As part of a trend that's seen good demand for avocados throughout the world, movement for this year's Mexican import season has been good. Though this is the time of year when there's a lull in the market, overall, this season could see a record number of imported avocados from Mexico.
“We're really lucky to be in this commodity,” said Mission Produce's director of sales, Ron Araiza, in reference to avocados. He added that, despite the introduction of Peruvian avocados this year, demand has continually outstripped available supplies. “Demand has been increasingly annually by about 10 percent, and production around the world is increasing by about 4 percent, so production isn't keeping up with consumption increases.”
That kind of demand that has made this year's Mexican import season one of the biggest in memory. Araiza estimated that, although this is the time of year when demand slacks off before picking up again for New Year's and the Superbowl, about 26 million pounds of avocados are coming into the U.S. on a weekly basis.
“There is plenty of volume coming in,” said Araiza. “All combined, we could have up to 1.5 billion pounds of Mexican avocados come into the U.S. this year, and that's never been done before.” With that kind of movement, it's no wonder that up to 90 percent of imported avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico. Chile has made up most of the rest of the imports coming in, and Araiza estimated that they currently bring in about 2.5 million pounds a week from there.
Market prices have been stable, if a little low for this time of year. Prices for popular sizes have hovered in the upper teens per box, according to Araiza, and though that's slightly low, they're expected to increase when demand picks up around the end of the year.
Supplies coming from Mexico are available almost year-round, and the import season typically peaks from February through April.
For more information:
Ron Araiza
Mission Produce, Inc.
+ 1 805 981 3655