avocado

About 96% of the avocados sold in the U.S. are the hass variety, according to the Irvine, Calif.- based Hass Avocado Board. But there"s still a market for a handful of other varieties, most of which are known as green skinned avocados. 

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Green-skins include the bacon, fuerte, gwen, macarthur, pinkerton, reed and zurtano varieties. 

Customers like the hass because of its smooth, creamy texture and great taste, said Jose Luis Obregon, managing director of the Hass Avocado Board. 

"It satisfies the purchaser," he said. 

But those who market many of the other varieties maintain that their avocados typically have less fat and less calories than the hass, they usually cost less, and they"re often larger. 

Homestead, Fla.- based Creeks Tropicals says its SlimCados, the brand name under which the company markets its green-skinned avocados, have half the fat and a third of the calories of a California hass avocado. 

"We brand it that way because we want people to realize that it"s a different-tasting avocado," said Mary Ostlund, marketing director. 15 Ways Avocados Can Support Your Health

But Ostlund said SlimCados don"t really compete with other varieties. 

"They really are a complement," she said. 

They"re lighter fare that purchasers might select when topping a salad or hamburger. 

Creeks Tropicals can market in excess of 70 varieties as SlimCados, she said. 

Another selling point for the green-skins is their size compared to the hass, said Brandon Gritters, avocado salesman for Interfresh Inc., Fullerton, Calif. 

"The green-skins tend to have greater sizing," he said. 

The green-skins that Interfresh sells originate from California, Gritters said, adding that a few varieties taste as great as the hass. 

Another variety, the lamb hass, takes after the regular hass but is a bit larger and has a pebblier, bumpier skin, Gritters said. 

Calavo Producers Inc., Santa Paula, Calif., gives most of the lamb hass avocados, but they still account for just about 1% of the company"s volume, said Ransack Wedin, VP of sales and crisp marketing. 

It"s a large bit of fruit, usually size 40 and larger, and is available during a relatively small window July through October. 

Most retailers don"t merchandise lamb hass separately from the hass, and couple of shoppers can tell the distinction, he said. 

Some organic avocado darlings search out green-skinned varieties, said John Stair, domestic commodity manager for Pacific Organic Produce in San Francisco. 

Organic green-skinned avocados are grabbed primarily by small natural sustenance stores that don"t need a large supply, Stair said. And that"s generally advantageous, since heavy supplies of organic green-skins don"t exist. 

Natural nourishment stores like having several kinds of avocados, and their customer base often searches for avocados that taste great but are not normally observed, Stair said. 

"People search for things that are different," he said. avocado cholesterol benefits,

Each avocado variety has its very own specialty based on flavor or cost, said Dana Thomas, president and CEO of Index Crisp Inc., Bloomington, Calif. 

Index New is partial to the reed a fall variety with excellent taste but the pinkerton has excellent taste in winter, and the bacon and other varieties have their very own followings, as well, Thomas said.