This season will see record numbers of Chilean avocados available in UK supermarkets. And UK suppliers have so far been pleased with the high quality of arrivals, which started earlier this month.
Simon Curry, marketing manager at Westfalia Marketing UK, is optimistic about how the season will pan out. “The season started a little later than it did last year, as the climate conditions meant the oil levels weren’t quite right,” he says. “But Chilean producers have more than caught up in the mean time.” Westfalia Marketing UK is working with its exclusive Chilean partner, Subsole, one of the largest exporters from the Latin American country, to import 300,000 boxes, weighing four kilos each, this year.
Pablo Osses, export manager at Safex Export, agrees that the 2006/07 Chilean season looks promising. “Only the big sizes have been reaped so far,” he says. “The small sizes are still on the trees, waiting to achieve the standards of size and oil percentage specified by the European market. European prices should be stable until next week when the main volume of Chilean avocados will be shipped.”
Some of the highest-quality avocados are produced in Chile, according to Adolfo Ochagavia, president of the Chilean Hass Avocado Committee (CHAC). The South American country hosts 27,000 hectares of avocado production, according to the CHAC. “Avocados grow on a sub-tropical tree that behaves very well in the Mediterranean climate in central Chile, where there is a concentration of growing areas not more than 150km from ports,” adds Ochagavia. And the Chilean mild temperatures and dry climate, combined with the unusual geography of the country, make for stable growing conditions, according to Curry. “Chilean growers can plant over a wide band of latitude,” he says. “This means they are able to start in one region and move into another, picking each region when it is at its premium.”
The main period of Chilean supply stretches from October to January in its own window between the end of the South African and Peruvian seasons and the start of Spanish and Israeli supply. “The early withdrawal of South African product from the market this year, after the crop was smaller than average, has made for a bigger window for Chilean exporters,” says Curry. But Chilean producers are actively working to extend the season.
Total production is forecast to top 200,000 tonnes this season, up 40 per cent from last year - with 150,000t earmarked for export, according to CHAC. Shipments to the UK are expected to reach 9,000t, up almost 50 per cent from 6,140t in the 2005/06 season, and showing a substantial increase from the 3,770t exported to the UK in 2004/05. “The UK has grown into a major market and we are working to develop it much further,” says Ochagavia.
The Hass avocado is the most popular variety for export to the UK, and makes up 99 per cent of total Chilean shipments, according to Osses. “Hass is the queen of the avocados,” adds Ochagavia. Mark Everett, technical manager at Melrow Salads, says Hass travels well - and delivers the rich nutty taste preferred by UK consumers. “The variety has become very popular due to its excellent quality and great taste,” he says. Melrow Salads, part of the Geest Bakkavör Group, is the leading importer of fresh avocados into the UK market, and rates Chile as a key part of its procurement calendar.
Osses says the Hass avocado is one of the healthiest due to its high levels of mono-unsaturated oils, which help to significantly reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart disease, as well as vitamin A, folic acid, and minerals including iron, potassium and magnesium.
UK suppliers agree that Hass will be the dominant variety for years to come. “The majority of UK supermarkets require Hass avocados - and some have a ‘Hass only’ policy,” says Curry. “UK consumers have become used to having access to one variety, and they have learnt to recognise that Hass turns black when it is ripe and has a thicker skin. And this suits Chile down to the ground,” he adds.
Chile has rapidly increased the volume of avocados supplied to the UK in recent years, according to Everett. “The main reason for this is that the Chilean industry has been quick to adopt the technical requirements of the UK retailers, and the quality of the fruit has been excellent,” he says. “Quality always wins in the end, and Chile using good modern agronomic techniques produces a consistently good product.”
Curry adds that Chilean producers are looking to grow the UK market by securing long-term contracts with multiple retailers. “The majority of Chilean exporters to the UK are involved in supermarket programmes which means they deal with contract volumes and prices,” he says. “They are responsible exporters, and there is very little speculation. The good spread of volumes into supermarkets makes for stable returns.”
Chilean producers are keen to develop markets outside the US - and the UK is a favourite destination, according to Osses. “This season has been particularly difficult due to the historically high production of Hass avocados in the US, which is our main export market,” he says.
Curry adds that avo exporters are increasingly looking to Europe as an alternative market to the US. “California had a huge crop this year, and this has made Chilean producers focus on the European market,” he says.
Avocados are proving a popular choice in Europe. “UK consumers are looking for year-round availability of consistently high-quality avocados at an affordable price,” says Everett. “And there has been an increasing demand for ripe and ready-to-eat avocados.”
Ochagavia says the availability of ripe and ready-to-eat avocados has contributed to the growth of the UK market. “This has made avocados more convenient, as consumers can enjoy them straight way, rather than having to wait five or six days to eat what they have bought,” he says.
Avocado sales have rocketed in the last five years. “UK consumers are learning about avocados, and buying more of them,” says Ochagavia. “Avocado sales have increased steadily each year - and the UK market grew by more than 20 per cent in 2005.”
But he adds that avocados only have a 23 per cent market penetration in the UK, and more than three-quarters of shoppers have not had a single avocado in the last 12 months - which means there is still a lot of growth to be had. “Our research has shown that UK consumers still have a lot to learn about avocados, where they come from, how to eat them, and what to eat them with,” he says. “There are still a lot of misunderstandings about avocados, and many UK consumers are under the false impression that avocados are fattening.”
A CHAC marketing campaign aimed at educating UK consumers about the nutritional content of avocados, as well as sharing ideas on how and when to eat them, and raising awareness about the Chilean season, will run again this year from October 10 to the end of November. The £180,000 promotional push debuted across UK supermarkets last year.
This season’s CHAC campaign will see recipe and information booklets included in two million packs in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose - alongside half-price vouchers for Gillian McKeith’s Ultimate Health Plan. Tesco will also include the CHAC recipe booklets in packs of tomatoes to tempt customers who do not normally buy avocados to put them in their shopping trolleys. These promotions will be backed up by in-store taste testings in Waitrose and trolley advertisements in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.
Ochagavia says a case of six Chilean avocados will be sent to around 80 personalities and media figures this year, and that an ‘Avocado Brotherhood’, which will link up producers, importers and buyers, is in the process of being set up.
The CHAC will also distribute 2,000 free avodogs - a Chilean speciality hotdog - at a public fireworks display in Wandsworth, south London, in November.
“The Chilean avocado is a very high-quality fruit and the UK market still has opportunities for growth,” says Ochagavia. “The CHAC campaign is an important part of raising awareness about Chilean avocados in the UK.”
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