South Africa hopes to start avocado exports to China in February 2024

South Africa hopes to have protocols in place by February next year to start exporting avocados to China. The Southern Africa chapter of the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) discussed what China could mean for South African avocados which have been shipped almost exclusively to the UK and European Union for years. And those markets in turn are almost flooded by a supply from ten countries, dominated by Peru. Mabel Zhuang, country manager for China at IFPA, told the webinar that China's avocado imports from January to September this year (50,000 tons ) is already greater than that of the whole of 2022. Per capita avocado consumption in China is currently a minuscule 100 grams per year, according to figures from the World Avocado Organization. “Chinese customers expect good quality from South Africa” Roger Armitage, managing director of Halls, noted that the industry has worked very hard to get to this point. “The biggest challenge for the South African grower is to ...