Third quarter results reveal that total U.S. Hass avocado value rose by 5% in USD as compared to 2018, according to a report from the Hass Avocado Board Wednesday. For overall fruit categories, limes were the standout as the trending fruit for the market this quarter.

Compared to other fruit categories, though, avocados saw a significantly higher growth in dollars, what the board quantifies as five points higher than the average. However, Hass avocado dollar growth rate is down 2.7% versus last year whereas total produce dollar growth rate comes in at a drop of only 0.5%.

Avocados ranked number seven in total volume of the top produce categories that the board considers - limes, berries, avocados, melons, oranges and 'total' - and number three in percentage growth for volumes. This outpaces the total fruit category for the quarter.

For dollar quantities, Hass avocados were number five and number four in terms of percentage of dollar increase. In this area, limes came up on top as the biggest rise in dollar value. The lime category also jumped to the top when it came to volume growth this quarter.

As far as the varieties of avocados that made up the market dollar share of the category, the biggest area was in bags - at 47.9% of the dollar share of total avocado sales. Organic avocados seem to be doing less well than they were last year at this time and for Q3 - at least in terms of how much organics make up of PLU unit sales.

Last month, the Hass Avocado Board unveiled a new category market development tool that contributes to research like this and helps the industry understand avocado marketing trends.