Avocado imports from Peru are predicted to be up as much as 25-30 percent this year, but Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, expects an even larger gain, as its volume from that South American country could double.

“We think our volume will double, which is all good,” said Bob Lucy, who is a partner in the operation and in charge of sales. “The size distribution is going to be much better than last year, which should really help sales.”

He explained that the “sweet spot” in terms of avocado sizing for U.S. consumption is in the 48-60 range size. That’s a nice piece of fruit and lends itself well to good promotions at retail and foodservice.

In 2014, Lucy said Peru had an oversupply of very large fruit in the 32-36 range. “It all came at once and it started to back up,” he said. “That won’t be the case this year.”

With the knowledge that there is going to be a good volume of 40s, 48s and smaller, “we’ve (the industry) been able to set up programs,” said Lucy.  “I really like what the Peruvian Avocado Commission has done.  They have been aggressive and met with many of the large retailers.  They are offering a good deal of support, which is what they need to do.”

And he said the early-season pricing has been very attractive to create those promotions. “Right now, California fruit is going for about $45 delivered (per carton) on the East Coast, and Peru came in much lower than that.”

In addition, he told The Produce News on June 1 that three weeks into this season, the quality of the Peruvian fruit is also greatly improved over last year.

“It’s cutting and eating very well,” he said.  “We’ve seen the fruit from five containers at this point and it is excellent.”

Del Rey has a decade of experience in the Peruvian avocado business. Soon after the turn of this century, Del Rey formed a partnership with Ulises Quevedo in Peru to form Avo-Peru. The partnership purchased 5,000 acres of land and has thus far put in 1,100 acres of Hass avocados.

Del Rey markets the fruit in the United States, while Quevedo’s firm, Talsa, runs the packing operation and is the marketing arm for the avocados that are sent to Europe and elsewhere.  

Because the California crop is smaller than predicted and has moved very well this spring, Lucy said the Peruvian crop is very much needed to take the retail promotions through the summer. He expects most of the Peruvian avocados to be sold east of the Mississippi River but he added there are nationwide customers. The key, he said, is to use the Peruvian fruit for the retail and foodservice programs the company puts together. Lucy said that is a much better situation than bringing in fruit unsold on a speculative basis.

He said Peruvian shipments by the first week of May were in the 4 million to 5 million pound range, but they would more than double on a per-week basis by the second half of June. California, on the other hand, has already shipped about two-thirds of its crop. While it will have avocados through July and August, it will have far fewer pounds in the marketplace in the latter half of summer than it had last year.  

Lucy said Del Rey continues to expand its volume and should have some news to report about the scope of its operations as the summer heats up.  

“These are exciting times for our company,” he said. “Everything is going very well.”