Supplies of avocados are down somewhat even with fruit being sourced from multiple regions currently.
“As Mexico transitions into the Flor Loca crop, and the California season nears its end, the U.S. industry supply is down,” says Hector Soltero, senior director of sales planning for Mission Produce based in Oxnard, CA.
Domestically, California’s avocado industry has harvested the majority of its anticipated 250 million lb. crop. Sizing of the fruit is skewing towards sizes 60 and 48 on the state’s avocados, which started harvest earlier this year and sees peak availability through August.
Supplies of avocados are down in the U.S. at the moment, even with fruit being sourced from multiple regions including California, Mexico and Peru.
From Mexico, the country that ships the most avocados to the U.S., its crop size for the 2020-2021 year is approximately 2.9 billion lbs. of fruit. Looking ahead, the preliminary crop size for 2021-2022 is an anticipated 3 billion lbs. of avocados. “The Mexico crop is also skewing toward small fruit sizes 48 and 60,” says Soltero. “Compared to a few weeks ago, prices are higher due to the transitioning of the crop in Mexico. The industry will typically see higher prices during transition until the new crop is in full swing.”
Smaller Peruvian fruit
And then there’s Peru where harvest is going strong and anticipated to continue through September. “For Peru, the industry is in peak season of the anticipated 1 billion lb. crop, which is skewing towards smaller fruit sizes 60 and 48,” says Soltero.
At the same time, Soltero notes that Mission Produce also turns to South Africa to continue providing regions such as Europe with year-round supplies of Hass avocados.
In the coming weeks, the industry anticipates balancing out supplies as Mexico completes its transition to the Flor Loca crop.
Altogether, the supplies of avocados are similar to last year at this time. “Looking ahead, the industry expects the market to balance out as Mexico completes its transition to the Flor Loca crop,” says Soltero.
Meanwhile demand for avocados continues to be strong. “Consumption continues to increase year-over year,” says Soltero. Soltero adds that to keep up with increasing demand, Mission Produce consistently works on advancing its infrastructure and expanding its network and developing new merchandising programs to meet those needs. “The biggest challenge is to balance supply with demand,” Soltero says.
For more information:
Denise Junqueiro
Mission Produce, Inc.
Tel: +1 (805) 981-3650
djunqueiro@missionproduce.com
www.worldsfinestavocados.com