WAO gains traction with social media campaign

The World Avocado Organisation (WAO) is reaping the benefits of its move to bring social media marketing “in-house” across its main European markets earlier this year.

WAO set up a social media marketing team at the beginning of summer [in Europe] that brings together dedicated specialists in each of its five priority markets: Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Italy. 

WAO marketing director Shelly Vorster tells Eurofruit the goal of establishing the team was two-fold.

“We wanted to align messaging with WAO’s global objectives while ensuring we can be locally relevant and responsive to consumers in each market,” says Vorster. 

The social media team is headed up by WAO’s brand manager Constance Goulletquer who oversees the digital communications specialists and influencers in the key markets: Alba Garcia (Spain), Lena Liedl (Germany), Bénédicte Kinkolo (France), Jessica Smith (UK) and Domiziana Sandroni (Italy).

Each of the on-the-ground team members manages their respective countries’ relevant TikTok, Instagram and Facebook platforms.

“This has allowed us to be in direct contact with end consumers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis,” says Vorster. “We now span five countries with TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in each, so that’s 15 B2C channels.”

WAO has different target groups for each country, which have been refined from its most recent consumer research insights.

“To date, we’ve drawn insights from over 500,000 consumers spanning 11 different countries to gain a better qualitative understanding of our consumers,” she says.

“We now understand what the key drivers of consumption are in each of the countries we target.

“When it comes to the five focus European countries, each have different target groups from Gen Z to 50-plus.” 

Health, education and inspiration

WAO’s in-house team builds digital activity around three content pillars of its social media communication strategy – namely health, education and culinary inspiration.

“No matter which country, our consumer insights unanimously show that the number one driver for consumers to purchase an avocado is health,” says Vorster.

“For instance, in the UK, it’s driven by understanding of good fats, while further afield in India it’s about heart health and understanding that consuming avocados can help regulate the glycaemic index for those wanting to prevent Type 2 diabetes.”

Education levels vary by country because they are at different stages when it comes to incorporating avocados into their daily diet, she adds, so messaging is tailored accordingly.

“In Italy and Romania for instance, where avocados are still emerging to become part of the mainstream diet, there’s a need to educate consumers on the basics like how to check ripeness, cut an avocado and store it.

“In more established markets like the UK and Germany, there is a need to further educate consumers on the sustainability issues and help debunk myths around this superfruit regarding water use and land impact.”

Culinary inspiration is the other critical element to drive consumption, she notes.

“We have been creating recipes that support different meal occasions depending on when the majority of consumers in each country incorporate avocados into their diet,” says Vorster. “Offering tips, tricks and recipe ideas – from breakfast, lunch or dinner to snacking moments and in drinks – is key, and the versatility of the avocado is what makes it so unique.” 

Organic growth

Results from the first three months of the campaign demonstrate the benefits of bringing the digital marketing function in-house, according to Vorster, who picks out some key highlights.

In Spain, WAO achieved 626,912 impressions and gained 2,489 followers. It clocked up some 242,507 views in the UK, 6,928 likes in France, and recorded an 11 per cent engagement rate in Germany. Italy, where WAO had no social media presence before June this year, has been a standout, she notes, registering some 423,208 video views.

“It’s important to note that these results are almost entirely organic,” she says. “Only the Avocado Day campaign benefited from some paid activities that were organised in Spain, Italy and France.”

Avocado sales hit record levels in Europe over the past year, topping 1.07m tonnes in the 12 months to October 2025. Looking to 2026, Vorster says WAO plans to build on this momentum by extending the social media campaign to cover more countries. It also aims to increase its collaborations with local influencers to build stronger connections with consumers in each of the target countries.