The 2008 annual meeting of AMAPWG (Avocado Marketing and Promotion Working Group) was held in Israel in the last week of September.

The event, whose goal is to increase avocado consumption all over the world, was headed by Agrexco’s Gabi Naamani and was attended by 25 members and representatives from eight countries: Chile, Peru, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Israel.

Mr Naamani, who has managed Agrexco’s avocado business for two decades, described the meeting as a model of “free competition with free information”, adding that Israel attaches great importance to the conference.

The group spent three days in conference, in addition to taking agricultural and sightseeing tours around the country.

The conference coincided with the arrival in Europe of the first Israeli avocado shipment of the new season. The Ettinger variety starts off the export season, which will continue until May 2009, and is expected to total 35,000-40,000 tonnes. According to Agrexco, the company is responsible for over 70 per cent of the country’s avocado exports.

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