Trade is currently somewhat at a standstill due to the holiday period. "We always see this during the summer months. It's not quieter than in other years, but because June was much busier than usual, the contrast now feels much greater. This applies to almost all exotics at the moment. Only limes and pineapples are escaping the downturn," says Ive Lambert of Starfruit.
The main reason for the busier spring seems to be the weather. "Last year, conditions were so-so until July, but this year we've had a beautiful spring," continues the Flemish importer. "You notice the impact immediately in trade, but the dip in July then feels even more pronounced. That's the case for the vast majority of exotics, like avocados. Right now, we're seeing peak supply from Peru, but it coincides with a difficult market."
"I don't expect much change in the coming weeks. We're selling, but there's more incoming product than the market demands, so prices are stagnant. It'll take time to work through the peak in volume, and we'll have to wait for demand to increase. Traditionally, that only happens in the second week of August when people return from holidays. I expect tough weeks ahead for avocados. The downside is that you carry over some volume each week. Even if incoming supply drops, accumulated stock still takes time to clear, which becomes problematic."
Is this affecting quality? "Not too much. The quality of Peruvian avocados is good this season. What we are seeing, however, is that South Africa is declining as a quality source. Ten to fifteen years ago, the country still produced high-quality avocados, but that has changed in recent years. On one hand, less volume is coming in, and on the other, the country has faced very dry years. If anything stresses avocado trees, it's water shortage, and you see that reflected in quality. But from Peru, we still expect to continue working with good avocados."
© Puripatch Lokakalin | Dreamstime
Atypical summer product
"The only atypical products this summer are limes and pineapples. These are escaping the issues affecting other exotics. Lime volumes from Brazil have dropped significantly after a long period of oversupply," Ive explains. "And with the good weather, demand is solid, which means we're now looking at one of the few products with tight supply and reasonably firm prices. People are sitting out on terraces, and limes are a popular item in that setting. Of course, we've also come out of a long stretch of low prices, so an upswing was due. The pineapple market is in a similar position, with lower supply from Costa Rica at the moment."
For more information:
Ive Lambert
Starfruit
Werkhuizenkaai 112
Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2242 0876
[email protected]
www.groupadw.be/starfruit
