It is believed that the Peruvian avocado harvest began at the end of March in Jayanca located in north the country. However, avocados are also available from Olmos and Olmos located in north Peru were tardy, with many farms being harvested by week 18. Harvesting in the southern regions that are closer towards Lima and Ica was mostly in week 14 according to Mirko Infantes, a representative from Pacific Produce.

Peru is a country with a variety of climates Its northern regions were extremely warm, causing the majority of the fruits to be smaller, while the weather was fairly normal in the Southern regions.

“Due to the scorching temperatures and the warm evenings, a lot of the fruit that was harvested in northern regions remained tiny. It was a major commercial failure during a few weeks in which markets were flooded with fruit that was small, while larger dimensions were still fetching decent profits,” explains Mirko.

“Demand is high in the US as well as fixed rates being available in Peru are very attractive. This means that the US is an important competitor for Peruvian quantities this year. The volume that is of cargo that is going towards Europe from Peru is significantly less than the previous year, and in addition, Europe has serious price competitors from different markets. But, we did observe during week 22, departures from Peru increasing towards the mark of 600 containers in the very first week of during this season.”

In the present, Peru is the largest avocado exporter to Europe There are Kenyan avocados available along with some of them are from Colombia, Brazil and South Africa. Mexico is, like most countries, is more focused specifically on its US market.

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Mirko Infantes

Pacific Produce

Tel: +44 (0)1865 877802

[email protected]

www.pacificproduce.co.uk