The price of purchasing an avocado in supermarkets looks set to steeply jump, as booming demand for the green fruit popular for its nutritional qualities is putting increasing pressure on suppliers.
According to reports in the fruit and vegetable trade magazine The Grocer, the average of the pear-shaped food will rise due to a 25% increase in sales of avocados in the UK over the last twelve months. At the same time, avocado farmers in the Mediterranean have been hit by El Niño, the name given to adverse weather conditions that result in longer and colder winters, and which place the production of the fruit in jeopardy.
The magazine reports that Sandra Kajda, a buyer for the fruit-and-vegetable supplier Reynolds, claims the poor weather conditions this winter could cause the yield of avocados to fall by as much as 30% this year, which will increase prices further.
And as the food becomes more of a craze and staple across the EU, the US, and Australia
But Jaime Cardenas, director of the Peruvian Trade Office in London, reassured the public that avocado farmers are making moves to invest in the production of avocados to meet the growing demand.
"This is one of the reasons behind the strong efforts that are being made in selected markets like the UK, Europe and China," he said.
