“There is more demand than supply of Brazilian avocados”

The Brazilian avocado season is almost over and, in general, the producer Brasfruit believes that it has been a good year for this product. Its avocado harvest kicks off in March and lasts until May or June, and its production volume has increased by 10% over the 900 tonnes it exported in the previous year; it expects to reach 1,000 tonnes this year.

Demand in Europe
All its avocados are of the Hass variety and are intended for the European market, where, for some years, the demand has been growing non-stop. Regarding competition, the producer explains that "Peru and Chile are already out of the market when Brazilian avocados are ready to be harvested; that is, when they have at least 23% dry matter. Thus, April is usually the month when we have the greatest volume, being also the time when Peru is finishing and there is not much supply in Europe," affirms Avinash, of Brasfruit. "In this period, most of our customers are looking for avocados, so we have a lot of demand." The exporter acknowledges that a thousand tonnes are not enough to supply the European market, but this difference between supply and demand is beneficial for Brasfruit, because it pushes prices up. However, these fall back down when the season begins in Peru, so it is good to alternate.

Learning process
In any case, the Brazilian company intends to plant more avocados in order to take advantage of the fact that there is more demand than supply. "We have about 20,000 avocado trees planted in about 80 hectares," affirms the producer. "In general, it is a fairly new crop for us, because we have been planting it for 10 years and we have been exporting it for only 5 or 6 years, so we are still learning, developing new systems, improving our cold chain management and, overall quality, improving year after year," assures Avinash.

Brasfruit
Brasfruit, founded 25 years ago, is a family business that produces a wide range of fruits and exports them to Europe; a market it knows really well and where it has forged long lasting relationships. Its three main products are avocados, which it produces between March and June; mangoes, which are harvested around between August and December; and limes, which they try to produce all year round, although they have a low season in September and October.

More information:
Brasfruit
Av. Brig. Faria Lima, 2954 - cj 83
Itaim Bibi - São Paulo – SP, Brazil - CEP 01451-901
T: 55-11-3078-0865
F: 55-11-3168-9758
E: brasfruit@brasfruit.com
www.brasfruit.com