According to the worldwide producer and exporter Westfalia Fruit, the Colombian avocado industry could double its size in the next decade and provide strong competition to Chile and Peru, as it would have access to the U.S. market.
Pedro Aguilar, manager of Westfalia Fruit in Colombia, said he believed the planted area of Hass avocado would skyrocket from 9,000 to 18,000 hectares in the next decade if the U.S. allowed imports from the South American country.
"It would be a very big step for the industry and completely change it. Having these new market alternatives means we should increase production to be able to supply these new countries, "Aguilar said.
Westfalia Fruit operates a packing plant near the Colombian city of Medellin, where they pack and export avocados to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France.
"There are about 3,500 hectares devoted to the avocado in the department of Antioquia and the rest is distributed throughout the rest of the country," said Aguilar.
"We expect this area to increase to about 7,000 or 8,000 hectares in the next six to seven years. These numbers are feasible if we have access to a stable market, i.e. the U.S. market," he said.
Aguilar stated he expected they would be granted access to the U.S. by late 2015 or early 2016.
He added that the relative proximity of Colombia to the U.S. would give Colombia a significant advantage over the leading exporters of South American avocado, such as Peru and Chile, as the fruit wouldn't take too long to arrive to the U.S. and could have a better quality.
"We are only seven or eight days away from the west coast and five or six days from the east coast, and we have direct shipping lines from Colombian ports. So it would be much faster than shipping avocados from Chile or Peru," he said.
According to Aguilar, the avocados grown in Colombia benefit from good environmental conditions, so the industry is able to produce excellent quality fruit.
"We have the best ecological conditions to produce very good Hass avocados so we hope that the country can become a very important player in the market within five to seven years," he said.
The main season for Colombian avocados runs from late December through April, and the country is 'off season' from June to August.
Achieving international standards
Westfalia Fruit began operations in Colombia in November 2011. At that time, they were working with six producers; currently, they work with forty.
According to Aguilar, apart from packing and exporting the producer's avocados, it was also important for them to teach producers how to cultivate the fruit so that they can achieve international accreditation such as the Global GAP.
"What we are doing is transferring a little technology to the producers. We work with them all the way, trying to accompany them throughout the process and teaching them to produce quality fruit that can be exported," he said.
"I think what most producers have to do is follow the process to obtain the Global GAP certification," he said.
He added that one of the key issues was to help producers become more aware about pesticide application so the fruit would be below the maximum residue levels.
"They have to be very aware of that, because of the practice they had in their past. It is something we try to follow and watch closely, so that only certain permited products are applied," Aguilar said.
"The other important thing is that the applications are properly implemented and that they are always within the allowed limits," he said.
Source: Fresh Fruit Portal