In 2015 the Peruvian avocado sector achieved two milestones in Asia with the opening of the Chinese and Japanese markets. In conversation with www.freshfruitportal.com, Fruit Growers Consortium of Peru (CPF) commercial executive Rodolfo Lozano discussed the importance of this diversification of sales outlets, and the challenges of gaining consumer recognition for Peruvian avocados in both these destinations. 

"I think growth from Peru will not be at the 40% rate we experienced a few years ago, but without a doubt the curve will continue in line with production growth, and that has to be accompanied by an increase in demand from international markets," Lozano said.

This is why China and Japan have attracted so much attention, but consumption still needs to grow significantly in both nations.

Lozano said CPF was the only Peruvian agri-exporter to ship samples of avocados to the Japanese market once it was opened last year, with just one container as by the time the protocol was signed the majority of shippers had already finished their seasons.

"It was almost mid-August and there were very few of us who still had fruit available, so it was complicated but in any case we wanted to do it, and we already had more advanced discussions with Japan than China," he said.

"The test was very good and this year we'll send 10 containers to the country (Japan). We are hoping for an official visit from Japanese inspectors in the first days of June and that we'll be able to start."

When asked about China, he said CPF would start shipping to the country's mainland this year in similar volumes to the Japan-bound consignments.

"These markets are a challenge because people don't know about avocados. Japan has a lot more experience because they've been receiving avocados from Mexico for a while - they know the fruit, but we still have to position the image of Peruvian avocados.

"In China it's more challenging still, as because of the size of the population the consumption per capita remains very low, but we've seen how imports have tripled in recent years. We believe that the largest consumption occurs in the main regions where the fruit comes in (Guangzhou and Shanghai), and the idea is to expand avocado consumption to the country's interior.

"We have great expectations because the feedback has been very good, and the Chinese have shown that they like Peruvian fruit. However, we believe we have to start bit by bit and that's why volumes won't be so large."

Another key export growth market for Peruvian avocados is the country's southern neighbor Chile, which has the second-largest avocado consumption per capita in the world after Mexico.

Lozano highlighted that even though both countries were counterseasonal suppliers for the Northern Hemisphere market, they still had production at different times.

"Chile has avocados in a significant way in a campaign that starts in August-September and finishes in April. We go out with our avocados significantly between March and September, so we have almost complementary seasons, and that's beneficial because we almost don't compete with one another in international markets.

He added that once the Chilean seasons finished, consumers were left almost without avocados but they still had a very strong consumption habit for the product.

"This will be our third year exporting to Chile. In fact CPF has sent our first container and it went very well. Consumption is very high and there is the advantage that it's so close," he said, mentioning around 20 of the company's 630 containers would go to the country this year.

He said the 630 figure would represent a 12% year-on-year rise.

Last year CPF sent 65% of its production to Europe, 30% to the U.S., and the rest was divided between Chile, China and Japan.

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