Calavo increasing Peru avocado supplies
Calavo increasing Peru avocado supplies
The big news out of Peru this season is that its avocado crop is smaller than it has been, but that will not be evident in the volume available from Santa Paula, CA-based Calavo Growers Inc.
“Overall, Peru has a smaller crop but our volume coming to the U.S. market will be a little bit more than last year, with a slightly smaller size curve,” said Peter Shore, vice president of product management.
He said Peru has typically shipped a lot of 30s, 36s and 40s to the U.S. market, filling the demand for the larger fruit. “This year, we expect to see more 40s, 48s and smaller,” he said.
Calavo is expecting increasing Peruvian avocado supplies through June, with peak shipments arriving on U.S. shores in July and August. “And we expect good arrivals well into September,” he added.
Shore noted that there has been favorable marketing conditions for avocados for several months and that situation should continue through the summer. But even though strong demand is driving the avocado market, Calavo is not expecting to bring in any extra shipments from Peru. “We will bring our Peruvian avocados into the East and run them through our New Jersey facility as we always do,” he said, adding the fruit will be ripened to customer specifications. “We have program business for that fruit that has been set up months in advance.”
As with the other avocado distributors, Shore commented that the California season is expected to last longer than anticipated. Originally, the California Avocado Commission, through a survey of growers and packers, had estimated a crop of about 208 million pounds, which was about 10 percent less than the 2023 crop. But the trees have been producing more fruit than expected, especially in the more northern producing regions of the state. Shore revealed in late May that CAC was revising its estimate and grower-packers are predicting they will have significantly more fruit to sell. “We believe we have 10-15 percent more fruit on the trees…maybe as much 240 to 244 million pounds,” he said.
Shore added that fruit will be sold throughout the summer, along with Peruvian avocados, as Mexico’s volume reaches its weekly low point for the year, which is always in the summer months. He said California has almost a perfect bell curve of fruit sizes to fill a wide spectrum of needs.
Put all these factors together and Shore expects that the summer months will bring good supplies to meet strong demand, which will create a good price for growers but also strong opportunities for promotions. “We think there will be a favorable market for everyone throughout the summer,” he said.
