For decades, the avocado business was dominated almost exclusively by the fresh market. In that model, the fruit's value depended largely on its appearance: size, color, uniformity, and absence of defects. Anything that didn't meet those standards was simply excluded from the market. Today, however, the expansion of the agribusiness sector is changing that logic and allowing more and more fruit to find a productive use.

For Mario Salazar, president of the board of directors of Agrícola Chavín, the main impact of industrialization has been precisely to expand the ways in which avocados can be used. “What it has done is make the industry more inclusive and allow for better use of the product, in different forms and presentations,” he explains. In his view, the objective of any agri-food chain should be clear: “The ideal should be that a product is used 100% and that there is no waste.”

Before the development of related industries, the business was heavily focused on exporting fresh fruit. This approach meant that a large proportion of production was excluded from commercial channels because it did not meet market visual requirements.

Salazar recalls that this reality wasn't unique to avocados. In the case of mangoes, for example, it was common to see large volumes of fruit being discarded due to superficial defects. "There were kilos and kilos of mangoes thrown away on the roadside because they had a black spot, an unsuitable blemish, or a damaged rind," he notes.

Something similar happened at the beginning of the avocado's commercial development. At that time, small sizes simply had no demand in international markets, so they often ended up being discarded. "I also saw in the early days of avocados how small avocados had no market and that fruit was buried," he recalls.

That scenario reflected a value chain highly dependent on a single commercial channel: fresh produce.

An industry that uses all the fruit

The growth of new industries linked to avocados has gradually changed this reality. Processes such as oil production, frozen pulp, and high-pressure processing (HPP) have opened up new alternatives for using fruit that was previously excluded from the market.

Thanks to these developments, fruit that doesn't meet fresh market standards can be transformed into value-added products. This diversification not only reduces waste but also expands business opportunities within the supply chain.

“Now everything is being used,” says Salazar. The existence of these alternative channels allows production to find new industrial destinations, which strengthens the efficiency of the production system.

At the same time, this transformation introduces a more resilient logic within the sector. When different industries are capable of absorbing fruit under varying conditions, the production chain becomes less dependent on a single market.

The advance of industrialization, therefore, not only represents an opportunity to generate new products, but also a structural change in how avocados are used. What could previously be considered a loss is now part of a network of processes that seeks to capture value at each stage.

In this transition, the agribusiness is redefining the logic of the business: moving from a model where aesthetics determined the value of the fruit to one where virtually all production can be integrated into the production chain.