The avocado market has been thriving over the past few years as the fruit’s popularity soared worldwide. According to Juan Escorcia, from Avocados Aguirre the demand is almost impossible to satiate. “Right now the issue with avocados is not selling them – they sell themselves. The issue we have right now is providing a continuous supply because the demand is so high. The demand has been climbing exponentially this past decade which has brought a lot of new production around the world. Ten years ago, Mexico produced around 90% of the world’s avocados, but today new markets are arising in other Latin American countries, in Africa, New Zealand and Australia. There has even been production in China. From our experience, however, there is still not enough production to meet the demand.” Juan says.
Avocados Aguirre specializes in the packing and exporting of avocados. The company is located in the Mexican state Jalisco and works with growers in both Jalisco and Michoacán. Juan says: “Michoacán is the number one avocado producing state in Mexico and produces around 80% of all the country’s avocados. Jalisco is the second biggest producer, so we have a very strategic location. Jalisco doesn’t have access to the U.S. or China, so our biggest export markets are Japan and Canada, and a good amount to Europe too. We are currently working very closely with APEAJAL, which is the association of growers and packers of Jalisco, to comply with the requirements needed to access the American and Chinese markets.”
Though the Mexican growers are able to produce avocados year-round, they do have a high and a low season. Juan explains: “Right now we are entering the high season, which will last to the middle of March. This is the time during which are volumes are the highest, and so the prices will go down because we have more supply. Our season complements that of Peru and Colombia, so our low season is their high season. This helps keep the markets stable. Even during our high season though, we have good demand. Some markets like Japan and Europe prefer to have Mexican avocados even when we are in our low season so they pay the higher prices to get their product. The Mexican avocado has a good reputation in the market.”
Avocados Aguirre in a Hong Kong supermarket.
This year, the volumes have been steady and similar compared with last year. The avocado trend remains strong, so the company is looking at expanding their markets. “This year we are working on developing the markets in the Middle East. We have been traveling a lot to countries like Turkey, Kuwait, and Dubai so we expand our markets and export more product to these countries. We are also working closely with our partners in Hong Kong to grow the market there as well. The transit to Hong Kong is quite long – 38 days from harvest to arrival – so we use a specialized treatment when the avocados are packed to ensure that the avocados arrive in a good state. We look forward to expansion in the next season” concludes Juan.
For more information:
Juan Escorcia
Avocados Aguirre
Tel: +1 619 365 7694
Email: jescorcia@avocadosaguirre.com
www.AvocadosAguirre.com