European Avocado Supply
For the past 15 days, the shipments of avocados from Chile have been decreasing, while the volumes from Spain and Israel have been increasing. “Generally speaking, the increase of shipments from the Mediterranean makes up for the decline from Chile,” explains Sébastien Morlet of Georges Helfer.

The average supply of Hass avocados in Europe over the past 4 weeks is 1,750,000 packages per week. 1,650,000 packages were sent to Europe during week 48 and 49, and 1,900,000 were sent this week.

“We are lacking high caliber avocados. This puts pressure on the price of the calibers 12, 14 and 16 with a small upward trend,” says Sébastien. “For the other calibers, the market has been stable for the past 3 weeks.”

Promotional Offers
For now, the demand is sustained, and the activity on the avocado market should increase around Christmas, according to Sébastien. “All retailers have promotional offers at prices which are more competitive than the current market levels.”

Helfer presents the Hass avocados of caliber 12, ready-to-eat, under the promotional name “King of Christmas”. It is an upscale niche product. “This product is available all year round but we promote it more specifically at each holiday or cultural event: Easter, Halloween and Christmas, but also when France won the World Cup. The impact on our sales is significant.”

For now, the “King of Christmas” series is only available at one of our distributors. We think that other retailers will also carry it in the near future. Some other clients/distributors have created their own label (MDD) with specific conditions on premium avocados.

Lychee: “The” Christmas product
Sinds mid-November, the cost of shipping products via air freight has been steadily decreasing, in proportion with the developing offer from a number of operators.

The lychees from Madagascar will arrive on the markets between December 12th and 14th. The Madagascar origin represents more than 95% of the tonnages on the fresh market. All lychees from Madagascar are harvested through picking. Helfer is working on partnerships with Mozambique and South Africa to also market plantation lychees. The qualitative difference (in taste and caliber) with the lychees harvested through picking is significant.

Lychees from Mozambique by boat
Helfer will offer lychees imported by boat as of December 14th, a particularly early date for lychees of this origin, which are usually not available until the month of January. “There are three categories of lychees. The most expensive fresh lychees transported by plane, mainly from Mauritius and Réunio, the lychees imported in bulk via air freight and finally, the lychees shipped by sea.”