Until a few weeks ago, European producers and marketers, including Spanish companies, were selling avocados for around 16 Euro per box. At the moment, however, there are companies selling the boxes for prices as low as 4 Euro, according to sources within the sector.
The avocado market, which has got us used to record-breaking prices, is now suffering the most dramatic fall of recent years.
"The production volumes have grown so much that the market has become saturated, despite the fact that the consumption capacity has increased by 20% annually in the last two years," explains a Spanish importer.
Peru has increased its production by at least 25% this year, and South Africa, in addition to having new plantations in production, has an ON year, which translates into around 45% more avocados compared to last year. The production of these two major players in the avocado market also clashes with the volumes coming from other countries, such as Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, etc.
"While only a month ago, European importers wouldn't have been able to imagine receiving such low prices for avocados, now it seems that as soon as there are imbalances in the production volumes, the consumption ceiling in Europe is reached quicker than expected," says the importer.