The big volumes of Peruvian avocados are now rolling and are expected to hit Europe very soon. Significant volumes are anticipated to arrive in the European marketplace throughout the summer.
South Africa, Colombia and Kenya all compliment the volume from Peru, but it’s the dominance of the Peruvian harvest that has the greatest impact.
"The fruit size from Peru is typically the larger sizes so there should be plentiful supply in sizes 12-18. We find that the supply from other sources compliments this with the smaller sizes," comments Paul Frowde, General Manager of The Avocado Company.
Avocado sales have been very strong in the multiple retail sector given the temporary closure of restaurants and food to go outlets. Consumers have been preparing more meals at home, with more time to do it and the weather has been particularly warm and sunny, encouraging salad consumption.
"We’ve not seen significant change in pack sizes and ready to use options, but we have noticed a slight increase in the ripen at home options. Ranges in retailers for avocados haven’t changed since lockdown. The larger pack sizes have fared well in the market as shoppers have moved to less frequent shopping visits but they’re buying in greater quantities when they shop," explains Paul.
Recipe boxes and fruit and veg hampers have become very popular since the lock down started.
"We have seen a few recipe boxes that include avocado but the majority of boxes have been focused on the staple produce items. I’m looking at box schemes as a continuing focus area which should provide a good opportunity for increasing avocado sales as I don’t think we’ll be ‘back to normal’ for a while.
"Consumers have become used to home cooking, switching travel time to cooking time and there’s been a move to replicate the restaurant experience at home. The range of recipe boxes and fresh produce boxes is likely to evolve to include more premium items and cater to those customers who will make box schemes a more permanent shopping choice."
For more information:
Judy Whittaker
Tel: +44 1892 831222
judy.whittaker@frescagroup.co.uk