Right now, the supply of avocados is plentiful from Mexico, a country that has two crops in harvest. “The off-bloom crop, Flor Loca, continues to produce strong volume and is expected to continue through the fall. The new, on-bloom crop, Aventajada, which recently began harvest, is also strengthening supply and is expected to continue producing into June of 2024,” says Hector Soltero, VP of Sales Operations for Mission Produce.
Soltero says that the current quality and sizing are great on avocados. “The industry is seeing high counts of grade one fruit and strong availability across all sizes. Mexican fruit currently has low dry matter, also known as low oil content, which promotes longer shelf life,” he adds.
Compared to last year, the timing and quality of Mexico’s season are all in line with typical crop expectations. Although the sizing started off slightly smaller due to the heavy rains that impacted dry matter development, the rain levels and growing conditions have improved over the last few months since July and that’s helped size up the avocados.
Regions producing avocados
While Mexico is currently the primary source for avocados given both California and Peru’s seasons have ended, Chile and Colombia are producing light volumes as well. In the coming week, the industry supply should continue to remain steady with great quality and balanced sizing.
“This fall, retailers can take advantage of the strong size curve and available supply by promoting bagged avocados,” says Soltero.
As for demand, historically it’s the slowest during fall for avocados. “This fall, retailers can take advantage of the strong size curve and available supply by promoting bagged avocados,” says Soltero, noting upcoming fall eating occasions such as football game days are opportunities to run promotions and cross merchandise avocados for recipe inspiration. That said, according to Circana data, demand for avocados remains strong and is trending about five percent higher than a year ago as of September 2023.
For more information:
Jenna Aguilera
Mission Produce, Inc.
[email protected]
www.missionproduce.com