There has been no shortage of challenges facing California agriculture this year and California avocado growers have been in the thick of it with heat, wind and fire impacting production. The Commission’s Marketing Committee met on August 1 and estimated this year’s harvest will be about 300 million pounds with availability continuing through the month.
“We had originally projected that volume would continue strong through Labor Day, however, excellent demand as well as a reduction of the original crop estimate has created a quicker end to the season,” said Jan DeLyser, CAC vice president marketing. “Despite all of the weather-related challenges California avocado growers have endured this season, the revised crop forecast is still nearly 40 percent higher than last year, and we’re committed to providing customers with the support they need.”
Photo credit: California Avocado Commission
In July, CAC began promoting the California Avocado Summer Soundtrack – a California-inspired playlist - on digital audio provider Spotify. The Commission also worked with chefs including Phillip Frankland Lee of Scratch Restaurants along with several local food and lifestyle tastemakers to develop recipes inspired by various California music genres and put these together in a digital California avocado cookbook. CAC is offering consumers free downloads of the California Avocado Summer Soundtrack recipe booklet via its blog, The Scoop. The program also includes a dedicated email, promoted social posts, a blog post and home page feature on CaliforniaAvocado.com.
CAC’s website was recently upgraded with redesigned and improved sections, including a recipe section with advanced ways to search recipes. An overall upgrade includes personalization to those visiting the site, with suggested content related to consumer searches and what makes the most sense for the time of day and the platform being used.
CAC’s Made of California advertising campaign continues in August. Digital and social programs target consumers of California avocados and are designed to help them find the stores and restaurants where they are in distribution.
For more information:
Marji Morrow
California Avocado Commission
Tel: +1 (323) 456-6751