One of the fruit industry's biggest success stories is the growth of avocados in the U.S. market. During the Global Avocado Summit 2024, Emiliano Escobedo, president of the Hass Avocado Board (HAB), the organization in charge of promoting the fruit in that market, explained the details behind the fruit's boom, market trends, and growth possibilities.

“The HAB exists to make avocados the most popular fruit in the United States,” Escobedo explained. “We enable industry members to see collective growth, seeking to make Hass avocados the most consumed fruit in the United States.”

Today, the U.S. is the world's largest market for avocados, consuming nearly 3 billion pounds per year, which transfers to nearly 9 pounds per person.

Escobedo explained that HAB invests in two ways, through research and marketing programs that support the category, financed with 15% of the funds raised by the organization.

In addition, they enable innovative programs, run by the associations of each importing country with campaigns to position the fruit in the market by origin. These programs are financed with 85% of HAB funds.

“To increase sales, the industry needs to get into the science of why fruits and vegetables are so healthy, and it needs to do a better job of telling that story,” Escobedo said.

That's why, through research, HAB has developed the most comprehensive set of scientific evidence to support the health benefits associated with Hass avocado consumption.

“This model does not exist anywhere else in the world and contributes to sustaining and increasing market demand over the long term,” he said.

According to Escobedo, the HAB formula is working. Evidence of this is that today in the United States health professionals recommend avocados to improve people's nutrition and health, so the perception of their benefits are the main driver of consumer purchases.

Avocado market trends

The success story of avocados in the United States goes back two decades when the product was considered an exotic fruit, “between 1980 and 2000, less than 500 million pounds were consumed per year,” Escobedo explained.

With globalization and the opening of the markets at the end of the 1990s, it began to grow and a boom was generated, leading to what Escobedo calls “a success story”.

According to the executive director, this success is due to two main factors: the joint promotion program carried out by HAB and the increasing availability of the product, which arrived in an orderly manner to the market.

Despite the increase in volume, the consumption of the fruit has allowed the price of the fruit not to decrease. “Average prices have increased slightly and returns for California growers have increased between 2013 and 2023,” he said.

Likewise, per capita consumption increased, “From 2003 to 2023, per capita consumption in dollars grew by 378%, while per capita consumption per pound grew by 295%, meaning that the more than $900 million that growers and marketers have invested have had returns.”

Regional division and consumption potential

Escobedo indicated that there is still great potential to increase avocado consumption in the United States, mainly on the East Coast, where the largest population is concentrated, however, it is the area with the lowest per capita consumption.

HAB divides avocado consumption by household, considering that there are around 130 million households in the United States. “Of those, 58% buy avocados at least once a year in supermarkets,” he said.

However, half of those buyers account for only 11% of total purchases, while the other 50% buy nearly 90% of all avocados at retail.

By dividing consumers into categories, the HAB is able to identify who are the main consumers of the fruit in the United States and identify the potential to increase consumption, not only among those who do not buy avocados but also among those who consume avocados but a smaller scale.

Consumer preference for avocados

In 2022, avocados sold in bags accounted for 28% of total sales volume, marking a 58% increase compared to 2019. On the other hand, bulk sales decreased 7% in retail, showing a preference for avocados in nets.

“A lot of this was a result of Covid, as people did not want to have direct contact with the product,” Escobedo explained.

Dividing it by region, in the east of the country, about 30% of sales are in bag format, while in the west it is 24%.

An annual HAB survey shows that the most important avocado attributes for consumers are taste and health, followed by value, usage options, and sustainability.

New origins, Guatemalan avocado

Regarding the recent entry of Guatemalan avocados into the American market, Escobedo told Freshfruitportal.com that “it is still too early to evaluate the impact that Guatemala will have, but the United States is where most avocados are consumed, so it is very important to see the quality of the product, the seasonality and how they will arrive.

He assured that Guatemala should not only celebrate that it has already obtained the entrance to the market but also make sure that it arrives well. He added that in the United States, the main reason for buying avocados is not the origin.

“I think Guatemala has to start by learning from the market, how its fruit behaves to educate the members of the commercial chain to handle their product,” Escobedo said.

“Also, they have to make sure that the product moves through the value chain, maintaining quality, flavor, and a good appearance, that is the most important thing. I am telling you this after having seen the entry of Colombia, and Peru and being involved in the entry of Mexico, as those were the main challenges for those three origins.”

Regarding consumer education programs, he said that the most important thing is to teach them the ripening process of the fruit since the consumer does not know what to do with the fruit yet.

Importance of investing in promotions

Escobedo assured that the industry's profitability at a global level, will not be possible without constant investment in promotion in the markets where the fruit is marketed.

“Without promotion, the consumption of avocados is going to continue, but that consumption is going to occur at lower prices because if there is a lot of volume, the value does not increase,” Escobedo said. “If we aspire to sustainability, we must also prioritize profitability, and to be profitable it is essential to invest in promotion.”

Escobedo closed his presentation by asking the Chilean industry to reflect on whether its guild can assume the dual commitment of sustainability and profitability through promotion, since “both objectives are fundamental to the long-term success of our industry.”

Related article: Global Avocado Summit 2024 focuses on export markets, new origins and the state of the Chilean industry