Africa’s share of the European avocado market fell from 27% to 18% between 2014 and 2017, according to FreshFruitPortal, citing data from Eurostat. While African avocado exports to the EU actually rose by about 5% over this period, from 82,000 to 86,000 tonnes, this increase is marginal compared to the 59% leap in avocado imports to the EU between 2014 and 2017 (from 305,000 to 486,000 tonnes). The figures are in contrast to those of other suppliers to the EU market, which all saw the volume of their exports increase substantially over this period. For example, Peru, the EU’s leading supplier and third largest producer in the world, saw its shipments leap by 53%, while Mexico, the world’s largest supplier, more than quadrupled its EU exports. Looking at the breakdown, South Africa, which ships around 70% of its production to the EU, now only accounts for 48% of the total African volume shipped, compared to 61% in 2015. Kenya and Morocco contributed 30% and 16% respectively to African avocado exports in 2017, compared to 25% and 9% two years earlier. Tanzania and Zimbabwe maintained their shares at 4% and 2% respectively. Looking beyond the underperformance of 2014–2017, it should be noted that African exports to the EU started 2018 with a bang, posting a remarkable increase of 62%, between January and April, amounting to 36,000 tonnes. The growing market trend is not about to run out of steam, with an estimated $2.9 billion in export potential still to be tapped, the ITC estimates.
Source: Agence Ecofin