by Nichola Watson, Fresh Plaza
The Southern Hemisphere avocado crop is seeing small sizes in general this season, and South Africa which is around mid way through the season is no different.
“Harvest is going well with volumes keeping in line with the initial estimate of 12.8 million cartons,” explains Derek Donkin, CEO of Subtrop. “There is a high proportion of small fruit from South Africa, and a lot of small fruit from Peru on the market, but what growers are doing is marketing their crop in different market segments to maximise returns, with some of that fruit staying in South Africa and going for processing.”
For this reason the European market has been quite difficult in recent weeks for the smaller sizes, larger sizes however are getting a good price.
Avocado growing regions in South Africa have remained dry which is good for harvesting and for fruit quality. It is still the dry season and no rains are expected for a few months in the north of the country.
“It is difficult say at this stage how the season will turn out in terms of returns to growers, but volumes have been down. Growers can possibly make use of the local market at peak times, but really it is impossible to say at this point in the season,” admits Derek.
“We don’t have an industry position on Brexit, as it is still too early, but we are watching what’s going on. We are now seeing the uncertainty which we were warned about before the referendum. The rand is low which is good for exporters but is has also seen a lot of volatility recently so this is a concern for exporters,” he concludes.
Source: Fresh Plaza