More Mexican avocados ready for Chinese market

"The avocado market in China is growing and there is still plenty of room for new buyers in the avocado market. Most avocados in China are imported from Latin America, although some come from New Zealand and Spain. Our company helps Mexican farmers export avocados to China. The Mexican avocado industry is huge and able to supply avocados all year round. However, at the moment only avocados from Minchoacan Province have permission to enter the Chinese market. Other areas in Mexico lack relevant agreements." This is according to Juan Carlos of Shanghai Viocar Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd.

"The quality control on Mexican avocados is really strict, China follows the same regulations as the USA for their quality control. This means that only the highest-quality avocados can be exported to China. Furthermore, although custom tariffs are somewhat reduced, Mexican companies still pay tax and this puts extra pressure on the price. Other Latin American countries have signed special export treaties with China, for example Chile, and they only have to pay a lower export tax. This is unfair to Mexican companies who produce high-quality avocados but are unable to compete with the prices of avocados from other Latin American countries.So therefore, I hope Mexico and China will come together soon to also make a treaty for Mexican avocados in China."

"Two other aspects of the avocado market in China deserve attention. The popularization of avocados in China and the issue of storage. Avocados are still not that well-known in China, but with the right promotion campaigns this product can become very popular on the Chinese market. Avocados have great market potential, because they are healthy, and Chinese consumers pay more and more attention to health."

"The storage of avocados could do with improvement, which would help to extend the period in which the quality of Mexican avocados can be guaranteed. Nowadays, more Chinese companies invest in the right storage for avocados, though a lot of avocados have been wasted because of the wrong storage or wrong use of storage. For example, avocado containers should not be opened and closed all the time, because the storage environment will be disturbed and the avocados will prematurely begin to ripen. The APEAM 2017 shows that Mexico exported 24,146 metric tons of avocados to China in 2017. The export volume in 2015 was only 10,200 metric tons. We believe that this will improve even further in the future, and more Mexican avocados will enter the Chinese market."