- The supply chain of Colombian avocados starts from growers, which then goes to packers and finally to the exporter.
- There are two types of producers and buyers:
- Producers
Type 1: National Market Type 2: International Market - Buyers
Type 1: National Market / Type 2: International Market
(Usually in the form of a packing warehouse)
- Most of the time, exporters have contracts with smaller growers. They then pay a separate packing facility a certain fee to pack their products. For this reason, many exporters share packing facilities. The larger, top 3-5 Hass avocado exporters have their own packing facilities and farms.
- Buyers place orders in advance, by making pre-purchases.
- In 2020, the Top 5 largest Colombian Avocado exporters occupied 61% of total export shares. 32% of the remaining shares included the shares of 20 smaller companies. The top 5 largest Colombian Avocado exporters and the 20 smaller companies altogether constituted 93% of total exports.
- Large companies dominate the market. Aside from the top 5, there exist multiple small exporters who only have around 1% of the market share.
- In the Colombian Avocado Value Chain, agents or brokers don’t play a big role because existing exporters are already well-connected with suppliers.
There are no middlemen since the objective of the exportation companies is to sell directly to final buyers.
In order to secure supplies, one must put in orders at least 2 months in advance to get hold of a substantial amount of volume because it requires time for suppliers to check harvest outcomes and packing house capacities. If seeking to spot-buy, one must look for empty spaces to schedule and secure supplies.