Avocado harvesting for export starts in South Africa

South Africa's avocado exports this season are estimated at 17 million 4kg cartons. That is 5% more than last season. There will be less Hass avocados than last year, but more fruit from the Fuerte and Pinkerton varieties. "The avocado harvest started quite early this year. The moisture content of Fuerte was already at the right level in week 4 before harvest. Despite the heavy rainfall in November, there were still a lot of late Hass, Ryan and Fuerte avocados to be picked in January," says an avocado buyer for a retailer. "So many fruits from the end of the previous season and the beginning of the new season together on the market was an unusual situation. Unfortunately, due to the large volumes of avocados on the market at the end of January, early growing areas such as Tzaneen and Levubu could not achieve the high prices they are normal at this time of year, and the volumes on the free market were supplemented by imports from neighboring countries such as Tanzania and ...