Colombia: Hass avocado production to double in 3 years

Daniel Galviz, Managing Director of the Hass Diamond Company, explains that "with regard to export volumes, there are still countries that are far ahead of Colombia, as in the case of Mexico (the world's leading producer), Chile, Peru and the Dominican Republic, but a lot of work is currently being done on the planting of new Hass avocado crops that will put Colombia at the top of the international export within about 3 years, which is the amount of time Hass avocados need in order to yield the first fruits."

The success of Colombian avocados is largely due to this country's strategic location, since its climate, that of a country close to the tropic, allows it to have several harvests a year; something that does not happen in other producing countries, like Chile, Peru or Spain, which can only produce during very specific months of the year. "This makes Colombia a very attractive country for foreign investors; in fact, many of them have chosen to grow their production here and set up packing and marketing plants, since at times when there are no avocados in countries like Peru, Spain, South Africa or Chile, Colombia is able to supply them, and this growth in production has become very interesting for foreign and domestic investors.

The Hass Diamond Company is a producer, packer and direct trader of Hass avocados based in Risaralda, Colombia, which was born from the need of a family group with its own production to take care of the whole production, harvesting and marketing process. "The company made the decision to go to the market as a direct marketer to be able to control the entire process and thus guarantee that the Colombian fruit will meet the best quality standards, thus avoiding intermediaries during the process." It currently has 80 hectares for its own production and another 100 hectares that have been planted recently and are in the process of growing, in addition to its own packing plant and modern and constantly expanding facilities.