With California avocado season officially underway, West Pak Avocado, a California-based avocado supplier, saw record volume in February.
“Between a later big game this year and the week-long hiccup in supply from Mexico, California fruit saw a record 10.2 percent market share in February,” said senior vice-president of sales and marketing Doug Meyer. “At this point, over 10 percent of the California fruit for the season has been harvested, which is typically only a few percent by the end of February.”
Early preseason forecasts by the California Avocado Commission (CAC) project a 15 percent increase in volume over 2021 with a 306-million-pound crop in 2022, with the Hass variety making up the majority of the harvest. Most of the California avocado season volume is expected to occur mid-April through mid-July, with the season winding down August to October.
“We are hoping for good rainfall totals in March to help the fruit size-up for growers,” said Meyer. “We want a good distribution of sizing by mid to late April, which is when we typically see the first major uptick in harvest volume of locally-grown avocados in preparation for Cinco de Mayo.”
For 2021, the Hass Avocado Board lists the volume of California avocados at 251,593,334 pounds, which is just under nine percent of the almost 3 billion pounds total incoming volume of avocados arriving in the U.S. market from all suppliers.
Many people see California’s unique growing conditions as the perfect place to grow avocados. Nearly 3000 growers have chosen the golden state’s fertile soil, sunny weather, and cool coastal breezes to plant their trees and grow their avocados, ensuring that consumers can enjoy the fruit’s buttery texture and creamy taste. According to Rabo Research, per capita consumption of avocados in the U.S. currently stands at nine pounds but could surpass 11 pounds by 2026.
The popularity of California avocados is evident based on the increase of restaurants opting to call out the local favorite on menus and in displays and packaging on the retail side.
“For our retail customers, West Pak offers the California Gold brand of bagged avocados. This bag is filled with either conventional or organic California fruit and features the American Heart Association’s Health-Check mark,” added Meyer.
