ANAHEIM, CA — As the promotional arm of the largest worldwide supplier of avocados, Avocados from Mexico faces a challenge of devising programs to move a crop of fruit that eclipses 1 billion pounds annually.

At the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition, held Oct. 17-9, here, AFM introduced a new retail display case and an educational program for register clerks designed to move more product and increase the produce department ticket ring.Maggie Bezart Hall, vice president of trade and promotion for Avocados from Mexico, with the organization's new permanent display bin for Mexican avocados.

Maggie Bezart Hall, vice president of trade and promotion for AFM, said the new permanent display bin has been well received by retail customers and has design features to allow for easy cross-promotions with other items to increase sales.

The bin, constructed of steel in the shape of an avocado, is on wheels, which allows for easy movement throughout a store. It has padded shelves that hold approximately 75 pounds of avocados and taller shelves on the lower tier to display complementary items, such as chips, taco shells or beverages. It also has two front pockets, which are ideal for merchandising guacamole or taco spices or recipe cards.

AFM will use the new display in its Guac Fiesta program, a cross-promotion with General Mills' "Old El Paso" branded items beginning in mid-December and leading up to the Super Bowl in early February.

"It's a great promotion and we are very excited to be working with General Mills on this program," said Bezart Hall.

AFM also unveiled a new in-store training tool to educate cash register clerks about properly ringing Mexican avocados on the checkout line.

Designed for smaller retailers that typically carry only one size of fruit, the tool is a bin with separate compartments for various sizes of avocados, and the idea is to have clerks handle each size and familiarize themselves with the look and feel of each, according to Bezart Hall.

"Since most clerks are female, we are trying to educate them about how each size feels in their hands," she said.

The 48 is the most common size, so register clerks can hold one of those to get a standard measure. Then when they hold a size 60, 70 or 84, for example, they can feel how much smaller they are in their hands.

"The goal is to provide a sales and volume lift for the avocado category and increase the produce department ticket ring," said Bezart Hall.

The bin also has graphics on the front to show the avocado sizes and the ideal uses for each size.

At the PMA Fresh Summit expo, the AFM booth featured AFM-themed food trucks, which served a variety of dishes that featured Mexican avocados. Traffic was strong throughout the two-day expo, as attendees stopped for samples of creative dishes and examined the new shipper display and bin.

"This has been a great convention for us," said Bezart Hall. "We are promoting all of our different programs to continue to drive consumption and maintain sales."