Organic Fresh Trends: Demand for organic avocados continues to rise

Overview of organic avocados in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on December 26, 2023.

Editor’s note: The following report is from The Packer’s Organic Fresh Trends 2024, which provides insight based on survey responses from consumers. Since 1983, The Packer has sponsored major consumer studies to track trends in the purchases and consumption of fresh produce, documenting the fluctuation in purchases of specific fruits and vegetables as well as changing attitudes toward industry issues.

Avocado demand continues to rise, and that is also true for organic avocados.

Data from Circana shows retail organic avocado sales topped $162.4 million in 2022, up 2.8% from 2021. However, the volume of organic avocados sold at retail was pegged at 45.5 million pounds in 2022, down 3.4% from the previous year. The retail price of avocados was $3.57 per pound in 2022, up 6.5% from 2021.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Organic avocados accounted for 6.1% of total retail avocado sales in 2022, and 2.1% of total organic produce sales, according to Circana.

The Packer’s Organic Fresh Trends 2024 shows that higher-income households, those with more children at home, younger consumers, and ethnic minorities more frequently reported purchasing organic avocados compared with their counterparts.

Notably, Organic Fresh Trends revealed that 25% of households with kids reported purchasing organic avocados, compared with 13% of households without kids.

Overall, Organic Fresh Trends showed that 19% of consumers reported shopping exclusively for organic avocados, with another 28% saying they purchased both organic and conventional avocados.

MORE INFO FROM ORGANIC FRESH TRENDS 2024

Organic retail sales — Avocados 2022

• Pounds sold: 45,550,010
• Average retail price per pound: $3.57
• Retail sales: $162.4 million 
• Percent of total organic produce sales: 2.1%
• Organic percent of retail avocado sales: 6.1%
• Change in sales from last year: 2.8%

Source: Circana

Organic purchasing patterns of avocados

• Organic only: 19%
• Organic at least some of the time: 47%*

*Includes consumers who purchase only organic avocados and those who purchase a combination of both organic and conventional fruit.

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by household income*

• $100k+: 18%
• $50k<$100k: 18%
• $25k<$50k: 24%
• Less than $25k: 13%

*Figures based on annual household income

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by presence of children at home

• 1 kid: 22%
• 2 kids: 28%
• 3 or more kids: 24%
• No kids: 13%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by region

• South: 20%
• Northeast: 22%
• Midwest: 20%
• West: 14%

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by age*

• 18-29: 35%
• 30-39: 39%
• 40-49: 24% 
• 50-59: 23% 
• 60+: 16%

*Considering primary household buyers

Reported ORGANIC ONLY purchase by ethnicity

• Other: 47% 
• Asian: 37%
• Black/African American: 33%
• Hispanic: 33%
• white/Caucasian: 24%

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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