Virtual tour

From truck to Flexitank, in nine stops.

Photographs of the Ngagara plant, February 2026. Tap the dots to open a detail; use the arrow keys or swipe to move on.

Stop 1 of 9

Reception

Every truck is weighed on arrival; every lot is tied to its supplier, origin and variety. A sample goes to the laboratory before unloading.

One truck, one lot — Weighed in and out: the farmer is paid on the net weight delivered.

100 to 140 trucks — At peak, 1,000 tonnes of fruit a day: 100 to 140 trucks of 7 to 10 tonnes.

Stop 2 of 9

Fruit yard

Open crates let the fruit breathe. It waits here to ripen: the oil comes free when the flesh softens.

Open crates — Air moves between the fruit; lots stay separate until pressing.

Ripeness — The oil in a Hass’s flesh rises from 16–17% early in the season to 25–30% at full ripeness.

Stop 3 of 9

Handling

Lots move from the yard to the ripening rooms, then to the line — called up by ripeness rather than by order of arrival.

By ripeness — An unripe lot yields little oil; an over-ripe lot oxidises. The laboratory sets the order.

Stop 4 of 9

Hand sorting

On the sorting table, damaged fruit is removed by hand. One rotten fruit gives a rancid oil: sorting is the first analysis.

The first analysis — Soil, leaves and rotten fruit are removed before the fruit is opened.

The women of the plant — Most sorting positions are held by women. Objective: half of the plant’s jobs.

Stop 5 of 9

Washing

Double immersion and a shower: the soil goes, and the skin is disinfected before the fruit is opened.

Double immersion — Two baths, then a shower, before pitting.

Food zone — Cap, coat and boots: the wet area follows food-hygiene rules.

Stop 6 of 9

Pressing

The flesh becomes a paste, the paste is mixed slowly, then a decanter splits it into three streams: oil, water, pulp. No solvents.

Mill — Set to avoid an emulsion, not to grind finer.

Malaxers — The plant’s biggest lever on yield and quality is a temperature dial.

Decanter — A few seconds in a bowl where gravity is multiplied three thousand times.

Stop 7 of 9

Laboratory

Ten metres from the press: acidity, peroxide, moisture, fatty-acid profile. Every tank is a lot; no lot ships without its certificate.

Weighing the sample — Every analysis starts with a precision weighing.

Codex standard — Avocado oil entered the world Codex standard CXS 210 on 25 November 2024.

Stop 8 of 9

Boiler house

Pits, skins, pulp and process water — 80 to 90% of the fruit’s mass — go to compost, to briquettes and, tomorrow, to the digester.

Boiler — The heat for washing and the malaxers.

Residues — 80 to 90% of the fruit is not oil: it is the raw material of the energy programme.

Stop 9 of 9

Shipping

The oil leaves by Flexitank, IBC or drum, with its seal numbers on the certificate and two retained samples kept.

Flexitank — A 20-tonne Flexitank holds the oil of 110 to 200 tonnes of fruit.

Dar es Salaam corridor — Shipped from Bujumbura by the Dar es Salaam corridor or by air.

Come in person.

Visits to the Ngagara plant are arranged by appointment: buyers, partners, schools.

Visit Ngagara The process, station by station