India’s appetite for avocados is growing, with more consumers discovering the fruit.
As the market expands, maintaining quality from the importer through to the retail shelf is key to maintain the reputation of Australia fruit as a premium product.
As part of the Avocado Export Readiness and Market Access project (AV23003, funded by Hort Innovation through the avocado research and development levy) avocado postharvest expert Adam Goldwater (AHR) travelled to India with Avocados Australia and AMPRO Marketing to help strengthen avocado handling and quality management practices.
Working directly with retailers and importers in Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai, Adam joined AMPRO’s team on store visits to observe avocado handling and retail practices, informing the practical training that followed.
The very popular in-person training session, tailored to importers and retailers, explored the journey from fruit receival and cool storage through to ripening and retail display. Participants also took part in a quiz and hands-on activity, cutting open fruit to identify quality defects and understand their causes.
Comparing the market with his previous visit two years ago, Adam saw some encouraging signs of growth, alongside opportunities to further improve quality management.
“It's great to see how much more visible Australian avocados have become. The displays are bigger, and there's clearly been an increase in consumer awareness,” Adam said.
More consumers are also discovering avocados, with growing health awareness encouraging shoppers to add them to their diets.
“There are people now buying avocados who hadn't even tried them when I was last here. It's also interesting to see how they're starting to use avocados in local foods and street dishes.”
Importers and retailers in both Delhi and Mumbai see Australian avocados as a premium product and are keen for more consistent supply, rather than having the fruit come and go from the market.
There is still work to do to ensure quality keeps pace with market growth. While retailers and importers were enthusiastic about the training, Adam identified some gaps in understanding of fruit maturity as well as identification of fruit quality defects.
Another issue was the amount of over-ripe fruit on display. Avocados were often spending too long in chilled retail displays.
“Managing how long fruit sits on display is really important. Even when avocados are kept chilled, they can become over-ripe if they're not moving through the store quickly enough. Getting that balance right is essential to delivering a good-quality fruit to consumers.”
Over the next 6-months retail quality will be monitored in Delhi stores, with findings used to continue to improve avocado quality at retail.
The visit was a great opportunity to build connections with Indian retailers and importers, and support the handling practices that ensure consumers enjoy quality Australian avocados.
Thanks to the AMPRO team for hosting Adam and Avocados Australia for supporting the visit.
Funding statement: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 (𝘈𝘝23003) 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.