SAN DIEGO, CA - Though the pressure to start this new decade off on the right foot was high, the avocado category has only thrived under this pressure. After all, if you can’t handle the green, stay out of the grove—a saying I’m only assuming circulates amongst our industry’s savvy ’cado growers. When I checked in with Bob Lucy, President of Del Rey Avocado, he confirmed the market is strong, with demand only climbing.

“High demand has been an excellent start to the year. In January and February, we met this demand by providing fantastic volume to the market. We expect this trend to continue throughout the year with strong supplies from Mexico, California, and Peru,” Bob shared with me. “Currently, Del Rey Avocado is packing California fruit five days a week, while at the same time importing good supplies from Mexico. Our California product is primarily serving our West Coast customers and our Mexican fruit is supplying our East Coast customers.”

Of this product, Bob is projecting volume from Mexico to account for five to 10 percent more of Del Rey Avocado’s supply than last year, while California’s volume should double.

“While it’s still too early to judge how this is tracking, quality has been very good from both California and Mexico. We expect excellent quality to continue through the spring and the summer,” Patrick Lucy, Vice President of Sales, explained. “It’s helped that we’ve had no major weather issues in Mexico over the course of the last couple of months. In California, it has been a bit drier than growers would have liked, and this seems to be having an effect on fruit sizing. However, we are hopefully going to get some rain in mid-March, which will help the California crop and bloom for next year’s harvest.”

As a result of the weather, smaller fruit is more available and promotable at the moment across California and Mexico crops.

“Specifically, the market is tight on 48s and larger sizes,” Bob noted. “However, we continue to expect good volume overall through the spring and summer months.”

For more market updates like this, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.

Del Rey Avocado