Growers continue to harvest Hass avocados in Malaga on rather unusual dates, as the harvest should have been finished weeks ago. Meanwhile, volumes from Peru continue to grow in the international markets and will soon dominate.
"In Malaga, around 15% of the production still needs to be harvested," says Sigfrido Molina, manager of Sigfrido Fruit, "From January onwards, many have waited to harvest until the price came back up, as it always used to happen, although this year it has not happened and will not happen, for the first time in fifteen years," he says.
According to the producer and marketer, this year's harvest was 50% greater than last year's and the average price at origin has dropped by around 40 cents per kilo. "Many producers have resisted harvesting at that price. Those who have waited to harvest the fruit for longer than advisable will have smaller productions in the coming years, because the trees are affected by it. Also, we must recall that this had been an 'on' year, and the next will be an 'off' one, so, most likely, the production will be much smaller."
Besides, for several weeks now, avocados have been arriving to the EU from Peru and those shipments have continued to increase, with the number already exceeding 300 containers a week. "We still have about a month of campaign ahead with the Hass and Lamb Hass in which we will compete fiercely with the Peruvian avocado, which are cheaper and will shape the prices. However, these are still arriving with a limited amount of dry matter and, therefore, are not ripening as they should."
This year, the average price of Malaga's avocado has ranged between 1.90 and 2.00 Euro per kilo. While it is true that prices have fallen this season and production costs have increased significantly, Sigfrido says that "avocados continue to be a top product with high profitability compared to other crops. It feels like the product has been touched by a magic wand, given its high demand, which continues to grow. We will continue to assume a large part of the increase in costs and we will always try to protect our growers."
All these years, the supply has remained below the demand, but this is the first year in which a better balance is starting to be seen, given the increase in the production in various countries such as Morocco, Portugal, Brazil, Peru, Kenya or Colombia. "This does not mean that the price will fall in the coming years, as there is still plenty of room for consumption to grow. If the per capita consumption increased to 500 grams per year in China alone, we would not have enough avocados in the world to meet such a demand," said Sigfrido Molina.
Malaga's subtropical sector is more concerned about the availability of water to allow the subsistence of this crop in the coming years. "There is a significant water deficit in the production area of Axarquia which has been accentuated by the drought we have been suffering over the past year. From September to March this year there has practically been no rain and reservoirs and aquifers are quite dry. Some producers have had no water since December and have been forced to cut some of their trees in order to have less need for water. If public administrations - which have been talking about possible solutions for more than 20 years - do not act soon, we will pay dearly for the cost of climate change."
"We would like to grow Mexican avocados in the autumn months"
The Malaga-based company markets avocados and mangoes all year round thanks to imports from different countries. "We cover our supply throughout the year with various origins, although we would like to grow with Mexican avocados in the autumn months. We are on the lookout for several producing partners in Mexico from whom we can source premium fruit."
Sigfrido Fruit is achieving an annual growth of 20% in the volumes sold, so it will once again expand the capacity of its packing plant. "We have been lacking space for two seasons, so we are immersed in a project to expand our facilities, given that our client portfolio is growing steadily, and they are the ones seeking us out, both in our offices and at the international fairs in which we participate. We have also diversified our sales channels and are now increasingly oriented towards large-scale distribution," says Sigfrido Molina.
