Dip into your wallets, avocado prices soaring in Canada

Forget spoons, Canadians who can’t get enough of the creamy taste of avocados are forking out more for guacamole as prices soar for the in-demand green fruit.

The price of avocados, the darling of the produce world for its creamy texture and healthy oil content, has spiked recently in Canada, driven in part, by increased demand around the world.

Most avocados in Canada are imported from the Mexican state of Michoacan, the country’s largest avocado producer. But the price of Mexican avocados, according to recent data from Bloomberg, reached a 19-year high last week.

Mohammad Nazari, the purchasing and sales manager at Toronto-based produce distributor J.E. Russell Produce Ltd., says there is currently a “gap” between an old, smaller crop of Hass Mexican avocados and the arrival of a new one, so in the meantime, producers are raising their prices.

The prices began increasing gradually about three months ago, Nazari said. The price of a 48-volume case that typically sells for approximately $48, is currently nearly $90.

“According to what we are hearing, it’s going to continue for at least another two, three weeks, if not further than that,” Nazari said in an interview with CTVNews.ca Friday.

However, demand for the popular ingredient is not lessening as a result.

“There is a real shortage and gap in the market, and believe it or not, with these high prices, we sell out every week,” Nazari said.

It’s not the first time there’s been a spike in avocado prices in recent years. Last year, avocado jumped from approximately 86 cents (USD) apiece in January 2016 to $1.10 six months later. That was partly due to a weak seasonal supply from Mexico.

In January 2017, Adrian Iturbide Mejia, the president of Association of Producers and Exporting Packers Avocado of Michoacan (APEAM), was quoted in Mexican news media saying avocado exports to Canada would increase by 20 per cent in 2017, which translated into an additional 10,000 tons.

Sylvain Charlebois, professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, said Canadians should get used to seeing the price of avocados fluctuate.

“The challenge with these crops is that they often grow in areas where agri-technologies aren’t as developed as they are in Canada,” Charlebois said, adding water and pest management isn’t as advanced.

While the prices should come down, Charlebois told CTVNews.ca that he doesn’t expect to see the appetite for avocados fade any time soon.

“People use it for salads, sauces, they use it even for cooking with different types of meats now,” he said.

For the time being, Canadians may have to reach deeper into their pockets for avocado, which becomes a popular ingredient for dips at picnics and outdoor parties during the summer months.

But it could be worse. “I’m glad the Super Bowl is eight months away,” Charlebois said with a laugh.

With files from The Associated Press