By ANNE MARIE CHAKER, Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2012
When the waitress at the Perkins restaurant said they were
out of avocados, Nicole Breedlove walked out, got one from her car and sliced
it up at the table herself.
"I was getting the salad for the avocado," says
the 43-year-old Silver Spring, Md., mother, who was on a road trip with her
family. "It's the substance of the meal."
The avocado is experiencing a sharp rise in sales in grocery
stores and casual restaurants. Anne Marie Chaker on Lunch Break looks at how
the industry got behind this rise and why consumers are responding and
embracing the idea of "the healthy fat."
Not long ago, avocados were beloved in Super Bowl guacamole
but seldom encountered the rest of the year. Now, the fruits are having a
mass-market breakthrough, as supermarket sales surge and restaurant chains
spread them and slice them on sandwiches and salads.
In consumers' minds, the avocado has been transformed from
exotic "fatty food" to everyday source of "heart-healthy"
fats. "We fought the health message for years and years. A fat was a fat
was a fat," says Mike Browne, marketing committee chairman for the Mexican
Hass Avocado Importers Association, a Fallston, Md., marketing group. Now, he
says, "the stars have aligned."
With more people paying close attention to diet and health,
more single produce items are rocketing to superstardom. Something similar is
happening with kale, known as "among the most nutrient-dense foods you can
consume," says James Parker, facility team leader for produce at Whole Foods
Market WFM +1.34% . Supply must keep pace with demand, though, for this to
happen, he says.
Such is the case with avocados. Mexican imports, available
in all 50 states only since 2007, have led to year-round availability and now
contribute more than 60% of U.S. supply. Avocado sales in 2011 totaled $2.9
billion, beating 2010 by 11%, according to the Hass Avocado Board, based in
Irvine, Calif. Consumption in the first half of 2012 was 30% ahead of the same
period last year.
This summer, Panera Bread Co., began
putting avocado slices in its Roasted Turkey & Avocado BLT sandwich and
Cobb salad at its 1,600 "bakery-cafés." Subway, with more than 25,000
U.S. outlets, has been running an "add avocado" promotion, where
customers can add a hit of the creamy green stuff to their sub for an extra 75
cents to $1.50. Foot traffic has increased—and no doubt the avocado has
enhanced sales. In TV commercials, professional athletes extol avocado on
breakfast sandwiches. "Avocado on anything!" says Blake Griffin, of
the Los Angeles Clippers.
Chefs admire the avocado's knack for suggesting luxury.
"It's like a beautiful sandwich with a Tiffany box," says Stefano
Cordova, senior vice president, food and beverage innovation at Au Bon Pain,
whose 198 cafes began serving avocado last year.
Chains are taking a cue from Latin cuisine, where the mild,
creamy fruit is a traditional foil for piquant flavors. Roberto Santibañez,
owner of Fonda restaurants in New York, serves them diced on seafood ceviche or
sliced with crunchy jalapeño peppers. "The fruit is used for balancing the
acidity and spiciness," he says.
Fast food chains and casual dining restaurants are looking
beyond guacamole to incorporate the avocado into their menus, as awareness of
the fruit's "healthy fat" grows along with demand in the U.S.
Fresherized Foods Inc., of Saginaw, Texas, uses high-pressure
processing to extend the store shelf life of its Wholly Guacamole packaged
avocado products. Kings Food Markets, a specialty grocery chain in New Jersey,
has promoted them as "nature's mayonnaise." Sales are up 11% this
year. Avocados are "more mainstream" now, says Paul Kneeland, vice
president of produce.
Helping propel avocados to high status in the produce aisle
is consumers' efforts to eat "healthy fats." Avocados contain mono-
and polyunsaturated fats, otherwise known as "good fats" because they
help reduce "bad" cholesterol levels and lower risk of heart disease.
They also are a "nutrient booster," helping the body absorb
fat-soluble nutrients, like alpha- and beta-carotene and lutein, when consumed
with food sources at the same time, according to the Hass Avocado Board, a
marketing group representing producers and importers.
"It's the kinds of fats that we as nutritionists are
pushing,"says Barbara Davis, a registered dietitian and vice president at
HealthFocus International, a St. Petersburg, Fla., market-research company.
Nutrition, though, is just one slice of avocados' appeal. They "taste so
good, and they have a creamy mouth feel. That is so critical to brand influence
and acceptance," she says. "It's rare to find foods that taste so
good and are actually good for you," says Stephanie Mueller, a Washington,
D.C., public relations executive who says she eats five avocados a week.
The Panera Bread chain's menu started featuring avocado this
summer, while Subway, center, has been promoting avocado at breakfast. At Au
Bon Pain, avocado on a sandwich suggests it is 'something special.'
Fats, no matter how healthy, shouldn't make up more than a
third of daily caloric intake, Ms. Davis cautions. One ounce of avocado, equal
to about two tablespoons, or a fifth of a medium-size fruit, provides 4.5 grams
of fat. Indulge in a whole avocado, and rack up 250 calories and 22.5 grams of
fat. "A 'super food' isn't something you can eat unlimited amounts
of," Ms. Davis says.
To lower calories and heighten the nutritional profile of
baked goods, the California Avocado Commission recommends substituting mashed
avocado for an equal measure of butter or shortening in muffins, quick breads
and even brownies. Compared with avocado's 50 calories per two tablespoons,
butter has 204 calories and mayonnaise, 115.
Most avocados sold in the U.S. are the dark, bumpy-skinned
Hass variety grown in California or Mexico. Florida produces "green
skin" varieties, which are larger and less fatty and caloric. The U.S.
avocado supply has roughly tripled since the mid-1990s, says Roberta Cook, an
agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis, based on
analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Once called "alligator fruit," avocados have gone
from novelty to produce staple, stocked in aisle end caps, supermarkets' prime
selling space, along with tomatoes and grapes.
Uncertainty about ripeness deters some would-be buyers. The
moment of peak ripeness, with creamy, ready-to-eat green flesh, can be
fleeting. To gauge readiness, consumers often rely on a gentle squeeze: A ripe
avocado has to have the right amount of "give," according to the
California Avocado Commission—neither too hard nor too soft.
You can ripen very green avocados at home by putting them in
a paper bag with a banana or an apple. The fruits produce ethylene gas, which
helps ripen them further. Still, it's easy to overdo it.
Growers and distributors have invested in "ripe
rooms," where temperature, humidity and air flow are all regulated.
"The consumer is much more demanding for product that is in perfect
condition," Whole Foods' Mr. Parker says. "What we used to do
ourselves, our distributors are doing for us,"
Write to Anne Marie Chaker at anne-marie.chaker@wsj.com
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