With 117.6 million pounds of avocados to be consumed for Fourth of July activities, the celebration of Independence Day is expected to be the second-largest avocado-consumption event of 2015. To encourage demand leading up to and during the holiday the California Avocado Commission plans to build on the connection between the holiday and domestically grown avocados.Connie Stukenberg of CAC with Chuck Bandy, a California avocado grower, and Steve Lawler of Albertsons/Vons/Safeway Southern California.

“In 2012 CAC set out to build a mid-summer avocado-consumption event around the Fourth of July and we’re proud that it has become one of the top-two consumption events of the year for avocados,” Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for CAC, said in a press release.

California avocado advertising, promotion and public relations creates usage awareness in connection with the American Summer Holidays in advance of the Fourth of July. General market radio, print ads, billboards and a new video showcasing California avocado grower Tom Pecht and his family anchor CAC’s advertising campaign during this period. CHOW.com also will feature California avocado summer entertaining and Fourth of July recipes.

Chef Charlie Kleinman of Wexler’s BBQ in San Francisco serves as CAC’s media spokesperson for the holiday. The chef developed two new recipes for CAC: pulled pork wandwich with California avocado slaw and cornmeal-crusted fried California avocado and bacon salad with molasses vinaigrette. CAC will promote Kleinman’s recipes via a press release and media outreach.

CaliforniaAvocado.com will include a Fourth of July landing page and offer consumers a chance to win prizes by participating in CAC’s All American recipe contest. Social media activity and advertising will promote California avocado recipe ideas and tips for the holiday. The commission’s blogger ambassadors are creating American Summer Holidays-themed posts and will pin to CAC’s American Summer Holidays Pinterest board.

The Commission’s retail Fourth of July program includes customer-specific marketing support, in-store radio, point-of-sale material and an American Summer Holidays recipe booklet.

An example of CAC’s customer-specific marketing is its support of Albertsons/ Vons/ Pavilions Southern California in-store signage program. Their California-grown POS program is a natural fit with California avocado communication and shopper interest in locally grown produce. At a recent kickoff event, California avocado grower Chuck Bandy, who will be one of many local growers featured in the in-store signage as well as the weekly mailer, shared his story at a local Albertsons store.