Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
South Africa’s avocado prices under pressure
South Africa is well on its way to export 16 million 4kg-cartons of avocados this season, with 63% of the crop already having been exported at the time of going to print.
Derek Donkin, CEO of the South African Subtropical Growers’ Association, said it had been an off season. In addition, yields in some areas had been lower than anticipated due to cold and wet conditions around September last year, which had affected pollination and fruit set.
Total production, nevertheless, was higher than last year, when 15 million tons of avocados were exported, thanks to new plantings coming into production.
While fruit sizes had been good in general, there had been a rise in demand for smaller fruit.
“Volumes [of smaller fruit are] higher when orchards suffer from water stress, or during years when there are large crops. The demand for this fruit has grown over time as marketers have introduced them to consumers as convenient small portions,” Donkin said.
On the European market, prices had been under pressure during June due to large volumes coming from Peru, with the strengthening of the rand against the euro adding pressure to margins.
Donkin said the development of new markets would alleviate price pressure, but this had been difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had prevented government officials from potential importing countries travelling to South Africa to finalise technical protocols.
“We’re keen to open up markets to Asia, and are awaiting a Japanese delegation to inspect our management systems this year to open market access to Japan,” Donkin said. Locally, he was concerned about how the Level 4 lockdown restrictions that had been imposed at the end of June would affect sales.
“Significant volumes of avocados are sold via the food service industry. Fortunately, we’re past the peak of the season, and hope the hospitality market will be able to continue as close to normal as possible by diverting fruit to the take-away market.”
Despite reports of avocado producers struggling with fruit theft, Donkin stressed that this had been a problem for many years, and did not only affect avocados.
He advised farmers to work closely with their export agents for the rest of the season, and pick fruit according to schedules so that the volumes entering the market could be managed.
“But be careful not to let fruit become overmature before picking, as this [could affect] quality.” – Glenneis Kriel