Imported avocado supply described as “erratic”

With regional supplies of avocados looking lean, the supply in the North American market is described as “erratic.” “Most of the avocados coming in right now are from Mexico and they seem to have a smaller crop than last year,” says Phil Henry of Escondido, Ca.-based Henry Avocado Corp. “And California, which is just starting its harvest now, has had a small crop this year—it’s lighter than last year.” That said, Peru, which also will be importing avocados into the market, does have more fruit this year.

“The supply from Mexico is fair but it’s probably a harvest issue in Mexico with the growers,” Henry says. “Sometimes the growers harvest more aggressively than other times and it makes for that erratic flow.”

In turn though all that inconsistent supply has made for fluctuating prices. “It’s an erratic flow of fruit into the marketplace and then it creates erratic pricing,” says Henry. “Prices have been going up recently and we’ve had much more uneven pricing for the last number of months.” He in fact notes that those pricing fluctuations trace back to even as early as the beginning of summer 2016.

Demand stays steady
Meanwhile, though baseline demand for avocados has not dropped, demand will likely decline. “Demand declines when prices go too high. Then retailers start shrinking their displays and aren’t aggressively advertising and then demand slows down,” adds Henry.

Looking ahead, Henry predicts more of the same for the coming weeks for avocados. “There’ll be reasonable volume coming in and relatively high pricing for now,” he says.

For more information:
Phil Henry
Henry Avocado
Tel: +1 760 745 6632
phil@henryavocado.com
www.henryavocado.com