This season’s ads feature visuals that point to the “CA” in the middle of the word “avocados, and audio and other ads that call out the play on words in their taglines.
Fallbrook, Calif.-based Del Rey Avocado will have good late-season volume of California avocados from its Morro Bay program, which has been part of Del Rey’s program for about eight years, said Bob Lucy, president.
Despite the lack of in-person events and other pandemic-related factors that limited marketing efforts, California avocado demand fared well during 2020.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the common narrative among produce marketers is that consumers have been drawn toward bagged fruit, whether that be for convenience, economy or perceptions of safety.
The California avocado crop will be smaller this year, but promotable volume will arrive by late April, according to California Avocado Commission projections.
Exports typically don’t account for much of the volume from California avocado grower-shippers, but most companies have at least a small export program, which they say can be quite lucrative.
Several California growers offer the new GEM avocado, but credit for bringing the variety to the forefront should go to Index Fresh Inc., Riverside, Calif.
The Hass Avocado Board has invested in a nutrition program that has helped health professionals and consumers understand how avocados are beneficial to their health.
The Irvine-based California Avocado Commission has come up with a new advertising campaign to call attention to California avocados this season and help move more of them, said Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing.
An air of uncertainty was hanging over California’s avocado industry in early March as news reports described the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
California’s avocado crop is expected to rebound in 2020, with the state’s growers shipping 369 million pounds — about a 70% increase over last year — according to the Irvine-based California Avocado Commission.
The Giumarra Cos. was adding five avocado ripening rooms to the three existing rooms already in operation at its Escondido, Calif., location, said Gary Caloroso, business development director.
A heatwave in early July put a crimp in California’s avocado volume, but as temperatures dropped from the 110-degree-plus range and the groves started cooling down, growers seemed pleased with the product they had.
With nearly twice as many avocados in the marketplace this year compared to 2017, the California Avocado Commission expects California fruit to be in the market longer with more customers in more areas.
Avocados are a hit at retail, ranking first among items shoppers said they bought in the past 12 months that they didn't buy previously, according to The Packer's 2018 Fresh Trends.
The largest wildfire in California’s history damaged a number of avocado groves and left some workers homeless before the five-week blaze was declared fully contained Jan. 11.
Dollar sales increases of avocados far outpaced those for other produce items, according to the first 2017 issue of the Hass Avocado Board's Retail Data Report, which covered the four weeks ending Oct. 30.
About five years ago, management at Riverside, Calif.-based Index Fresh Inc., along with some of the company's producers, was discussing ways the company's field department could attract new growers to acco
A number of California avocado growers are experimenting with a high-density planting technique that can significantly increase the number of pounds they produce per acre while speeding up the picking process.
The popularity of avocados continues to grow, and there's no end in sight, at least that Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the Irvine-based California Avocado Commission, can see.
This year's California avocado volume will come in at a little more than half of 2016 production, and the California Avocado Commission's marketing will involve a "targeted" approach.
