Mexico may wear the crown for U.S. avocado imports, but Peru is rapidly becoming the indispensable partner ensuring consistent supply during the summer months. With U.S. avocado consumption projected to climb even higher over the next three years, direct imports from the South American supplier have become increasingly important as companies seek to diversify their supply chains against seasonal lulls.
At Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce, Peru is a pivotal supplier all summer long.
“At Mission, we take a diversified sourcing approach, and Peru plays a particularly important role during the summer window when Mexican production naturally pulls back,” says Galen Johnson, senior director of sales.
While the exact percentage shifts year to year based on factors including crop timing, demand patterns and supply availability across origins, he says U.S. avocado consumption is expected to continue to grow over the next three years and that Peruvian imports are expected to grow alongside the demand.
“Peru is expected to play an increasingly important role in supplying that demand,” says Johnson, adding that “with U.S. avocado consumption continuing to increase, import volumes from all sources — including Peru — are expected to continue to rise.
“The demand story for avocados is strong, and it takes a diversified supply base to meet it. Peru is a key part of that equation,” he adds.
Peruvian avocados are also part of Orange, Calif.-based GreenFruit Avocados’ diversification strategy. While the company has sold Peruvian avocados in the past, this marks the first year it’s importing directly from the South American supplier.
“We consider it important to have diversified sourcing as logistical, political or weather impacts may affect the flow of avocados,” says CEO Scott Bauwens. “We expect business to grow in the coming years, driven by increasing demand, good-quality input and detailed handling of the fruit. We achieve a good end-consumer experience through operational and commercial excellence.”
Bauwens describes Peru as one leg of GreenFruit’s four-legged stool.
“California, Mexico, Peru and Colombia each play a role in how we supply customers year-round,” he says. “That diversification is intentional, since no single origin can deliver everything every season without disruption. Being close to the growers in each of those regions is what gives us the kind of visibility and flexibility our customers rely on. We share trustworthy grower intel back with our buyers so they can plan and not just react.”
Weather Watch
Though ProHass is reporting unusual coastal heat has accelerated the harvest, potentially wrapping up the Peruvian export season by mid-August instead of mid-September, grower-packer-shippers aren’t concerned about gaps in supply.
“We don’t anticipate seasonal weather patterns to majorly impact the timing of this year’s harvest, and we’re working closely with our retail partners to promote healthy, consistent supply through the transition,” says Johnson. “That’s really the advantage of working with a vertically integrated supplier like Mission. We have visibility across the supply chain and can plan proactively so our customers don’t have to worry about gaps.”
Bauwens says while the unusually high temperatures in Peru might cause an earlier finish to the export season, it’s all about planning ahead.
“It is critical to have the information beforehand and be able to plan for supply gaps,” he says. “We have visibility of at least the next three to four weeks’ supply, allowing us to communicate with retail buyers in a timely manner and provide suitable alternatives when needed.”
In April, GreenFruit Avocados was acquired by a powerful partnership of industry veterans, including Bauwens, committed to building a vertically integrated avocado company with global supply reach and California leadership.
“This is exactly the kind of situation the new GreenFruit model was built for,” says Bauwens. “Volatility is a periodic reality in avocado production, so we can help de-risk these events by sourcing across multiple origins with strong grower relationships in each. Our customers hear from us directly with options to stabilize supply.”
Despite Peru’s hotter temperatures, suppliers like Mission and GreenFruit are reporting no impact to quality.
“We have noticed an impact from both lower volumes and a slightly smaller size curve, which fits nicely into the retail commercial programs,” says Bauwens. “On the other hand, quality has been excellent so far, which makes efficiently supplying our customers’ needs much easier.”
Johnson says Mission has yet to see an impact and also reports high-quality fruit.
“We haven’t seen any changes to our expected sizing, volume or quality out of Peru this season,” he says. “Industry production is focused on medium and large sizes, with promotable volumes available through the summer. And the quality has been very good to start the season.”
Elevating Quality Standards
Last July, Peru raised its minimum dry matter export standard to 22% to ensure a better eating experience, flavor and consistency. Suppliers say the higher-quality standard has helped to increase demand for Peruvian avocados.
“We’ve seen Peru’s quality and eating experience improve year over year as trees become more mature, and that’s been great for the category,” says Johnson. “On our end, we continue to invest in our own production to ensure we’re delivering top quality and flavor to our customers — because at the end of the day, a great eating experience is what drives repeat purchases and grows demand.”
Bauwens says GreenFruit also sees Peru making great advances in quality.
“They acknowledge that being farther from the market requires extra care across the entire value chain: cultivation, harvest, packing, maintaining the cold chain, efficient logistics, strong market partnerships and excellent last-mile handling,” he says. “We’re convinced that this commitment to a higher-quality standard will increase demand for Peruvian avocados.”
GreenFruit says this grower commitment to quality is a hallmark of its efforts across its sourcing regions around the world.
“Vertical integration means we can be involved at every step of that chain, and maintaining a grower-focused model means we are paying close attention to what’s happening in the field,” Bauwens says.
Avocados Look Ahead
As the world’s second-largest avocado grower and exporter, Peru maintains a global market mindset, says Bauwens.
“The U.S. is the largest market in the world, but Peru is the second destination market if we consider Europe as a whole,” he says. “We see strong growth potential for U.S. imports in the coming years to complement supply, mainly during the summer months.”
And because retailers and consumers demand consistent, high-quality fruit, regardless of the country of origin, suppliers are equally focused on quality.
“For Peru, just as we do for any other origin we work with, we value our growers’ focus on quality. We are strengthening our relationships with our grower partners to fuel our growth through quality, reliability and excellent service throughout the value chain,” Bauwens says. “That means starting and ending the day thinking about how we can exceed our customers’ expectations.”
