Although the California contribution to aggregate avocado volume in the United States will be a bit under 20 percent this year compared to nearly 30 percent last year, the marketing strategies for California fruit at Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA, are “fairly similar” to what they were in 2013, according to Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales and marketing.

“With California, we are definitely focusing on the West,” he said. “We tend to split the country as we get into spring and summer, where avocados from Mexico go to the central and Eastern part of the country and the California avocados stay in California” and other Western markets such as Portland, OR, and Seattle.

By focusing on those two sources of supply, “we are trying to make sure we are selling fruit that is fresh and fruit that is at peak flavor,” he said.

California is “the biggest consumer of avocados in the country,” and in the California market, customers can benefit from “the local freight advantage” when buying California-grown fruit, he said.

Rob WedinCalavo also endeavors “to take advantage of the California Avocado Commission’s advertising program,” he added. “We are on the marketing committee, and we have some influence about when it runs.” That campaign will be “more condensed than it was last year” and is timed to coincide with the condensed shipping season expected for the crop.

“I think we will have good supplies available” during those months of the year “when the fruit tastes the best and when demand is the highest,” he added.

Calavo continues “to convert both retailers and restaurant companies and foodservice distributors too the ripe program,” Wedin said. “Our ripe numbers as a percentage of our sales continue to go up, as do consumer bags.” Both value-added programs continue to increase year after year.

When the CAC’s consumer advertising programs are running, “if you can convert that with ripe fruit at retail, the product really moves through the stores,” he said.

With California fruit, “the closer we operate to home, the better we keep from adding additional costs,” Wedin said. That is especially critical this year, because “we know that prices are going to be pretty strong.”

Even so, “we still think that avocados are promotable, because people love to eat them, especially as you go through the summer holidays.” But if the fruit available on the supermarket shelf is not ripe, “then your sales are not going to be what they should be.”

Even with the lighter California crop this year, “we think the total avocado availability in the country is going to be about the same as it was in 2013. Demand continues to rise, however, Wedin said, “so we are going to see higher prices. That is something we are trying to help our customers understand” so they are “prepared for those increases in prices” as demand climbs.