Australia remains New Zealand’s top export market, but diversification efforts are paying off
New Zealand’s avocado industry managed to grow shipments to a range of Asian markets despite overall export volumes slightly dropping for the 2025/26 season.
According to a report from SunLive, the industry managed to navigate a stormy spring and summer and ship 3.4mn trays – including nearly 150,000 Class 3 and 3 trays – across the export season, which runs from August to February.
Brad Siebert, CEO of New Zealand Avocado told SunLive said Australia was the top export destination with 750,000 trays, followed by Korea which saw volumes increase 70 per cent year on year to 625,000.
“Despite multiple wind events and tight market windows, this represents only a nine per cent decrease on last season’s export volume,” he said.
“China, Hong Kong and India all nearly doubled their previous year’s shipments, while Taiwan increased by 50 per cent, where New Zealand continues to benefit from a period of seasonal exclusivity. These gains across Asia reinforce the importance of strong and consistent importer relationships.”
Canada was the industry’s fourth-largest market, taking 283,000 trays and Siebert said efforts were being made to develop other smaller markets. A total of 43,000 trays were sent to the US, where extended South American supply impacted New Zealand’s window this season. However, the market holds promise for New Zealand in the long term.
There is a similar optimism for India following the recent New Zealand-India FTA. Siebert said the prospect of reduced tariffs would make the market more viable.
“While New Zealand avocado exports to India are already increasing, once the FTA comes into force we expect further growth in volumes as returns improve – although logistics will remain the key challenge in accessing this significant market,” he said.
