Perishables is one of air cargo’s staple and most vital verticals and increasing demand from Asia for the freshest fruit and vegetables continues to keep the sector healthy.
One such fruit seeing greater demand globally is avocados according to Swiss headquartered freight forwarder Panalpina, which said China for one has seen an explosion in popularity of the fruit.
The freight forwarder says imports to China from Latin American countries such as Mexico and Chile are growing by about 250 per cent a year, leaping from just 154 tonnes in 2012 to more than 25,000 tonnes in 2016.
According to a report on www.freshplaza.com – this year – a record 3.2 million tonnes of avocados are being harvested worldwide and Mexico remains the largest producer, with almost 1.9 million tonnes (60 per cent) of the total followed by Peru, Chile, California, South Africa, Colombia, Israel, Australia and Spain. And the acreage stands at 361,000 hectares worldwide.
Panalpina says the global explosion of the popularity of avocados, coupled with the fruit needing stable growing conditions, has also resulted in spikes in price. In 2016 for example, a case of 48 avocados in the US jumped from $45 to $100, a hike that was passed on to consumers the forwarder said.
Demand for the fruit continues to grow Panalpina said, in the US, consumption of avocados rose from less than 1kg per person to over 3kg per person between 2000 and 2015 – that equates to over four billion avocados per year in the US alone.
(Photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash)
