Avocado

Colombia has become one of the biggest avocado producers – slices of aguacate are added to almost every dish here.

An evergreen tree of the laurel family, growing to 10–20 m, with leathery, elliptical leaves and small, greenish-yellow flowers. The fruits are single-seeded berries with rich, buttery flesh containing as much as 15–30% fat, mostly unsaturated. Avocado flowers have a unique mechanism – they open twice, once as female and once as male, which limits self-pollination. The species comes from Mesoamerica, from where it spread south in pre-Columbian times.

Significance in the country

Colombia is among the world’s largest avocado producers, and exports of the Hass variety soared after the US market opened in 2017. Large, green avocados of local varieties are served with ajiaco, bandeja paisa and sancocho.

Where it grows

Mainly the Andean slopes: Antioquia, the coffee region (Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío), Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Santander, as well as the Montes de María hills in the department of Bolívar.

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