The Association of Hass Avocado Producers and Exporters from Peru (ProHass) plans to carry out a promotional campaign in China next year.
This was indicated by the manager of ProHass, Arturo Medina, who said that the campaign would depend on the budget they have, as it is funded by the voluntary contributions of the companies associated to the guild.
He also said that the promotional activities were the only way to educate people about how to consume this fruit, as it's still an unknown fruit for many. However, he added, the avocado has a great advantage because it is a healthy and nutritious product.
"Introducing a new product to a person's diet is complicated, which is why we carry out promotional activities. ProHass carries out promotional activities every year in the US and European markets and that has helped increase the demand for Hass avocado in both markets," he said.
In the last 12 years, ProHass associates have invested more than US $1 million a year in promotion activities in the United States through the Peruvian Avocado Commission (PAC), and contributed US $2.5 million -together with South Africa- to promote Hass avocado in Europe through the World Avocado Organization (WAO), he said.
Exporting quality fruit and organizing the offer
The manager of ProHass' technical area, Victor Escobedo, spoke about Peru's Hass avocado campaign this year. He said that, even though the volume dispatched grew by 47%, the price was affected because Peru concentrated a lot of fruit in a few weeks and other producing countries had a high supply.
"We have to get used to the fact that Hass avocado producing-exporting countries are producing high volumes, and that there are new countries entering the business (such as Colombia) which will end up being our competition," he said.
To prevent this from happening in future campaigns, he said, the sector needs to know to which destinations the fruit will be sent and exporters have to export their product in and orderly manner, he said. That's why he suggested setting up an export program and complying with the dates and volumes agreed.
He also said that the sector should focus more on the product's quality, which is fundamental as the Peruvian industry has to make a difference in this issue.
"We still have work to do. There are destination countries where per capita consumption of avocados is below 500 grams and we must raise it. To do this, we must export a quality fruit so that the people who try it for the first time have a good experience," he said.
Fortunately, he said, nowadays there are faster ships that allow dispatching the product to distant markets where it previously was unlikely they could export (Camet Trading exported 4 containers of Hass avocado to India this year). However we must educate this population to consume avocado, and that It is only achieved by carrying out promotions, he said.
International Avocado Congress
Arturo Medina said that ProHass was going to hold the I International Avocado Congress in Peru on December 11 and 12 at Lima's Convention Center, an event where producers will get up to date technical and scientific information regarding avocado cultivation so that they can improve their production, yields, and quality. In addition, new technology releases that are being used for cultivation will be publicized at the event.
The congress will address all the issues of the avocado productive chain, i.e. from nursery to post-harvest, as well as commercial and market aspects. The topics that stand out are: certification of nurseries, irrigation and pruning, biotechnology in avocado, importance of flowering and use of growth regulators in the crop; and post-harvest handling; among other issues.