Damage to the Florida’s green skinned avocado crop following Hurricane Irma has been a boon for Dominican Republic avocado producers, as reported by Fresh Plaza online news portal. New York prices for green skin avocados are currently US$40 to US$45 dollars a box compared to US$26 to US$28 dollars a box a year ago.
Jose Rosa, president of the Cambita Avocado Cluster in the Dominican Republic says that the country can only meet around 25% of the present demand, which is helping to make up for the losses suffered by Dominican producers when the US suddenly banned the import of green skinned avocado’s from the Dominican Republic from March 2015 to January 2016 because of a Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak.
The Dominican Republic is the world’s second largest producer of avocados, but only the 14th largest exporter, due to the strong domestic consumption. Green skin avocados make up 85% of the DR’s production and retain a strong position in the US market.
24 October 2017
