Retailer and importer build programme for pre-ripened avocados, with sales during Peruvian season more than doubling year on year
Leading Korean retailer Emart and importer-distributor Soo Il Commerce are reporting excellent results from their recent partnership to develop sales of pre-ripened avocados.
Korea has showed encouraging growth in avocado sales over the past decade, with imports rising from around 1,515 tonnes in 2015 to an average of 12,000-13,000 tonnes in recent years. However, most retailers mainly still take green (unripened) fruit, and industry experts point out that developing sales of pre-ripened fruit holds the key to ramping up consumption levels.
Emart seized the initiative during 2025 with a new programme to launch ready-to-eat avocados across all its stores.
“The biggest challenge in purchasing avocados for consumers in the Korean market is uncertainty over the ripeness,” Emart buyer Young-hun Kim tells Asiafruit.
“One day, firm green avocados are on display, and the next day fully ripened fruit. It means consumers who want to eat avocados right away often end up with unripe fruit, or they can’t purchase fruit when they need it. To address this inconvenience, we introduced ready-to-eat fruit which can be ripened on the day of purchase.”
Emart introduced the programme at the start of the Peruvian avocado season in March, working with leading importer Soo Il Commerce to pre-ripen fruit.
“We started the programme with the Peruvian season, as Peruvian avocados are very difficult to ripen at room temperature compared with other supply origins,” says Kim.
“We sell two types of avocados now. We still offer unripened avocados as a bulk offering at a lower price point. But we also offer ready-to-eat avocados in clamshell packaging at a premium price.”
The avocado ripening scale ranges from 1 (hard) to 5 (fully ripe). Avocados for Emart’s bulk offering are at 1-1.5 on this scale. Usually, this fruit takes five to seven days before it’s ready to eat, but this depends on the supply origin, according to Kim. Peruvian fruit can take more than seven to ten days, he notes. Emart’s pre-ripened avocados are ripened to stage 3.5-4 – these are ready to eat within a day or two at room temperature and can be kept in a home refrigerator for a week.
Soo Il Commerce manages the sourcing, supply and ripening to meet Emart’s requirements.
“Our role is to provide a stable supply and high-quality avocados at the optimal ripeness level under a stable competitive pricing structure,” explains executive managing director of Soo Il Commerce, June Choi.
“Shipping is frequently delayed and there are unexpected sales fluctuations, plus quality can vary during the season. Soo Il collaborates with suppliers who can maintain the most stable supply and quality control throughout the season for each supply origin.
“Using our state-of-the art ripening facilities and experienced technical team, we supply ready-to-eat avocados based on Emart’s optimal product requirements.”
Committed approach
While Emart has piloted sales of ripened avocados in some stores for a limited period in the past, this is the first time it has offered them permanently at all its stores, according to Kim.
There have been some small-scale, “spot sales” of pre-ripened avocados in Korea before, but Kim says these did not use dedicated ripening technology. Emart’s programme is the first of its kind, he believes, and the consumer response has exceeded expectations.
“We received very positive reviews from shoppers on the Emart app, with comments like ‘so convenient’ and ‘I keep purchasing’,” Kim notes. “Most importantly, avocado sales increased around two-and-a-half-fold during the Peruvian season.”
In addition to unripened ‘bulk’ fruit, Emart is now selling ready-to-eat avocados in all 132 of its hypermarket stores in pre-pack clamshells (three pieces), he notes. In August, it also began selling ready-to-eat avocados at Traders, its warehouse club format, and its Emart Everyday supermarket stores. Traders sells ready-to-eat avocados in clamshells of six to seven pieces.
Choi says the key to the success of the programme was identifying the optimal ripening point for Peruvian avocados, which he describes as difficult to control.
“Mistaking this ripening point or mistakes in sales forecasting can lead to significant risks,” he says. “To minimise this risk, it’s crucial to work with buyers who believe in the long-term growth potential of the avocado market and are prepared to accept losses from initial investments under a strong partnership.”
Choi says most previous initiatives to develop ready-to-eat avocado sales in Korea have been abandoned midway due to their small-scale, “spot-based” approach.
“We learned the key factors for success are optimal ripeness, supply consistency, strong marketing support and retailer-aligned promotions.”
Following the success of the programme with Peruvian fruit, Emart began running a ready-to-eat programme with New Zealand avocados in October.
“The ripening process is adapted to the characteristics of the product origin, so it’s being conducted more carefully, with fruit at a more ‘green’ stage than Peruvian avocados,” says Kim.
“We now plan to replicate the programme with fruit from Chile, which is our next supply origin with our service provider.”
Stepping stone to growth
Choi believes Emart’s success in selling pre-ripened avocados will encourage other retailers in Korea to invest in developing ready-to-eat programmes and provide a stepping stone for the growth of the market.
“More consumers will look for ready-to-eat avocados and they’ll be willing to spend more to enjoy the fruit at the right time,” he says.
“The main challenges are retailers’ fears over shelf-life and shrinkage in their stores and the higher sales price. But once their customers are satisfied, they will enjoy strong sales growth with good service providers. This is what we’ve seen in the US and Japanese markets.”
Kim says the success of Emart’s programme demonstrates the value for suppliers and retailers alike of addressing the needs of consumers. “With avocados, we haven’t implemented a ripening programme before because suppliers didn’t want to take on the risk of loss,” he says. “However, we’ve seen that products tailored to consumer needs can win them over, even if they’re a little more expensive.”
