India is no longer shying away from importing avocado due to rising demand. Requests for the fruit are mostly coming from people living in the country’s urban areas. The urbanization rate in India is trending upwards at the same time as importation of avocados.
Although the avocado is a fairly new product in the Indian market, its consumption is going up quickly. More consumers are changing their food habits as they become aware of the health benefits of avocado. The other cause is the cosmopolitan nature of India’s biggest cities.
Avocados in India
The avocado trade in India is expanding at a fast pace. Since the Asian nation is emerging as an economic powerhouse, living standards are better than before. This is the case for the country’s non-rural population. Their rise in income has driven them to start including premium quality avocados in their diet.
The importance of avocado in India is projected to grow in the years to come. This is in view of the fact India is the second most populous nation in the world. The large number of people who call India home offers a ready market for avocados.
Avocados in India are shedding off their reputation as an exotic fruit. This is especially true for imported avocados. Retailers are asking for more as consumers have already acquired a taste for them.
Avocado Imports India
Seeing that avocado production in India is still too low, imported avocados are found in the domestic market for most part of the year. In 2023, India shipped in nearly 4000 tonnes of avocado. It is an increase of 79% from the previous year.
Over the past decade, avocado imports in India have enjoyed year on year growth. The highest jump in volume was recorded from 2016 to 2017 at 176%. The peak volume was in the year 2023 at 3931 tonnes.
Here is the import volume of avocados in India between 2014 and 2023.
Importing Avocados in India
Here is a step by step guide on how to import avocados in India:
Avocado Supplying Countries to India
Avocados that are re-exported from the Netherlands dominate the import market in India. Kenya is the top avocado exporting country in Africa. It has the potential to increase its market share after exporting avocados worth 23,000 US Dollars in 2023. The Indian avocado market is made up of a few of sources.
The other key avocado supplying countries to India are:
- Peru
- New Zealand
- Chile
- South Africa
- Spain
India brings avocado from abroad through its main airport. Avocados get into the country as air freight by way of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airport has a cargo terminal and cold storage rooms to keep avocados fresh as they were when harvested.
The other way avocados enter India is through its main commercial sea port. Avocados get into the country as sea freight by way of the Port of Mumbai. The sea port has a modern container terminal.
How to Know Reliable Avocado Suppliers in India
Avocado importers in India must present the following documents for their shipment to be released by the customs office:
- Import permit
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Bill of Lading or Airway Bill
- Phytosanitary Certificate
- Certificate of Origin
Sourcing Avocados from Kenya
Here are some advantages Kenya has in supplying avocados to India:
- 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.
Average Transit Time of Importing Avocados in India
| COUNTRY | AIR FREIGHT | SEA FREIGHT |
| Kenya | 6 hours 10 minutes | 12 days |
| Peru | 21 hours 30 minutes | 52 days |
| Chile | 21 hours 10 minutes | 52 days |
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.