California Avocado Menu Items Showcased at Flavor Experience 2022

More than 200 foodservice operators representing more than 114 brands attended the annual Flavor Experience conference from August 16 – 17 at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Diego. Traditionally, the event has been held in Orange County but will be hosted in San Diego through 2024.This location provides the California Avocado Commission with an impactful opportunity to reinforce the local terroir, California difference and seasonal availability of the fruit in a key California avocado growing area.

During the conference R&D/product innovation, corporate executive chefs, culinary directors, purchasing/supply chain and marketing executives from national and regional foodservice chains gathered to learn about upcoming food and flavor trends. The event also provided attendees with the opportunity to share experiences and thoughts on a range of topical issues facing the foodservice industry, such as whether ghost kitchens are here to stay and why to-go business hurts full-service restaurants. Throughout the conference, attendees also sampled more than 225 food and beverage concepts from more than 64 sponsors.

As a sponsor, the Commission had the opportunity to demonstrate the applicability of fresh California avocados in on-trend dishes while engaging and networking with chain decision makers. During one-on-one sessions the CAC team promoted the unique qualities of fresh California avocados, discussed the California avocado season and presented opportunities to promote the fruit in 2023. Attendees also eagerly sampled two dishes created by Chef Jason Hernandez. During breakfast they enjoyed California Avocado Frico-Cado Toast featuring Monterey Jack melted and crisped as “toast” and topped with diced hard-boiled egg, roasted tomato and fresh slices of California avocados. For lunch, they dined on California Avocado Loaded Fries, Greek-Style with Gyro Meat, Feta Cheese and California Avocado Tzatziki Sauce. The recipe complemented the numerous Greek/Mediterranean dishes featured by sponsors during the lunch session and demonstrated how California avocados can be incorporated into the “modern Greek” trend. More than 200 servings of the California avocado-themed toast and 150 servings of the fries were sampled by attendees.