Although a few operators started the campaign two weeks earlier than usual, the Spanish Hass avocado season officially started in mid-November with similar production volumes as last year.
According to the exporter, Hass avocados from Malaga already contain 21-22% of dry matter, which is the minimum level required for them to mature properly.
Furthermore, "there is still some produce from South Africa and plenty of Hass from Chile with a more than acceptable quality and very aggressive prices, as they are at a much later stage of the campaign. Additionally, Israel, which also competes with us during the same period and with lower prices, is introducing larger volumes of avocados into the market," adds Meijer.
The good news is that, compared to the previous campaign, avocados present larger, more commercial calibres. "Last year we had serious issues to introduce the fruit in some markets, as calibres were generally small, between 22 and 32. This year we have mainly calibres between 14 and 22, which are more in demand," he explains.
"Although it was hard to find our place in the export market, we are already shipping our avocados to Europe and this week we started with South Africa," adds Meijer.
"Although it was hard to find our place in the export market, we are already shipping our avocados to Europe and this week we started with South Africa," adds Meijer.
"The truth is that the avocado market is stagnating at the moment and prices are under pressure. Consumption levels for all horticultural products are still affected by the recession, although we expect our sales to increase a little before Christmas and grow again in late January."
More information:
Kenneth Meijer (Sales Manager)
NATURAL TROPIC S.L.
C/Juan Gris 20 P.I. La Pañoleta. Vélez-Málaga. Spain
T +34 952507709
M +34647166401
kenneth@naturaltropic.es
www.naturaltropic.es