Washington D.C., October 15, 2014 — As the Peruvian Avocado Commission (PAC) closes out a monumental 2014 season, it’s not resting on its laurels. The second largest avocado importer in the United States is preparing for 2015, which is projected to be its biggest year ever in terms of amount of fruit imported. More customized retailer programs, impactful new advertising, attention-generating public relations campaigns, and a solid social media program are under development and will be ready to launch when the first fruit arrives next spring.

“The United States is an extremely important market for Avocados from Peru,” explained Enrique Camet, Board Chairman of PAC. “High quality, large fruit, motivated retailers, and a strong, strategic marketing program all contributed to establishing Avocados from Peru as the second largest importer of avocados in the United States.”

PAC’s 2014 marketing program had two primary goals – build long-term retailer support and make consumers aware that Avocados from Peru are available all summer long.

“We had four short months to sell 145 million pounds of avocados,” stated Xavier Equihua, Chief Executive Officer of PAC. “We did just that working side-by-side with our retail partners to develop tailored programs and by implementing engaging public relations and social media programs that provided consumers with many compelling reasons to eat more avocados.”

Highlights of the 2014 season include:

• Tailored Retail Partner Programs – PAC supported its retail partners with a menu of marketing opportunities including:
  • Unique to the category radio advertising campaign that integrated the retailer directly into the script, strengthening the importance of the partnership and underscoring the availability of the fruit. Additionally, short, five-second spots included retailer names whenever possible and on-air promotions were created for stations expressing interest.
  • New, eye-catching Point-of-Sale materials including bins and reusable plastic crate wraps were available.
  • Impactful trade advertising that ran all season long in print and digital publications.
  • Support for in-store demos.

• Refreshed Website – To support its biggest season ever, PAC refreshed its website – www.avocadosfromperu.com – and added cutting edge technology that was new to the avocado category.

• Social Media – PAC Firmly established itself in cyberspace by creating Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts. Specific promotions were created for each of these channels to encourage followers and promote engagement.

• New Recipes with Eye-Catching Photography – To encourage consumers to eat more avocados, PAC enriched its recipe database on its website with recipes from partnerships with bloggers, including Family Fresh Cooking and Kitchen Living with Coryanne.

All the programs executed in 2014 have helped strengthen the foundation for the future of Avocados from Peru in the United States. The 2015 marketing program will build on the successes of this first milestone year and will set new precedents for the avocado category. Look for more co-branded POS displays and in-store demos, enhanced consumer promotions, expanded radio support and promotions, new social media initiatives, continued website growth, expansion into more Latino markets, and bigger shipments to more markets to meet growing consumer demand.