The Spanish avocado season got underway a few weeks ago with the first harvests of smooth-skinned varieties. Additionally, the first Hass avocados are already being harvested in the earliest areas. However, European markets still have a good quality supply from the Southern Hemisphere; thus, avocado specialists such as Montosa prefer to wait until the Spanish product reaches its optimum level of quality and a larger size, which will happen from mid-December onwards, even though they are already starting with the organic product.
"We are going to start soon with the first organic avocados from Spain because, despite being a little short on dry matter levels, we have some early farms with fruit that already meets our quality standards, and with a lower carbon footprint than the products flown in from the Southern Hemisphere", says Thierry Athimon, Sales Director of Montosa.
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"In any case, we won't start with conventional avocado, which represents a much larger volume, until mid-December, and yields won't peak until week 2 of next year," he says. "In plantations where we traditionally have fruit of fairly large sizes, the sizes are not that large at the moment, although we are hoping that the recent heavy rains will boost the fruit's growth. We are also expecting scarcity of small sizes this season," he says.
"It's difficult to go against the tide when many have already started with Spanish avocado, but as experts in ripening, we have to choose the best fruit available at the right moment, and in this sense, we obviously always have a predilection for domestic products. This is how, in part, we have earned the trust of our clients. Our philosophy is to build long-term relationships with growers and end customers," says Thierry.
"We are seeing rejections at destination of, for example, fruit from Morocco that doesn't meet the required quality standards and which, when harvested prematurely, never even ripens due to a lack of optimum physiological maturity. This is of no real benefit to anyone. The ripening process must be fine-tuned to ensure consumer loyalty in their purchases. The fact is that avocados from a single harvest, and even from the same tree, can ripen in a different way," says Montosa's Sales Director.
So, according to Thierry, "the best fruit available at the moment in terms of size and dry matter is the one coming from Chile, although it is more expensive. Peru has already finished, but some containers have arrived very late."
Although the sector expects larger production volumes in Spain, Thierry believes that it's still too early to talk about actual figures. The market is currently quiet in terms of demand. "There has been an overlap in the supply from various countries. There's still a lot from Peru; Chile's season is in full swing, and Spain and Morocco, among others, are now starting up. Also, consumption is not at its best at this time of year, as it tends to drop from September onwards, which is why there are more promotions and therefore lower prices."
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Despite everything, Montosa relies on its guacamole to ensure no fruit will be wasted, as large volumes of avocado are used for its production. "Although we always aim to sell the fruit fresh, at times when demand outstrips supply, we resort to our guacamole. This allows our more than 3,000 growers and partners, both in Malaga and in South America, to sell their entire production in the best possible conditions," says Thierry.
Montosa has a strong presence in the Spanish and French markets and continues to grow in exports. "We are expanding in many European countries, such as Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom. Our goal is to work conscientiously with large retailers to properly educate consumers and ensure only ripe, ready-to-eat fruit hits the shelves. The fruit that doesn't develop well in the ripening process is discarded; something that's easier to do with domestic fruit. In imported fruit, you can get up to 30% of the fruit not ripening homogeneously. We assume those losses, but our demanding clients appreciate this know-how," says Thierry Athimon.
© MontosaFor more information:
Thierry Athimon
Montosa
Tel.: +34 689 099 541
[email protected]
www.montosa.com
