May 18 2009

Irvine, Calif. (May 18, 2009) —With consumers concerned about the economy, it is no wonder that one of the top trends for 2009 is eating at home. The California Avocado Commission (CAC) has built upon this trend with a multi-tiered promotion titled Summer Entertaining with California Avocados. The program is timed for May through August: the peak of the California avocado season.

Focused on Western retail markets, the promotion features in-store materials including a Summer Entertaining with California Avocados recipe brochure with a high-value coupon to encourage immediate California avocado purchases. The brochures will accompany Hand Grown in California avocado display bins, in-store radio, grocery cart advertising and point-of-sale materials.

For the past three years, the California avocado season (April through September) has significantly outperformed the non-California avocado season (October through March).

“Retailers averaged $283 to $483 more avocado sales per store, per month during the California avocado season,” said Jan DeLyser, CAC vice president of marketing. “Our California Avocado Grower campaign encourages consumer demand, and with delicious, produce-friendly salad and grilling recipes, this summer program also promotes overall consumption of fruits and vegetables.”

California celebrity chefs and restaurateurs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, known as the Too Hot Tamales, will promote two summer entertaining brunch recipes that they developed for CAC. Nationwide public relations efforts feature the chefs’ California Avocado, Bacon and Tomato Salad and a zesty California Avocado Piquillo Pepper Frittata. CAC will also distribute recipe ideas to food editors across the country.

Online advertising is a key component of the Commission’s marketing efforts. The Summer Entertaining with California Avocados recipes and tips will be featured on CaliforniaAvocado.com. CAC will also distribute a themed recipe e-mail to nearly 60,000 avocado enthusiasts.

“There are more than one million recipe searches each year on the California Avocado Commission Web site,” said DeLyser. “Our online objective is to provide content that translates into purchases and increased California avocado consumption.”

About the California Avocado Commission
Created in 1978, the California Avocado Commission strives to increase demand for California avocados through advertising, promotion and public relations, and engages in related industry activities that benefit the state's 6,000 avocado growers. The California Avocado Commission serves as the official information source for California avocados and the California avocado industry.