Colombia, a country that is able to grow a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and agricultural products, thanks to its climatic diversity, has been increasingly betting on the agricultural sector by promoting different programs, especially on pest control and phytosanitary requirements for export. While the country is best known in the foreign market for its coffee and flowers, its avocado is currently attracting the attention of international markets.
ProColombia and the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) have worked to make the avocado industry grow rapidly in the country and to conquer new markets with this product. In 2009, the country made its first shipments of Hass avocado to the European Union. According to ProColombia's “Information about the Hass avocado” study of 2017, during 2012 the country produced a total of 255,195 tons of avocado, 29,000 tons of which were of the Hass avocado variety.
In 2013, the creation of CORPOHASS was vital for the avocado industry as it brought producers together. This association, together with the ICA, the National Association of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Development, and ProColombia, began to evaluate the first details to achieve exporting this product to the United States. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, at that time there were 8,800 hectares devoted to avocado production in 65 municipalities in 9 departments. The year ended with a total of 303,351 tons of production in the country, 35,000 of which were of Hass avocado.
By 2014, avocado production was even more promising, as national production stood at 320,623 tons, 47,000 of which were of Hass avocado. In 2015, four years after the start of ProColombia's study, the country's avocado industry produced 332,204 tons nationwide, 58,581 of which were of Hass avocado; thus doubling the 2012 production. Hass avocado exports amounted to US $ 10 million. In 2016, the production hectares increased to 33,964, increasing significantly compared to 2013, and the total national production was 32,125 tons, increasing progressively every year. That year Hass avocado exports amounted to US $ 35 million.
2017 was a year that marked a precedent in the country's avocado history. The country not only maintained the markets of the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, France, Holland, and Germany, but it also managed to send its first 34 tons of avocado to the United States on November 2. This means the country managed to enter the country with the highest global consumption of this fruit. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, “the year closed with 68,661 hectares planted of all varieties, 13,500 hectares of which correspond to Hass avocado. Avocado production stood at 375,906 tons, 77,000 of which were of the Hass variety (i.e. 20% of the national production).” Hass avocado exports generated US $ 53 million for the country.
In 2018, the country expanded its avocado market towards Asia as it sent its first shipment of avocado to Japan. That year Hass avocado exports generated US $ 65 million.
In 2019, exports continued to grow. In March, the country made its first shipment of a 21.2-ton shipment to Argentina and, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first quarter alone the country shipped 282 tons to the United States and 15,000 tons to countries in Central America and Europe. In addition, Westfalia Fruits opened at the beginning of the year the largest Hass avocado processing plant in Sonson, Antioquia. Together with Pacific Fruits, the company that recently made two test shipments to Kuwait of 43 tons of this product, they are the largest avocado exporters in Colombia. During the first half of 2019, the country exported as much Hass avocado as it exported in 2017 and exports are expected to amount to US $ 90 million this year, according to the Director of CorpoHass, Jorge Enrique Restrepo.