"The US market is looking short so the expectation will be for good returns," comments Rob Cullum from Pacific Produce. "The Euro and Pound markets will feel the pain of the low currency if growers expectations are to be met."
Peruvian avocados have been on the markets for a while, but not in big volumes, the big volumes will now be delayed due to the rains. Peru is still shipping avocados, the country is huge so it is not raining everywhere, but the infrastructure will remain a problem.
This may push prices up in the Euro/GBP markets and according to Rob, the question is how high will the consumer go before they stop buying avocados?
"As growers we don't want consumption to fall, that would be a real shame after such positive growth in the last decade, but ultimately we cannot control the currency rates and they will have the biggest impact on the final price to the consumer."
"The supply countries such as South Africa and Peru won't be affected should the consumers stop buying avocados as there is enough demand on the world markets to make up for it, at least for the next few years," explains Rob.
Last year Peru had shipped 445 containers up to week 11, this year there is a 20% decrease to 352, that is not a reflection on the crop but just on the delayed start.
"One positive thing is that the avocado is a hardy fruit and can stay on the tree even in this amount of rain and still be harvested with good quality when it is dry enough to harvest."
For more information:Robert Cullum
Pacific Produce
+44 (0) 1865877801
Email: rob@pacificproduce.co.uk
www.pacificproduce.co.uk