{"id":44489,"date":"2025-06-09T16:57:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbs.strathmore.edu\/?p=44489"},"modified":"2025-06-09T17:07:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:07:28","slug":"what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbs.strathmore.edu\/en_gb\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"What Avocados Taught Me About Branding, Exports, and National Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent a large chunk of my employer\u2019s time today going down a rabbit hole. It all started with an Exporters Convention on avocados to China hosted by SAFIC<\/a>, which got me curious. I wanted to understand why Peru is the global leader in avocado exports, and what it would take for Kenya (which ranks impressively in the top 10 and is the number one exporter in Africa) to achieve similar global visibility. According to the latest numbers (2024), we shipped 123,000 metric tonnes worth of avocados.<\/p>\n

\n

My first stop was \u201cAvocados from Peru,\u201d a dedicated brand that blew my mind. Not only is it a stand-alone marketing powerhouse, but they\u2019ve also partnered with Tesla, Chicago Fire (the football club, not the TV show), and the Cleveland Browns. Yes, their logos now appear on avocado packaging in American and European supermarkets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was stunned. We\u2019re used to seeing \u201cVisit Rwanda\u201d on Arsenal shirts, but branding a fruit with such flair? This wasn\u2019t just agriculture. It was lifestyle. It was strategy.<\/p>\n

Is Avocado That Important to Peru?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Curious, I asked: where does avocado rank among Peru\u2019s top exports? Surprisingly, it\u2019s not even in the top five<\/strong>. Copper, for some reason, stood out more than even gold (which is the actual numero uno). That left me wondering\u2014if avocados aren’t Peru\u2019s biggest export, why the big branding push? <\/strong>Despite not being in the top five exports, Peru’s avocado exports are substantial, with an estimated 23% share of the world’s primary avocado exports in the three years to 2023. Clearly, it\u2019s not just about volume. It\u2019s about value. It\u2019s about narrative.<\/p>\n

What Are We Doing in Kenya?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I turned the spotlight back home. Kenya\u2019s top exports are no secret: tea, coffee, and flowers<\/strong> dominate every list. Kenya is the world’s third-largest tea producer, with tea exports valued at over $1.4 billion in 2024, and is also a significant coffee exporter, contributing to the global market with its high-quality Arabica coffee. So, I searched online for \u201cTea from Kenya\u201d and \u201cCoffee from Kenya\u201d\u2014using the most SEO-friendly, obvious terms. What I found were mostly private sellers, but nothing that came close to the cohesive, polished identity of \u201cAvocados from Peru.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then Came Peru, Again<\/strong><\/p>\n

By now, I was fully intrigued. Apart from the current Pope and the Fireboy DML song (yes that one that was played everywhere for two years it almost became a greeting when you meet some \u2013 Hi, Peru? Para!<\/em>), I hadn\u2019t really thought about Peru in years. But now I was on their tourism site\u2014peru.travel<\/strong>\u2014just to see how else they present themselves.<\/p>\n

As expected, the website was visually appealing. But what stood out most was a link tucked at the top: \u201cBusiness and Meetings.\u201d<\/strong> I remembered a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) discussion I had attended in Kenya, where private sector players urged the government to actively sell Kenya as a MICE destination. It would be interesting to see how Peru does it.<\/p>\n

So I clicked.<\/p>\n

What opened was a microsite that was still beautifully designed, but also utilitarian. It had everything: venue options, supplier info, value propositions\u2014an entire business-facing ecosystem, woven into the tourism platform. Impressive.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I Ran to Magical Kenya<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love the Magical Kenya brand. It\u2019s arguably the best-branded government initiative we\u2019ve ever had. Show me another, and I\u2019ll be happy to have a second favorite.<\/p>\n

The site is gorgeous. But since I was now on a mission, I asked: Can an investor, exporter, or global buyer move from the magic to the business in just a click?<\/strong> Nope. No easy path to Kenya\u2019s investment authority (KenInvest), export promotions (KEPROBA), or national branding (Brand Kenya). Just magic. Nothing more.<\/p>\n

So I did what any determined person would do\u2014I went rogue on Google:
\n\u201cInvest in Kenya.\u201d \u201cTea from Kenya.\u201d \u201cMICE Kenya.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

What This All Taught Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. KenInvest has an amazing, comprehensive website.<\/li>\n
  2. We need to synergize, converge, and optimize<\/strong>\u2014and all those other buzzwords that simply mean: let\u2019s align our efforts<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  3. Most urgently, we need to brand our tea and coffee<\/span> avocados<\/strong>. Due to our climate and generally more organic farming practices, they are the best tasting. Why aren\u2019t they being seen, tasted, and loved all over the world?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you told me this morning I\u2019d spend hours researching Peruvian agriculture and MICE strategies, I wouldn\u2019t have believed you. But here we are\u2014and maybe that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n

    Sometimes the path to national transformation starts with a single avocado.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":44488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[488,489,490,353],"class_list":["post-44489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-avocado-exports","tag-country-branding","tag-export-promotion","tag-safic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Avocados Taught Me About Branding, Exports, and National Identity - Strathmore University Business School<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sbs.strathmore.edu\/en_gb\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Avocados Taught Me About Branding, Exports, and National Identity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sbs.strathmore.edu\/en_gb\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Strathmore University Business School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T13:57:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T14:07:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sbs.strathmore.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Thumbnail-image-for-Article-About-Avocado-Export-Promotion-Between-Kenya-and-Peru-written-by-Charles-Bodo-Nyamwaya.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Charles Nyamwaya\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Charles Nyamwaya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Charles Nyamwaya\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a15849b3c654228bb3a633bd47062b8b\"},\"headline\":\"What Avocados Taught Me About Branding, Exports, and National Identity\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-09T13:57:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-09T14:07:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1840,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Thumbnail-image-for-Article-About-Avocado-Export-Promotion-Between-Kenya-and-Peru-written-by-Charles-Bodo-Nyamwaya.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"avocado exports\",\"country branding\",\"export promotion\",\"safic\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sbs.strathmore.edu\\\/what-avocados-taught-me-about-branding-exports-and-national-identity\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Avocados Taught Me About Branding, Exports, and National Identity - 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