Avocado prices continue to stay strong as Michoacán finishes up the last part of its existing crop and readies for new crop fruit.
“We’re going into two months now of strong prices. They will eventually come down towards the end of June and early July because of that new crop,” says Juan Escorcia of Escagui Avocados Inc. based in Chula Visa, California. “But right now, there’s less supply and the same amount of demand which leads to those increased prices.”
Juan Escorcia (left) says this week there are about 8,000 hectares of avocado trees in Jalisco to be inspected for shipping to the U.S.
In general, Escorcia notes that supplies are stable and similar to historic patterns. This year’s crop out of Mexico is a smaller crop which follows last year’s heavier Mexican crop of avocados.
However, supply relief is on the way, though Escorcia says that the early fruit from Michoacán will likely be somewhat slower to move. “That brand new fruit will take longer to ripen. The lower dry matter means it will take longer to get ready to eat, even though there are a lot of ripening programs in different markets now,” Escorcia says. “The inventory won’t move as fast and importers will also take a little longer.”
New region coming
However, Mexico is also on the cusp of shipping avocados out of a second region: the neighboring state of Jalisco. In December 2021, USDA approved shipments from this region into the U.S. following 25 years of only shipping avocados out of Michoacán, Mexico.
Escorcia says supplies from Jalisco will help supply avocados year-round to the U.S.
“There are eight packers certified in Jalisco, including us, and starting this week there are about 8,000 hectares to be inspected for avocado shipping,” Escorcia says. “Jalisco production is about 1/10th of Michoacán’s production overall. And out of those 8,000 hectares, we don’t know how many yet are going to be certified.”
In all, the approved date to begin shipping into the U.S. is June 15th.
“Supplies from Jalisco will help things out. We’re going to be very valuable to the supply chain to help supply avocados year-round to meet the demand that keeps increasing. It will help give that stability that everyone is looking for in the supply chain,” Escorcia says.
For more information:
Juan Escorcia
Escagui Avocados Inc.
Tel: +1 (619) 365 7694
jescorcia@escaguiavocados.com
www.avocadosaguirre.com