Whether you are serving a meal or making a smoothie, you can’t go wrong with avocados. They are versatile, delicious and packed with essential nutrients. These are the main reasons fueling the avocado’s popularity worldwide.
The number of avocado exporting countries has gone up in recent years so as to catch up with the high demand for the fruit. This is a relief for avocado lovers in different parts of the world. South Africa is one of those countries that has joined the rank of top avocado exporters in the world.
Avocado Export South Africa
South Africa is currently the second largest exporter of avocados in Africa. In 2023, South Africa avocado shipments reached a total of 70,938 tonnes valued at 145 million US dollars.
Here is the export volume of avocados from South Africa between 2012 and 2023.
Over the last 10 years, South Africa has been showing steady growth in the supply of avocados to the global market. 2018 was a record year for South Africa as avocado exports doubled from the previous year.
About 95% of the volume is shipped to Europe while some volume goes to the Middle East and other southern African countries. The main destinations for South African avocados are:
- The Netherlands
- United Kingdom (UK)
- Russia
- Spain
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Europe is a major market for South African avocados because they enjoy duty free access. This is arranged under Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and South Africa. The government of South Africa is in the process of negotiating new markets for its avocados in China, Japan, India and the U.S. Apart from fresh avocados, avocado oil is also a key part of the South African avocado industry.
There are some key players in the avocado sector that are pushing South Africa to be a leading exporter. They include:
- The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)
- South African Avocado Growers’ Association (SAAGA)
- The Perishables Product Export Control Board (PPECB)
DAFF and SAAGA ensure good quality avocados are exported by checking fruit maturity, size and blemish levels. PPECB then takes over with the following responsibilities:
- It does quality inspections before shipping
- It approves refrigerated containers used for transportation
- It makes sure avocado farmers who are exporting are Global G.A.P certified
The soaring demand for avocados coupled with a shortage in supply has allowed South African avocados to penetrate the European market. Avocado supply from South Africa to Europe is relatively stable compared to other countries.
Most of the avocados are exported by sea in refrigerated containers under controlled atmosphere (CA). The port of Cape Town, which is located about 1,800km from the production regions, is the major export point for avocados. The sea trip from Cape Town to Europe takes 12 to 14 days. The fruit then takes another journey of about 11 days to reach European retailers.
Avocado Suppliers South Africa
A boom in South Africa’s avocado industry is keeping exporters busy. Attractive prices in markets abroad are bringing in much needed foreign currency into the country.
Here is a top avocado exporter in South Africa
Freshela Exporters
Freshela is a company that engages in the sourcing, processing and exporting of avocados and other fresh produce such as mango, pineapple, banana, vegetables and herbs.
Freshela is a proud exporter of South African avocados. Our avocados are organically grown in the most ideal climatic conditions in South Africa.
We source avocados from outgrowers. Our outgrowers 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.) We ship South African avocados to Europe and the Middle East.
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.
Opportunities for Avocado Industry in South Africa
South Africa is part of the World Avocado Organisation (WAO) which represents the largest producers, exporters and importers of avocado. Here are some opportunities that are present in South Africa’s avocado sector:
- The introduction of technology like drip irrigation system in growing of avocados
- Growing of new varieties that are more marketable and produce big harvests
- Innovative techniques like high density planting to manage avocado orchards
- Improved logistics have increased the number of avocados transported as sea freight. Various ports now have special capabilities to handle fruit produce. The port of Durban has the biggest cold storage fruit terminal, Maydon Wharf Fruit Terminal (MFT)