California Avocado Commission Offers Back-to-Back Summer Programs to Up Consumption
IRVINE, CA – Summertime’s hottest palatable hits are putting avocados square in focus this year, as consumers continue demand the popular green fruit. As summer continues to be a key time for avocado availability, the California Avocado Commission (CAC) is continue its strategy of back-to-back programs to up consumption throughout the season.
Building off its springtime and early summer programs, CAC will be supporting a push for Fourth of July. The avocado industry, according to a CAC release, forecasts that consumption for the holiday will be on par with last year’s numbers, at around 100.8 million pounds.
“After five years of promoting California avocados for Fourth of July, the holiday has become one of the biggest avocado consumption events of the year,” said Jan DeLyser, Vice President of Marketing. “This year the Commission is continuing to market California avocados and California avocado recipes for the American Summer Holidays, from barbecue to salads to baking.”
Continuing its United Plates of American promotion, which launched prior to Memorial Day, CAC has partnered with Chef Ryan “Peaches” Lamon to continue its combination of California avocados with American regional specialties. Chef Lamon is the executive chef and co-owner of Peaches’ Smokehouse and Southern Kitchen, which was also featured on the Cooking Channel’s Food Truck Race Off in 2014. Highlighting how easily California avocados can elevate Southern barbecue, Chef Lamon created and promoted new recipes for the Fourth of July.
CAC’s social media will also feature a Route 66 theme, as the United Plates of America program continues. This theme will include a blog post, carousel on Facebook, and supporting Twitter polls about select Route 66 stops. The company will also continue print advertising in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento, in addition to in-store radio and Pandora audio spots.
CAC noted that digital advertising has played a big role in marketing California avocados this year. CAC’s American Summer Holidays creative will run on Food52, Tasting Table, Nativo, and PureWow. Nativo will also feature two customer articles: Four Ways to Celebrate Fourth of July with California Avocado, and 5 All-American Ways to Celebrate with California Avocado.
In further support of the United Plates of America program, CAC will provide customized retail support including demos, POS materials, and display bins. Retailers are also using CAC’s United Plates of America recipe booklet that showcases 18 recipes and tips that pair California avocados with “plates” from throughout the U.S., particularly in California and the West.
CAC first kicked off the season’s programming in April, followed by its American Summer Holidays program in May. The company celebrated June as “California Avocado Month” by sponsoring the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles. As we previously reported, for the entire month, market vendors featured California avocado dishes at their restaurants. CAC held a media preview at the venue in late May, as bloggers and other media outlets shared information. This included outreach by LAist, DineLA, and FoodBeast.
“Magic can happen when you get bloggers and the media to try the California avocado dishes created by talented chefs,” said DeLyser. “We have been blown away by the media coverage of CAC’s Grand Central Market sponsorship, which has exceeded 82 million impressions so far.”
CAC’s California Avocado Month used print, Pandora, in-store radio to target where California avocados are in distribution. Retail support supported a full program with one chain that featured store-wide programs involving multiple departments, a display and sales contest, a featured recipe in its service deli and Father’s Day activities. Another retailer created a BBQ theme event supporting California avocados that included an online social media recipe contest, and a team member wellness challenge.
As the industry prepares for the next produce-pushing holidays, AndNowUKnow will have all the latest in sale-boosting promotions and campaigns.
