When the World Avocado Congress wrapped up in Auckland, New Zealand, South Africa was announced as the venue for the next event, which will take place in 2027.

The event ran for three days. the local host welcomed more than 1200 guests, who came from 33 different countries, joining other prominent members of the local avocado sector. It was the largest international contingent to a gardening event held on the shores of New Zealand. The closing event of the agenda included a gala-style dinner as well as a Mexican wave celebration to celebrate the close of an extremely successful international event for the avocado industry.

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The Hosts New Zealand has set some ambitious goals for the consumers in the country. They want to nearly double the consumption of avocados from the current 16 avocados a year to 40. At present, Mexico leads the world in consumption, consuming the equivalent of 40 avocados (or 10kgs) per year for each person as well as many other countries having an average of around 28 avocados for each person. The President of the World Avocado Congress Committee and the CEO of New Zealand Avocado, Jen Scoular claims that the long-term sustainability of New Zealand’s local avocado market is dependent on New people having a greater consumption of avocados.

“While the idea of 40 meals a year may seem like an ambitious target, it’s actually not that difficult,” she said. “In reality, a significant portion of New Zealand population is already eating 16 avocados per month. This is fantastic news to New Zealand growers because we don’t import avocados. Instead, we produce enough for all of the population. So each avocado eaten in Aotearoa contributes to the local economic development. The discussion was very productive among all 33 nations that were represented at the Congress regarding the necessity of attempting to increase demand in the domestic market as well as increase the demand within our own nations. We have learned that 60% of the avocados produced within New Zealand are eaten by less than 5% of the population, which means there’s a huge opportunity to grow here. We certainly haven’t reached our peak.”

The CEO of the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico (APEAM), Armando Lopez says that the industry and growers that attended at the Congress from Mexico are thrilled they were able to attend the event.

“Especially given the enormous efforts that this New Zealand team has put into, in light of the challenges of pandemics over these past four years. It is now the time that the world avocado industry will join forces to align to ensure the sustainability of our industry and in the promotion of beneficial health effects of our fruits to be consumed,” Mr Lopez said.