Market Insights – 2019
2019 was an interesting year for the avocado industry in the United States, but then again what year hasn’t been interesting on our incredible journey over the past 15 years.
Overall volume never materialized to the levels that industry participants thought that it would, but there is no doubt in everyone’s mind that the industry is on its way to a 3 billion pound year, somewhere in the very near future.
2019 total volume topped out at 2,494,000,000 pounds, as volume was down by more than 3% against early year projections. Shorter crops in most producing areas were to blame for the missed projections, and certainly not too lack of consumer demand, that continues to drive the category.
With this lack of supply growth, the per capita consumption (PCC) also flattened and was on par with the 2018 PCC of 7.6 pounds per capita. Retail dollars per capita inched up to $18.97 up slightly from 2018, but again volume, PCC and per capita dollars all remained relatively flat due to supply constrictions for fruit coming to the U.S.
While supply remained even, small changes in regional sales levels and method of selling continues to generate interesting changes to the marketplace, as well as becoming opportunities for the sellers of our products to drive consumption and get the market ready for increasing volumes that are poised to reach the market.
In regional sales, it is interesting to note that the Southeast, the Mid-South, and the Northeast had the greatest percentage increases in pounds per capita consumption over the past three years, outpacing more mature markets like the West and California. Increasing PCC in these less mature markets is going to be key when the larger crops do come along, and it seems that the industry is doing well to develop these markets as we move forward.
Another amazing factor we see and have seen over the past 5 years is the phenomenal growth for bagged avocados in the marketplace. Bagged fruit, oftentimes using small and possibly hard or unmarketable fruit has surged in sales, and now accounts for at least 25% of the sales at retail in the U.S. HAB intends to do a deep dive into this changing part of the category so sellers have data and stories to deliver to retailers about how complimentary and non- cannibalizing these sales are to current consumers and sales.
The marketplace for avocados in the United States continues to grow, mature and change in interesting and sometimes complex ways. You can always count on HAB to provide the independent data, the research and the insights to help keep your avocado business strong and vibrant in our collective effort to make avocados America’s most popular fruit.
Please continue to utilize HassAvocadoBoard.com to find the data and information you need to make critical decisions for your business.
Other Happenings
The Latest Five-Year Evaluation of the Hass Avocado Boards Promotion Programs 2018-2022
HAB in early 2023 engaged with a group of professors and graduate students in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University Of California at Davis, to do this economic evaluation of our Research & Promotion activity.
Leadership at the Avocado Nutrition Center Joins the Foundation for Fresh Produce Board
Dr. Nikki Ford’s new role on the FFP Board heralds a fruitful era for the avocado industry, aligning with ANC’s health-driven research and initiatives.
Research from the Avocado Nutrition Center and the Benefits of Fiber in Avocado Shared at the Today’s Dietitian Spring Symposium
On Monday, May 20, HAB Staff Ella Bauer, PhD, and Amanda Izquierdo, MPH, RD, LDN, presented to nutrition professionals the benefits of the fiber in avocados on gut health and chronic disease risk reduction.
