So how the market looks depends on what Europe is looking like, if prices are good in Europe then it is not a good place to go and if prices are low in Europe then it looks attractive.
"The difference at the moment are down to currency," explains Rob. "The Rand is low which is good for the South Africans, but the Dollar is very high making it less attractive for the Peruvians, that is a big issue we face for the next few months."
Green skins on the other hand are a market traded product and for the last few weeks it has been a disaster, according to Rob. "Coming from the previous semester which was very good, possibly too good, there is a lot of fruit on the market resulting in very low prices, and mixed quality. As of next week it should be getting better as Peru will have less arrivals, but it may take time to over the large volumes which have been arriving. People will also have to get used to paying a bit
"Quality from Peru has been pretty good so far for the Hass variety, greens had a few issues for a while. Sizes seem to be nicely varied and they have many different markets where they ship the fruit to," said Rob.
"But in general it has been good and hopefully it should get better as volumes decrease as the season progresses. We did expect an increase in volumes this season but that did not materialise due the effects of El Nino."
He does not expect the markets to reach saturation for quite a few years yet as consumption continues to increase and new markets are opening all the time.
For more information:
Robert Cullum
Pacific Produce
+44 (0) 1865877801
Email: rob@pacificproduce.co.uk
www.pacificproduce.co.uk