{"id":36182,"date":"2025-07-31T16:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/36182\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T16:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:44:11","slug":"experts-expect-no-slowdown-in-uk-avocado-market-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/36182\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts expect no slowdown in UK avocado market | Features"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global avocado supplies continue to increase, leading many to predict imminent issues of oversupply, but a panel of UK experts at this year\u2019s Festival of Fresh conference see more room for growth<\/p>\n

Show Fullscreen<\/p>\n

\"Festival<\/p>\n

Despite warnings in recent years about potential avocado oversupply, key figures in the UK industry remain bullish, as the market continues to absorb growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAvocado consumption has doubled in the last decade,\u201d said Steve Maxwell of Worldwide Fruit at the Festival of Fresh conference in Spalding. \u201cThere were concerns about too much supply, but that\u2019s never happened. There\u2019s still an imbalance, especially at the shoulders of the season, but all the metrics \u2013 penetration, frequency \u2013 are up. We think there\u2019s still real growth ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

One reason is the product\u2019s popularity with young people. \u201cIt\u2019s not just hipsters and Gen Z,\u201d said Maxwell. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the few products that overperforms in younger demographics, so they\u2019ll come with us. We\u2019ve got options and opportunities everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Show Fullscreen<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

And with improved supply chain infrastructure and better fruit arriving from key origins like Peru and Colombia, quality is keeping up with the hype.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing much more consistent fruit coming into our facilities,\u201d Maxwell continued. \u201cHigher oil levels, better ripening. It\u2019s a delicate product, but we\u2019re now delivering fruit that tastes better than it did ten years ago \u2013 and lasts longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consistency is also aided by the UK\u2019s highly programmed retail model. \u201cYou don\u2019t see much on-spec fruit coming in anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cWeekly planning means fresher fruit, which translates directly to a better consumer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peru leads, but volatility remains<\/p>\n

While Peru remains a key source, challenges remain, chief among them climate-related volatility. \u201cWe never have a season where we don\u2019t talk about some climatic effect,\u201d said Rob Davies of Paddock Wood. \u201cThis year, Peru\u2019s looking at 650,000 tonnes, and 18 per cent of that\u2019s heading to the US. That\u2019s a watch-out for the UK and Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Davies sees the market adapting well. \u201cEvery time we think it might struggle to absorb the growth, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pricing gets tricky mid-season when volumes bunch, but demand keeps soaking it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham Young of Westfalia noted that Peru\u2019s rapid rise in avocados follows similar export successes with asparagus and blueberries. \u201cThey\u2019re now the second largest producer in the world,\u201d he said, \u201cand projections suggest another 100,000 tonnes a year coming in the next five or six years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westfalia has helped Peru break into Asia. \u201cWe now have over 50 per cent of the Asian avocado market,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s still small, but it\u2019s growing. For Peru, diversification is the right strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young also pointed to the importance of embracing the diverse uses of avocados. \u201cTo do the category justice, we need to use the whole fruit \u2013 skin, stone, downgraded avocados,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means getting into guacamole, smashed avocado, cosmetics and oil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colombia has been the breakout success story of the last decade, said Davies. But looking ahead, he sees East Africa \u2013 particularly the likes of Kenya and Tanzania \u2013 as the next big players in avocados. \u201cKenya\u2019s now the fourth largest exporter of Hass globally,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s professionalising fast. And Morocco, especially for winter supply, has great potential too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Global avocado supplies continue to increase, leading many to predict imminent issues of oversupply, but a panel of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[84,467,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-36182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-markets","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}