World Avocado Organisation sets the record straight: UK sales not declining

“There were reports this week that avocados were on the decline in the UK and a handful of cafes were cited to have removed the world’s favourite superfood from their menu in line with concerns around water consumption and land concerns.”

The World Avocado Organization is delighted to clarify that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Avocados are flying off the shelves in supermarkets across the UK and cafes and restaurants around the country are increasingly adding the nutritious fruit to their dishes.

In the UK alone, avocado sales have grown by 26% in the last year and across Europe over 600 million kilos have been consumed in 2018. It is a common misconception that avocados require large volumes of water for cultivation. In fact, the average water footprint per kg of avocado is just 1/15th of the water required to irrigate the same quantity of beef.

Furthermore, the reality is that avocados adapt to different climatic zones across the world and are widely grown in high rainfall areas, such as Mexico and Colombia, where avocados are naturally irrigated. Where irrigation is required, water-efficient systems are widely implemented across commercial orchards to ensure sustainable harvesting.

Not only do these recent sensationalist articles over-state the levels of water required for irrigating avocados, but they do not mention the wider benefits that the planting of the fruit brings to so many communities. This includes a vast scale of employment and regeneration of land in various places around the world” said Xavier Equihua, CEO, World Avocado Organization.

For more information:
Dani Shingler
Email: dani.shingler@mslgroup.com

Publication date: Mon 10 Dec 2018