Kakuzi has announced that it has received pre-shipment approvals from the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) for its second fresh avocado shipment to China.
This time around, Kakuzi will be shipping several 20-foot container loads to China by sea before the end of this week as demand for quality Kenyan avocado fresh fruits continues to grow.
Kenya has a market advantage as it is the only approved African source market for fresh Avocado fruits in China. Alongside Kenya, China counts several leading producers, including Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Chile, as the approved exporters.
Speaking when he confirmed the scheduled shipment, Kakuzi Managing Director Mr Christopher Flowers said the containers were prepared and transferred to Mombasa over the weekend. Flowers said shipments to China are providing much-needed growth leverage for Kenyan produce and Kakuzi as it seeks to enhance its markets and product diversification strategy.
“We received the pre-shipment clearance by KEPHIS last week and proceeded to load and dispatch the container to Mombasa over the weekend. The container is expected to leave the port of Mombasa for a 30-day voyage to China. In recent times, our order book with the Chinese buyers has been growing at an encouraging and steady pace. While we have a full order book from our existing customers, additional crop this year has enabled us to keep shipping at least one container weekly to China for the next two months even as the avocado harvest season ends.” Flowers said
The export of fresh avocados to China follows the early January signing of two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade, mainly the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China.