New-crop Chilean avocados now arriving on weekly basis
New-crop Chilean avocados now arriving on weekly basis
SAN DIEGO -- Chile, which typically exports about 80 percent of its annual avocado crop to the United States and expects to do so again this year, has a record crop on the trees and expects to ship a record volume of avocados to the United States during the season which started in earnest in early October.
"Chile is projecting roughly 11 million cartons of avocados coming into the United States this season, which is approximately 265 million pounds," Phil Henry, vice chairman of the Chilean Avocado Importers Association, said in an Oct. 22 interview with The Produce News at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here.
"Charter ships are now arriving on a regular basis," he said. "We will have weekly arrivals coming into the West Coast," and there are also vessels arriving on the East Coast, "so there is an adequate supply of good quality Chilean avocados now."
The Chilean avocado exporters "have very high maturity standards that they comply with before they ship the avocados to the United States," Mr. Henry said. "So the avocados that are arriving are very good quality."
The avocados are now being shipped to major retail accounts in the United States as well as to wholesalers and distributors, he said.
"We expect very steady volume from today through the Super Bowl and probably into February with Chilean avocados," Mr. Henry continued. "We expect to have very good supplies, and we will be able to support the promotional efforts of the retailers in the United States."
The CAIA is involved in a program of demand building, he continued. The "basic core platform" of that program is a television consumer advertising campaign with retail tags in target markets. "That is being supported by other efforts in other markets as well."
The $5 million marketing campaign also includes public relations activities and in-store promotions.
A team of merchandisers headed by Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, is "out in the field selling in the programs," he said.
Mr. Tjerandsen, who had previously worked as an adviser to CAIA, was appointed marketing manager for the organization in September with the responsibility to lead its efforts to promote Chilean Hass avocados to U.S. consumers.
"Mother Nature has been very kind to the avocado harvest in Chile this year," Mr. Tjerandsen told The Produce News. "The product is fine quality [and] it is arriving steadily in promotable quantities. The initial [promotional] program that Phil mentioned, which consists principally of tagged television in key markets in both Spanish and English, is unprecedented in the advertising support arena for avocados."
The program is being "warmly embraced by retailers, not only in markets that are considered to be high index but [also] in lower-index markets," Mr. Tjerandsen said. Retailers in those markets, "who know that they are missing the profit potential that avocados represent," find the promotional program "very intriguing."
Through that effort, he said, CAIA is "assisting the rest of the avocado industry in developing."
CAIA offers to retailers a "whole package of support materials" and sales tools, he said. Even though CAIA is a new marketing entity, it has "put together a strong, consistent program that seems to be very successful at moving the business forward."
"Chile is projecting roughly 11 million cartons of avocados coming into the United States this season, which is approximately 265 million pounds," Phil Henry, vice chairman of the Chilean Avocado Importers Association, said in an Oct. 22 interview with The Produce News at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here.
"Charter ships are now arriving on a regular basis," he said. "We will have weekly arrivals coming into the West Coast," and there are also vessels arriving on the East Coast, "so there is an adequate supply of good quality Chilean avocados now."
The Chilean avocado exporters "have very high maturity standards that they comply with before they ship the avocados to the United States," Mr. Henry said. "So the avocados that are arriving are very good quality."
The avocados are now being shipped to major retail accounts in the United States as well as to wholesalers and distributors, he said.
"We expect very steady volume from today through the Super Bowl and probably into February with Chilean avocados," Mr. Henry continued. "We expect to have very good supplies, and we will be able to support the promotional efforts of the retailers in the United States."
The CAIA is involved in a program of demand building, he continued. The "basic core platform" of that program is a television consumer advertising campaign with retail tags in target markets. "That is being supported by other efforts in other markets as well."
The $5 million marketing campaign also includes public relations activities and in-store promotions.
A team of merchandisers headed by Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, is "out in the field selling in the programs," he said.
Mr. Tjerandsen, who had previously worked as an adviser to CAIA, was appointed marketing manager for the organization in September with the responsibility to lead its efforts to promote Chilean Hass avocados to U.S. consumers.
"Mother Nature has been very kind to the avocado harvest in Chile this year," Mr. Tjerandsen told The Produce News. "The product is fine quality [and] it is arriving steadily in promotable quantities. The initial [promotional] program that Phil mentioned, which consists principally of tagged television in key markets in both Spanish and English, is unprecedented in the advertising support arena for avocados."
The program is being "warmly embraced by retailers, not only in markets that are considered to be high index but [also] in lower-index markets," Mr. Tjerandsen said. Retailers in those markets, "who know that they are missing the profit potential that avocados represent," find the promotional program "very intriguing."
Through that effort, he said, CAIA is "assisting the rest of the avocado industry in developing."
CAIA offers to retailers a "whole package of support materials" and sales tools, he said. Even though CAIA is a new marketing entity, it has "put together a strong, consistent program that seems to be very successful at moving the business forward."
