Innovation for avocado’s sake
I have a lot of heart for clever design and simple tweaks that take some of the complications out of day-to-day life. But in a grocery store in Pacific City, Oregon I came upon one of the most perplexing “innovations” I’ve ever seen: A basket of refrigerated avocados — halved, peeled and plastic wrapped.
An avocado is designed to withstand natural elements and the trauma of transport — its rough skin protects the exterior and its nut-core stabilizes the fatty meat. I’ve consumed a lot of avocados — the humble avocado takes good care of itself as far as I can tell. Not only does this “innovation” I expect have an economic and environmental effect — but it leaves the fruit more vulnerable.
I had so many questions…
Where did the inspiration to shuck and plastic wrap an avocado come from?
How many avocado halves does the market sell in a given week? Do people tend to buy more than one half?How much does it cost to shuck and seal an avocado? Where is this avocado shucking operation based? What are the implications for transportation and shipping costs? Are plastic-sealed avocados available year-round? Has anyone ever complained about this — for environmental, efficiency, other reasons? Is there a significant time saving element to peeled and sealed avocados? Is this something that happens in other corners of the world? — Why Pacific City, Oregon?
Is there in fact a deep, human need to have pre-peeled avocado halves?
Taking momentary pause from my confusion induced rage — I put the question to my friends on Instagram.
I wasn’t surprised to find that most people agreed that this was ridiculous treatment for an avocado, but I was pleased to have my mind opened to a two other possibilities:
1.It’s convenient.
A popular seaside destination with lots of local campgrounds — traditional avocado preparation is too difficult.
2. It preserves the avocado at peak freshness.
Clever if it does in fact preserve the avocado…but I’m still curious about the environmental and monetary cost.
It’s for people who can’t use their hands well enough to safely operate a knife.
Innovation should always start with a person, a human need. What I appreciate about this answer is that it stopped me in my tracks and forced me to think about a scenario that wasn’t grounded in my own personal experience.
The following morning I decided to go back to the source of the controversy — the Cape Kiwanda Market Place — to see if anyone working there could illuminate the true rationale.
The cashier was busy and I figured it would be rude to interrogate out of nowhere. So, I went to the basket of peeled, halved and sealed avocados and picked one out. I was curious enough about the taste and at this point and committing fully to this investigation.
Me: Do you happen to know why these avocados are sealed like this?
Cashier: It’s convenient — for camping and stuff. I don’t think it keeps any longer or anything.
Simplest explanation won.
I learned two things this weekend.
- The practice of disguising opinions as questions leaves room to be surprised — which is always a good thing.
