By Stephen Nakrosis
Mission Produce said the industry continues to expect higher avocado volumes in the third quarter when compared with the year-ago period, while prices continue to moderate.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Barnard said “despite the impact of lower prices on per unit margins in the short-term, a more rational pricing environment is advantageous for long-term consumption growth and allows Mission to leverage our global distribution footprint to penetrate new growth markets.”
On avocado outlook:
Mission said the industry expects avocado volumes will be about 20% higher in the fiscal 2023 third quarter versus the year-ago period, “primarily due to the combination of California’s harvest shifting to the third quarter versus the second quarter last year, a strong Peruvian harvest outlook, and a larger off-bloom Mexican harvest.
Owned production in Peru has begun its seasonal harvest, Mission said, adding it expects total exportable production from 125 million to 135 million pounds of the fruit.
Barnard said “we are well positioned as we enter the Peruvian season and our owned production comes online in the second half of the fiscal year. We are optimistic that per unit margins will continue to improve on a sequential basis and support the normal seasonal step-up in adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the fiscal year.”
On avocado prices:
“Pricing is expected to be consistent on a sequential basis, but lower on a year-over-year basis by approximately 35-40% compared to the $2.03 per pound average experienced in third quarter of fiscal 2022,” Mission said.
Write to Stephen Nakrosis at [email protected]
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