Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on avocados:

From California - Two-layer flats, hass, size 32s mostly $38.25; size 48s mostly $40.25-41.25; size 84s $25.25-26.25.

From Mexico - Two-layer flats, hass, size 32s mostly $40.25; size 48s mostly $35.25-36.25; size 84s $25.25-26.25.

From Florida - One-layer flats, various green-skin varieties, sizes 8s, 9s and 10s mostly $6.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Aug. 27.

The Shipping Scene

If you look hard enough, you just might be able to find avocados from four growing regions - California, Florida, Mexico and Chile - on the market in the U.S. this week. And quality from all regions looks good, grower-shippers say.

California growers are finishing up their crops, which will continue to wind down until October, said Randy Shoup, president of West Pak Avocado Inc. in Temecula.

The Chilean crop is just getting under way, and Mexico's volume is building, he said.

In Chile, "They're going to be under a lot of pressure to size their fruit," he said. Sizes should stay in the 50s and 60s throughout the season thanks to select harvesting.

Quality of Mexico's avocados should be good, with sizes heavy on medium to smaller fruit - sizes 48-70 - but sizes should start to increase to 60s, 48s and 40s by October, he said.

August is a peak period for avocados in the U.S., as is the January to March timeframe. The fruit should be plentiful for the Labor Day weekend, Shoup said.

West Pak preconditions hass avocados in California, Chicago and Donna, Texas, and ships traditional 25-pound lugs along with consumer bags and specialty packs.

The U.S. now is receiving 120,000 cartons a week from Chile, said Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales and marketing for Calavo Growers Inc., Santa Paula, Calif.

Chile is off to a slow start because of the lingering effects of a freeze last season, and shipments are expected to remain under 300,000 boxes a week until the end of September, at which time volume should pick up, he said.

Mexico's season started July 1, and shipments to the U.S. now are up to 400,000 boxes a week.

California now is shipping late-season fruit that is "extremely flavorful" from the Northern districts in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas, Wedin said.

Prices are running about $2 a box higher this year than last, he said.

Florida does not ship the hass variety that comes out of California, Mexico and Chile, said Valeri Vellanti, saleswoman at New Limeco LLC, Princeton, Fla.

Instead, growers in that state produce West Indian avocados and varieties like simmons, dupuis and nadirs.

"All told, there's probably about 100 different names of avocados that we ship from down here," she said.

Different varieties mature at different times during the season.

"We move through varieties very quickly," Vellanti said.

Florida avocados are three or four times the size of the hass, she said. They also have less fat, fewer calories and a milder flavor.

Florida should have plentiful supplies until December, but shipments may continue as late as February or March, she said.

About 95% of the state's avocados are grown in the Miami area or south of Miami, she said.

At Brooks Tropicals, Homestead, Fla., Bill Brindle, vice president, sales management, said quality out of Florida is looking good, and most varieties are coming in on time.

"We're expecting a pretty smooth second half of the 2008 season, barring any type of wind event," he said. "Quality is as good as I've seen."

Although tropical storm Fay passed close by, only about 5% of the avocado crop was lost, he said.

Figures from the Homestead-based Florida Avocado Administrative Committee indicate that Florida will ship about 1 million bushels of avocados this year, while California will ship 7 million.

The California Avocado Commission, Irvine, will continue to promote the state's avocados through its "Hand Grown in California" campaign that kicked off at the beginning of the season and focuses on growers and the locally produced angle, said Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing. A retail display contest will run through September.

The Irvine, Calif.-based Hass Avocado Board has developed a tailgating-themed integrated marketing campaign that will feature retail point-of-purchase materials and consumer recipes, Jose Luis Obregon, managing director, said in a new release.

Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association will continue its NASCAR promotion this fall. The hass car will be in two races, one Sept. 20 in Dover, Del., and one Nov. 1 in Ft. Worth, Texas, said Jackie Bohmer, marketing director.

The Chilean Avocado Importers Association is well into its integrated advertising, public relations and promotion programs for the fall/winter season, said Maggie Bezart, marketing director.

The programs will include working with celebrity chef Ingrid Hoffman from the Food Network and Galavision at several special events. TV and outdoor advertising in key markets also is planned, and the association has developed a comprehensive merchandising notebook for its four regional merchandisers to use with the trade.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)