AVOCADO SHORTAGE
IT’S THE PITS
October 14, 2016
Our search for the perfect avocado started nine years ago when we introduced the Guacamole Greens. It’s a quest we’ve been on ever since.
Lately, it’s been a bit of a struggle to find just the right ones that meet our standards – and your expectations. In short, here’s the situation:
- Americans love avocados — we've consumed more than 1.8 billion lbs. of them just this year! That's a lot of demand.
- But a hot and dry summer cut California’s growing season short and affected yield, which meant there was less avocado to go around here in the U.S.
- Meanwhile, growers in Mexico also had a challenging year with rains and a late crop – which isn’t great because they’re the largest exporter of avocados to the U.S. and the biggest producer worldwide. And now, a dispute in Mexico has halted harvesting, which is driving up the price.
All that has combined to put a strain on the avocado market — price, quality and availability are becoming unpredictable, and that’s a big deal to us because we know you love avo, and we love it too.
As a result, we’re working around the clock with our farmers and distributors to help ensure you can get your fix. We'll be keeping it real and posting updates here at sweetgreen.com/avocado as things develop, and if you have any questions, feel free to email us at ama@sweetgreen.com (AMA = ask me anything).
—Casey Gleason
VP of Food + Beverage, sweetgreen
Have questions?
We know this is a lot to handle, so if you want to chat, drop us a line: AMA@sweetgreen.com