The Ripe Report: A Toast to Avocados

Instacart reveals customers’ hilarious avocado-picking requests

As we approach National Avocado Day (July 31), we took a closer look at all things avo on Instacart. We dove into seven years of avocado purchasing stats and two years worth of avocado shopper instructions from customers. What we uncovered is a treasure trove of hilarious, eyebrow-raising stats and shopper instructions that now make up the 2019 Ripe Report.

Ripe insights

• More than 22 million avocados have been purchased via Instacart in North America since our founding in 2012.
• On average, our customers order about 43,000 avocados via Instacart every day.
• When customers order avocados, on average they add 2.4 avocados to their carts (that’s more than the average number of children per U.S. household!)
• 58% of customers who leave shopper instructions for avocados use the word ‘ripe’ to describe what they’re looking for.
• Avocado lovers know their manners! 62% of customers use some version of ‘please’ and/or ‘thank you’ in their instructions for their shoppers.
• Avocado eaters are passionate about their avocados!!!! Since 2017, more than 158,000 customers have used between one and four exclamation points to get their point across in their shopper instructions for avocados.

Instacart customers know what they like, and don’t take any chances when it comes to their avocados. We were curious about what the most popular requests were so we took a peek at the million+ avocado instructions that customers have left for their shoppers since 2017… and we found some surprisingly clear themes and more than a few gems:

Super secret avocado-picking ninja skills

If you know, you know. Here is some of the most expert avo advice from our customers to their personal shoppers.

• “Feel free to replace with whichever type of avocado looks best to you! Optional Avocado-Ninja-Super-Secret-Protip: the oblong ones have smaller pits! (Round ones are like, alllllll pit). Hope it helps \o/”
• “For ripeness, pull out the stem on top, if it’s green and they’re somewhat soft they’re good (not too mushy) if under the stem is brown, they’re bad”
• “I need one that is ready to eat. Touch end of your nose — that is how an avocado should feel when ready to eat :)”
• “Please try to find 2 that are on the soft side — like your cheek :)”

Goldilocks and the three avocados

This one is too soft. And this one is too hard! This one is juuust right.

• “Please try to find almost ripe, but not yet ripe. Not yet soft. Thanks.”
• “Semi ready. Not too hard. and definitely not too soft :)”
• “Not the super dark green-brown….and…..not the super bright-hard-green.”
• “Not too hard, not too soft. You want it to be just soft enough that there is a little give when you press it.”
• “Juuuust soft to the touch but not too ripe please!”
• “Can you check that the avocados are ripe or almost ripe, but not overly ripe?”
• “If you can find any that are in the middle of green and brown, that would be perfect. Not quite fully ripe but not all the way ripe.”
• “all 4 in different stages of ripe”
• “Please make sure that they are ripe-that usually means that they are somewhat soft but not mushy and they are darker in color almost like a brown green color.”
• “One that is starting to turn slightly black, not completely black”
• “ripe but not over ripe ty”

RAWvacado

Do these customers know something we don’t?

• “Please pick semi raw avocados.”
• “Firm and slightly raw”
• “get raw ones”
• “prefer mostly raw or maybe at least 2 raw ones”
• “Pick raw avocados”
• “5 raw avacados one can be ripe”

Does your avocado even lift, brah?

“But I’m the good kind of fat!” — avocados to these customers.

• “Not too ripped =)”
• “ripped”
• “Not overly ripped. thanks”
• “can you find anything ripped?”
• “Not very ripped, soft cover not very bumpy”
• “Pls pick avocados that are ripped or close to being ripped if you can. If they are all green, that’s ok. Still want them. Thanks!”
• “PLEASE make sure is not so ripped thank you!”
• “Please get ripped or close to it-thank you!”
• “2 ripped and 2 unripped”
• “PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY’RE NOT COMPLETELY RIPPED OR OLD”

I’m not yelling, you’re yelling

I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT. Avocados, that’s what.

• “ONLY IF THIS AVOCADO IS STILL HARD, NO SOFT AVOCADOS PLEASE. I DO NOT MAKE GUACAMOLE, I EAT THEM ON SANDWICH BREAD.”
• “PLEASE GRAB THE HARDEST AVOCADO”
• “CAN STILL BE HARD”
• “PLEASE GET PERFECTLY RIPE FOR GUACAMOLE. DO NOT GET MUSHY ONES. AND PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY ARE RIPE ENOUGH FOR TOMORROW.”
• “PLEASE MAKE SURE THE AVOCADOS ARE RIPE. DO NOT PICK THEM IF THEY ARE NOT RIPE.”
• “The avocado HAS TO BE ORGANIC. Thank you!”
• “PLEASE PICK LARGE ONES AND THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE RIPE. THANKS!”
• “PLEASE MAKE SURE THE AVOCADO ARE IN BETWEEN”
• “ONLY WANT IF RIPE”
• “RIPE LIKE NOT HARD AS ROCK AND NOT MUSHY!!!!”
• “*****RIPE****”
• “AS RIPE AS POSSIBLE. GOING TO USE THEM FOR LUNCH.”
• “PLEASE FIND IT RIPE THANKS”
• “RIPE AVOCADO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ❤”
• “FIRM TO THE GRASP WITH SOME GIVE, BUT NOT SOFT!!!! Thanks!”

Are we still talking about avocados?

We’ll let you be the judge — wink, wink…

• “I want a hard one”
• “Where the nubs easily flick please. Thx u!”
• “Mature but not damaged”
• “HARD PLEASE AND TRY TO FIND A BIG ONE”
• “HARD ones ONLY and as big as you can find”
• “Hard cucumbers please”
• “feels hard”
• “green tip”
• “riper is better! even soft and old looking, lol”
• “Pick a hard one please”

Your ‘Type-A’ is showing

Getting the perfect avocado is #worthit.

• “Please pick avocados that are not too green and hard and not too soft and dark — in between — as if you planned to eat the avacado in 2–3 days not right away.”
• “Please make sure that this has the organic sticker on it! Please pick one that is not too soft! Please put it inside a plastic bag with the twist tie. Thank You for your help!”
• “only vegan and organic. Organic bar code starts with a number 9, sorry common mistake that people do not know”
• “Firm without mush or bruise — but with enough give to know that they’re ready to be eaten and the outside will easily peel off when cut.”
• “Organic Only and with smooth skins (no “scars” or “knots”), not already fully ripe (a little soft ok) otherwise please skip and refund, thank you!”
• “Ripe but not rotten please. (can easily cause indentation, but needs to be at least some resistance/no white discoloration).”
• “4 individual, please place in palm of hand and gently squeeze, if there is a slight give they are perfect. No give or squishy is no good. Please, and thank you.”
• “2 Should be green and very hard. 1 should be dark and you should be able to make a dent when you press with medium pressure. Please make sure they are Hass avocados with bumpy skin, and not the smooth skinned ones with them SLIMCADO sticker. Please also make sure they’re Hass avocados: smaller with bumpy skin. DO NOT GET the big ones with the Slimcado sticker.”
• “PLEASE put in PLASTIC PRODUCE BAG and TIE with GREEN WIRE TIE”

Can you use it in a sentence?

Ever have to sound out how to spell av.o.ca.do? You’re not alone. In fact, avocado has been spelled incorrectly in shopper instructions over 28,866 times in at least 10 different ways.

• Avacodas
• Avacado
• AVODACOS
• avacados
• avocadoes
• Avacoda
• avacodos
• avacoados
• avocodo
• abocados

Green is the new black… unless it’s purple

Do you use color or texture to determine when an avocado is ripe? More than 42,000 avocado instruction notes from the past two years have used ‘green’ as a descriptor for what they’re looking for, followed by “black” and “purple.”

• “Please get the brightest green ones available”
• “Bright green if you have them”
• “LIGHT GREEN ONES”
• “light green”
• “As green as possible, please!”
• “PLEASE GET BRIGHT GREEN”
• “A little green is good.”
• “Por favor! “Muy VERDES” Please, select green and hard.”
• “Get GREEN”
• “All greens please”
• “Can you make sure one is ripe ( purple) and the other is green (not ripe)”
• “Please get the purple ones that aren’t too mushy!”

If loving you is wrong I don’t wanna be ripe

In closing, some standout notes from standout customers … we’d be remiss not to share these winning instructions.

• Efficient AF: “ripe af plz thx”
• Ewwy gooey: “Please get avocados that we could use today. Not gooey, but somewhat soft to use for guacamole.”
• Pls, no kissing the avocados: “Need to be brown/black/dark exterior with a little bit of give when touched. Not too smoochy.”
• And, I will call him squishy: “Can you choose one that’s a little bit squishy so we can eat it today?”
• TMI for Tuesday: “We’re planning to have this avo Tuesday night for dinner. Well, some other stuff too. But can you please make sure it’ll be good on Tuesday? Thank you!”
• The low-mai customer: “ripe would be good :)”
• Hair and makeup will be provided at home: “Please pick avocados that ARE NOT ripe. We’ll get them ready here”
• Praying to the avo gods: “NICE ONES Please no damage GOD BLESS YOU”
• So amazing: “something bumpy with some give, pretty please. aren’t avocados amazing?!”

Avocados. Amazing indeed.