California avocado growers optimistic about bringing their goods to China soon

File photo shows a producer displaying an avocado.(Xinhua/David de la Paz)

For avocado growers in the U.S. western state of California, China holds a lot of appeal as an export destination due to the strength of its economy and the size of its population, Tom Bellamore, president of the Industry Affairs for the California's Avocado Commission (CAGC), has told Xinhua.

Foodwise, the meaty green California avocado with its signature armadillo skin, has become as iconic a symbol of the fresh quality of California's homegrown products as the state's fine wines and wrinkled raisins.

About 3,000 growers, many of whom are multigenerational families who have farmed avocados for over 100 years, work the land themselves and take tremendous pride in their harvest.

"Our avocado growers had the foresight to look ahead to markets beyond the U.S.," Bellamore said.

The California Avocado Commission first raised the idea of introducing their premium avocados to China back in 2005 and have been steadily working toward an agreement that would allow them to obtain the required Chinese certifications.

"We're still finalizing the correct protocol and these things take time. That's just part of the process," Ken Melban, CAGC vice president, said.

"We see tremendous opportunity in the Chinese market," Melban said, adding that "the level of avocado imports going in from other parts of the world has increased exponentially year after year."

"In anticipation of access approval, we did a market assessment in three Chinese cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou ... Our premium avocados are a very nice fit for consumers in those three cities," Melban said.

Noting that the Chinese share California's fondness for high quality foods, Bellamore said "our avocados lend themselves to many cuisines, all sorts of Asian dishes, Chinese foods included. It adds such flair to almost anything."

"The quality of California's crop year-to-year is consistently good. And another important quality is it ships well," said Bellamore. And that makes all the difference to Chinese consumers eyeing for California's avocados from afar.

"We greatly appreciate the efforts of the Chinese officials on our market access request and are hopeful it will be completed soon so we can share our premium California avocados with Chinese consumers as soon as next year," he said.

(by Julia Pierrepont III)