In 2022, produce marketing brand Avocados From Mexico added two service offering categories, reported 11 billion impressions from its Super Bowl campaign, and negotiated 100,000 new promo deals in stores under Alvaro Luque.
Now, in 2023, the company is starting the year off strong with a new home and kitchen accessory line Avocado Glow and a brand new Big Game ad that will air during Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup.
In Luque’s 2023 Dallas 500 Q&A, the marketing guru talks about the ins and outs of marketing produce, his passion for cooking, his key leadership strategies, and much more.
Birthplace: Costa Rica
Education: Universidad de Costa Rica (MA, BBA)
Best Advice: “‘Love comes through the eyes.’ In marketing, design is very important. It represents the passion for your ideas and projects. For me, a presentation has to be beautiful and inspiring from beginning to end. That’s how you sell an idea. ”
Proud Moment: “We have a brand new marketing structure that is paving the way for big things. This involved relaunching our brand’s image, colors, logo, voice, and messaging in a more concisely, integrated way. This new approach helped us break digital, PR, and shopper records during our Super Bowl 2022 campaign where we delivered more than 11 billion impressions and negotiated more than 100,000 new promotional displays in stores. We’ve also integrated two new areas to our team (Intelligence & Analytics and Communications & PR) that are reinforcing our performance in new, modern ways. It’s a tortoise-and-hare story: when you’re winning big, you can’t slow down—so we’re speeding up!”
Pivotal Moment: “This entire industry was my unexpected turn. Before AFM, my career was in CPG marketing, and from one moment to the next I had the responsibility of marketing a fruit that was brandless with no possibility of extensions, packaging, or product innovations. The way I handled the challenge has helped shape AFM into what it is today (and this goes back to that idea of balance). Our approach was to bring the essence of CPG to this beautiful industry and create what no one else was creating in produce. It was the best of both worlds. We wanted to disrupt the industry—and we’ve done that. AFM now is not only a strong and recognized brand in the U.S. marketing arena, but I believe we have opened doors for the entire produce industry to think differently for years to come.”
Hobby/Passion: “ I love cooking, especially paellas. That’s my signature dish.”
Destinations of Choice: “Honestly, there’s nothing I love more than going back to my motherland, Costa Rica. It is very special for me because my family, our traditions, and all my best memories are there. So, I try to get back to Costa Rica as often as I can. It’s always a special trip.
“Besides that, my family and I have decided we want to explore as much of the U.S. as we can. It’s a beautiful country with so much to offer. Two of my favorite places have been the giant sequoia forest in California, and Arizona, where we saw the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Antelope Canyon. They are amazing destinations.”
Key Strategies: “CEOs and leaders talk a lot about innovation these days, but it’s not always understood that innovation is not a goal, it’s a tool. Strategy is king. In other words, innovation serves strategy, not the other way around. The two go hand in hand, but one hand must be on top of the other. I like innovative ideas a lot but love innovative ideas with a good “why” behind them. Good ideas without the right thinking become shiny objects that can distract you from your goals and limit your performance—beware. The best defense (and what I consider the ultimate key to success) is finding the right balance between innovation and strategic, performance-driving thinking.
“Diversity is critical for innovation and success. At AFM, we depend on unique POVs, backgrounds, and experiences, otherwise how could we accomplish anything new? There are only 37 employees here, comprised 60 percent of women and representing 10 nationalities from around the world. The best guacamole isn’t made of just avocados—you need all kinds of ingredients to make it exceptional.
And when you’re a leader, there’s one main key to building trust in an organization: transparent communication. At AFM, I openly share my 360-performance review with the whole team, so they know I’m walking my own talk. I’m asking them for performance—I need to be sure I deliver it, too.”
Walk-up Song: “‘Dreams’ by Van Halen. Not only do I love the song, but when you want to inspire your coworkers to constantly push and reinvent themselves, you need to learn how to ‘spread your wings and get higher and higher.'”
Spirit Animal: “We just celebrated our year-end event, and our theme was inspired by the new Top Gun movie (or, for us, Top Guac). We watched the movie together with our families and everyone in the company chose a call-sign to help us get into character. My call-sign was Yoda. I’m not sure he’s even an animal, but I was told he suited me very well. Anyways, I’m sticking with that.”
Alternate Reality: “I feel like I’ve made a good choice with my career. Marketing is just my thing. But if I had to choose something else, I’d be a chef. I love cooking and learning new things in the kitchen. It might not be my full-time profession right now, but I’ll go all-in once I retire.”
Industry Change: “Even though we are the only region in the world harvesting Hass avocados all year long, I would love to have more avocados available to satisfy the ever-growing U.S. demand. Americans are simply in love with our fruit. Sometimes we don’t sell more simply because we don’t have more to sell—low sales numbers are not a demand issue. We have estimated demand in a way that sometimes goes against us because we source it from our precious orchards, not operational plants. So, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to defining what we can offer.”
Go-to Mentor: “I don’t have to go far. The team at AFM tells me everything I need. Some of my direct reports have been working with me for years and know me very well. We have a special bond and I trust them to always give me great advice.”
First Car: “My first car was a Chevy 500 pickup that my parents gave me when I was 18. That’s the minimum age for a driver’s license in Costa Rica. I made so many memories and had so many adventures in that car. I started working full-time at a travel agency when I was in college and was taking two buses back and forth every day, all while taking five or six classes each semester. My parents and that car saved me a lot of time and headaches, but it also gave me the chance to continue growing. Two years after that I was already working as a manager for Scott Paper Company and making enough to buy a new car on my own.”
Future Forecast: “Professionally, we still have so much to do. This is a category that doubled in 7 years but still has a low consumption in monthly units per household. The sky is the limit, and with the team we have at AFM, I know I won’t get bored. This team is amazing. They push the limit every time—I see a bright future for the company.
“Personally, I’ve been blessed with a beautiful family that is still growing and our oldest children are starting to look at colleges. I’m truly in awe of watching our three kids become young adults. As I marvel at the futures they have ahead of them, I have to give huge credit to my wonderful wife.”
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