“Chefs were traditionally taught that whole fruit is a superior product, that you should pick out perfectly ripe whole fruit to use in your dishes to elevate your cuisine,” recalls Dan Burrows, consulting chef for MegaMex Foods. “And we should just keep doing things the way they have always been done.”

But this preference for whole fruit is a culinary myth utterly devoid of practicality, especially in busy foodservice kitchens. It’s time to rethink this.

After all, as Burrows notes, a chef’s highest priority is to give customers an outstanding eating experience, one that results from using safe, perfectly ripe fruit, every meal, every day. When it comes to menuing creamy, delicious, beautiful avocado, this reliability is assured when using WHOLLY^® Avocado products from MegaMex Foods.

Tableside preparation of fresh guacamole is a reliable crowd-pleaser. Use of WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado makes for an easy set-up by the kitchen team.

REASONS TO BELIEVE

There are certain unknowns when working with whole fruit. Is every piece you need for service at the peak of ripeness? Will you have enough? Does your staff have time—roughly 30 minutes—to process a case of whole avocados close enough to service to ensure the fruit doesn’t oxidize and brown? Or will the staff wind up processing too much that subsequently is consigned to the trash can? The cost of labor time and wasted avocado may prove unacceptable to your budget, making you hesitate whether to feature avocado on your menus in the first place.

MegaMex has made avocado an easy foodservice menu decision by offering several different consistencies and packaging options, including hand-scooped, chunky or smooth. “My favorite is the 2-lb. fresh WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado,” says Burrows. “It seems just the right amount, whether you are using it as an ingredient in a dish or simply as a spread on toast. You simply scoop and serve.” Knowing the exact yield of perfectly ripe fruit in the package allows the kitchen to plan accordingly, limiting waste.

Burrows cites several other reasons foodservice chefs should turn to WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado and other products in the portfolio:

Yield. Whole fruit produces about a 40 to 60 percent yield. “With WHOLLY^® Avocado, you aren’t paying for the pit or the skins,” he notes.

Quality. WHOLLY^® Avocado is 100 percent real Haas avocado without added preservatives.

Consistency. When an avocado is deemed at “perfect” ripeness, it undergoes High Pressure Processing (HPP). “This ensures no oxygen or pathogens. Plus, it allows it to stay a perfect green!” The company was the first to use this tech for processing avocados and guacamole.

Food Safety. According to Burrows, it’s not uncommon for prep cooks to fail to wash whole avocados before cutting them. “This can be a cross-contamination hazard that is eliminated by using WHOLLY^® Avocado.” In addition, HPP maintains the natural flavors and nutrition of the avocado without the use of preservatives.

Kitchen Safety. “Avocado hand” is a very real injury caused by improper cutting to remove the pit of the fruit. Even the most competent prep cook might suffer this injury after processing hundreds of avocados.

Versatility. The WHOLLY^® Avocado product line provides foodservice kitchens with an enviable combination of back-of-house efficiency and menu versatility. Consider, for example, how simple it is to set up a mise en place of ingredients for the tableside preparation of fresh guacamole! Avocado can be the hero ingredient in many other dishes, bringing flavor and personality to different cuisines and concepts.

Start the morning with fun, fresh, flavor-forward new iterations of avocado toast, like this Middle Eastern version finished with fried paprika, chickpeas, tahini, pickled cucumbers and za’atar.

LEAD WITH IMPACT

Ease in the kitchen allows for greater innovation on the menu. (If this culinary maxim isn’t already stamped on a refrigerator magnet, it should be.) Avocado can and should be a hero ingredient on all types of menus, not only those that are Mexican-centric.

“Avocado has a creamy texture and beautiful color. It’s slightly sweet, with fresh, green, grassy, herbal notes and a hint of nutty flavor,” says Burrows. “Its mild, neutral profile makes it a great canvas to pair with bolder flavors. And the amount of healthy fat in the fruit carries that flavor through every bite. This is why avocado’s popularity has skyrocketed.” And it’s also why operators can bet big on future success when they add avocado to the menu. Burrows suggests a variety of applications based on different meal occasions.

Breakfast
Avocado toast isn’t going anywhere, contends Burrows. “It’s a great way to start your day, enjoying unique flavors on great bread. Spread WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado on whole-grain bread and let your imagination run wild with seasonings and inclusions.” Here are variations to try, each featuring WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado:

• The New Yorker: Avocado spread on toasted pumpernickel with slices of smoked salmon, pickled red onion, capers and some micro greens, all drizzled with a creamy lemon-pepper sauce and topped with everything seasoning.
• The Italian BLT: Italian sourdough is spread with creamy avocado and topped with crispy pancetta and diced tomato and served with baby arugula salad.
• Bacon and Blue: Italian sourdough gets a build of avocado spread, crispy bacon, smoked blue cheese, diced tomato and radish micro greens.
• Very Veggie: 12 grain toast sees layers of avocado, roasted cauliflower florets, garbanzo beans, diced tomato and radish sprouts. A drizzle of harissa vinaigrette finishes the build.

Creamy avocado is the perfect breakfast omelet filling and breakfast bowl topping, along with crispy hash browns, grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms and eggs any style.

Lunch
Avocado is a delicious spread on a wide range of sandwiches, from a turkey sub to a burger. “It delivers a creamy, fatty mouthfeel to carry flavor and marry well with protein. I like to use it on a sandwich as an alternative to mayonnaise,” says Burrows.

“Growing up, one of my favorite sandwiches was a griddled pita bread, filled with avocado, chopped pitted Kalamata olives, slices of cucumber, tomato, diced red onion and a nice raita yogurt sauce,” he continues, suggesting chefs play on the popularity of an elevated grilled cheese. Italian semolina bread is grilled in butter and Parmesan cheese and then filled with avocado nestling between gooey fontina and Asiago cheeses. Serve with a roasted tomato soup with basil and a touch of Calabrian chile peppers.

Dinner
Burrows finds avocado works great as a filling in dumplings or egg rolls—anything that doesn’t have to be cooked too long. “The avocado stays fresh and bright with just a little warmth,” he notes. Other ideas include:

• Avocado Pierogis filled with avocado and cheese, sautéed in butter and served with sour cream, crumbled bacon and chopped scallion.
• Avocado Ravioli stuffed with avocado, served in a light tomato sauce and garnished with shaved Parmesan cheese.
• Avocado Egg Rolls packing avocado, bean sprouts, chicken, carrot and cabbage, deep fried crispy and served with a sweet and spicy Asian dipping sauce.

Explore new flavor dimensions by pairing avocado and seafood, an unexpected but natural combination, declares Burrows, citing a scoop of seasoned avocado topping a grilled salmon filet as “the perfect spa cuisine.” The neutral profile of avocado doesn’t overpower delicate fish flavors, while holding up well to stronger fish flavors, like salmon or tuna. Other ideas to try:

• Avocado Roll Bowl: Fill a 4-in. ring mold set on a plate one-quarter with sushi rice, add a layer of WHOLLY^® Hand Scooped Avocado, top with cubes of marinated spicy tuna and crown with crispy seaweed. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and citrus dipping sauce.
• Shrimp and Avocado Salad Roll: Mix cold grilled shrimp, avocado, shredded carrot, cucumber, egg, Thai basil and lettuce and wrap in rice paper. Serve with a Vietnamese dipping sauce of palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and chile peppers.

And while today’s trends call for more and more heat, avocado can temper the fire, bringing out more-nuanced flavors in different chiles. This is true of Mexican varietals, of course, says Burrows. “But avocado also pairs well with Spanish piquillo peppers, Italian Calabrian peppers and Syrian Aleppo peppers.”

The time is certainly right to boost the presence of avocado on foodservice menus. Recent research from Technomic confirms that its popularity continues to rise, with menu penetration growing 7.7 percent in the past year, mostly in entrée applications (Technomic Ignite Menu national food trends data, Q4 2023-Q4 2024).

Whether operators seek to reinvigorate sandwich offerings, expand bowl-based meals, bring hand-mixed guacamole to the table or explore any number of modern menu opportunities with avocado, MegaMex stands ready to help them find the right WHOLLY^® Avocado solutions for their needs.

Looking for a better avocado? Get real with solutions from WHOLLY^® Avocado.