Florida avocado volume rebounds to normal levels

Hass is by far the most common avocado variety in the U.S., but Florida’s green-skins also have a following.

There’s good news for green-skin groupies this season: Volume that was off as much as 20% to 30% last year is back to normal.

This year, Florida’s avocado growers are expected to ship 1 million bushels of their fruit compared to 863,000 bushels in 2016, according to an estimate from Brooks Tropicals Inc., Homestead, Fla.

Florida avocado volume peaked during the third week of July, said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals.

But that doesn’t mean supplies are dwindling.

“We still have really good volume through the fall,” she said, including ample supplies for the holidays.

The Florida harvest began in late May and should continue to February.

“Quality and volumes have been great,” Ostlund said. “It was time to get back to normal.”

Jessie Capote, vice president and owner of J&C Tropicals in Miami, said he expects a “healthy, average” crop this year.

Volume should top last year’s, which was down because of a rainy winter that affected spring production.

Availability generally should remain high for the next two to three months, he said.

Across the country

J&C Tropicals ships Florida avocados as far north as Canada and as far west as California, he said.

The company has a number of customers in California who display Florida avocados as well as California’s hass variety, Capote said.

New Limeco LLC, Princeton, Fla., ships Florida avocados primarily from the East Coast to the Midwest but also sends fruit as far west as California, said Eddie Caram, general manager.

The company has been adding later varieties for about the past five years, he said, and now has about 70 acres of fruit that can be packed through March or into early April.

Caram said the crop so far has been “very clean” with good sizing.

Ostlund said Florida avocados often are twice the size of hass avocados and half the fat and calorie content.

Capote said one Florida avocado feeds his family of four with some left over.

To an extent, avocado sales are a matter of demographics, Capote said.

Florida avocados, which he said really are West Indian avocados, have a strong appeal to a Caribbean/Hispanic demographic, he said.

In Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean Basin, “that’s what you eat,” he said.

Price comparison

Florida avocados are much less expensive than hass, he said, so they’re a good value for those managing a budget.

In late July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture listed prices of two-layer cartons of sizes 18, 20 and 24 Florida green-skin avocados at mostly $10-11.

At the same time, two-layer cartons of hass avocados ranging in size from 32s to 60s were mostly $48.25-50.25.