Avocados have gained importance fast in China. As the country’s population continues to grow, consumer tastes are changing and becoming westernized. They are being influenced by the global trend towards healthy eating. As long as avocado has a high nutritional value, its forms a big part of their diet.
The potential of the avocado market in China is huge because it has more people than any other country in the world. Foodservice operators are quickly introducing avocados to their menus so as to meet the new demand. Wholesale markets and retailers like supermarkets are replenishing their stocks of the fruit regularly in a bid to keep customers coming back. As a result, more people in China are thinking about avocado.
Avocado in China
Sales of avocado in China have increased considerably. The value of avocado market in China reached nearly 110 million US Dollars in 2021. Compared to the year 2012, it is a sharp climb from 355,000 US Dollars. Selling of the fruit is expected to grow even further.
Market access into China is better than it was in the past. This is after several years of limiting it to just a few countries. The Chinese are now open to avocados from countries besides Peru, Chile and Mexico. Avocado supply from these countries has been on a decline because they majorly export to the United States (US) and Europe.
Avocado Export to China
Avocados exported to China are most in demand by urban dwellers, who exceed the number of those living in rural areas. Chinese millennials who have traveled overseas are also helping expand the market. Their name for avocado literally means “butter fruit” for its taste.
Kenya Avocado Export to China
The Chinese market for avocados is growing at a very fast pace. This is why in 2022, China allowed avocados from Kenya to enter the market. Kenya is the first country in Africa to export fresh avocados to China. The government of Kenya is aiming to export 40% of its avocados to China in the years to come.
The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), the Chinese National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) and the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GACC) agreed upon certain quality and safety standards that an avocado exporter in Kenya must follow.
Here are the phytosanitary protocols that Kenyan avocados have to meet to be exported to China:
- Orchards, packing houses and fumigation treatment facilities must be registered by KEPHIS and approved by both KEPHIS and GACC.
- Orchards must apply Good Agricultural Practices (G.A.P)
- Orchards must do pest monitoring supervised by KEPHIS.
- Orchards must use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to control quarantine pests of concern to China. These pests are:
- Mediterranean fruit fly
- Mango fruit fly
- Natal fruit fly
- False codling moth
- Fig wax scale
- Red wax scale
- Japanese baton shaped scale
- West Indian red scale
- Black spots
- Avocados must be fumigated with Methyl bromide.
- Processing, packaging, storage and transportation must be under the supervision of KEPHIS.
- Avocados must be washed, brushed, sorted and separated from deformed fruit.
- Packaging materials must be clean and hygienic.
- The size of the sample taken from each batch of avocados for inspection by KEPHIS is 2%. The minimum sample is 1,200 fruit regardless of shipment size.
- After an inspection, KEPHIS issues a phytosanitary certificate for the approved batch.
Sourcing Avocados from Kenya
Besides Kenya being a major avocado exporting country, the transit time from Kenya to China is about 12 hours via air freight and about 29 days via sea freight. That is a shorter time in comparison to South American countries. Here are other advantages Kenya has in supplying avocados to China:
- It has a longer season that lasts from February to October.
- Production costs are low therefore avocados from Kenya are competitively priced.
- Most of Kenya is covered by a sub-tropical climate which ensures consistency of quality and supply.
Here is a top avocado exporter in Kenya.
Freshela Exporters
Freshela is a Kenyan based company that engages in the sourcing, processing and exporting of avocados and other fresh produce.
Freshela is a proud exporter of Kenyan avocados. Our avocados are organically grown in the most ideal climatic conditions in Kenya.
We source avocados from our company farms and partner farms. Our partner farmers are proud and happy working with us.
Our avocados are cultivated with uncompromising dedication to excellence and freshness. We guarantee optimum maturity of avocados.
We give competitive pricing to our customers.
We use a modern grading machine to achieve desired avocado weight. The fruit is also graded to eliminate any with physical quality defects.
We pack avocado fruit in 4kg cartons for both air and sea freights. We use dry wooden pallets to pack the cartons. Each pallet for sea freight takes 276 cartons while each pallet for air freight takes 144 cartons.
All of our avocado packing is approved by FDA and is certified by HACCP Quality Assurance.
The avocados in our pack house go through accurate machine selection. The avocados are classified according to dry meter, size, colour and external skin defects.
After packing, we pre-cool our avocados to 5°C in our cold rooms. This reduces field heat immediately after packing.
This process conserves the weight of our avocados preventing them from softening, water loss and wilting. Long shelf life is guaranteed because our avocados stay fresh throughout the supply chain. Our customers are happy because of the high quality of avocado we deliver.
The pre-cooling process is in preparation for shipping. We maintain the cold temperatures and achieve consistent preservation by loading close to the cold rooms.
Our trained staff properly seal the refrigerated containers. Our quality assurance team then confirms before the containers leave the pack house. The avocados are now ready for export.
We ship in controlled atmosphere (CA) refrigerated containers (reefer.)
By working directly with avocado growers and cooperatives, we are able to deliver our produce within a short lead time. We believe that growers grow and exporters export. That is how our growers are able to do what they do best and in return we guarantee superior, quality produce.