Are avocados the next big cultural thing to take on America? The nutrient-rich fruit with its exotic dark green or olive dark skin is already a meme among young Americans.
The growing popularity and jump in production of the fruit show that avocados are to be an essential ingredient on our salad plates be it lunchtime or dinner tables, or even breakfast for many.
Restaurants have sprung up in California and New York, which include avocados in all kinds of recipes and dishes – from toasts to cakes and pizzas.
So, what makes the fruit so attractive?
The people I have talked to relish its taste, being fleshy and a variety. Most of the young people like avocados as their informed choice, as they bring so many different nutrients in one fruit.
Image Credit: Wikimedia
Just look at how rich in healthy diet the fruit is: vitamins B,C,E and K; fibers; acids including palmitic and linoleic; fat; copper; potassium and so on. Even avocado seed has shown promise as an anti-inflammatory compound, according to Penn State researchers.
In the United States, the consumption of the fruit has rocketed from just 435 million pounds in 1985 to more than 2.4 billion pounds by 2018.
The result has been a boost in growth and commercial value of the avocado in the US $ multi-billion market.
According to Index Fresh, a California-based global avocado marketer, California – the hub of the plant – will have a bumper harvest thanks to favorable rains and seminars updating farmers with information and latest trends.
“We will be looking at extending the season on the front and back ends,” Giovanni Cavaletto, VP of Sourcing at Index Fresh, says.
Globally too, consumption and production of the fruit is on the rise and avocado will grow by USD 4.37 billion during 2020-2024. Mexico remains the biggest producer meeting around 34% share.
According to Fred Hochberg, a former head of the Export-Import Bank, the avocado is a success story of global trade with many tropical and Mediterranean countries exporting large quantities of the fruit.
“In 2000, we consumed a billion avocados. We doubled that within five years and then doubled that again in another 10 years. So we now consume over four and a quarter billion avocados a year. So I think that it did catch fire, and part of it catches fire – and probably NAFTA – and the importation and the fact there was free trade going back and forth,” Hochberg told National Public Radio last week.
Trade, taste, nutrients, dietary trends or just the popularity with the young people, avocados are sure not just an important ingredient in our cuisine but also fast becoming an inseparable part of American culture.
