Just look at it, sitting there all smashed up on some toast.

I would be throwing a poached egg on top, because that’s the extent of what I call my healthy eating regime, but everyone has their own style.

What everybody does agree on is the fact that avocados are now big business right across the West, and that’s good news for South African farmers.

Moneyweb with a little more on why that is:

South Africa’s farmers, struggling with drought, are switching to a crop whose farm-gate price has risen 130 percent since 2008.

Already, South Africa generates around R1.85 billion a year from avocados, producing around 125 000 tonnes and exporting more than half to Europe. In 2008, they fetched an average R9.64 per kg, in 2017 it was R22.10…

There are currently about 16 500 hectares of avocado plantations, and that area is growing by about 1 000 hectares a year.

Traditionally, avocados were grown in humid sub-tropical climates in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, but now they are being planted in the drier Eastern and Western Cape provinces.

Techniques such as drip irrigation, which drips water slowly on the soil, and planting orchids on ridges to reduce surface run-off help to make the most of the water available.

Farmers are now testing out whether the Western Cape is a viable option, which could then extend what is now a six-month season to 10 months, in order to supply a global year-round demand.

Hey, if it brings the cost of an avo down, I say hats off to you.

One of the hardest parts of shipping avocados abroad is the fact that any blemish on the skin, or damage done en route, usually renders them unsellable.

Thankfully, shipping and freight logistics experts Berry & Donaldson handle every step of the way. They assist importers and exporters in their dealings with airlines, shipping companies, and customs-related processes, as well as warehousing, insurance and cargo deliveries.

That means that goods get to where they need to be, when they need to be there, and nobody is left to go without their avo on toast.

It’s the Millennial version of not having a morning coffee, and we know how that plays out amongst co-workers.

Hopefully, as South Africa continues to plant around 1 000 hectares of avocados a year (which may rise to 2 000 hectares), and expert shipping companies help them arrive on our plates, that’s a nightmare we can avoid.

[source:moneyweb]