Companies blame surging field prices and strong US demand for highly volatile market
Mission Produce and Westfalia Fruit have declared Force Majeure in North America due to a shortage of Mexican avocados and rising costs.
In a letter to buyers, Raina Nelson, president of Westfalia Fruit North America stated: Mexican fruit supply is currently subject to severe restrictions outside Westfalia’s control. These restrictions are materially affecting the volume available from Mexico which could not have been foreseen or avoided through commercially reasonable means”.
Nelson said the company anticipated delays and reduced fulfilment on Mexican-sourced orders, adding that its global sourcing teams are actively redirecting volume from Peru, Colombia, and California and sourcing fruit on spot markets to fulfil programmes wherever possible.
Galen Johnson, sales director at Mission Produce, said supply conditions had deteriorated rapidly over the past two weeks as Mexico enters the final stages of its season. In a letter to customers, he stated: “Growers are actively withholding harvests and field prices are surging at an extremely fast pace as packers compete for the limited supply of remaining fruit”.
Mission said it expects the supply shortage to continue for the next two months given the current crop outlook.
In its own statement on social media, foodservice procurement company Produce Alliance said it expected market volatility to continue throughout June as supply tightens further and competition for available fruit intensifies.
“All growers and shippers are being impacted by this situation, which is outside of their control. Mission and Westfalia will continue working to pack as much fruit as possible to help keep programme distributors supplied over the coming weeks; however, overall industry supply will not be sufficient to meet the very strong US demand,” the statement said.
