INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Avocados
Whether you like them on toast, mashed with some lemon juice with your tacos, or wrapped with salmon in your sushi, avocados are a healthy, nutritious food enjoyed around the world.
Globally, growers produce more than 7 million tonnes of avocados each year and this volume is rapidly increasing. The fruit are shipped around the world for consumers to enjoy. Avocados grow well in a number of countries — they like moderately warm temperatures and not too much water — but unsurprisingly, Mexico, the birthplace of the avocado, is the biggest player, producing about 30% of globally traded fruit. There are more than 50 varieties of avocado, but the most common cultivar in international trade is ‘Hass’, first grown in 1926 by Rudolph Hass in California.
TOP 10 (BY VOLUME)
Producers Exporters Importers
The Netherlands*
2
Russian Federation
2 6
UK
10
Canada
China, mainland
7
Germany
5
3
France
5
9
USA
8
4
Spain
Japan
10 Israel
5
7
Mexico
1 1
8 1
2 10
Columbia
4
9
Peru
3
3
Indonesia
8 South Africa
6
6
Kenya
Haiti
Dominican Republic
7 Brazil
9
4
Chile
*The Netherlands is a gateway to the EU and many of the fruit arriving there are ‘re-exported’ to EU countries. 32 SEGMENT
