6 ms·

The Selling of the Avocado

61 points by percept 12y ago

comrade1 12y ago
The Avocados that they can actually ship (Hass) are pretty terrible. If you haven't lived in an area where they grow avocados you probably haven't had a chance to enjoy the other dozens of varieties of avocado. Did you know that there's an avocado you can eat like an apple? The skin is thin and edible. There's another avocado with much higher oil content than the Hass and so a different mouth feel. Another kind that has a smokey flavor, and avocados that weren't fertilized by insects and so they have no seed - just a solid fatty oily avocado. And many more... This is one of the things I miss about CA (specifically, I lived in Ventura, CA). (another is the huge variety of citrus, including a strain where they breed the acidity out of an orange and so it tasted like vanilla...) http://edibleojai.com/online-magazine/heritage-avocados/ http://edibleojai.com/online-magazine/heritage-avocados/ (the one in the lower left looks like the edible skin one I remember) And a small list of CA varieties: http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anchor-47857 http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anch... There's even more varieties in Hawaii.
- DIVx0 12y ago
  Same can be said for bananas, I always try to find local bananas (or other fruit) when ever i'm somewhere tropical. So much better. With that said, I think I've only ever eaten Hass Avocados and I think they are delicious so my next trip to CA I'll be sure to seek out some local varieties.
  - dwc 12y ago
    Last summer I planted a Blue Java banana plant, never having tasted one. I'm waiting rather impatiently for it to mature and fruit so I can see how they taste.
- steveax 12y ago
  Hass may not be the tastiest avos, but they are superior to what was the dominant commercial variety (fuerte) before they took over. Related: the Hass "mother" tree: http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-29/local/me-373_1_hass-avocado-trees http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-29/local/me-373_1_hass-a...
- brianbreslin 12y ago
  I find the Hass ones to be vastly more flavorful than the big green ones we have here all over Florida.
  - dwc 12y ago
    Here in the Phoenix area Hass is usually the only thing available. Once I saw big, smooth-skinned, lighter green ones from Florida and I bought some. I was very disappointed. I'd love to try some different varieties.
- WillPostForFood 12y ago
  I love Hass avocados because they are less sweet, and good one will have that smokeyness which adds complexity to the flavor. It is a good example of where commercial and flavor interests ended up aligned.
- jballanc 12y ago
  I've lived in CA (Silicon Valley), and I agree that the avocados are one of the best things about living there. The other is the weather: that perfect Mediterranean climate with hot, dry (and I mean no rain April-Sept.) summers and mild, rainy winters. Now I live on the actual Mediterranean. The climate is still amazing, the avacados...meh. Really not very good at all. But the olives! You have never had olives. Not like this. The varieties, the flavor, it's just like you describe for avocados in CA. It's always struck me as odd that both places could have their own you-can't-find-them-elsewhere specialities that would be so different for what is essentially an identical climate. For olives, I can only assume it has to do with their multi-century lifespan.
  - pm90 12y ago
    Maybe the soil has something to do with it also. There are some Mangoes that only taste the same if grown in a certain region of India, and I always heard that was because of the soil + climate.
- sxcurry 12y ago
  My Father-in-Law lived in Ventura and we used to get a box of avocados a few times a year from his backyard tree. The house he owned had been built in an old avocado orchard and a few trees remained. Fond memories...
jmccree 12y ago
Interesting timing. Just as I started reading this article while watching the superbowl pre-game, a segment offering a guac recipe aired sponsored by avocados. I'm reminded how the Patagonian toothfish was renamed as "Chilean Seabass" and of course "the other white meat". Edit: before I could finish typing this comment, another commercial aired for avocados.
- jonah 12y ago
  I've done work for the Chilean Avocado Importers Association[1]. One of their selling points is being in the Southern Hemisphere, they're counter-seasonal to North American avos and so sourcing from both gives retailers a year-round supply. [1] http://avocadosfromchile.org/ http://avocadosfromchile.org/
Tiktaalik 12y ago
Makes me wonder about which great fruit or vegetables I've missed out on my whole life simply because they were unknown and badly marketed. A recent one would maybe be Kale, which has become dramatically popular in the last 10 years.
- shalmanese 12y ago
  The passionfruit is virtually unknown in America despite being huge in many places around the world. Hawaii and California have the perfect climate for growing them and preserved passionfruit products make some appearance in American recipes but you virtually never see the fresh fruit for sale anywhere. I predict it's going to have a meteoric rise sometime in the next few years, it's got everything going for it.
- ghaff 12y ago
  Pomegranates have increased in popularity recently although they're still very seasonal and fairly expensive in pure form (or even as 100% juice). My perception is that cranberries have also expanded beyond their home territories although they're still seasonal as well. (Don't really understand why you can't buy them frozen as they freeze quite well--something I do every fall.) There are a bunch of tropical fruits that could potentially fall into this category as well but they're mostly too expensive for the broad market so it probably doesn't make sense to market them more.
  - dghughes 12y ago
    > and fairly expensive in pure form (or even as 100% juice) $13.00 for 1 litre Pom brand here in my region of SE Canada. I bought some on sale yesterday for $7.99 I think the big jump in price due to demand after studies may have shown pomegranate juice may have properties which reduces arterial plaque, may! http://i.imgur.com/OPTogVl.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/OPTogVl.jpg?1 And oddly enough I also bought some avocados for the first time ever too.
  - jonah 12y ago
    Another commenter's mention of shipability is one of the keys. Due to the long supply-chains for modern produce, the fruit or veggie has to be picked early, ripen off the vine and stay firm to hold up to shipping. cf. Grocery store tomatoes, etc. My father is involved with developing the PawPaw (Asimina Triloba) into a commercially viable fruit. It's amazing - as big as your fist with a few black seeds and creamy flesh which tastes like custard. Problem is it doesn't ripen off the tree well and bruises easily in shipping. Various universities have breeding programs and there are some excellent named varieties now but still not quite to a place where they could be commercialized on a broad scale. Another issue is of course people don't like things they're not used to and are generally reluctant to experiment with new foods. (Generalized to the US.) One way to overcome that is through marketing campaigns. Federal Marketing Orders are what we have in place to do this.[1][2] [0] http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/pawpaw.html https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/pawpaw.ht... etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_orders_and_agreements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_orders_and_agreement... [2] http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FVMarketingOrderLandingPage http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FVMarketingOrderLandingPage (Also, frozen cranberries are generally available - but often seasonally because in popular cooking they're limited to Thanksgiving relish and the like...)
jacquesm 12y ago
In Colombia they have huge ones: https://conquistadorc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/p1050364.jpg https://conquistadorc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/p1050364.j...

61 points by percept 12y ago

The Avocados that they can actually ship (Hass) are pretty terrible. If you haven't lived in an area where they grow avocados you probably haven't had a chance to enjoy the other dozens of varieties of avocado. Did you know that there's an avocado you can eat like an apple? The skin is thin and edible. There's another avocado with much higher oil content than the Hass and so a different mouth feel. Another kind that has a smokey flavor, and avocados that weren't fertilized by insects and so they have no seed - just a solid fatty oily avocado. And many more... This is one of the things I miss about CA (specifically, I lived in Ventura, CA). (another is the huge variety of citrus, including a strain where they breed the acidity out of an orange and so it tasted like vanilla...) http://edibleojai.com/online-magazine/heritage-avocados/ http://edibleojai.com/online-magazine/heritage-avocados/ (the one in the lower left looks like the edible skin one I remember) And a small list of CA varieties: http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anchor-47857 http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anch... There's even more varieties in Hawaii.

DIVx0 12y ago
Same can be said for bananas, I always try to find local bananas (or other fruit) when ever i'm somewhere tropical. So much better. With that said, I think I've only ever eaten Hass Avocados and I think they are delicious so my next trip to CA I'll be sure to seek out some local varieties.
- dwc 12y ago
  Last summer I planted a Blue Java banana plant, never having tasted one. I'm waiting rather impatiently for it to mature and fruit so I can see how they taste.
steveax 12y ago
Hass may not be the tastiest avos, but they are superior to what was the dominant commercial variety (fuerte) before they took over. Related: the Hass "mother" tree: http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-29/local/me-373_1_hass-avocado-trees http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-29/local/me-373_1_hass-a...
brianbreslin 12y ago
I find the Hass ones to be vastly more flavorful than the big green ones we have here all over Florida.
- dwc 12y ago
  Here in the Phoenix area Hass is usually the only thing available. Once I saw big, smooth-skinned, lighter green ones from Florida and I bought some. I was very disappointed. I'd love to try some different varieties.
WillPostForFood 12y ago
I love Hass avocados because they are less sweet, and good one will have that smokeyness which adds complexity to the flavor. It is a good example of where commercial and flavor interests ended up aligned.
jballanc 12y ago
I've lived in CA (Silicon Valley), and I agree that the avocados are one of the best things about living there. The other is the weather: that perfect Mediterranean climate with hot, dry (and I mean no rain April-Sept.) summers and mild, rainy winters. Now I live on the actual Mediterranean. The climate is still amazing, the avacados...meh. Really not very good at all. But the olives! You have never had olives. Not like this. The varieties, the flavor, it's just like you describe for avocados in CA. It's always struck me as odd that both places could have their own you-can't-find-them-elsewhere specialities that would be so different for what is essentially an identical climate. For olives, I can only assume it has to do with their multi-century lifespan.
- pm90 12y ago
  Maybe the soil has something to do with it also. There are some Mangoes that only taste the same if grown in a certain region of India, and I always heard that was because of the soil + climate.
sxcurry 12y ago
My Father-in-Law lived in Ventura and we used to get a box of avocados a few times a year from his backyard tree. The house he owned had been built in an old avocado orchard and a few trees remained. Fond memories...

jmccree 12y ago

Interesting timing. Just as I started reading this article while watching the superbowl pre-game, a segment offering a guac recipe aired sponsored by avocados. I'm reminded how the Patagonian toothfish was renamed as "Chilean Seabass" and of course "the other white meat". Edit: before I could finish typing this comment, another commercial aired for avocados.

jonah 12y ago
I've done work for the Chilean Avocado Importers Association[1]. One of their selling points is being in the Southern Hemisphere, they're counter-seasonal to North American avos and so sourcing from both gives retailers a year-round supply. [1] http://avocadosfromchile.org/ http://avocadosfromchile.org/

Tiktaalik 12y ago

Makes me wonder about which great fruit or vegetables I've missed out on my whole life simply because they were unknown and badly marketed. A recent one would maybe be Kale, which has become dramatically popular in the last 10 years.

shalmanese 12y ago
The passionfruit is virtually unknown in America despite being huge in many places around the world. Hawaii and California have the perfect climate for growing them and preserved passionfruit products make some appearance in American recipes but you virtually never see the fresh fruit for sale anywhere. I predict it's going to have a meteoric rise sometime in the next few years, it's got everything going for it.
ghaff 12y ago
Pomegranates have increased in popularity recently although they're still very seasonal and fairly expensive in pure form (or even as 100% juice). My perception is that cranberries have also expanded beyond their home territories although they're still seasonal as well. (Don't really understand why you can't buy them frozen as they freeze quite well--something I do every fall.) There are a bunch of tropical fruits that could potentially fall into this category as well but they're mostly too expensive for the broad market so it probably doesn't make sense to market them more.
- dghughes 12y ago
  > and fairly expensive in pure form (or even as 100% juice) $13.00 for 1 litre Pom brand here in my region of SE Canada. I bought some on sale yesterday for $7.99 I think the big jump in price due to demand after studies may have shown pomegranate juice may have properties which reduces arterial plaque, may! http://i.imgur.com/OPTogVl.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/OPTogVl.jpg?1 And oddly enough I also bought some avocados for the first time ever too.
- jonah 12y ago
  Another commenter's mention of shipability is one of the keys. Due to the long supply-chains for modern produce, the fruit or veggie has to be picked early, ripen off the vine and stay firm to hold up to shipping. cf. Grocery store tomatoes, etc. My father is involved with developing the PawPaw (Asimina Triloba) into a commercially viable fruit. It's amazing - as big as your fist with a few black seeds and creamy flesh which tastes like custard. Problem is it doesn't ripen off the tree well and bruises easily in shipping. Various universities have breeding programs and there are some excellent named varieties now but still not quite to a place where they could be commercialized on a broad scale. Another issue is of course people don't like things they're not used to and are generally reluctant to experiment with new foods. (Generalized to the US.) One way to overcome that is through marketing campaigns. Federal Marketing Orders are what we have in place to do this.[1][2] [0] http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/pawpaw.html https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/pawpaw.ht... etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_orders_and_agreements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_orders_and_agreement... [2] http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FVMarketingOrderLandingPage http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FVMarketingOrderLandingPage (Also, frozen cranberries are generally available - but often seasonally because in popular cooking they're limited to Thanksgiving relish and the like...)

jacquesm 12y ago

In Colombia they have huge ones: https://conquistadorc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/p1050364.jpg https://conquistadorc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/p1050364.j...