Thailand has been an export focus for Australian avocado grower-marketer co-operative Sunfresh for the last five years, and in an effort to educate the company’s customers on the product Sunfresh is this week hosting a group of Thai retailers and importers on a study tour of its avocado business.
The Thai visitors, who represent some of the largest buyers in the country, will receive training in avocado handling and display, Sunfresh’s general manager Judy Prosser told Fruitnet.com.
Yesterday the buyers received training in understanding how to display ripe and unripe fruit on supermarket shelves, and understanding quality assurance handling of the fruit, Ms Prosser said.
“`On Thursday` they will visit supermarkets and Friday they will visit the supermarket distribution centre and the wholesale markets in Brisbane.”
The visitors are also due to meet the federal Minister for Primary Industries Tim Mulherin today.
“We are very confident that our partners will go home with much more knowledge about avocados, and this will help them teach their customers about where the fruit comes from and why it tastes so good,” Ms Prosser told Fruitnet.com.
Sunfresh currently exports around 400 tonnes of avocadoes a year to Thailand, in does regular promotions in the market, the latest of which was held this year in July.
“The fruit that is sent over is smaller than what is desired in Australian markets so it means, instead of going to waste, the avocados can be exported,” Ms Prosser said.
“For growers this means very little wastage and the chance to build strong trade ties in Thailand.”
