With new hires in place, Avocados from Mexico (AFM) Chief Executive Officer Tim O’Connor said the team is “knee-deep in the swamp” in developing a new promotional program which will be rolled out in September. “We are in the throes of the refinement of ideas,” he added.

O’Connor took the newly created position in April, assembled most of the members of his team over the last several months, and the virtual office opened its doors on July 1. He said talent rather than geography guided his decision with regard to the members of his team so consequently there is currently no bricks and mortar office as the team is spread across the country. “We are all working out of our homes and using whatever funds we save (on an office) on the program itself.”

Avocados from Mexico was developed by the boards of APEAM (Avocado Producers and Exporting Packers Association of Michoacán) and MHAIA (Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association) to offer a united promotional front. Previously promotions were conducted separately with APEAM concentrating on the established markets in the West and Southwest and MHAIA working on growing the developing markets in the Midwest and eastern half of the country.

O’Connor said AFM’s initial rollout will include elements of both previous programs, but he said it will be a brand new program with new ideas, a new marketing strategy and new promotional materials. He said the program is still in the developmental stages so he would not give out too many specifics but said the efforts are centered around the question “How do we go about continuing to grow avocado consumption in the United States and growing our market share?”

Mexican avocados have had a great run the past decade. In that time period, avocado consumption in the United States has virtually doubled with Mexican avocados accounting for all of the increase. California avocado producers remain a major factor in the industry but volume from the Golden State hasn’t grown significantly in the past 15 years, with some years producing a bumper crop and other years less so. Mexico has potential for sending even greater volumes to the U.S. marketplace as its total volume makes it the largest producer in the world.

O’Connor said that because Mexican avocado production is much smaller in the summer, this is an excellent time for the new team to step back and spend the time developing a new program.

He said the program will include the typical commodity promotional pieces including retail promotions, consumer advertising on traditional and digital media, a foodservice campaign and a public relations program. He said AFM probably has the largest budget of any fresh produce industry commodity at $36 million, and it is his intent to grow that budget, with increased sales, over time.

AFM will repeat the promotion it ran last year with Major League Baseball during the October playoffs, but O’Connor said it will have a different look. He also said that AFM’s program will be a national marketing campaign, though there will be market specific elements to it.

He indicated that most consumers still think guacamole when they see an avocado and AFM’s promotions will advocate other uses for the fruit that often times acts like a vegetable. O’Connor said that the sophisticated consumer can learn the difference between varieties and points of origin and marketing advantages can be created.

O’Connor was previously with The Potato Board and he has brought his top marketing person at that organization – Kathleen Triou — with him to AFM.  

Other members of the senior management team include Maggie Bezart, who most recently worked for the Chilean avocado industry and Don Ladhoff, who also worked with O’Connor at The Potato Board developing retail marketing programs. O’Connor said late August will bring an announcement of the final member of his team.