NAIROBI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's agri-business firm, Kakuzi Limited, will resume the export of Hass avocados to China and other overseas markets from the middle of May.
The avocados destined for export will have matured optimally and met the minimum dry matter standard of 24 percent as set by local regulatory agencies, Kakuzi said in a statement issued in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday.
"Maturity testing has been ongoing with the important parameters of dry matter content being closely monitored on our orchards and affiliated smallholder farmers," Chris Flowers, the Managing Director of Kakuzi said.
"Our dry matter content is only 19 percent so we have another month before our fruit reaches an export quality," he added.
Flowers stressed that Kakuzi will endeavor to make sure that Hass avocados grown in its vast orchards located in the central Kenyan county of Murang'a meet the quality threshold set out by Kenyan and Chinese regulatory agencies.
Kakuzi is among several local agri-business firms that have secured permission to export high-grade Hass avocados to China, following the signing of bilateral trade protocols between Kenya and China in January 2022.
The protocols highlight specific phytosanitary requirements that local avocado farmers must comply with before exporting the highly nutritious tropical fruit to the Chinese market.
Flowers said that Kakuzi is also providing free maturity test services for small-holder farmers to ensure that only Hass avocados that meet minimum dry matter of 24 percent are harvested for export to China and other foreign markets.
Kakuzi shipped the inaugural consignment of Hass avocados to China in early August 2022, and in September 2022 secured approval from Kenya's regulatory agency for the second shipment of the fruit to the Asian Nation.
Listed at Kenya's main bourse, the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kakuzi Limited is one of the largest agri-business firms in Kenya engaging in large-scale growing and export of Hass avocados, macadamia, and blueberry.
The company has a huge tea estate in northwestern Kenya's highland county of Nandi and also engages in commercial forestry and livestock farming. ■