The agreement on exports of avocados to China is an exciting new development for South African growers and exporters. Following a memorandum of understanding during the BRICS summit, South African producers can prepare to send their produce off to China.
Still, many growers said there is a lot of work to be done as the Chinese are not really big on avocado consumption yet. Jannie Lombard, an avocado farmer from Tzaneen in Limpopo, told Food For Mzansi that it would take at least 10 years for the South African growers to see the fruits of exporting to China. Nevertheless, he claims that any new market access is exciting because the South African market is under tremendous pressure as there is competition from Latin America, so any new market that opens up helps to ease the pressure.
“Chinese citizens are not traditionally avocado consumers, so I cannot see results in the near future. [It would take] at least a decade to really establish ourselves in the Chinese market,” he said. According to Lombard, until the market is sustainable job creation will likely take a bit longer as South African growers need to introduce and sell their avocados to the Chinese market.
Source: foodformzansi.co.za