Global Agribusiness and Avocado Markets

Avocados are an exotic fruit and they have quickly become one of the most traded in the world. In recent years, avocados have gained large popularity worldwide and captivated important market shares in Europe and North America. Originally from the region of southern Mexico and Central America, avocados are today cultivated in tropical and semi-tropical climates throughout North and South America as well as the Mediterranean. Today, avocados are traded both as a fresh product as well as dried and processed. During 2015, the global trade of avocados (both fresh and dried) accounted for US$3.63 billion, which represents a substantial increase from 2005 when their global trade totaled approximately US$1 billion. In 2015, the largest exporter of avocados, accounting for 54% of global sales, was Mexico with almost US$2 billion worth of avocado exports. Simultaneously, that same year, Peru was the second largest exporter of avocados, with 9.7% of global sales or US$353 million worth of produce sold internationally. In terms of imports, during 2015, the United States purchased 45% of all avocados sold internationally for a total of about US$1.7 billion. The second largest national consumer of avocados in 2015 was the Netherlands, representing 9.7% or US$351 million of global imports. On a continental scale, Europe was the second largest importer of avocados in 2015, with a 38% share of global imports, valued at US$1.4 billion.

Global Agribusiness and Avocado Markets

In the specific case of Colombia, during 2015, the South American nation exported US$13 million worth of avocados, which equates to 0.4% of global sales. Nevertheless, the production of Hass avocado in Colombia has increased substantially in recent years, particularly given the fact that, earlier this year, the USDA cleared the export of Colombian avocados towards the United States. Simultaneously, Colombian producers have been seeking to expand their export markets towards Asia, where a new middle class with purchasing power has an appetite for exotic fruits. This very week of September, Colombian avocado producers shipped their first containers filled with fresh avocados on a month-long journey towards Hong Kong. Pacific Fruits, a company based along Colombia’s Pacific coast valley, has its eye set on penetrating the markets of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan with its Hass avocados. The company’s objective is to dispatch a container with twenty-four tons of avocados each week, from Colombia’s main Pacific Ocean port of Buenaventura, each valued at some US$50.000. A consortium of Colombian fruit companies and the national agricultural institute are working diligently with the governmental authorities from several Asian nations in order to secure all the quality certifications required for Colombian Hass avocados to enter Asian markets as certified high-quality foodstuffs.

Colombia’s export capacity within agribusiness, particularly for niche products such as avocados, has increased dramatically in recent years as the country boosts its countryside development and enters new international markets.

(Read more about Colombian Avocados Set to Enter the US Market)