Hass avocados' trial exports have arrived successfully in Europe, Middle East and the UK

Durabilis, an international impact investment company that builds and manages agricultural as well as food and drinks businesses in low-income countries, announced the successful arrival of trial Hass avocado exports from Ethiopia.

The consignment presents buyers from the UK and Europe a new window of Hass avocado availability at competitive prices from mid-September to mid-October.  This is become possible thanks to the new logistics corridor Ethiopia-Djibouti-Europe via train-sea-truck, which paves the way for a range of new exports from Ethiopia.

Evert Wulfrank, CEO of Durabilis, commented the first container arrived in the UK on 20 September 2020, followed by a second shipment on 5 October 2020. The vast majority of the trial GlobalGAP-certified fruit volumes has been sold to two leading importers who serving UK retailers. In addition, fruit have been offered to customers in Belgium and the Netherlands, and two trial airfreight shipments have been received in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “Considering the agricultural potential of Ethiopia, this successful test with avocados creates a whole new perspective for a series of Ethiopian products that qualify for export to Europe,” he added.

The 750km refrigerated railway connection from Modjo Dry Port in Ethiopia to the Port of Djibouti, according Wulfrank, means that the export of Ethiopian produce by seafreight is a real opportunity with overall transit time to Europe less than 30 days approximately. This is important for buyers looking for new and competitive sources of fresh fruits and vegetables, and who have not yet considered Ethiopia as a possible option because there were no seafreight connections in the country.

Wulfrank explained Durabilis is looking for more buyers of avocado in Europe, the Middle East and the UK, because company's projected production volumes will grow significantly and they will have a range of sizes. “Ethiopia has all the ingredients to become an important supplier of fresh fruits and veggies to Europe. Smallholder avocado growers already have adopted environmentally friendly production methods that meet the quality requirements for the ready-to-eat sector in Europe, for which they receive a fair price,” he said.

Durabilis builds and manages agricultural as well as food and drinks businesses in low-income countries. In total, the company employs around 2,300 people, and offers access to international markets for 2,200 smallholder farmers and 1,000 small distributors in West and East Africa, plus Latin America.

More information about the company on their website.