Avocado sales hit almost every demographic in the USA – whether it’s the health-conscious Instagram blogger serving avocado on gluten-free vegan sourdough toast with ‘everything but the bagel’ seasoning; the healthy-fat-loving, yoga-pant-wearing mom; or the beer-swilling, American-football-watching ‘guac and chips’ devotee that this week watched the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl.
The avocado is perceived as less upmarket and more mass market. Potentially, this is because all fresh produce is slightly more ‘upmarket’ in demographic and so the differential is less obvious. After all, a single apple here can cost $1.05, a family bag of apples can retail at $14.99, and a punnet of strawberries can be $12. All retailers merchandise large volumes of loose Hass avocado (sometimes called ‘Californian’); they have effectively mastered ‘ripe and ready to eat’, though I don’t envy the produce teams responsible for stock rotation. Some stores display a breadth of ripeness and a guide to accompany this.
In addition to the ‘Californian’ or Hass avocado, American supermarkets sell a loose ‘Florida’ avocado (or SlimCado), which is significantly larger, at over twice the price. I haven’t seen any AvoZilla marketing, but at the other end of the size scale baby or mini avocados are also popular. Larger stores have ‘family’ sized nets, and Aldi doesn’t have a loose offering but does have a net. Note that frozen avocado is better established in the US than the UK, but it is largely targeted for smoothies and guacamole.
Guacamole is really the primary driver of avocado popularity in the US. Americans love to make events out of sporting occasions, and guacamole has made itself indispensable.Consumers here often have a signature guacamole recipe that they freshly prepare and take to friends’ houses – more popular than the British ‘bring a bottle’ is a ‘plate to pass’.
Retailers provide in-store prepared versions, and retailing the core fresh ingredients together is a common merchandising tactic. Guacamole is huge in the US, and given the current political climate in the US, it is perhaps slightly ironic that a Mexican dip remains America’s Super Bowl accompaniment of choice.
