The third edition of the Tropical Fruit Congress, an international event to discuss exotic fruit, will be held during Macfrut from 6-7 May 2020, with the main focus being on avocado
The first day will be on 6 May, with a session coordinated by Roberto Della Casa - Agroter/Bologna University, focusing on the avocado market in Europe:
– Daria Lodi of CSO Italy will explain consumption patterns in Europe
– Thomas Padilla, senior director of export sales at Mission Produce, will focus on new countries that supply avocados to Europe, such as Peru, Colombia and Guatemala, and will explain how these supplies will help to meet the growing demand for consumption all year round
– Said Bannany, director of Total Exotics, instead, will talk about traditional supplier countries.
The second day will have a session coordinated by Pierre Escodo, director of Eurofresh Distribution, focusing on production and post-harvest and what’s new in the sector. The speakers will provide an overview of the situation in several major countries in the sector:
– Michael Horney of Peruvian Agritrade will explain how the sector has evolved in Peru
– Jorge Restrepo, executive director of Corpohass, will provide an overview of Colombia
– Andrea Passanisi of Sicilia Avocado will focus on avocado production in Italy.
Speeches will be given by Therese Bruwer of Westphalia, who will describe the various cultivars of each producer country, and Eelke Westra of Wageningen University who will present research on improving avocado quality in the post-harvest phase. A technical workshop on post-harvest innovations will be held, with the participation of major technological players.
Avocado consumption has increased exponentially worldwide
According to data processed by CIRAD, based on EUROSTAT and professional sources, in the 2018-2019 season, avocado consumption in Europe increased by 19 per cent over the previous season and by as much as 111 per cent over 2013-2014, with an estimated total of 636,119 tonnes. In terms of sales volumes, the first consumer country in Europe is France, with 145,000 tonnes consumed, followed by the UK (105,633 tonnes), Germany (82,327 tonnes) and Spain (72,122 tonnes). Italy ranks sixth, with 22,340 tonnes. However, in terms of per capita consumption, Denmark ranks first (2.69 kg), followed by Norway (non-EU country – 2.53 kg), the Netherlands (2.32 kg), France (2.16 kg) and Sweden (2.07 kg).
