Kenyan Hass Avocado Demand On The Rise As Continuous Supply Becomes A Challenge

The Kenyan hass avocado market has been thriving over the past few years as the fruit’s popularity soared worldwide, and the Kenyan avocado has a special niche in the global market. According to Juan Escorcia, from Avocados Aguirre the demand is almost impossible to satiate.

“Right now the issue with  is not selling them – they sell themselves. The issue we have right now is providing a continuous supply because the demand is so high. The demand has been climbing exponentially this past decade which has brought a lot of new products around the world.

Ten years ago, Mexico produced around 90% of the world’s avocados, but today new markets are arising in other Latin American countries, in Africa – Kenya topping the list, New Zealand and Australia. There has even been production in China. From our experience, however, there is still not enough production to meet the demand.” Juan says.

China could pass the United States in the next three years and become the number one avocado consumer country in the world, according to major retail company Pagoda. This expanding market is great news to Hass avocado farmers in Kenya as the country has started exporting fresh and frozen avocados to China.

Mr Wang estimates that China is importing 70 container loads of hass avocados per week, and believes there is potential to grow that number to 700 loads per week in 15 years’ time, making the country the largest importer in the world.

“Buy the seedlings from reliable sources that have been approved by the ministry to increase the quality of production. One can also visit our offices for direction on taking care of the seedlings, the fruits and the trees in general.”

Kenya is one of the leading exporters of hass avocados in Africa, 2020 shipping 70 million kilos to the international market. Last year, the country exported 85 million kilos worth Sh.14.4 billion.