South Africa a leader in the avocado industry
A delegation of 30 people from the South African avocado industry attended the World Avocado Congress that was held in New Zealand recently.
Clive Garrett, marketing manager of ZZ2 and past chairman of SAAGA (South African Avocado Growers’ Association) told the Herald all the major avocado-producing countries including Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, and Kenya attended and gave feedback on their production and marketing activities. “South Africa is at the forefront of all of these countries and in many cases, especially regarding technical matters, can be described as a world leader.”
He said that many countries which started producing avocados long after South Africa have received market access to countries like China and India. “There is however light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully South Africa should get access to these markets soon,” he said. According to him, South Africa remains a major player in Europe but due to the large volumes now going to Europe, especially from countries like Peru, the European markets have come under pressure.
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“However, there remains room for growth in Europe if one compares the per capita consumption of a market like the United States where it is currently 3.9 kgs per capita to that of Europe which only sits at 1.6 kg per capita.” He said a big takeaway from the congress was Eric Imbert, who is the lead researcher for CIRAD, a French agricultural research centre working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions, a sobering message for the delegates. “The world avocado production is now reaching a point where production can start exceeding demand.
But by reducing the plantation rhythm and investing more in the promotion to stimulate the great margin of growth that exists everywhere in the world for avocados and thereby increasing the per capita consumption, there are still great prospects for avocados especially bearing in mind their wonderful health benefits.” Other topics covered during the congress included planting density and production strategies. “Genomics, pruning, and canopy management, post-harvest fruit performance, soil biology, propagation, fertiliser, and mineral nutrition, water management as well as pest management and diseases,” he said. South Africa won the bid to host the next World Avocado Congress which will take place in Cape Town from September 6 to 9, 2027. “This is thanks to a superb bid put in from the SAAGA team,” he concluded.
