The avocado fruit belongs to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family. The tree is typically cultivated in Central Mexico. In 2017/2018, Mexico accounted for the highest share in global production of avocados with a production volume amounting to about two million tons. The Dominican Republic and Peru were also ranked among the major avocado producing countries with a production volume of about 0.6 and 0.47 million tons in 2017 respectively. In the same year, the United States was listed as the tenth leading avocado producing country with a production volume of about 0.13 million tons.
Even though the fruit was introduced to the consumer market some time ago, it has recently become incredibly popular among Americans. The retail sales of avocados in the United States amounted to 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. In 2018, avocado was one of the leading product categories in the fresh department of the United States, based on a sales growth of 8.8 percent.
The average consumption of avocados in the United States amounted to 2.45 billion pounds per week in 2018. A recent survey regarding the main drivers for buying avocados in the U.S. revealed that about 76 percent of consumers believe that avocados are healthy and some 71 percent of respondents think that the fruit has good fats. Besides the growing trend in avocado shopping, not all consumers are convinced to add it to their shopping basket. About 59 percent of of respondents cited "too perishable" as a main barrier for buying avocados.
