Israeli Avocado Industry Prepares for Record Harvest and Price Drop to 8 Shekels per Kilo

Israel's avocado sector is anticipating a historic record harvest this season, with projections exceeding 300,000 tons, a significant increase from last year's nearly 250,000 tons. This surge is attributed to ideal weather conditions during spring, which avoided the usual damaging heat waves, resulting in high fruit quality and yield. Shahar Goldberg, avocado manager for Kibbutzim Afek and Yizreel and chairman of the avocado committee at the Plant Council, noted, "The trees have never felt better."

In contrast, the mango industry is facing a severe decline of about 70% due to late rains and humidity harming the flowering stage. Uri Kaplan from Mor Briut, marketer of the "Avocado Bashel" brand, highlighted the stark difference between the two crops this year. Another key factor driving the avocado boom is the extensive expansion of avocado orchards, now covering approximately 160,000 dunams, with 8,000 to 10,000 dunams added annually, mainly in southern Israel.

For Israeli consumers, this means a welcome price drop. While previous summers saw avocado prices soar to 40 shekels per kilo with scarce availability, this year prices are significantly lower, currently around 15 to 16 shekels, with expectations to fall to 8 to 10 shekels at peak season. Kaplan described this as "the cheapest summer I can remember in the industry," with abundant high-quality fruit available.

Despite local consumption, which ranks Israelis second worldwide in per capita avocado consumption at 12 kilograms annually, only 20 to 30 percent of the harvest is absorbed domestically. The majority is exported, primarily to Europe, which is becoming increasingly competitive with new entrants like Kenya, Spain, and Morocco. Israeli growers have endured nearly three difficult years working under security threats but now can focus fully on agriculture. Large packing houses are preparing for an unprecedented logistical operation, including working two shifts to handle the volume.

The industry also invests about two million shekels annually in advertising campaigns on television and social media to boost local consumption further.