A staff member stamps the label on a box with fresh avocados at Sunripe factory in Limuru Town, Kiambu County, Kenya, on Aug. 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)
Chinese firm Dalian Yidu Group has revealed plans to start importing Hass Avocado to the Chinese market later this year.
NAIROBI, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Senior executives from China's Dalian Yidu Group, a major importer of fresh produce, were on Saturday hosted by Kenya's integrated agri-business firm, Kakuzi Limited with a view to exploring more Hass Avocado exports to the Chinese market.
The visit to Kakuzi's orchards and packhouse in the central Kenyan county of Murang'a was aimed at familiarizing the Chinese firm with Hass Avocado value chains from production, quality assurance, packaging and shipment to China, said Chris Flowers, Managing Director of Kakuzi, a publicly listed company.
This photo shows avocados hanging on a branch of a tree in Muranga County, Kenya, on Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Bedah Mengo)
According to Flowers, China presents a lucrative market for Hass Avocado adding that his company has adhered to rigorous phytosanitary standards to ensure the products exported to the Asian country is above board.
Kakuzi is among local firms that have secured a nod from regulatory agencies to export high-grade avocados to China, after Kenya signed bilateral trade protocols with China in January 2022 to pave the way for shipment of the highly nutritious tropical fruit alongside aquatic products.
These protocols highlight specific phytosanitary and inspection quarantine, and veterinary sanitary requirements that Kenya's avocado and aquatic farmers must comply with before exporting their produce to China.
"We have an amazing relationship that we are developing with customers in China. We have gotten access to that market. So there are huge opportunities for all sorts of customers from China to interact with Kenyan avocado producers," Flowers said.
Laura Xu, Procurement Manager at Dalian Yidu Group said her company was keen to facilitate the seamless export of Kenya's Hass Avocados to China, and that her company's importation of Hass Avocados from Kenya was expected to commence later this year. ■
