AMRIC
The Avocado Marketing Research and Information Center (AMRIC) system provides the California avocado industry with daily inventory and shipment information.
AMRIC Definitions
History and Purpose
The Avocado Marketing Research and Information Center (AMRIC) system was created by state law in 1985 to provide the California avocado industry with daily inventory and shipment information to guide harvest/market strategies.
AMRIC procedures require that all avocado handlers doing business in California report their avocado inventory by variety and size and their shipments by major market destination, variety and size.
Since AMRIC's inception, a strong database has been developed. This database is used to analyze current market situations and forecast trends.
Who Reports? All major California avocado handlers participate in the AMRIC system, representing about 95% of the entire California avocado production.
What is Reported?
- Inventory
The AMRIC inventory figures represent the amount of fruit, both packed and unpacked, at the major packing houses each morning. Inventories are broken down by variety and size. Unpacked inventory includes fruit that arrived from the field that morning as well as unpacked bins that were not packed the previous day. - Shipments
The AMRIC shipment figures record shipments from the previous day. (Monday's report includes both Friday and Saturday shipments.) Shipments are reported by major market destination, variety, and size. Shipments to 41 major domestic markets are monitored. Shipments not reported through AMRIC are #3 grade, culls, distressed, or unpacked fruit.
The AMRIC lug price represents the free on board (FOB) market price. FOB market price does not include freight, brokerage fees, transfer fees, cooling, palletization, pre-conditioning fees, or any other fees added to the price. Shipments made on consignment are reported as zero dollars and are not factored in when calculating the overall average lug price. The percent of shipments made on consignment should be weighed heavily when evaluating AMRIC pricing. AMRIC does not make adjustments to prior sales, but instead represents a snapshot of shipments made for the day. AMRIC prices should be used for trend analysis only, they do NOT reflect actual grower returns. - Varieties
AMRIC inventories, shipments and prices are tracked by variety. The variety categories are Hass, Fuerte, Bacon/Zutano, Pinkerton, Other. Bacon and Zutano are grouped together. Other fruit may include Gwen, Reed, MacArthur, Nabal, as well as some other minor varieties. - Sizes
- Fruit includes sizes 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 48, 60, 70, and 84
- Fruit is not sized but reported together as #2 grade fruit
- Timing
AMRIC reports are received from each handler by noon each day. All web site charts are updated by 5:00 p.m.
Monday is the end of the week for AMRIC (this is due to the one-day lag in shipment reporting), therefore all weekly charts are updated by Monday evening. - Adjustments
Adjustments are made on a weekly basis to the AMRIC figures to account for non-participating California avocado handlers, and non-qualifying fruit sales. The weekly adjustment factor is applied to better represent actual fruit movement throughout the season. At the end of each season, the AMRIC weekly figures are realigned to match the California avocado crop assessment figures.
AMRIC Data Designed by: Gwen Peterson