UK: High avocado prices due to lack of supply

The summer avocado campaign, which is expected to last until September, has recently kicked off for the British company Pacific Produce, which works with Israel in winter and markets its own fruit from Peru in summer. “We sell to a wide range of clients, including supermarkets and the wholesale. We started with green skin avocados four weeks ago and with Hass, our main variety, two weeks ago,” explains Rob Cullum.

“Due to the small supply at the moment coming to an empty market, the fruit doesn’t touch the ground. As a result, prices are currently high, but I believe they will settle down in a few weeks. They will be slightly more expensive than last year, but without reaching the dramatic levels of recent weeks,” explains Cullum.

Regarding consumption, Cullum said that in the UK it is up by between 30 and 50% at the moment. “British supermarkets tend to keep prices stable at this stage of the campaign which prevents demand from dropping, even if it means reducing margins / not promoting and if consumption has been this high during the cold weeks, it is unlikely to go down when the summer arrives.”

Pacific Produce currently has 300 hectares in production and will be expanding with another 50 this year. Which taking into account the rising demand, “is growth at a sustainable level, as we prefer to grow with our customers, rather than gamble on the future,” concludes Cullum.

For more information:
Robert Cullum
Pacific Produce
+44 (0) 1865877801
Email: rob@pacificproduce.co.uk
www.pacificproduce.co.uk