Australian avocados will make their long-awaited return to Indonesian retail shelves this year, with marketer The Avolution airfreighting the first consignment of Queensland grown Hass at the start of June.
Chief executive of The Avolution, Antony Allen, said he is excited by the prospect of re-entering Indonesia, following a period of absence.
“There has been a lull over the last 8-10 years,” said Allen. “We’ve always envisaged we’d grow exports as production increases, and now that we’re seeing that happen, we decided it was a great time to re-enter Indonesia.”
Trade and Investment Queensland acted as a conduit, linking The Avolution with Indonesian customers and retailers. The fruit will be made available in key Indonesian retailers Ranch and All Fresh, with marketing targeting middle-class consumers.
“In-store sampling has been successful for us in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and we intend to do this in Indonesia too.”
Allen is confident Australia’s reputation for quality holds true in the minds of Indonesian consumers, and is not concerned by competitor suppliers, such as Mexico, which is due to increase its shipments in the coming months.
Super Singapore
Alongside its Indonesia movement, The Avolution has also sent its first 40ft container (pictured) of avocados to Singapore, one of the marketer’s leading Asian markets.
“We’ve been involved in Singapore for over eight years, and it’s a market we want to continue growing,” said Allen. “This is also the case for Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Middle East, while we are targeting growth in emerging markets such as India and Japan.
“If we can get access to India and the East Coast of Japan, we’ll be very pleased.”
This article is an excerpt from the June issue of Asiafruit, out soon.
