Since setting up production in Kenya amid the overall avocado boom, Kerikeri-based avocado oil producers Olivado has grown exponentially. In seven years, the business has grown its annual turnover tenfold to US$10.5 million (NZ$14.5m).
General manager Jason Vokes said the international popularity of avocado and moving into major supermarket chains in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom, over the past five years had boosted sales.
When it was set up in 2000, Olivado became one of the world's first producers of avocado oil and remains the largest today. As demand grew New Zealand's supply decreased and in 2010 Olivado opened its factory just out of Nairobi in Kenya.
The production plant in Kenya processes avocados that are sourced from 1800 farmers. The Kenyan factory produces 350,000 litres of avocado oil per year on average, more than double of what is produced in Kerikeri.
It exports to 33 countries and Vokes said it has been developing its distribution channels in Australia and South Korea.
