The price of avocados continue to rise

Source: CNN (https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2022/05/06/aguacate-precios-aumentan-trax/)

New York (CNN Business) — Bad news for guacamole lovers: Avocado prices are through the roof.

Last week, prices for a box of 48 Hass avocados peaked at around $78.75 on average, according to ProduceIQ, a digital marketplace for produce buyers and growers that uses USDA data. That reflects the price of avocados entering the United States from Mexico at the Texas border.

At this time last year, prices for avocado boxes hovered around $40, according to ProduceIQ.

“Ha sido alto todo el año… y se ha mantenido en máximos históricos”, dijo Mark Campbell, director ejecutivo de ProduceIQ. Una serie de factores han llevado a precios más altos este año, agregó.

In February, the United States briefly suspended imports from the state of Michoacán, in western Mexico, after a US official received a threat. The US government did not take long to restore imports, but the brief interruption caused prices to rise.

Y unos meses más tarde, el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, exigió “inspecciones de seguridad mejoradas” de los vehículos comerciales que ingresan a ese estado durante una semana. Esa outage resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars lost and shipping delays, which increased avocado prices. That's on top of less rainfall in the region, which has translated to lower yields and smaller avocados, Campbell said.

Meanwhile, demand has been strong, said David Magaña, senior horticulture analyst at Rabobank. That's not just because of the typical spikes around the Super Bowl and Cinco de Mayo, but also because more Americans are interested in avocados year-round, he said.

“El consumo per cápita en EE UU. se ha más que duplicado durante la última década”, dijo. “Y sigo pensando que hay algo de espacio para el crecimiento”.

The good news is that prices are already down from their highs and could continue to fall.

The Peruvian avocado season has already started, Campbell noted, which means the overall supply will increase and prices could drop further. And later this year, the US government will begin accepting avocados from Jalisco, another region of Mexico. Previously, The US allowed imports only from Michoacán.

So what does all this mean for consumers?

Some restaurants or retailers are already passing on their costs to customers. During an analyst call in April, Chipotle said rising avocado prices contributed to the company's decision to raise menu prices this year.

“Los consumidores están viendo precios ligeramente elevados en los supermercados”, dijo David Rossi, analista de investigación de productos frescos de Gro Intelligence, una firma de análisis de datos agrícolas. Sin embargo, señaló que los minoristas pueden decidir absorber el costo y disminuir el impacto en los consumidores, reduciendo el impacto en los compradores.

— CNN's Alicia Wallace, Vanessa Yurkevich and Karol Suarez contributed to this report.