The World Avocado Organisation (WAO) believes that there is a bigger potential for growth in Europe for the fruit, than in the United States.
Addressing the World Avocado Congress in Colombia, Chief Executive Officer Xavier Equihua says the fruit has become the star of the produce aisle, and the icon of health across many countries.
"In reality, the per capita consumption for Europe is misleading," Mr Equihua said. "80 per cent of the 650million kilograms were consumed by 11 of 28 countries that comprised the European Union. That means that means the actual per capita is 2kg per person. That means Europe has incredible potential - in my opinion, bigger than the U.S.A."
The WAO started its first marketing program in 2017, and its main pillars are: to increase sales and overall image of avocados, place avocados at the forefront of food and culture, and address social and environmental issues. He added that European growth has been achieved on a much lower budget than in the United States.
"If you look at the growth between the European market and the U.S.A, it is driven by supply," Mr Equihua said. "But the interesting thing is that in Europe we are only spending $2.5million compared to $80million plus in the United States. This (Europe) is a great market, and we are very proud of what we have done."
The organisation utilises a number of tactics including press and public relations, awareness of key avocado messages, and food service and brand collaborations, with the aim of making avocados the icon of superfood in Europe.
"We have promotions in nine, up to 11 countries, depending on the year," he said. "We do promotions in nine languages, which is a challenge on our budget. Our target is the general public of course, but there's a special emphasis on millennials and younger people because they are driving the consumption in Europe."
WAO represents the top handlers in Europe, and works with the top retailers in Western Europe across a number of programmes, but Mr Equihua says the organisation still needs to work on Eastern Europe and Italy which has smallest per capita consumption of the major countries. Although, he admitted progress was being made, with retailers moving the produce from the tropical fruit section, to the salad section where he says it is more suited.
Promotions are also being carried out in the Spanish market. The country is the largest producer of avocados across the continent, but has a low rate of consumption. One of the major events that has been created to promote the fruit is World Avocado Month, which takes place in June, it is adjusted to suit the culture of each market, and Mr Equihua says it has led to many success stories.
"We are very proud of what we have done so far," he said. "We are in the top supermarkets, and our logo has been translated into 11 languages, because markets like Italy, we think it is good to have it in English as well as Italian. A great number of avocados in Europe has these stickers - either on the individual fruit or the packages. We have an amazing cookbook that has been downloaded 50,000 times. We have a halo effect on many things; just this summer a major gelato company made an avocado flavour, and they have asked us to partner with them, and we have a special avocado beer."
The CEO explained that in 2019, avocados became the first non-processed agricultural product to be invited in the 110-year history to partner with them and be given global status.
He also conceded that the fruit often receives some negative publicity, and is referred to as the celebrity or "Kim Kardashian" of the produce industry. Therefore, it is important to constantly neutralise with just as many good news stories.
"We just took the BBC to Peru to do a documentary on environment and sustainability - that's how we are changing the narrative," Mr Equihua said. "We are also changing the conversation about two important subjects; sustainability and social responsibility. It is the most important thing right now in Europe, it has been important for five years now and will become the largest narratives for the next five years for the avocado industry. So, we need to change the narrative about avocados being evil, because they are not - they are the most perfect food you can eat."
He concluded by outlining that WAO is not only focusing on promoting the fruit inside the European Union, but in other markets like Russia, India, China and Persian Gulf countries.