Avocado Prices Are Likely To Remain Low Well Into 2023
If you've been denying yourself a delicious slice of avocado toast or opting to go without that second scoop of guacamole because of high food prices, prepare your tastebuds to be reunited with the delicious green fruit. The price of avocados has been soaring along with everything else at the grocery store, but CNN reports that the beloved fruit is getting less expensive. Inflation-weary shoppers are stocking up and wondering how long the price drop will last.
Many people love avocados for their rich and mild flavor, buttery texture, and Food Dive notes that its health benefits are a contributing factor in making the demand for the fruit hit record highs during the pandemic. Unfortunately, this demand caused the price of avocados to skyrocket. Prices climbed higher still as Mexico, the foremost producer of avocados, struggled with lighter crop yields that couldn't meet increasing demand. At the start of 2022, avocado shipments were 25% lower and geopolitical issues coupled with import bans caused prices to spike even higher (per CNN).
As avocado farmers braced for depleted harvests, they were instead surprised by back-to-back bumper crops that led to a surplus of fruit flooding a marketplace of consumers on an ever-tightening food budget. Ongoing geopolitical issues in Europe and an overabundant crop yield have created a situation that consumers haven't seen in some time — high supply, which is relieving demand.
Avocado supply meets and exceeds demand
After the price of green gold caused guac' shock in early 2022, recent price drops are putting the "do" back in avocados. According to CNN, the wholesale price for a carton of avocados is down 67% since June of 2022 alone and costs 35% less in a year-over-year comparison. Consumers doing a double-take on the produce aisle won't have to bypass the avocados for a while, as prices are expected to stay low into 2023.
The United States gets 92% of its avocados from Mexico. However, smaller producers of Peruvian and Austrailian avocados are experiencing bumper crops of their own and don't need to import Hass avocados as they normally would. So even their oversupply is being sent to the U.S. in such large amounts that a Philadelphia non-profit food distributor is even giving them away for free.
In addition to surprising bumper crops, analysts predict that ongoing inflation-induced spending precautions, complications with exporting due to the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine all point to a continued oversupply of avocados in the market into mid-2023. So long as inclement weather stays at bay, there should be plenty of avocados to go around at prices that will make them taste better than they already do.