“It’s a strange avocado market this year. Last year there was a shortage of green avocados during Ramadan, and prices were between 10 and 12 euro per box,” says Jan Vermeiren of Exofi. “During this year’s Ramadan, there was too much supply of Peruvian green avocados, and prices were around 7 euro.” The supply of Hass avocados is also very high this year. There’s an oversupply of Hass avocados, causing low prices. While prices were between 12 and 13 euro last year, this year they’re between 8 and 9 euro per box. “In the past ten years it hasn’t happened that Hass prices were as low as right now.”
Demand for avocados in Belgium is about 80 per cent for Hass and 20 per cent for green. Belgium is one of the few countries where demand for green avocados is still fairly high. “In Spain and France, they’ve eaten only Hass for the past ten years, but Belgium is also starting to switch to the ready-to-eat Hass avocado. It’s difficult to say whether Belgium will completely stop eating green avocados. It’s similar to the peach / nectarine story. Consumption of nectarines is eight times higher than that of peaches, but they don’t disappear completely. Green avocado is now just eaten by the Moroccan communities during the Ramadan,” the importer says.
Despite the growing consumption of avocados, it cannot keep up with the massive supply. “We’ve noticed avocado consumption is higher in summer than in winter. Avocado is also booming because they’re much used in cookery shows on TV. The avocado changed from an exotic product into a conventional one that’s known by everyone. The product is also very healthy, and healthy products are increasingly popular,” Jan continues.
Exotics
The exotic market is on its last legs during the summer months. Due to large supply of stone fruit from Spain, demand for exotics decreases. “Yet a number of products, such as mango and passionfruit, do well. We’re also seeing a peak in the consumption of limes, but they’re dealing with the same things as avocados,” Jan says. “Normally, prices are sky-high in July and August, more than 10 euro for a 4.5-kilogram box. But because of enormous supply from Mexico and Brazil, prices will get under pressure.”
Although consumption of pineapple drops during the summer period every year, the importer has also noticed quality has been a bit poorer in the past two weeks. “In recent years, we’ve had hardly any quality problems with pineapple from Costa Rica. However, in the past two weeks, we’ve seen slightly poorer quality from a number of suppliers. Besides the low consumption of pineapple, banana prices are now also at their lowest this year. Due to climatological circumstances and flooding in Kenya, we’ve had a shortage of haricot vert in the past four weeks. The exotic market isn’t like in the winter period. We have weekly supply, but in summer, plenty of other fruits are on the market,” Jan concludes.
