It got off to a rocky start with harvest delays, but this year's Peru's Hass avocado season has gone swimmingly overall with higher volumes and good prices in markets marked by lower supply from other growing regions like California and South Africa.

In April, ProHass president Daniel Bustamante told Fresh Fruit Portal total export volume would likely reach 240,000 metric tons (MT), but that figure could potentially fall by a further 20,000MT.

His forecast turned out to be close enough with volume for this year hitting 230,000MT, representing a year-on-year jump of 30%.

"There was a reduction in volumes from markets that produce at the same time as Peru. For example the United States had a reduction of almost 50% and South Africa also had less production this year for the European market," Bustamante tells Fresh Fruit Portal.

"These reductions helped although there was also an increase in volume. Additionally, the price also rose so the impact on the economy has been quite strong."

He highlighted Peru had been one of the leaders in developing promotional campaigns for avocados in the United States, with good results seen for 2017 initiatives due to their connections between the fruit's nutritional properties and sport.

One particular project during the campaign involved giving baseball fans free avocado toppings on their hot dogs at games. 

"We continue to be a new origin that is being conducted as an avocado supplier in the United States, and that's why we are linking ourselves to two important activities," Bustamante says.

"One of those is sport as a large part of consumption growth in avocados has been due to its nutritional characteristics, and that's why you have to link it to sport.

"The other thing is the close work that has been done with some supermarket chains, which has had a very good reception."

He adds the industry has also teamed up with sector players from South Africa and Chile to promote avocados in Europe, with good results seen so far. The main target markets are England and Germany, although France and Scandinavia have also reportedly seen good results too.

"A lot of money has been invested and the aim is to raise volume in the avocado category not as an origin but getting people to know about the fruit's qualities and attributes through supermarkets," Bustamante says.

"That's why work is being done with visually attractive images and also on social media," he says.

"Europe could be a market the size of the United States for avocados but there is still a long way to go to reach that goal."

He says the European campaign implied investments of US$2.5 million this year and publicity campaigns will continue for future seasons.

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