Rwanda's avocado exports continue to grow, each year beating the previous year's record, assures Kengne Timo, managing director of Kengne Empire. "The world is going green and consumers are aware of the need to diversify food sources. Rwanda has all the assets to emerge in a world that wants quality food, produced with a respect for nature."
The demand is constantly increasing, coming mainly from European markets, says Timo: "We regularly export to France and Germany. The German market is one of our favorites at the moment, simply because Rwandan chili is already well known there. I am not sure if I can say that any market is slow, because every market has its demand and its characteristics, but I am a little sad that we have not yet started the UK, market because the UK market has a consistency that I rarely see. We are working on it and we have reached an advanced stage of negotiation with British importers, ready for the right moment to strike."
Rwandan avocado prices are currently affordable, adds Timo. "Compared to the period when we had a global fuel/gas problem and a pandemic, our prices have now stabilized at an affordable level. It's hard to predict where prices will go because anything can happen."
On the supply side, "our volumes are good, we have more than enough to supply our current markets and that is one of the reasons why we are looking at new markets such as the UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar," adds Timo.
Affordable prices, sufficient volumes, growing demand... Rwandan avocado has all the odds in its favour, says Timo "We are quickly standing out from the competition. One of the main advantages of Rwandan products is their quality. Whether it's avocados, habanero, red chilies, passion fruit, or any other product, quality is our central concern in all product chains."
"The willingness of Rwandan farmers and exporters to bring fresh Rwandan produce to the world is supported by considerable efforts made by the government to facilitate our work, concludes Timo, everyone is working hard to make the country a factor in the international market of tomorrow."
