A new group of members and alternates for the Hass Avocado Board will be announced Nov. 18, and that group will pick a new executive committee and slate of officers. But first, they will give a huge round of applause to the outgoing team, which has been led by California grower Jamie Johnson for the past three years.

“We are very excited about what this board has been able to accomplish,” said HAB Executive Director Emiliano Escobedo. “Volume has grown tremendously and there has been a significant shift in the structure of the board.”Emiliano Escobedo

The tremendous consumption increase in avocados in the United States is well documented. Since eclipsing the 1 billion-pound mark in the mid-2000s, consumption has more than doubled and is still increasing at a double-digit percentage pace on an annual basis.

“There is no reason we shouldn’t double again in the next four or five years,” said Johnson, a bit optimistically.

He personally is bullish on the future of avocados in the United States as his firm, Simpatica, currently has more than 1,400 acres under production and another 1,600-plus acres in development. And they aren’t going to stop there, as the firm owns an additional 5,788 acres in Southern California, as well as some avocado acreage in Brazil. Johnson is a huge believer in California’s position in the marketplace, as well as the global outlook for avocados.

And he, like other members of the HAB team, is very proud of the work that the avocado umbrella organization has done to help achieve this potential.

HAB was established in 2001, under provisions of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, to act as the focal point for a U.S.-centric avocado marketing program. HAB collects assessments from both importers and domestic handlers and disseminates that money in a couple of different ways. Each country of origin can receive the lion’s share of the money generated from their U.S. imports for specific country-of-origin programs. And HAB retains a smaller percentage of the total dollars for more generic promotions and research.

Bob Schaar, who farms as Rancho Los Lobos Avocado Growers in Fallbrook, CA, and who has served on the HAB Executive Committee as vice chair for the past three years, said HAB had an image issue early in its life. Under the USDA provisions that established it, the board consisted of seven California producers and five U.S.-based importers of foreign avocados. While production and donations of imports grew, many foreign producers were leery of HAB’s efforts.

“In the early years, it was considered the ugly step-child of the California Avocado Commission,” he said.

Many efforts were made to be more inclusive with greater participation from foreign producers, but the results were not very satisfying. Schaar says there was talk of disbanding the organization, but about five years ago the board accepted the challenge of becoming more inclusive, and it has succeeded.

In a nutshell, this board has established the Hass Avocado Committee, which is a 16-member group including all 12 members of the Hass Avocado Board plus an additional member from each of the four main production areas: Mexico, Chile, Peru and California.

“Every producer now has a voice,” said Johnson.

He said it has become a very “collaborative effort” and the proof has been in the increased consumption. It turned out, he said, that producers from all of the regions have understood the value of working together, vetting ideas and setting the collective tone for the industry.

Schaar explained that under USDA rules, HAB still has the final say and must approve any proposal that comes from HAC. But as a matter of practice, all ideas run through HAC and are hashed out until unanimous, or near-unanimous, consent occurs.

“This is a very big deal,” said Escobedo. “Previously, foreign representation was not part of the structure. They were ex-officio members but they did not have a vote. Getting everyone to be included was a major accomplishment.”

Johnson was on the board, though not chairman, when the HAC idea was adopted, but Escobedo said he has been charged with implementing it and bringing the industry together.

“Personally, it has been very gratifying to see this very strong group of professional come together to advance the goals of the board,” said Escobedo.

Johnson concurred, noting that he, the executive committee and Escobedo “pushed very hard to make HAB a much different organization.” He is confident that the next board will take the baton and move to the next level.

With HAC in place, the Hass Avocado Board has seen tremendous growth and expansion in its nutritional and marketing efforts. Experts in both those areas have been hired and additional nutritional research has moved forward.

“We are building the long-term nutritional case for avocados,” said Escobedo.

While the board is scheduled for a new strategic plan in 2016 that encompasses the next five years, Escobedo is fairly certain the nutritional focus will continue. “We’ve learned a lot from the nutritional research and it will continue to play out moving forward.”

Schaar, who is expected to remain on the board and executive committee, whole-heartedly agreed. “What super consumers of avocados have always known instinctively, which is that avocados are incredibly good for you, we are proving through the nutritional research.”

Schaar expects the new board to follow that path, and has only great things to say about Chairman Johnson and his colleagues on the previous board.

“Everyone is working together, HAB is now very inclusive,” he said. “We all agree with what many of us have been saying for many years which is a rising tide will lift all boats.”

Johnson also credits the cohesiveness of the board for the great work that has been done over the past six years that he has been a member of HAB. But he also singles out Escobedo for high praise.

“The real star is Emiliano,” said Johnson. “He is a visionary. He is a bright shining star for our industry and has a great future ahead of him. The sky’s the limit.”