Further confirmation of avocados’ status as the darling of fresh produce is hardly needed, but it came nevertheless with the recent announcement that an ‘Avocaderia’ was opening in New York, serving a menu committed to celebrating the green fruit. How many other fruit or vegetables could inspire an entire restaurant dedicated to them?
These days, you don’t need to be a resident of New York or Shoreditch to enjoy avocado – it’s ubiquitous across the food-to-go chains, and retail sales are exploding: according to Kantar Worldpanel, sales have gone up an astonishing 80.4 per cent in the last two years alone. The category is now worth a previously unthinkable £161.6 million [52 w/e 26 February 2017], and the best part for suppliers is that there’s no indication that the momentum is slowing yet.
“Demand for avocadoshas yet again been staggering in 2016and shows no signs of slowing down in 2017,” affirmsPaul Devlin, managing director at Halls. “It is not just in the United States, but theglobal markets arereally waking up to this incredibly healthy and delicious fruitand Halls fully expects the demandtogo from strength to strength,especially for ripened fruits.”
That view is echoed by Mark Everett, business unit manager for avocados at Worldwide Fruit, who says people are only just starting to realise how versatile the fruit is. “We are still seeing a strong preference for the Hass variety and ‘ripe and ready to eat’ is proving to be consumers’ preference,” he adds. “Avocados are now more widely seen in the foodservice sector too and this convenience is helping to raise awareness and the opportunity to try this fantastic product.”
With a string of aces in its hand, what could possibly hold the sector back? Lack of supply, for one thing. Having seen such rapid growth, there is concern that there simply isn’t the availability of high-quality product to meet such burgeoning demand. As Devlin explains: “Globally there is an imbalance with a greater demand versus supply. Emerging markets such as China are now really getting a taste for avocados and this will create a greater challenge for Europe to secure enough volume in future years.”
The formation of the World Avocado Organisation should help. Combining key producing nations such as Peru, South Africa, Mexico, the US and Brazil, the non-profit organisation aims to drive consumption of avocados in Europe, and with campaigns targeted at the UK and other key countries this year it will also look to keep the continent competitive as global demand increases, according to Devlin.
Suppliers are upping their game to meet the new demand too. Worldwide Fruit, for example, recently invested in new facilities in Spalding, and has implemented lean manufacturing to free up additional packing capacity, while Halls has plans to upgrade its packhouse in Mataffin, South Africa as well as expanding its facilities in Rungis, installing new equipment in Rotterdam and concluding a deal to buy a site in Marseille. On the farm, Halls also kicked off a five-year programme in 2016 to plant an additional 400ha of avocado orchards in South Africa.
There’s rarely a safe investment in horticulture, but avocados is as surefire a bet as any to repay the faith of those that have committed to it.
