Why Kenya is adding avocado to its exports portfolio 

Kenya’s traditional agricultural exports —tea, coffee and flowers— have been the country’s economic mainstay for years. But there is a new kid on the block that is getting lots of attention—the avocado.

Thanks to the latest generation ‘reefers’ (refrigerated containers), it is now possible for Kenyan avocados to be exported to Europe and even as far as Russia.

The success story has been recognised by the World Economic Forum, which will feature it in its Annual Report in January. 

Peter Nderu, a partner at Keitt Exporters, one of the largest exporters of avocados, talked to the Business Daily, about the promise of the produce and what’s in it for farmers.

How much avocado is Kenya exporting?

Kenya produces an estimated 115,000 metric tonnes of avocados annually, 70 per cent of which is grown by small-scale farmers. Up until about four years ago, most of the fruit was sold in the local market and some exported to the Middle East.

But all this has changed and this year, I understand a total of 1,000 containers will be shipped to Europe and beyond. That’s around 100 million avocados. And our shipping partners, Maersk Lines, estimate this could double to 200 million in the next few years.

Avocado is known to be a highly perishable fresh produce. Isn’t it particularly challenging to ship it over thousands of miles to the market?

When working with perishables, time is always of essence. So from the moment the fruit is picked, everything has to move very fast. We have to act seamlessly between the farmers, the packing house, processing the fruit and getting it into the shipping containers. Four to five days pass between picking the fruit and stuffing the containers.

In that time, the avocados have to be transported to the processing facility in Nairobi, sorted, taken through the packing line, washed, waxed, dried, boxed according to nine different sizes, palletised, pre-cooled overnight and the next day picked up. The containers are picked up in Nairobi on Mondays and shipped off on the vessel in Mombasa on Thursdays.

What explains the dramatic growth in avocado exports in recent years?

Technology. The new ‘reefer’ introduced by Maersk Lines, under the ‘Star Care’ initiative, has made it possible to send Kenyan avocados beyond the Middle East to the European market.

Now we even go as far as Russia. Historically, the transit times have always been a problem. But then we were approached by Maersk, that wanted to demonstrate to exporters how the new technology worked.

So a container was organised and all interested exporters each put one pallet into it. Twenty or 30 exporters participated on a ‘no cure, no pay’ basis.

The first container was sent to Belgium. It was opened, the buyer liked what he saw and the fruit sold at premium rates. It was the same story with the second container to Rotterdam. Then we were on our way.

How does your business work, where do you get the fruit?

We do it twofold. We have a set of dedicated growers, farmers we have arrangements with to deliver to us. We also have our own farm. It cannot supply all our needs, so we also buy from what we call open farmers. We combine all that to 50 containers a year.

Is it more profitable to export the avocados rather than selling locally?

Obviously. Avocados are profitable. One carton of four kilogrammes goes for about Sh960 (8 euros) in Europe, that’s triple the price in Kenya. It is big business that easily covers transports costs.

We have our place in the international markets vis-a-vis the other avocado producing countries like Chile, Peru and South Africa. But we also have a specific window, thanks to our longer season that enables us to enjoy very good returns.

Does the soil and climatic conditions make Kenya an avocado country?

Volumes are growing. We are second only to South Africa in the entire African market, so we are a serious player from the southern hemisphere. Kenya has an extremely long season.

We enjoy the best of both worlds, growing volumes and a long season. When the big volumes come from the other producing countries, we cut back slightly on our volumes, and wait for a slowdown.

In some countries, we are very strong, for example, in Dubai 70 to 80 per cent of avocados come from Kenya when our fruit is in season.

What is the economic value for the avocado exports business in terms of employment and wealth creation?

We have 40 direct employees but hundreds of others in the supply chain. There are no large scale farms. It is all small-scale farms, individuals and cooperatives.

Some have only two or three trees, but they can find their place in the bigger picture by having their fruit collected, delivered and exported alongside what comes from large growers and big cooperatives.

Our company exports roughly two containers a week. We recently invested in new equipment, which automates a lot of processes including the sizing. With it we can do two boxes a day, four if we work double shifts.

What does the future hold for avocado growers/exporters like you?

Our ambition is to grow at least 10 to 20 per cent each year with the same kind of arrangement we have now at farm level.

We also have some new nurseries are coming up in four or five years, and that will give us a very high quality avocado that we will pick when the size is right.

So with the new plans, we will increase volumes and enhance the quality of fruit. That should allow us to compete even better with Peru and Chile – the world’s top producers.

If it were possible, of course, we would love even shorter transit times, which would enable us to export to even more markets.

Not only Russia, but perhaps the Far East, Singapore and Malaysia. Our ambition is also to keep learning —new fruits, new equipment, new technologies that can help us expand.