Trops has carried out the first ever shipment of Hass avocados from Spain to the US. The 20-tonne consignment departed from Spain on Friday and is due to arrive in New York on 10 March.
The Málaga-based cooperative said the shipment marked the culmination of 20 years of work to open up the demanding US market.
According to managing director Enrique Colilles, the move reflects the company’s market diversification strategy, and is “a very positive development” given that per capita consumption of avocados in the North American market is 3kg, compared with 1.2kg in Europe.
Colilles said this would not be the only consignment that Trops would be sending to the US this season, and that a further shipment was planned in the coming days.
The US granted access for Spanish avocados in 2015. The phytosanitary protocol was signed following a visit by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Service (APHIS) to Trops’ facilities in that year to establish the procedures under which exports should be carried out.
Trops is made up of around 2,800 producers in Málaga, Granada, Cádiz, Huelva, Valencia, Alicante and the Algarve, and is the Spanish leader in the production and marketing of avocado and mango.
Last season the company sold 16,000 tonnes of avocados and posted a turnover of €77.6m.
Spanish avocado exporters have now fixed their sights on the Chinese market.
