This is why the Hass Avocado Board (HAB), an organization focused on developing the U.S. market for the avocado industry, spent seven months consulting with experts, members, stakeholders, and consumers to prepare for the road ahead. At the end of July, the HAB announced its 2025-2030 strategic plan, which laid out a new vision statement aimed at making avocados “America’s preferred healthy food for every meal.”
In an accompanying webinar, HAB’s Executive Director, Emiliano Escobedo, outlined the organization’s priorities for the next five years, with investment in science research and efforts to track results at the top of the list. FreshFruitPortal.com reached out to Escobedo to talk more about the HAB’s strategic plan, as well as the importance of working closely with medical professionals to highlight avocados’ myriad health benefits.
The avocado sector has been in constant expansion in terms of volume. What other factors are playing a role in the industry’s need for market expansion?
We’re forecasting growth in avocado production (not only in acreage, but also in yield), in countries and regions that now have access to the U.S. market. There are also new origin countries at play, such as Guatemala, which will supply the market from here until 2030.
This is why it’s necessary to continue with our plans to grow consumption and demand in the United States to absorb this early and larger production.
The HAB’s strategic plan established nutrition as one of the organization’s priorities in the next five years. How do you plan on generating the knowledge to support avocados’ status as a "healthy food"?
In 2010, the Hass Avocado Board established the Avocado Nutrition Center to expand science and knowledge about the health and nutritional benefits of fresh Hass avocados. Since then, we’ve funded dozens of clinical studies involving human subjects, generating dozens of publications in scientific journals.
Thanks to this research, we’ve been able to demonstrate the benefits of avocado consumption to improve conditions that affect the cardiovascular system, weight control, diabetes, children’s health, maternal health, as well as cognitive health in senior patients.
Ten years ago, through robust market research involving consumers and health professionals, we determined the most relevant areas to investigate. Over the next five years, as part of our strategic plan, we’ll conduct further market research to ensure that the next decade of research aligns with the needs of consumers and health professionals.
The Hass Avocado Board invests approximately 15 percent of its net budget on promotion programs, research, and information about scientific research.
From farm to world: Optimising avocado supply chains
During the webinar, you also mentioned the importance of reaching out to health professionals so they are aware of the health benefits of avocados. How are you planning on doing that outreach?
The strategy is to reach consumers with the information produced by the Avocado Nutrition Center via influencers. In this case, we’ve identified mainly health professionals focusing on patient care through changes in eating habits, like cardiologists, generalists, and dietitians. These professionals have a significant influence on their patients.
We’re also reaching out to and working with professionals and doctors who have a presence on social media and other channels, including medical conferences, podcasts, digital marketing, and public relations.
Finally, a question related to the industry’s current scenario. How do you see the avocado export market at a global scale at a time when volumes from Mexico and Peru keep on growing? Do you expect that the current market volatility resulting from the ever-changing U.S. trade policy will negatively impact the upward trend in exports?
In the U.S., we’re seeing that there are still opportunities to grow demand. However, the challenge is in coordinating volumes between exporters and importers to ensure we can place crops in the right markets, at the right time, with the right calibers and quantities. This will ensure the quality and consistency of the product, which ultimately determines the consumer experience and the perceived value.
We have a healthy, tasty, and popular product the market wants to consume—and they’re willing to pay for it! We’ll continue to succeed if we meet customer demand in an orderly manner both globally and domestically.
