Holy Guacamole! Americans To Consume A Record 240 Million Avocados During Big Game Week

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 111 million sports fans watched the Big Game last year, and nearly 64,000 sports fans will gather at the University of Phoenix Stadium on game day this year. The numbers are nothing compared to the amount of avocados – a food quickly becoming synonymous with the Big Game – Americans will consume this year. It's estimated Americans will eat nearly 120 million pounds or 240 million fresh avocados during the week leading up to the Big Game on Feb. 1. That's a whopping 3,785 avocados per seat in the University of Phoenix Stadium and it's 21 percent more avocados than in 2014 – higher rates than ever before. The total amount of avocados consumed during the Big Game would be enough to fill an entire football field from end zone to end zone over 46 feet high.

While fresh avocados consumed during the Big Game are eaten in many ways, the most common is in the form of guacamole, and new research reveals that as rowdy Americans gather for the game, they try to stay well-mannered when they huddle around the bowl of dip.

To Dip, or to Spoon?

Despite the communal aspect of eating guacamole, most Americans who consume it (67 percent) use a spoon to scoop the dip from the serving bowl on to their plate before eating it, rather than dipping directly into the bowl with a piece of food. In fact, only 32 percent of consumers directly dip chips or crudites into the serving bowl. Cultural cliches may hold some truth when it comes to guacamole manners as well. Women are more likely than men to spoon onto a plate rather than directly dip (75 percent vs. 56 percent) and polite Southerners are more likely to be spoon-users than their Northern counterparts. Plus, the Northeast and the West tied (22 percent) as the regions most likely to take an "unfair share" of guacamole by scooping up as much as possible onto a food item before taking a bite.

Guacamole Etiquette

Americans aspire to a higher standard of guacamole etiquette than we actually follow. While only 67 percent of guacamole eaters use a spoon to serve themselves guacamole, 81 percent believe it's the actually the proper way to dip.

And, yes, the dreaded double dippers are among us. Four percent admit to double-dipping the same piece of food repeatedly, and two percent believe it's the most appropriate way to eat guacamole.

The Fight for the Last Bite

When the guacamole supply runs low, Big Game rivalry extends to the serving bowl, especially for Millennials. Sixty-three percent of guacamole eaters are comfortable being the person to take the last bite of guacamole from the serving bowl after asking if anybody else wants it. The youngest respondents, age 18-34, are most likely (24 percent) to try to be the person who gets to scrape the last bite of guacamole from the communal bowl because they want it for themselves.

No matter how you choose to dip, there's no doubt guacamole made with Hass avocados is a staple in many Big Game celebrations. In 2014, Americans consumed 99 million pounds or approximately 198 million avocados during Big Game week. Ninety-eight percent of all avocados sold in the United States are the Hass variety – which contain naturally good fats and are cholesterol free.

Everyone can be a winner with a Nacho Guac-a-Bowl-E recipe to serve at game time. For the recipe and assembly instructions as well as other Big Game recipes and avocado statistics, visit www.LoveOneToday.com/GuacaBowle.

For tips on how to select, store and ripen fresh avocados, visit http://www.avocadocentral.com/how-to/how-to-store-how-to-ripen-avocados.

Survey Methodology: These results are based on two national probability samples of 1,007 telephone interviews among adults 18 years and older, conducted from December 11-14, 2014. The margin of error for data based on total sample is plus or minus three percentage points; among guacamole consumers it is plus or minus five percentage points. Six hundred and seven interviews were from the landline sample and 400 interviews from the cell phone sample. The survey was conducted by CARAVAN®, an omnibus service of ORC International for the Hass Avocado Board.

About the Hass Avocado Board

The Hass Avocado Board (HAB) is an agriculture promotion group established in 2002 to promote the consumption of Hass Avocados in the United States. A 12-member board representing domestic producers and importers of Hass Avocados directs HAB's promotion, research and information programs under supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. Funding for HAB comes from Hass avocado producers and importers in the United States.

For more information visit www.LoveOneToday.com or follow HAB on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Contact:
Lauren Smith
(612) 455-1915
[email protected]

SOURCE Hass Avocado Board

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