Our Value Chain
Trade Link manages avocado value chains from origin to international markets, investing in farming communities, and combining market access and local processing.
How
we operate
Market access
We partner directly with producers of fresh avocados and avocado oil, delivering volume and consistent quality to international markets against fair and transparent prices.
Local processing
Through joint ventures, we operate on-site crude avocado oil facilities that convert reject fruit, reducing waste, monetising post-harvest losses and creating value at origin.
Where we work
We operate from our office in the Netherlands, a global hub for
international avocado trade, linking African production with buyers
across global markets.
On the ground, we work across emerging economies in Sub-Saharan
Africa, focusing on regions with real avocado potential. We prioritise
areas where local processing and inclusive sourcing can endure, and
where production is largely rain-fed.
Today we are active across eight countries in Eastern, Central, and
Southern Africa. Our footprint grows deliberately, built on long-term
partnerships rather than short-term opportunism.
Our Projects
Zimbabwe
Together with a local partner, we launched Zimbabwe’s first avocado oil processing facility in 2025, creating local capacity to process fruit that would otherwise go unused.
The facility converts surplus and reject avocados into crude avocado oil for international markets, creating value at origin while reducing post-harvest losses.
By processing locally, the project generates additional income streams for producers and strengthens Zimbabwe’s emerging avocado value chain.
- Favourable growing conditions
Highland production above 1,000 metres, with suitable climate and soils and largely rainfed avocado cultivation.
- Responsible and inclusive sourcing
Anchored by a Rainforest Alliance–certified partner farm, with sourcing from over 400 smallholders in 2025, integrating both into structured value chains aligned with international market requirements.
- Seasonal production
Avocado sourcing and processing aligned with the local harvest season, with peak availability from Q2–Q3.
Tanzania
In 2023, we partnered with a leading Tanzanian avocado exporter and processor to support on-site crude avocado oil processing.
The facility converts reject Hass avocados into crude oil for international markets, providing structured market access and reliable volumes from one of Africa’s key avocado-producing regions.
- Favourable growing conditions
Avocado production is largely rainfed, with growing conditions that support consistent fruit quality and scalable sourcing.
- Responsible and inclusive sourcing
Anchored by an organic-certified partner farm, with sourcing from 12.000+ smallholder farmers in 2025.
- Seasonal production
Avocado sourcing and processing take place across an extended harvest window, with availability from Q1–Q3.
Rwanda
In 2025, Trade Link and partners launched the HARVEST Project, an RVO-funded initiative addressing social sustainability challenges in Rwanda’s avocado value chain. Implemented in partnership with five organisations, the project aims to establish a scalable model for responsible sourcing, smallholder integration and avocado processing.
The project focuses on increasing smallholder incomes, strengthening working conditions, and improving farm-level sustainability practices, alongside the distribution of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) fertiliser produced from avocado waste to farmers.
HARVEST also enables Trade Link to invest in embedding international responsible business conduct standards across its wider operations, applying lessons beyond Rwanda.
- Smallholder certification pathway
Supporting the certification of 500+ smallholder farms towards Rainforest Alliance standards, strengthening market access and sustainability.
- Responsible business standards
Embedding international responsible business conduct standards across Trade Link’s wider operations, from sourcing to joint ventures.
- Avocado impact hubs and income growth
Developing local avocado hubs that combine farmer training, structured aggregation, and circular fertiliser inputs to support income growth.
Our team
We operate through a small and dedicated team based in the Netherlands and beyond, coordinating sourcing, partnerships, and market access across origin and international markets.