Avocado shipments to Colombia grow 51%

Colombia’s avocado shipments grew 51% during the first five months of the year; which could be driven to a greater extent by new markets and by changes in the export protocol to the United States. Jorge Restrepo, executive director of Corpohass explained to PortalFrutícola.com that between January and May of this year 24,012 tons of Hass avocado were shipped to the different markets; which represented a total of USD 47 million.

“There has been a good and important growth in exports this year. Compared to the same period from January to May of last year, we obtained a growth of 51% this year in this same period in relation to tons and 31% in relation to dollars, ”explained Restrepo.

Meanwhile, 90% of Colombian avocado shipments are concentrated in 4 countries, with the main destinations in the Netherlands (51.4%); United Kingdom (21.4%); Spain (11.7%) and Belgium (7.9%). Also, other destinations that receive the fruit from Colombia are France (2.5%); Saudi Arabia (1.7%); United States (1%) and other countries (2.5%). However, further growth in exports of this product is expected, thanks to access to new markets, such as Japan and Kuwait, changes in phytosanitary requirements to send to the United States and the possible opening of the Chinese market.

New destinations in the sights

One of the objectives of the Colombian avocado industry is to be able to reach new destinations with great potential with its fruit; being one of the most interesting China. That is why the Colombian government, led by its President, Iván Duque, is visiting China; in which negotiations will be advanced so that avocado can enter the Asian country.

The executive director of Corpohass commented that “China is a market in constant growth, with a large population that is interested in a much healthier lifestyle focused on their diet and adopting some Western customs,” he said. “With the visit to China we want the protocol for the opening of the market to be signed. That would be a great achievement of our health authority (ICA), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Colombian Embassy in China, just in the same month in which the Japan market opened, ”added Restrepo.

“Now there is a future with more opportunities for our producers and exporters in the Far East as a new consumer country.” The arrival in Japan, a market that Colombia will be able to access from July 31, is part of the destinations considered strategic by the industry to increase fruit trade.

“We want to position the avocado as a quality fruit. It is a new and different population to the markets to which we usually export, so it is important a great job in the study of the future consumer to understand what it values ​​and in what months the best prices are given, ”said the representative of Corpohass Restrepo also explained that Hass avocado imports in China – from different sources – reached 43,859 tonnes in 2018; which represents a growth of 36% compared to 32,129 tons of 2017.

“In China, avocado is sold through several channels, from the supermarket to online sales, and many restaurants are being added to add this ingredient to their dishes.” The executive director of Corpohass said it is also important to educate Chinese consumers, since avocado is a relatively new fruit for them. In addition, he explained that Peru, Mexico and Chile concentrate 98% of the current offer.

Better conditions to enter the United States

One of the concerns of the Colombian avocado sector was to achieve changes in the phytosanitary protocol to export to the United States; market that today only reaches a 1% share. According to the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA), the US Plant and Animal Inspection Service was achieved. (APHIS) will agree to modify the export requirements.

The institution indicated that the changes in the Operational Work Plan (PTO) between both countries began in February this year; being approved in June. Among the approved modifications is the reduction in time to enable production sites as free of the three fruit borers that are subject to regulation by the United States; going from six months to two months.

1. According to the ICA, this will increase the number of production sites for export. From now on there is a new strategy for monitoring the buffer area, which is based on a monthly surveillance and a percentage of prices of the buffer area with the presence of avocado trees. Likewise, the following measures were considered:
2. 100-meter quarantine alternative around the point of the first detection of the pest qua renters, without suspending exports from the place of production. In case of two or more detections, the place will be disabled until it reaches the two months free of pests.
3. Approval of the figure of Authorized Service Provider; which allows the generation of public-private strategic alliances to carry out surveillance actions with greater coverage and efficiency in the results.
   Approval of the HASS SISFITO as a tool to store phytosanitary information supporting Hass avocado exports.