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:

1. Americans love avocados — we've consumed more than 1.8 billion lbs. of them just this year! That's a lot of demand.
2. 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.
3. 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