Sales Review: Avocados 2018-01-01 (2)

The avocados category posted strong growth from 2011 to 2015, increasing year over year sales by double-digits from 2012 to 2015, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.3 percent. Avocados posted sales of $1,365 per store per week during the 52 weeks ended April 4, up 10.8 percent compared to the previous year. 

Nationally, avocados accounted for 2.7 percent of produce department sales. Across the four U.S. regions, avocados posted the highest contribution to produce sales in the West at 3.9 percent, followed by the South region at 2.4 percent. Avocados posted the lowest contribution to produce sales in the East region at 1.9 percent, down from 2.1 percent from the previous year. Avocados posted sizeable average dollar sales increases across all regions. The highest average sales occurred in the West at $2,138 per store per week, up 9.9 percent compared to the previous year. The largest increase occurred in the East region, up 16.1 percent from the previous year to $1,337 per store per week. The South region posted the lowest average avocado sales at $1,069 per store per week, up 9.1 percent compared to the previous year. 

Avocado sales peak for Cinco de Mayo, Super Bowl Sunday and the Fourth of July. The highest-selling week for avocados was the week of Cinco de Mayo (the week ended May 9) at $1,705 per store, up 14.1 percent from the previous year. The second highest-selling week for avocados was the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday (the week ended Feb. 6) at $1,599 per store, up 4.3 percent compared to the previous year. The third-highest selling week for avocados was the week of the Fourth of July holiday (the week ended July 4) at $1,586 per store, up 10.2 percent from the previous year. The lowest-selling week for avocados was the week ending Nov. 28, at $984 per store. 

Hass avocados accounted for the majority of category sales—92.5 percent for the tracked period. Green avocados accounted for 4.2 percent of sales during this time, followed by “other” at 3.3 percent of sales.      

This sales review is provided by Nielsen Perishables Group. Based in Chicago, Nielsen Perishables Group specializes in retail measurement, analytics, marketing communications, category development, promotional best practices and shopper insights.