A selection of the world’s leading avocado producing nations has moved to form the first global entity for the offering, known as the World Avocado Organisation (WAO).
The new body will promote the consumption of avocados across Europe, Asia and other parts of the world through collectively self-funded marketing programmes.
WAO will be headquartered in the US, with Brazil, Mexico, Peru and South Africa joining the North American nation as founding member countries.
After nearly eight years of negotiations, the charter members agreed to move forward and create the organisation during the VIII World Avocado Congress in Peru in September last year.
“The World Avocado Organisation represents the creation of a major international agricultural body that has been years in the making and is, to date, the only multinational global marketing organisation of its kind,” stated WAO chairman and director for Peru, James Bosworth.
The WAO plans to launch its first collectively funded marketing programmes later this year in several European markets including, Germany, Spain, the UK and selected Scandinavian countries. The EU is the world’s second largest market for imported avocados – behind the US – with consumption volumes tipped to increase by 10 per cent in 2016.
Joining Bosworth on the board will be South African director Zac Bard, who will serve as WAO’s vice president. Mexican director Ignacio Gonzalez has been appointed secretary, while US director Jim Donovan will act as treasurer.
Upon announcing its formation during Fruit Logistica in Berlin last week, the organisation said its name is derived from the importance of the World Avocado Congress, which was first held in South Africa in 1987. It also hinted that new member nations might soon be inducted.
“The charter members wanted to give the organisation a name that would be representative and inclusive of all of the founding and future members from around the globe,” the organisation said in a statement.
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