NZ Avocado Sector Eyes Bigger Crop and New Export Markets
The avocado sector is entering the new season with a larger crop and positive market opportunities.
NZ Avocados chief executive Brad Siebert says this is due to a combination of factors. He says the need to look more globally with supply comes with more intense competition from other supplying companies.
Locally, the season has had its challenges with western Bay of Plenty growers hit by strong winds and in the last few weeks the rain has made it difficult to get fruit off the trees.
"At the same time, exporters face a shorter window to reach offshore markets as larger supplying countries run extended seasons," he told Hort News.
Siebert says the exporters are about 65% through the volume expected to be exported and while this is usually completed by the end of January, it's likely to be extended into February.
Overseas markets take roughly 60% of the avocado crop grown in NZ - the remaining 40% is sold on the domestic market.
For the last two decades, 85% of the export crop went to Australia, but Brad Siebert says, while Australia remains a key market, in the last four years this has dropped to around 50% and this season will likely be just over 20%.
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"While our industry enjoys broad market access, the challenge is now about hitting the right timing, and therefore the value window in key offshore markets while competing with other origins," he says.
Siebert says exporters are focused on markets right across Asia and also the USA and Canada. But he reiterates that NZ is up against other competitors in many of these destinations.
He says at this stage there are some real unknowns around what value can be extracted from this year's crop and strategies to improve productivity and raise the profile of "Avocados from NZ" in international markets are central to the industry's future success.
He says on the home front, a major push is on to work with local retailers to promote avocados as an everyday ingredient and increase consumption locally.
