"The true test of the industry: when the consumer opens an avocado in their kitchen"

There's a scene that repeats itself every day in thousands of kitchens around the world: someone pays a high price for an avocado, cuts into it with anticipation, and discovers that half of it is dark, stringy, or simply rotten. They can't return it, they don't know who to complain to. In the best-case scenario, they don't buy avocados the following week; in the worst, they lose faith in the whole category.

That scenario is rarely discussed at its origin. The question of whether "the customer is always right" has an uncomfortable answer here: no, not entirely. At each link in the chain, the customer who truly matters isn't the end consumer: for the producer it's the exporter, for the exporter the importer, for the importer the retailer. The consumer—who decides whether to buy again—has no seat at any of those tables.

This disconnect isn't accidental; it's functional. Once the producer delivers the fruit, they are released—in their mind and often in the contract—from any responsibility for how that avocado develops during ripening and post-harvest. The exporter does the same with the importer, and the importer with the retailer. It's the logic of the hot potato: each link in the chain rushes to pass the buck before it "explodes" in their hands, knowing that when the consumer opens a rotten avocado in their kitchen, no one will be able to trace the source of the problem. Ultimately, many producers don't believe it's possible—nor do they even try—to deliver perfect fruit to the consumer: they're content with delivering acceptable fruit to the exporter.

This dynamic works because the final verdict is known several weeks later, thousands of kilometers away, when someone cuts the fruit at home.

Let's think about aviation: no one accepts that an airplane "generally" works well. Every inspection is necessary because the failure isn't gradual or negotiable: it manifests itself completely, precisely when it's most crucial that it doesn't. Something similar happens with avocados: the consumer doesn't know if the fruit will live up to expectations until they've already paid for it.

Some players have stopped settling. In Europe, for example, Nature's Pride has spent years building a stronger relationship of trust with consumers thanks to a deliberate process of supplier selection, controlled ripening, and fruit sorting before it reaches the point of sale. Technology is pushing in the same direction: new ripening systems like SoftRipe reduce losses and extend the product's shelf life. But consistency doesn't originate in the ripening facility; it begins in the orchard: nutrition, irrigation, pruning, and other cultivation practices define much of what no sorting or post-harvest technology can correct later. It's not by chance: it's the decision that consistency is designed, not assumed.

In Peru, large agribusiness complexes ship entire containers under a single GGN (Global Origin Group) throughout the season, something difficult to match in more fragmented structures. Does this mean that a medium-sized producer cannot raise its standards to the level of an agribusiness? Not necessarily. The problem lies elsewhere: even if they achieve it in a single batch, that one-off excellence isn't enough to make a difference in a broader export program, where the market demands sustained consistency. But therein lies an opportunity, not just a deficiency: what a producer cannot achieve alone, an origin can achieve through coordination. Industry standards, exporters that are more demanding of their suppliers, or cooperatives that aggregate volume under a single standard are the concrete ways to weave a value network: an origin that stops competing blindly and transforms its fragmentation into a competitive advantage.

The industry has discussed volume, markets, and complementarity between countries extensively. But the real test isn't at a port or a trade fair: it's in a kitchen. If we want to build a reliable category, the origin needs to think less about shipping the container and more about what will happen weeks later when someone opens that avocado at home.

Perhaps the right question isn't whether the consumer is always right. It's whether the source is finally willing to build the value network that guarantees it.

Pedro Hevia
CEO & Founder Puro Connection
pedro.hevia@puro.farm
Chili