The Hass Avocado Board Actively Engages
in the Heart Health Month
HAB’s marketing and communication program focused on nutrition contributed to make health benefits of avocado a hot topic in the food-health front. Heart health is one of HAB’s strategic health pillars and this month is promoting the nutrition message to support Heart Health Month in February.
Avocado plays an important role in cardiovascular health. The American Heart Association advises that replacing saturated (bad) fat in the diet with healthier unsaturated (good) fat can result in similar to cholesterol-lowering drugs effects. Fresh avocados are heart-healthy fruit. They have naturally good fats and are cholesterol, sugar and sodium free. The Hass Avocado Board has invested millions of dollars on its nutrition research program to better understand the unique benefits of eating avocados on human health and nutrition, as well as to communicate them to health professionals and consumers.
Gina Widjaja is Director of Marketing & Communications. Since 2012 her role is to plan, develop and implement the organization’s marketing strategies. She is responsible for developing and executing a strong nutrition marketing program targeting health professionals and their clients as well as the food and wellness-involved consumers that led to having “good for you” and “nutritional benefits” as primary reasons for purchasing avocados. This effort has also contributed to increase per capita consumption of Hass avocados in the U.S.
For the Heart Health Month, HAB has an important agenda addressing this topic and showing the relationship between fresh avocado consumption and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We will be promoting a new cookbook “Fresh Swaps for the Heart: featuring fresh avocados” that includes heart-healthy recipe makeovers, as well as meals under 500 calories and vegetarian dishes. Limited prints will be available for health professionals while the digital version will be available for consumers to download. This promotion will be accompanied by display advertising and PR campaigns helping people make healthy choices when it comes to their eating habits.
In addition, HAB is kicking off in February a year-round campaign partnering with Walk with a Doc, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and empowering patients through exercise led by health experts. Through its 423 chapters locally and an estimated 10,000 volunteers, this global health movement reaches an estimated 200,000 consumers in the U.S. annually.
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.
