The Kenyan Fuerte avocado season is coming to a premature end, with stocks exhausted due to high demand. "Fuerte avocados are becoming increasingly hard to find, and their prices are even higher than those of Hass avocados, which has never happened before as far as I know," says Noor Yasin, CEO of Avochichi.
The exporter says, "We've been at a pace of one container of Fuerte avocados a week for some time now, a pace we usually reach in August. This is effectively an early end to a successful season for this variety. Hass avocados are still available, however."
The reason for the high demand for Fuerte avocados is none other than the Red Sea crisis, which has caused a shift in markets. Noor explains, "The European market, which prefers the Hass variety, has been difficult to access since the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis and the extension of transit time, which is now 31-37 days through the Red Sea and 41-47 days through Cape of Good Hope. Exporters are approaching the European market with great caution."
"On the other hand, demand from Middle Eastern and Turkish markets has been very strong this season, and the preferred variety in these markets is Fuerte. This adds to demand for Fuerte from the processing industry in Kenya," the exporter continues.
The shift in markets has had the rare effect of making Kenyan Fuerte more expensive than Hass. Noor says, "Hass avocados are usually 0.8-1 dollar/4 kg more expensive than Fuerte. This season, it's the opposite, with a price difference of 0.6-0.8 dollar per 4 kilo. That's something I've never seen."
This exceptional situation is unlikely to influence planting decisions for the coming seasons, according to Noor: "The Hass variety will continue to dominate production. It remains the most popular variety in terms of volume and demand in most markets. We're hoping that the situation in the Red Sea will finally come to a resolution and we'll get back to the usual scale of exports to the European market."
"For the rest of the season, we're trying to convince our customers in Turkey and the Middle East to accept our Hass avocados, new harvests of which are arriving soon in large and small sizes. We also anticipate an improvement in European demand as Peru's season is coming to an end," Noor concludes.
For more information:
Noor Yassin
Avochichi
Tel: +254793940531
Email: [email protected]
www.avochichi.com