To help mitigate risk and ongoing trading restrictions with China and Taiwan Kenya’s Keitt Exporters is exploring potential new opportunities in added value avocado products.

According to sales and marketing manager Grace Thuita The company is looking at processes and machinery to produce avocado oil as a way of gaining further value from the fresh product.

Although still in the early stages, the company is hopeful that diversifying could provide more value and security to suppliers as global avocado demand continues to soar.

“We have seen a lot of growth in our avocado business, especially in the Far East markets,” she said. “What we want to do is educate the industry about Kenya’s logistics and availability.”

Keitt exports Hass avocados between March and August with some off-season crop also available. The company exports are growing by 10 and 20 per cent yearly, Thuita said.

“Most enquiries we have are from China, though we are still experiencing trade restrictions with China and Taiwan. This is something the government has to sort out.”

Keitt Exporters is now investing in own production of Hass to give the company greater control over quality, and allow better forecasting for export orders, she added.