A Peruvian avocado industry representative has expects the country to conclude its negotiations with Japan, China and South Korea soon to gain full access into these large Asian markets next year. 

The Andean country currently exports around half of its fruit to Europe, with another 40% going to the U.S.

Peruvian Hass Avocado Growers' Association (ProHass) general manager Arturo Medina said gaining access to key markets across the Pacific was his priority, given how important they would be for future growth.

"We have not opened or China, or Japan, or Korea yet, but we are in the middle of negotiations to access these markets. We hope to be on a good track to opening them for next year," he said.

"The potential of Asia is huge, it is very, very large. It's so great because we know that they really like to eat healthily and avocado is a fruit that has many vitamins and proteins, and we are more than confident that it will be another element that will contribute positively to the power of Chinese consumers."

Chinese authorities have already visited Peru's avocado farms and the industry is now waiting to hear the results.

"We believe everything is going pretty well with China. They just need to validate the information that they took so that everything will be in order," Medina said.

Peru also currently sends frozen avocados to Japan, but the industry is working hard to gain market access for fresh fruit.

"The current negotiations are to be able to send fresh avocados. We can send frozen fruit to wherever, as a puré, pre-cut, etcetera. That is all great but fresh avocado is what we really want to export," Medina said.

He also mentioned Peru was looking at additional potential export markets in North American and Oceania.

"We want to gain access to New Zealand, Australia and Mexico, and have requested market access to those destinations. We are aware that in some cases that can be big delays regarding phytosanitary issues, politicians etc. But we're going for it anyway," Medina said.

He went on to explain this season had been somewhat difficult for Hass avocado producers and exporters due to the significantly higher volumes the country produced.

"Our volume has increased by 52% compared to last year - we've grown a lot. We had to stretch the season as much as possible, but the phenomenon of El Niño has not helped us much," Medina said.

"This year's definitely been challenging, but we'll see how the rest of it pans out."

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