The South African avocado industry is on track to meet its early-season estimate of 7.5 million cartons for export.
A new report from the South African Avocado Growers' Association (SAAGA) reports that 55 per cent of the crop has so far been harvested.
Exports are set to fall by 35-40 per cent this season, down from 12m cartons in 2010 as a result of an 'off' year for South African avocados attributed to the fruit's cyclical production process, while hailstorms in key growing regions at the end of last year have also impacted volumes.
Weather conditions have been favourable for harvesting so far this season, with the campaign proceeding as planned, the first product arriving in the UK in April and the last shipments expected to arrive in October.
"This season has progressed well so far, bearing in mind the difficult weather conditions we experienced towards the end of 2010," said Derek Donkin, SAAGA's chief executive. "We remain confident that we will reach our 7.5m-carton export goal by the end of the campaign."
The 2011 SAAGA UK marketing drive is led by the 'Take a Dip with Summer Avocados' theme, consisting of an intensive PR campaign focusing on avocados as the essential complement to summer living, as well as in-store marketing with on-pack labelling and sampling activity at major UK retailers.
Supporting these promotional efforts is the campaign website, which has been updated to reflect the 2011 theme, including the chance to win an inflatable swimming pool.
