Peru: Despite the weather, producers expect 25% more avocados

"Ideally, we would have supply throughout the twelve months of the year so the demand would grow, which is what we are ultimately looking for," said Daniel Bustamante, president of ProHass. 

The weather problems that occurred at the beginning of the year will have some effect on the campaign's total volume. However, Peru is a country in which producers plant a lot of avocado and there are many new fields that are entering production, increasing the existing supply. That's why, despite the effects of the weather this year, the avocado production is estimated to grow 20-25% over last year. 

"It's true that the climate can affect the fruit sizes, however, there are new producing areas in Peru that produce and export their fruits once they reach the required minimum levels of dry matter. It is precisely these new producing areas that produce the smaller sizes of avocado," stated Daniel Bustamante, president of ProHass. 

The most important production area is La Libertad, followed by the Department of Lima and the new productive area is the area of Lambayeque. Peru's export campaign begins in late February, mid-March and lasts until early September; the season peaks in June and July. 

Important Markets  

"As a country, the most important market is the United States, as a region, the most important market is Europe," said Daniel. Nearly 60% of the avocado exported is destined for Europe, 30% is sent to the United States, 5% to Asia, where Japan and China stand out, and the other 5% is distributed to Latin American countries and Canada. The local market is still very small. One of the objectives of ProHass is to use part of the promotional experience that they have carried out during the last 11 years in different countries to promote the consumption of Hass avocado in Peru.

"The Asian market is fairly new for us, however, exports are growing tremendously," said the exporter. This year exports to Asia are expected to double, from 5,000 tons that were exported last year to 10,000. However, there are differences within the Asian market. "Japan is more familiar with avocados and the ripening trend of it is more advanced. Therefore, since they are more familiar with the product, there is a greater acceptance and it is sold at its optimum moment, when it is ready to eat, which is what we call a good consumption experience," Daniel stated. "However, China is paying better prices than Japan, but they have very little knowledge of the product," he added. China imports avocado that has an optimal physical appearance, that is to say, it's 100% green and very hard. "Thus, it is harder to have a good consumption experience in this market because they still are not very familiar with the products ripening process. We want to teach the consumer to know and consume avocado so that in addition to being a healthy and nutritious product, they also find it delicious," said Daniel. 

Expectations

According to Daniel, they are at the peak of the season and expect to achieve a 20% increase over last year, maintaining very similar proportions in terms of global market distribution.

ProHass is managing the opening of new markets so that avocado can reach the whole world. "The markets in which we want to grow are Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Colombia. To achieve this, ProHass is working hand in hand with SENASA," he stated. Even though Colombia is a producer of avocados, it still does not have the capacity to access the US market, nor the Asian market. "It is an incipient market that will surely be a very relevant player in the future and very complementary to the export and production window of Peru," stated the exporter. 

First year with the WAO

ProHass is an organization of avocado producers and exporters from Peru that groups 60% of the country's exports. It supports farmers to improve costs in the field and provides them with technical assistance. According to Daniel, for the last 11 years, ProHass has contributed economically to the avocado consumption campaigns around the world, providing approximately $1 million annually in consumer promotions. 

This is the first year that they have launched a joint avocado consumption campaign with the World Avocado Organisaton, which includes the main producers that supply the European market, such as the South African exporters; ProHass, representing Peru, and to a lesser extent, Mexico, which is represented by a single company; and the United States, which is represented by another company.

"This campaign's promotional budget, i.e. $ 2.5 million dollars, has already been provided and there already are consumer and promotional campaigns being carried out in several European countries and directly with several supermarkets, mainly in England, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden," Daniel said. "They are countries that are familiar with the avocado, but where consumption can still increase, or countries where avocado is unknown and have a structure at the supermarket level that allows more efficient promotional activities." "This is the first year that the WAO has been very successful in terms of promotions, it has had very good responses at the supermarket and general public level," Daniel concluded.

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