for the week. Avocado dollar sales also decreased by 14% compared to the previous year.
• The total U.S. avocado average selling price decreased 9% during the New Year’s Eve week to $1.01 per unit, the lowest average selling price of any holiday in 2022.
• The Plains and Southeast regions posted unit gains for New Year’s Eve week, but the gains were not enough to offset losses in all other regions.