"The market for Hass avocados has been in turmoil in recent weeks due to a confluence of several factors," says Joel Pascual of Cartama Europe, who represents the Dutch sales office of Colombia's largest avocado cultivation and export company.
"First of all, we had to deal with the extension of the Peruvian season, which meant that avocados were shipped as much as three to four weeks later than expected. The US market remained more or less closed to volumes from Chile and Colombia because of the huge availability of Mexican avocados. The huge availability of Greenskin from Israel has kept Eastern Europe away from Hass avocados compared to other seasons. And the traditionally very low demand in Europe in November was somehow accentuated this year by the lack of promotions. All this has led to a larger-than-expected supply of avocados to Europe, combined with reduced demand for Hass avocados, which has translated into historically low spot prices."
© Cartama Europe
© Cartama Europe"It will be very interesting to see how the market will develop further, as Israel, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are almost ready to start harvesting, but are normally aiming for prices much higher than what we are currently seeing across Europe. As for quality, it has improved from last week's, as the last batches from Peru, Kenya, and South Africa are now about to leave the market. Quality from Colombia is much better than last season. Exporters are aware of the importance of supplying good avocados to keep improving their reputation," Joel Pascual continued.
"Israel, Chile, Portugal, Morocco, and Spain are expected to start with very good quality, which is a perfect scenario to promote good-quality avocados. This convinces customers to buy more, which should increase demand from January. In the meantime, prices are expected to remain stable, and we should probably forget the high prices of other years until March/April," Joel Pascal said.
He attached the above photos from his latest trip to Colombia, where they celebrated the 25th anniversary in Territorio Aguacate and also visited La Finca La Escondida, Colombia's first Hass avocado plantation. "This farm is owned by Cartama and is full of very good avocados this season, with larger sizes than in other years!"
For more information:
Joel Pascual
Cartama Europe
Harnaschdreef 10
2635 BT Den Hoorn
Tel: +44 7799 626 655
[email protected]
www.cartamaeurope.com
