The market is strong on avocados right now. "The supply is lighter than usual for this time of year and demand is high in anticipation of holiday promotions," says Brooke Becker, SVP of Sales for Mission Produce. "Because of this, pricing is strong across all sizes."
As it usually is in December, Mexico is the main country of origin for avocados for the U.S. with additional supply coming from Colombia. "The size curve out of Mexico is leaning on small fruit with more limited availability on sizes 40 and larger, but this is expected to improve as the season progresses," says Becker.
Looking ahead over the next month, the industry expects strong sales and holiday promotion opportunities. This of course includes planning for the Super Bowl which in 2025, will fall on February 9. In 2024, 62.3 million lbs. of avocados sold in the two weeks ahead of the game which generated $133 million in sales according to research from Circana.
Pairing avocados and football
"Football season is an excellent time for retailers to score with promotions, winning displays, and purchase bundles for all things avocado," says Becker, adding that guacamole is considered the top game day snack by one-third of football fans according to research from AFM/Quantilope. This means the tropical fruit lends itself to cross-merchandising in store with affinity items such as tomatoes, onions, and tortilla chips. "During college football season, baskets jump by an average of $41 when avocados are on the list." She also adds that the company can help retailers take advantage of point-of-sale merchandising and promotions with campaigns tied to college and professional football.
However, promotions don't just fall around football. Given January is the month of New Year's resolutions around healthy eating, this is also a time for promoting avocados. "This year, industry avocado volume sales lifted 16 percent in January compared to December 2023," says Becker, adding that the company has seen success in the use of bags in the avocado category to help move product. It's an idea Mission Produce is now applying to mangoes as well with the recent launch of Retail-Ready Mango Bags–a four-count value pack of snacking mangos. "Since 2019, bags have driven 100 percent of avocado volume growth. So, we're excited to launch a product that has the opportunity to impact the mango category similarly," adds Becker.
For more information:
Jenna Aguilera
Mission Produce
[email protected]
www.missionproduce.com