With GlobalG.A.P certification now under its belt, CaucaHass S.A.T. will very soon be in a position to ship avocados to the demanding tastes and specifications of EU supermarkets. 

Dominated by growers in Antioquia and the Eje Cafetero coffee-growing region, Colombia's budding Hass avocado industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in recent years and the crop's allure has not gone unnoticed in other parts of the country like the southern Cauca Valley.

Speaking with www.freshfruitportal.com, Corporación Colombia Internacional (CCI) president Adriana Senior said the certifications for CaucaHass S.A.T. - a group made up of 61 growers - were a "dream come true".

She added the project was the result of nine years of work in the making, supporting "indigenous people and farmers in a very vulnerable zone".

"A lot of them used to plant illicit crops and and we came to tell them about a product with a lot of potential and that the international market was demanding more of, the Hass avocado," she said, adding it was likely the group could increase in future to include 100 producers, while CCI was working with 420 small producers in total in the area.

The department of Cauca is very fertile with ideal conditions for growing avocados. In fact, the fruit is native to the country and Colombia is one of the world's leading avocado growers, but the population is more used to larger-sized cultivarsand the Hass variety was virtually unknown until 2007.

"They asked us if this small, black and wrinkly fruit was actually desired, we told them it was, and we promised them that one day they would export. Today that promise has come true," Senior said.

"Today we have 720 hectares of production between 22 grower associations who have formed CaucaHass, which is a second-tier organization which allows them to export directly."

Senior highlighted Cauca effectively had two production season for the fruit - firstly from March to June with small volumes, and then with much greater volumes in October.

She said the initial plan was to send a shipment at the end of May but "the summer was very intense and it didn't rain, so the fruit did not reach the sizes required by Europe".

However, she said now that there had been rain, fruit was setting well and trees tended to have good fruit loads.

"So we expect to have 420 [metric] tons (MT) in the main harvest that starts in October."

The main harvest represents 70% of Cauca's production.

"We hope to get very good prices between US$2.20-2.50 a kilo," she said.

CaucaHass president of the board Armando Álvarez Rodríguez said CCI had been a real help and was responsible for the development experienced by farmers in the region.

He said the change hadn't been easy, especially as inputs like fertilizers had risen in price, but with the recently obtained certification there will be a 180° turn for the growers.

"I would be bold enough to say with these exports our economic benefits will triple, and that will incentivize and motivate growers to produce fruit of a better quality," he said.

"In CaucaHass S.A.T. we support those producers who today don't have the capital to improve their productivity, as our principles are solidarity and association, and we fervently believe that the more growers believe in this project the more benefits there will be for everyone."

Álvarez added there was also another crucial piece in the jigsaw puzzle, and that was the construction underway for a packinghouse in Quebrada Grande in the municipality of Piendamo, which it is estimated will be up and running from six months to a year from now.

The packhouse will serve for processing fresh avocados and also other fruits from the department.

Senior added CaucaHass was hoping to be able to export to the U.S. as well, once similar permission is granted to the arrangement Colombia currently has with Chile - the world's second-largest consumer of avocados per capita.

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