Europe still dominates Peru avocados shipments

The U.S. is likely to double its avocado volume from Peru this year, with perhaps as much as 150 million pounds reaching American ports.

But even that amount still pales in comparison to the volume Peru now ships to Europe, and may send to Asia in the future, marketers say.

Peru is Europe’s largest summertime avocado supplier, said Xavier Equihua, CEO and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Peruvian Avocado Commission.

The U.S. provided a bit of competition to the more-traditional European markets, Equihua said.

“There was an increase in production in Peru and, also, the U.S. should be a more attractive market this year,” he said.

North America seems poised to increase its share of Peruvian avocados, said Fortunato Martinez, general manager and vice president of Naturipe Avocado Farms, part of Salinas-based Naturipe Farms LLC.

“The European market has imported strong volumes from Peru, yet as the Peruvian crop comes to a pick, the North American market becomes a natural flow,” Martinez said.

Most of Peru’s estimated 500 million-pound avocado volume this year still will end up in European markets, and Asia — China, in particular — is starting to take more fruit, too, said Robb Bertels, vice president of marketing for Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce Inc.

“It’s really kind of three-fold — Europe is 65%, and to the States, its 25%, and the rest, to Asia,” Bertels said.

Chile also is taking more Peruvian avocados, Bertels said.

“Even at times, (when) the market is right, we export from Peru to Chile. It’s in their off-season and their demand has been increasing over time, so they’re looking for more Peruvian,” he said.

Shipments to China have grown noticeably in the last few years, Bertels said.

“Five years ago, it was a handful of loads from the industry a week. Now, it’s probably 30-40 loads a week,” he said of shipments bound to China.

There’s much room for further growth in the Chinese market, Bertels said.

It likely will follow the pattern Peru established in the U.S., he said.

“With the volume growth in the U.S., once we started delivering ripened fruit, volume tripled,” Bertels said.

Peru finding new outlets for its fruit is no surprise, said Rankin McDaniel, president of Fallbrook, Calif.-based McDaniel Fruit Co.

“I think that the global market has been expanding, just like the U.S. market has been expanding,” he said.

For many years, the U.S. was considered the best market in the world for avocados, and Mexico jumped on the opportunity, said Giovanni Cavaletto, vice president of sourcing with Riverside, Calif.-based Index Fresh Inc.

“Mexico probably grew from a 30% market share in the states to 70%,” he said. “As that happened, it brought some of that shine off the U.S. market and forced a lot of other countries to focus on other outlets.”

The world is changing for the avocado industry, said Doug Meyer, senior vice president of sales and marketing with Murrieta, Calif.-based West Pak Avocado Inc.

“The avocado industry is a global supply industry and global market industry, so it has a direct effect on that,” he said.