Guava supply from Mexico is tight and it’s anticipated to stay that way for some time. “They are better than last year at this time of the year but we are foreseeing that the upcoming months will be very tight,” says Alberto Diaz of Spring Valley Fruits.
Part of the tight supply stems from weather in the Aguascalientes area which hasn’t seen rain this year. “Part of the acreage is irrigated using the dams so if they are empty, some acres weren’t able to be irrigated,” says Diaz.
At the same time, September-December is when the highest demand for guava is seen since it’s used in a popular Mexican holiday punch. “It’s almost double. Many growers try to program their harvest for that time,” Diaz adds. That means production will be slim again then January to April.
Demand across retailers
As for demand, it’s also increasing. Likely helping demand is the fact that some larger retailers are stocking guava more and demand is also strong amongst Hispanic retailers. All of this means that pricing is higher than last year. “In January though, pricing usually lowers. “However it won’t go as low as it is in the summertime,” says Diaz.
For Spring Valley Fruits, January will also be when it opens its new packing house alongside its current packing house in Aguascalientes--an opening that was intended to happen after the busy holiday season. It houses new sorting machinery and a new refrigeration area. “We will also have the largest TOMRA machine in Mexico,” says Diaz. “We’ll have 18 TOMRA lanes on top of the eight lanes we have.”
For more information:
Alberto Diaz
Spring Valley Fruits
Tel: +1 (956) 618-2239
[email protected]
www.premiumguava.com