Avocado price increases due to shortage and high demand

1346

From April 15 to May 15, it was one of the three products that increased the most in price, according to the National Alliance of Small Merchants (ANPEC).

The price of the kilo of avocado rose to 80.50 pesos in some self-service stores, due to the shortage of the agri-food product and the high demand of the United States market.

“It’s a seasonal situation that we almost always have,” said the strategic adviser of the Association of Producers and Packers Exporters of Avocado of Mexico (APEAM), Ramón Paz Vega , explaining that production volumes decrease from the end of April to early of July.

He commented that in those months the fruit is harvested over the high areas of the state of Michoacán, where the freezing weather is persistent and, consequently, there is less availability for the market.

Michoacán producers are the ones who grow 80 percent of the avocado from all over the country , which generates a very strong impact on the domestic market and leads to a tension in prices, he said.

In a tour carried out in the different self-service stores in Mexico City, it was found that the kilogram of Hass avocado is sold from 62.00 to 69.50 pesos, while in markets, tianguis and groceries it costs between 61.11 and 64.44 pesos.

The fruit was one of the three products with the highest increases from April 15 to May 15 , registering an increase of 42 percent in Monterrey, for example, according to data from the National Alliance of Small Merchants (ANPEC).

The representative of APEAM said that during this time there is greater demand from the agri-food producer by the United States , a situation that contributes even more to the “tension in prices”.

When questioned by the uncertainty surrounding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), he ruled out that this discussion will influence the price rise.

“Until now, there is no impact or impediment. All our trade has followed without hindrance in the United States market, “he replied.

The “green gold” of Mexico has become a food of daily consumption in that country, since it is acquired by more than 50 percent of households.

“All this makes us think that the avocado trade will continue without major changes with the United States, regardless of what happens with the Free Trade Agreement,” he added.

Paz Vega trusted that the cultivation of the avocado trees of Jalisco, Nayarit and Morelos, among others, come the next weeks to compensate the seasonality that is had in Michoacán, and estimated that this year will reach a production of just over two million tons , a figure that would be 10 percent higher than the previous year.

Of the total, he said, 835 thousand tons will be sent to the US market.

Mercados Nacionales Agrícolas
Frutas y Hortalizas
Precios al mayoreo de Frutas y Hortalizas . Pesos ($) por kilogramo calculado

Registros del 17/06/2019 al 17/06/2019

DF: Central de Abasto de Iztapalapa DF61.1166.6764.44
Jalisco: Mercado Felipe Ángeles de Guadalajara66.6766.6766.67
Sinaloa: Central de Abasto de Culiacán69.0069.0069.00
Yucatán: Central de Abasto de Mérida60.0065.0065.00

Source: Mercados Nacionales Agrícolas, aproam, sniim

The Mazatlan Post