Your guacamole likely comes from a California avocado discovered by mistake

Published Jul 11, 2024 5:00 AM

A grocery store display of dark avocados on a table as a light skinned hand reaches out to grab one. On the table is a sign for hass avocados.

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It gets slapped on crunchy toast, and almost always comes with a surcharge: We’re talking avocados.

California has dominated the U.S. avocado industry for decades. We produce around 90% of what’s grown in the nation. Our footprint in the global market is relatively small, but the dominant variety remains the same: the Hass avocado.

That creamy, bumpy-skinned fruit began its journey to stardom in a backyard in Orange County.

A close up of a dark avocado that's split in half on a table. You can see the bright yellow-ish green inside of the fruit along with its big brown seed. The halves are next to two other uncut Hass avocados.

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The Hass origin story

While avocados originated in southern Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, Californian Hass avocados can be traced back to a single tree planted in La Habra Heights.

In 1926, a mail carrier and amateur botanist got ahold of three avocado seedlings that were thought to be a Guatemalan Lyon variety from a nursery in Whittier.

Rudolph Hass — which is where the fruit variety gets its name — planted the seeds in his grove.

The nursery recommended that Hass plant all three, and graft the strongest grower onto a Fuerte avocado tree — then, the industry standard.

A black and white ariel archival image of avocado fields on a hillside. There are dozens of rows of trees lining the ground. A white line, most likely a road, appears along the lower portion of the mountain.

The grafting didn’t take, and eventually, Hass let the last surviving seedling grow on its own. Over time, it produced fruit that Hass thought was ugly. Instead of the bright green skin of the popular Fuerte avocado that Americans had come to expect, these ones had a rough purple-black skin.

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But when his children tasted the flesh inside, they thought it tasted great — nuttier and creamier than the Fuerte. And when Hass tried it, he agreed. So he got on board.

Plant patent

He eventually filed for a U.S. plant patent in 1935, naming the variety after himself, and partnered with a local nursery to sell and promote his avocados.

Did you know?

- The California Avocado Association officially changed the fruit’s name from “ahuacate” (an Aztec word for testicle) to “avocado.”
- They also informed dictionary publishers that the plural was “avocados,” and not “avocadoes.”
- Other terms used for avocado have included “alligator pear,” “midshipman’s butter,” and “agovago pears” (courtesy of George Washington in 1751).

But by the time the patent expired in 1952, Hass only made $4,800. It’s partly because the variety didn’t quite take off until years later, and the deal made with the nursery only gave him 25% of proceeds.

But it slowly caught on. A shortage of fats and oils created by World War II meant people had got used to turning to avocado for its rich fat content.

And the fruit had the perfect make-up for thriving in California. It could grow year-round in our warm climate, while it also shared Mexican fruit genes that imparted some cold tolerance.

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Those two qualities, along with its nutty and creamy flavor, helped rocket the Hass avocado to fame in the food industry.

By 1972, Hass surpassed Fuerte as the dominant variety and it’s remained on top since.

First commercial avocados

Early 1900's: California’s first commercial avocado orchard was planted by William Hertrich for the Huntington Family (yes, that Huntington name), using seeds from Atlixco in Mexico.
Great Freeze of 1913 The four hundred seedlings he'd planted were damaged when temperatures plunged as low as 18 degrees. The crop was repaired, and a few of these trees are still at the Huntington Library .

While today the Hass avocado is marketed as a California native, genetic testing has shown it’s actually a hybrid comprised of 61% Mexican varieties and about 39% Guatemalan ones.

The original Hass tree went on to live for 76 years, producing many, many seedlings and fruit. But it died of root rot in 2002. Wood from the tree was removed and placed in storage, which the California Avocado Society uses for plaques.

A wide view from below a big avocado tree as brown branches and bright green leaves extend in multiple directions from the trunk as sunlight breaks through.

One of William Hertrich's trees at the Huntington.

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Courtesy The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

)

A close up a tree bearing bright green avocados. There are multiple dangling around the leaves that are glowing against the sun light.

Hertrich planted the Persea Americana variety at the Huntington’s request.

(

Courtesy The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

)