The Dominican Republic produces multiple varieties of their Tropical Avocados, which allows them to have a year-round supply. In September, one of the most popular varieties will enter its season, which will run through February. Cesar Perez of Frescura Tropical explains: “The Semil 34 has a really good shelf-life, which is one of the reasons that it is the most popular variety of Tropical Avocados.”
Opening of the Irish market
Frescura Tropical exports their Tropical Avocados throughout the world, with some of their most important markets being in Central America and Europe. “We get high demand from Spain, France, and Germany, and recently we have expanded into Poland too, and are working with retailers there, and Saudi Arabia and Dubai are new markets for us too,” Perez shares.
Perez has recently started exporting the Tropical Avocados to Ireland for the first time, and he’s no stranger to opening new markets. “Four years ago, I opened the market for Dominican avocados to Costa Rica, and then to Nicaragua. Now I am working with a businessman from Ireland who is looking to expand the consumption of the Tropical Avocado, and I have been supplying him with Tropical avocados there,” he explains, adding: “Ireland has great potential, as a market, and there is a lot of opportunity for growers and exporters to sell their product there. I am the first from the Dominican Republic to export the Tropical Avocado there, but there is plenty of room in the market for others to join me.”
“Sending the avocados from the Dominican Republic to the UK port of Tilbury is a nine-day transit and there are also options for weekly flights to this market, so there is a lot of opportunity for supplying the market with fresh, high quality avocados,” Perez shares. He had been exporting to Ireland for about six months before the pandemic broke out. In March, due to the pandemic, he had to temporarily put his exports on hold. “When the Semil 34 enters its season in September, I’ll begin shipping to Ireland again. Because this variety has a longer shelf-life, the importers will have much more time to sell the product in the local market, which should increase the demand.”
Growing demand for the Tropical Avocado
While the Hass avocado is still the main avocado on the world market, the Tropical Avocado has been gaining ground. “In the US, they are still mostly sold in specific regions, like New York and Florida, and some in Texas and California. But since the recent re-brand of these avocados, from Greenskin Avocados to Tropical Avocados, we are hoping that the overall market share will continue to grow and reach more states in the US. It’s a great product because it has a similarly creamy flavor to the Hass avocado, but since it is so much larger consumers get much more avocado for their money.”
Another factor that helps increase the interest in the Tropical Avocados from the Dominican Republic is the way they are grown: “A lot of environmentally-minded people prefer the Dominican avocados because our avocado plantations are irrigated mostly by rain – about 90% of the irrigation is taken care of by the country’s natural rainfall. In many other avocado producing countries, water is a big issue and it is something that does affect the sustainability of the product, especially because avocados need so much water to grow properly. That makes Avocados from the Dominican Republic a great option,” Perez concludes.
For more information:
Cesar Perez
Frescura Tropical
Tel: +1 (809) 376-1508
Email: cdpruiz@gmail.com
www.frescuratropicalrd.com