dolfo Ochagavia, President of Comité de Paltas Hass de Chile has been talking about the Chilean Hass avocado season, recently, as the early shipments begin to arrive in Europe, Argentina, the US and Asia, as well as the domestic market. "If we consider volumes up to week 36 we shipped 3,500 tons to Europe, 1,470 to Argentina, 640 tons to the US and 530 to Asia.
"The quality is good this year, the avocados are, on average, bigger than last year and the ripeness is good."
Despite the fact that European markets are so important for Chilean avocados a decision has been taken not to actively market the produce in the UK this year, Adolfo explains.
"We hope to do it again next year, but, as you know the production areas have been hit by drought for the past three seasons, reducing available stock. Because of this we have decided to postpone marketing for the future."
However, marketing has continued in some areas, and in the US a new logo has just been unveiled.
"The new logo is something that our sister organisation in the US (Chilean Avocado Import Association CAIA) did a few weeks ago, though in Chile the logo remains the same.
"In the US we needed a change after using the same one for some years now. The new logo uses our national colours and the word Hass has been taken out. Over 90% of consumption in the country is of that variety, so it was deemed unnecessary."
For more information:
Adolfo Ochagavía V.Comité de Paltas Hass de Chile AG
Tel: +56 2 334 5189
[email protected]
www.paltahass.cl