The perpetual availability of all but the most seasonal fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves has made seasonality an almost forgotten concept. Consumers want what they want when they want it. For a modern kitchen this may include new staples such as berries, cauliflower, kale and that holy grail of superfoods — the avocado.
Avocados are a winter fruit that thrive in humid, subtropical areas. But these days you can get them at the grocery store just about any time of year — in high summer they might become even more expensive than usual, but as avocado growers eagerly argue, even at R35 per fruit they are a bargain if you consider the nutritional punch they pack. Shoppers seem to agree — the global avocado market was valued at about $11bn in 2021 and is forecast to nearly double in value to reach to more than $20bn by 2027.
But essential to realising this growth, and to keeping consumers happy, is the ability to supply the market 365 days a year.
In SA the breeding and selection of new early and late avocado varieties, and the development of new growing regions has seen the harvest season sprawled out beyond the winter months to now start in February and end in November. Work is under way to extend this season even further.
Delivering this year-round supply to its customers was what drove Westfalia, a food and agribusiness now headquartered in London, UK, to expand beyond the borders of SA. The business was started in SA in the first half of the 20th century by the prospector and geologist Dr Hans Merensky, who bought Westfalia Estate in Tzaneen in Limpopo in 1929.
It all depends on consumer preference; we are living in an era when everybody is always in a hurry and this increases the demand for ready-made products and we are well invested in the processed side of the business globally.
Westfalia has the largest avocado-growing footprint in the world with farms in Southern Africa, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and the US. It supplies retail and wholesale customers across the globe.
“Avocados only grow for a period of 12 weeks on a tree, our focus is to deliver avocados 52-weeks a year which is why we invested widely outside Africa,” says Alk Brand, CEO of Westfalia Fruit Group.
The US is the biggest consumer of avocados, and even that market research still shows a lot of opportunity for growth, especially on the east coast, Brand told Business Day.
“Over a 52-week period there are still some windows for significant growth, which is why we remain confident about investing in the industry. Europe has not yet seen growth even remotely in line with the rise of consumption in the US and we see a long growth period still [for that market].”
However, growers must be very aware of when their product will reach the market, Brand warns. There will, in future, be certain weeks of the year when the market may be over supplied. Some of this oversupply may overlap with SA’s avocado marketing period, which means that local producers must be careful about deciding in which areas they will plant new orchards, making sure that they invest in new planting in areas where they will be able to harvest during periods when the market is not oversupplied.
It is not only demand for fresh avocados that will grow: Brand also expects to see more demand developing for their processed products, such as ready-made guacamole.
“It all depends on consumer preference; we are living in an era when everybody is always in a hurry and this increases the demand for ready-made products and we are well invested in the processed side of the business globally.”
Outside traditional markets in the northern hemisphere Brand says business is “very excited about opportunities in India” as a producer for own consumption with local consumers “willing to pay a price equal to export prices”.
In India, he says, 10% of the population (about 120-million people) are dollar millionaires and many of them follow a vegetarian lifestyle. This segment of the population, which is larger than the population of most European countries, are who will drive demand for avocados.
“We are a first mover in India. [The country] historically had avocados but not the type we see today in SA and Europe. We have worked very hard over the last five years to develop the market in India and have invested in farms, nurseries and marketing training. We believe that market is going to do very well.”
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