California Avocado Commission
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The California Avocado Commission is an
agricultural marketing organization A marketing board is an organization created by many producers to try to market their product and increase consumption and thus prices. It can also be defined as an organization set up by a government to regulate the buying and selling of a certain ...
and
trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...
serving
avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...
producers in the American state of California.


Avocado production in California

Avocados, native to
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and South America, have long been produced in California. In 1989, California supplied 90 percent of fresh avocados produced in the United States. As of 2008, approximately 6,500 growers produce avocados on 60,000 bearing acres of land (less than 100 square miles). Price and production levels vary from season to season, and from year to year, due to weather and incidents such as fires. In a typical year production averages 350 million pounds at a wholesale price of $1 per pound, although 2008 was an exceptionally low yield year. Most avocados are grown from
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
south, with
San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...
the largest producer.


Organization history

The California Avocado Commission's predecessor organization, the California Avocado Advisory Board, was organized in 1961 out of dissatisfaction by individual growers with the success of the state's largest
agricultural cooperative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...
,
Calavo Growers Calavo Growers, Inc. () is an international consumer goods and farm products company. The company packages, and distributes avocados and other fruits, as well as their fresh prepared food to restaurants, stores, and individual customers worldwide ...
, to secure stable prices for avocados. New laws were passed allowing growers to form an association that would obtain a compulsory contribution from businesses directly involved in the avocado industry, and use the money to advertise and promote avocados to consumers throughout America. The Board assumed this marketing responsibility from Calavo, which continued to manage distribution and relations with retailers for the 60% of growers who remained in the co-op. The newly organized Board began marketing avocados to American
housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying a ...
and stay-at-home fathers, attempting to downplay the fruit's
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
origin in favor of an exotic tropical or
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
image, as well as its suitability for mass-produced
processed food Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily por ...
. The Board also attempted to counter the avocado's reputation as being unhealthy and fattening, a marketing effort that has continued sporadically through the present in an attempt to increase sales. In the 1970s
guacamole Guacamole (; (informally shortened to ''guac'' in the United States since the 1980s) is an avocado-based dip, spread, or salad first developed in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine, it has become part of international cuisi ...
, once primarily consumed in America by
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
s, became popular throughout all of America, initially due to a
Sunset Magazine ''Sunset'' is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. ''Sunset'' focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States. The magazine is published six times per year by the Sunset Publish ...
cover story featuring avocado recipes. In the late 1970s to early 1980s consumption surged again due to Latino immigration. During the period Avocado consumption tripled in Mexico as well. The present Commission was organized in 1978 as a successor to the Advisory Board. In the 1980s there was a boom in Avocado planting in California, mostly by small, semi-professional growers. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the Commission lobbied to prevent imports of fresh avocados from Mexico, which has a much larger avocado industry and lower labor, water, and land costs. One argument it used successfully until 1997, when importation was finally allowed, was that allowing Mexican avocados into the United States would spread crop disease. However, after 1997, lower costs of production in Mexico forced California growers to lower wages to become competitive.


Programs

The organization is based in
Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
. Among its initiatives are advertising,
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
, defending growers from effects of importation of avocados from Mexico, compiling and disseminating industry news and information, lobbying, research on growing and production, and policing groves from "avocado rustlers" who steal fruit. Revenues vary from $10–20 million per year (they vary with industry income).


See also

* California Avocado Society *
Calavo Growers Calavo Growers, Inc. () is an international consumer goods and farm products company. The company packages, and distributes avocados and other fruits, as well as their fresh prepared food to restaurants, stores, and individual customers worldwide ...


References


External links


avocado.org
– California Avocado Commission official site
calavo.com
– Calavo official site {{Avocados Agriculture in California Agricultural marketing organizations Agricultural marketing in the United States 1961 establishments in California American companies established in 1961