Del Rey has organic as well as conventional avocados from Mexico
Del Rey has organic as well as conventional avocados from Mexico
Organic avocados have become “a very big part of our program” at Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, according to Robert (Bob) Lucy, president of the company. That is true with the company’s California production, and it is also true with the fruit Del Rey brings in from Mexico.
“We’ve got Mexican organic coming in, as a company,” in good volume over the next six months, Lucy told The Produce News Oct. 10.
He expected the harvest of California organic avocados to begin in January and continuing through summer. From January through spring “we will be handling both,” with the California organic product most likely going mainly to the West Coast and the Mexican organic product going to the rest of the country.
Del Rey also handles organic as well as conventional avocados from Peru. That is “a very successful program that we have done in June, July and August,” he said.
Bob LucyChile is Del Rey’s other source for conventional avocados, but “unfortunately there are no Chilean organic,” he said.
Del Rey’s Mexican organic avocado imports are increasing as are Mexican avocado imports overall, both for the company and for the industry as a whole. Industry-wide, “our understanding is Mexico will be 200 million to 300 million more pounds than last year,” Lucy said.
Lucy had recently returned from a trip to the avocado growing areas of Mexico at the time The Produce News spoke with him.
“Looking at Mexican fruit coming in, 99 percent of it is good,” he said. Only “once in a while” did he see a pallet that could cause customers a little concern.
“Quality of the fruit generally has been excellent coming out of Mexico. The fruit is ripening fine and eating very well,” he said.
“You really have to congratulate the Mexican growers and handlers for doing a really good job of watching dry weight maturity and making sure that the fruit ripens properly,” Lucy added. “So far, everything seems to be going very well” with the new season which was just getting under way, transitioning from the Flora Loca or off-bloom crop into the Aventajada, the “early crop” of the new season.
The volume of fruit arriving from Mexico has “really cranked up quite a bit in the last month,” and it will continue to do so, he said. Chilean avocado imports are expected to be down this fall and winter. “I think you will see Mexico truly dominate this market” for the next several months, Lucy noted.
Fortunately, “avocados from Mexico has plenty of money to spend on programs and promotions” to promote the increased volume that is anticipated, he added.
