Vietnam strives to bring avocados to US market

Vietnam is boosting promotion activities in a bid to export avocados to the high potential market of the US after its mangos have been officially shipped to the market following nearly 10 years of negotiations.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the US spent US$2.35 billion on importing 1.04 million tonnes of avocados in 2018. The fruit is consumed by approximately 51% of American households and each household spends an average US$24.5 per year to buy avocados.

The Vietnam trade office in San Francisco said that avocados are often consumed through large supermarkets in the US, with large volume, requiring very high standards, particularly regarding food safety requirements.

The trade office noted that Vietnam has many varieties of avocados producing fruits all year round. However, the value of Vietnamese avocados remains low due to limitations in the application of science and technology in farming, the small scale of production and the lack of geographical indications and strong brands.

The office suggested that Vietnam should seek and select the best varieties of avocados with high productivity and quality and develop effective marketing strategies to promote the exports of the fruit to new markets, including the US market.

The world’s export turnover of avocados reached about US$6 billion in 2017. North America, mainly Mexico, was the largest exporter of avocados, accounting for more than 50% of the world turnover.

EU came in second, accounting for 22.8% of the world’s export revenue. Asian countries only make up 1.7% of the world’s export revenue of avocados.