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Interactive touchscreens put avocado education in the driver's seat

The Avo-Matic food truck now uses interactive touchscreens to offer free avocados and educate millennials about their benefits.

College students order avocados on the touchscreen.

July 10, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story ran on Food Truck Operator, a Kiosk Marketplace sister publication.

Hoping to educate millennials about avocados, Avocados From Mexico, an Irving, Texas organization that promotes and researches the fruit, has found interactive touchscreens a highly effective marketing and educational tool. The organization's Avo-matic food truck, that travels to colleges and retail locations, now uses interactive touchscreens to offer free avocados and educate people about their benefits.

"We wanted to create an experience that embraces technology, something that would resonate with college and university students," Stephanie Browder, Avocados from Mexico’s associate director of foodservice, told Kiosk Marketplace via email.

In addition to placing their order on the touchscreen, guests are prompted to provide their email address so they can receive a copy of their custom created recipe, Browder said.

The Avo-matic is an Airstream with three touchscreens.

An engaging experience

"Guests play a trivia game on the touchscreens while their food is being prepared," Browder said. "They learn about avocado nutrition, availability, ripening and handling. They receive a score at the end letting them know their level of avocado expertise."

"There were at least 20 different customizations you could make," Irene Cabanan, vice president of experiential marketing at IMW Agency, the creative agency that helped Avacados from Mexico develop the Avo-matic, said in describing this spring’s college tour. "You could customize the type of sauce or the protein that was on it, or the type of bread."

Targeting millennials

The Avo-matic was originally conceived by Avocados From Mexico and Costa Mesa, California based IMW Agency, in 2016 as a way to build awareness and expand usage among millennials by adding avocados for breakfast. The initial tour covered 17 locations on the East Coast, including colleges and retail locations.

"They wanted an experience that spoke to students and millennials, and something that would be different than just a regular food truck, and a way for them to be aware of all the great things that you could enjoy with avocados," Cabanan said.

When Avocados From Mexico launched the Avo-matic in 2016, it used a shipping container converted into a kitchen that was transported by a flatbed.

New technology solutions

In 2017, Next Now, a Chicago based creative technology agency, developed interactive touchscreens with facial emotion tracking software and ordering software for the Avo-matic.

The touchscreen prompted the guest to smile and a dial on the screen measured the size of the grin and how long they held it, said Mark Mathews, the agency’s marketing and multimedia experiential strategist. Once the guest met the designated smile requirements, the screen rewarded them with a picture of themselves that they could share on social media.

"The Avo-matic combines some of our favorite elements in an activation: An unexpected discovery, bleeding-edge technology leveraged right, and a personalized shareable digital memento, all topped with a smile," Mathews said.

The next iteration

Last fall, Avocados From Mexico overhauled the Avo-matic with an Airstream, featuring three interactive touchscreens for simple ordering customization, allowing students to enjoy made-to-order avocado snacks, learn tips, play games and win prizes. LED lights on the window light up when an order is ready, usually in about two and a half minutes after the guest places the order. The Avo-matic served avocado wraps, avocado toast and Tavos — half an avocado with a choice of toppings and Tabasco sauce.

"Students love the new Airstream and the ability to easily customize their order," Cabanan said. "Our new menu featuring avocado toast and 'avowraps' was a big hit."

The Avo-matic typically does at least 15 tours per year, Browder said, in addition to a produce industry trade show.

The campuses toured this spring included Georgetown University, Howard University, the University of Virginia, Liberty University, the University of North Carolina Charlotte, the University of South Carolina, the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University, Tulane University, Xavier University, the University of Louisiana, the University of Arkansas and the University of Missouri.

Photos courtesy of Avocados From Mexico.