Avocadoes and Chinese cuisine

Abstract

This paper presents the results of qualitative research undertaken in Singapore with consumers from various Asian ethnic backgrounds, with emphasis on Chinese-ethnic consumers. The study provides an understanding of consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and beliefs towards avocadoes Persea americana). It also presents the results of unstructured interviews conducted with representatives of the food service industry in Singapore. The study found that although avocados are gaining popularity in Asian markets consumption is still relatively low, with only a small portion of consumers purchasing them regularly. Avocados are not popular with Chinese consumers, as most find it hard to integrate the fruit in Chinese cooking. Avocados are not commonly used in Asian cuisine and are only used for entertaining guests during gatherings. Furthermore, as avocados are known as ‘butter fruit’ in Chinese, there are misconceptions as to the negative health aspects of the fruit. The Australian avocado industry is taking active steps to gain market access to the expanding Asian consumer market. As the phytosanitary protocol development process is time consuming, costly and resource intensive, the industry needs to ensure that such investment translates into trade success. Understanding consumer’s attitudes and interaction with avocados in the first step to plan market development activities and ensure export success. This study concludes that to increase avocado consumption with consumers from Chinese background, greater awareness of the different uses of avocados is needed and more consumer information is required to dispel any confusion about the health attributes of the fruit.