“There are horrible shortages of Hass avocados at the moment. Especially in the larger 14, 16, and 18 sizes. We are getting very little supply. Prices have, therefore, skyrocketed," says Ive Lambert of Starfruit.
“The South African and Peruvian seasons are currently coming to an end. The first Colombian avocados are now coming onto the market. Mexico is a little further along in their season. They are, however, sending insufficient product to fill the gaps. Chile is also usually in production. But the avocados from this country as so small, we have massive shortages of the larger sizes."
According to this Belgian importer, Chile usually sends 20-25% size 16 avocados. Some years, this percentage even rises to between 30 and 35%. "This year, only 5% of this country's avocados are size 16."
"This is causing major problems," says Lambert. The current shortage of large avocados on the market is troublesome for some buyers. "In recent years, we have seen clients choose to a certain size, and stick to it. Regardless of what the market does."
“Last year, the situation in the market was the exact opposite. Even after the season in Peru came to an end, they kept sending produce. There were Peruvian avocados available as late as November."
"This year, Peru has less volume than last year. They sent big volumes to Europe at the beginning of the season. As a result, we had extremely low prices in June and July. The Peruvian exporters are now, undoubtedly, asking themselves why they picked their avocados so soon," concludes Ive.
For more information:
Ive Lambert
Starfruit Company
112-154 Werkhuizenkaai
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: + 32 (0) 224 208 76
Starfruit@starfruit.be
www.star-fruit.eu