Researchers at the University of California, Davis found Hass avocado promotion programs pay off handsomely for California producers and importers.

The study review period lasted from 2013 to 2017. During the five-year evaluation, researchers found that such campaigns played a key role in expanding demand for the fruit in the U.S., says the Hass Avocado Board (HAB), which commissioned the study.

This is especially significant as sales in the U.S. market have increased. This has primarily through rising demand, not lower prices, it explains.

Moreover, the researchers were able to determine just how advantageous these programs were; they delivered a benefit to cost ratio ranging from 1.6 to 3.6 to their funders.

This analysis suggests that expanding the programs – even by a small amount – would further increase grower and importer profits.

“These results should come as no surprise to outside analysts or people involved in the industry as producers and marketers,” says Richard J. Sexton, Ph.D., of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis.

“The Hass avocado success story in the U.S. in terms of the rapid increase achieved in per capita consumption, while maintaining stable or increasing real prices to producers and importers, has made avocados the envy of the produce industry.”

The full five-year evaluation is now available in HAB’s recently re-launched website.

To learn more about HAB and view the full five-year evaluation, visit: https://hassavocadoboard.com/inside-hab/reports-evaluations/