The growth of the Peruvian avocado industry includes a small percentage of organic fruit, and some grower-shippers are looking to build the organic category.
“We’re bringing in a fair amount of organic volume from Peru,” said Robb Bertels, vice president of marketing for Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce Inc. “It’s still a very small percentage of the fruit that’s grown in any region.”
Peru seems well-suited to organic avocado production, given its desert climate, but the category hasn’t taken root there in any large scale, said Xavier Equihua, CEO and president of of the Washington, D.C.-based Peruvian Avocado Commission.
“There are organic orchards, and there is traction on organic, but not, in my opinion, as it is in other products,” he said.
The perception is that there isn’t a lot of difference between organic and conventional avocados, Equihua said.
“One, you don’t eat the skin and everybody knows avocados are very resilient with skin that’s very hard,” he said. “Consumers — there’s an interest, yeah, but not like in other products.”
Demand for organic avocados is growing, but finding growers who are well-versed in organic production is “an ongoing challenge” across Peru, Bertels said.
“So, in Peru, there’s a decent amount that’s organic, but I think it’s less than 10% of the overall product grown there,” he said. “We could stand if there was more available.”
The incentives for growing organic avocados would seem compelling, said Rankin McDaniel, president of Fallbrook, Calif.-based McDaniel Fruit Co.
“Right now, the organic market is such a demand-exceeds-supply situation that organic avocados from anywhere are in short supply, so I would say organic avocados coming from Peru would be very much a coveted product,” he said.
Production continues to lag, for the moment, although the situation may improve in coming years, said Giovanni Cavaletto, vice president of sourcing with Riverside, Calif.-based Index Fresh Inc.
“Index Fresh is handling some, but I’d say it’s more of a massive niche,” Cavaletto said. “It’s not the primary focus of the industry, but we will see more growth in organic in the next four years than we’ve seen in the last five or six.”
Doug Meyer, senior vice president of sales and marketing with Murrieta, Calif.-based West Pak Avocado Inc., agreed.
“Organic avocado production in Peru is limited,” he said. “They are exploring that for the future, and I believe we will see increased organic production in the years to come.”
The so-called “price premium” organic produce generally commands certainly is alluring to growers, said Bruce Dowhan, vice president of the Los Angeles-based Giumarra Cos. and general manager Escondido, Calif.-based Giumarra Agricom International LLC.
“Organic is still a relatively small percent of the Peruvian avocado supply, but more and more growers are looking at the option of growing organically,” he said. “I think that’s a response to the pretty significant premium they’re getting. The premium has been pretty significant, certainly, for 2017.”
Customers are available to any Peruvian growers who can provide organic avocados, said Bob Lucy, president of Fallbrook, Calif.-based Del Rey Avocado Co.
“They will benefit because Mexico’s organic volume is dropping and Peruvian will increase,” he said.
