Menu

Close

Search

EN

Return

Open Field Notes

Reports straight from the field: everyday stories, harvest successes – and setbacks – as well as farmers’ own words.

Latest in Field Notes

3 min

The ‘Mad German’ 40 Years On

If you take a stroll with Friedrich across his farm near Gibraleón today, the first thing you’ll notice is the noise: a literal wall of birdsong. But behind this idyllic scene lies a radical choice made years ago—one that flew right in the face of convention. Today, having held Demeter certification since 1994, he’s living proof that his “madness” was the only logical response to the crisis facing our soil.Forty years ago, Friedrich fell in love with Finca Jelanisol-Montebello during a trip to Spain. At the time, he was working as a middleman for conventional fruit and veg. Two things happened back then that made him stop and think: A friend gave him a book on permaculture by Bill Mollison, which sparked an idea. While visiting a farm in Italy, he found himself desperately digging for earthworms. When the farmer told him there weren’t any “because you don’t need them,” Friedrich began to question everything. A Holistic Vision: Everything is ConnectedFor Friedrich, farming isn’t an isolated job; it’s part of a much bigger picture. He holds a deeply philosophical, holistic view of the world where everything—from soil microbes to the end consumer—is linked. He doesn’t see his farm as just a production site, but as a living organism where people and nature live in harmony. In his eyes, a peaceful society can only exist if we produce in tune with nature. If we get it right, there’s enough for everyone—we just can’t afford to destroy the foundations.One of the biggest things driving Friedrich is a deep-seated worry about the state of the modern diet. He explains that much of the food we eat today is “empty.” By this, he means conventional produce that, thanks to pesticides and long storage times, has lost any real nutritional value. He lives by the rule: Healthy Soil = Healthy People. Only living, regenerated soil can produce fruit that actually nourishes the body.One of the first things Friedrich did was build a large pond—not for irrigation, but purely for the birds, frogs, ducks, and fish. It also acts as drainage during heavy rain. They produce their own organic fertiliser using microorganisms, supplying the trees with a steady stream of minerals through a drip irrigation system.

Return

Open Society

Where farming meets society: EU policy, supermarket dynamics, prices, and food culture explained.

Latest in Society

7 min

Tap water, or a glass of glyphosate?

Return

Open Regenerative farming

What regenerative farming means in practice: beyond the buzzwords, articles with evidence on soil health, water cycles, biodiversity, and farmers' livelihoods.

Latest in Regenerative farming

16 min

Grass-fed meat is turning our relationship with the organic label on its head

Return

Open CrowdFarming

This category gathers articles related to CrowdFarming: our model, our data, and our impact.

Latest in CrowdFarming

5 min

One Design, One Season

Return

Open Research

This section gathers our in-house research papers and studies that put data behind the promises of regenerative agriculture.

Latest in Research

3 min

The profitability of soil regeneration

Return

Open Recipes

Seasonal and sustainable recipes from growers, eaters, and our team. Waste less, taste more.

Latest in Recipes

45 min

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

Looking for more? 

We’re just an email away.

Society

min

Published March 2026

Exploring the Avocado Varieties Grown in Europe

Today, avocados are a staple in many European kitchens, but this has not always been the case. Avocados began to be cultivated in Europe in the mid-20th century, specifically in the 1960s. Although avocados are originally from Central America, some areas in Europe provide the ideal temperatures for growing them, similar to their native environment. As avocados have become increasingly popular worldwide, more European farmers have chosen to grow them. In our CrowdFarming community, we have 16 avocado farmers in Spain, France (Corsica), and Italy, each growing different varieties that suit them best. Because in fact, there are around 10 different varieties of avocados grown in Europe. 

Different avocado varieties: 

We can classify avocados in two families, the avocados with green and smooth skin and the avocados with rough skin and that ripen black. The smooth-skinned avocados are bacon, fuerte, ettingher, zutano and reed and the rough-skinned avocados are maluma hass, hass, gween and lamb hass. Most of them come from hybridisations/selections made by agronomists.

Smooth-skinned avocados: 

1. Bacon Avocado

  • Harvest Period: October to December
  • Qualities: The Bacon avocado is a green-skinned variety, characterised by its thin, easy-to-peel skin and oval shape. It has a lighter, milder flavour compared to other varieties, with a smooth texture that makes it great for fresh salads and sandwiches. The harvest period overlaps with that of Fuerte, making it a popular choice during autumn.

2. Fuerte Avocado

  • Harvest Period: November to February
  • Qualities: Known for its smooth, green skin that stays green even when ripe, the Fuerte avocado is a classic variety with a pear-like shape. Its flesh is slightly less creamy than the Hass but offers a refreshing, delicate flavour. This variety is typically harvested during the cooler months, providing an alternative for those seeking a lighter, milder taste.

3. Zutano Avocado (not sold through CrowdFarming)

  • Harvest Period: September to December
  • Qualities: The Zutano avocado has shiny, thin skin and is known for its slightly watery texture. Its mild flavour and high moisture content differentiate it from the richer Hass or Fuerte varieties. This variety is ideal for those who prefer a lighter, less creamy avocado, and it’s often used in salads and salsas. Its harvest period starts earlier in the autumn, providing one of the first avocados of the season.

4. Ettinger Avocado (not sold through CrowdFarming)

  • Harvest Period: September to November
  • Qualities: The Ettinger avocado has a bright green, shiny skin and a long, pear-like shape. Its flesh is smooth and mild, with a lighter texture. This variety is particularly appreciated for its high water content and subtle flavour, which makes it a refreshing choice in salads. Its early autumn harvest marks the start of the avocado season in Spain.

Rough-skinned avocados

1. Hass Avocado

  • Harvest Period: November to March
  • Qualities: The Hass avocado is perhaps the most famous variety. At CrowdFarming it’s known as “The king of the winter”.  It has a dark, pebbly skin that turns almost black when ripe. Its creamy, buttery texture and rich, nutty flavour make it a favourite for salads, guacamole, and spreads. 

2. Gwen Avocado

  • Harvest Season: January to March
  • Qualities: Gwen avocados are slightly larger than Hass and have a rich, creamy texture with a buttery flavour. The skin is thicker but still easy to peel. Gwen is typically used in salads and dishes where the avocado’s flavour can stand out.

4. Lamb Hass Avocado

  • Harvest Period: April to June
  • Qualities: This variety is a spring option in Spain and offers a similar texture and flavour profile to the classic Hass, but is generally larger in size. The Lamb Hass has thicker, rough skin that darkens when ripe. Its rich and creamy flesh makes it a perfect ingredient for various summer dishes, from smoothies to avocado toasts.

4. Reed Avocado

  • Harvest Period: April to June
  • Qualities: The Reed avocado is unique with its round shape and thick, green skin that remains unchanged when ripe. It’s larger than most other varieties and has a rich, creamy texture with a buttery taste, making it perfect for spreads and dips. Its summer harvest makes it a fresh option during warmer months when other varieties might not be available.

5. Maluma Hass Avocado

  • Harvest Period: October to November
  • Qualities: Maluma Hass is a relatively new variety that originated in South Africa but is now grown in Spain. It is similar to the Hass in flavour and texture but grows faster and produces larger fruits. It has the classic dark, pebbly skin and a rich, nutty flavour, making it a popular choice for guacamole and spreads.

6. Pinkerton avocado 

  • Harvest Period: December to February
  • Qualities: The Pinkerton avocado is known for its elongated shape and pebbly, green skin that remains mostly green as it ripens. Inside, it has a small seed and a generous amount of creamy flesh with a rich, slightly nutty flavour. This variety is available earlier in the season, from winter through early spring, making it a popular choice for bridging the gap between seasons. With high oil content, Pinkertons offer a smooth, buttery texture.



And just to finish off, two clarifications about the life of avocados that may confuse us when we get them… 

Not all avocado peel turns black when it is ripe

Knowing when an avocado is ripe depends hugely on which variety it is. In fact, only the Hass, Lamb Hass, Gween and Maluma varieties turn a darker blackish colour when they ripen. So the best way to check if your avocado is ripe it to see if it yields easily to the touch. (Find out more about how to tell if your avocado is ripe, and how to ripen and preserve your avocados in our blog post here.)

Avocados are climacteric fruits

Actually, avocados are climacteric fruits, which means that they are picked from the tree when they are still hard, and they complete their ripening process after having been harvested, unlike non-climacteric fruits that stop ripening once they’ve been harvested. Our farmers want to offer our customers quality products, which is why they wait for the perfect moment to harvest. With the help of our agronomists, they measure the fat content in the fruit to know when the fruit is ready, which is why seasons can sometimes start earlier or later than expected. At the end of the day, nature runs the show. 

So there we have it, all the different avocado varieties grown in Europe. Aside from this article on all the different varieties, we have a lot more information about avocados. We cover it all in our article on how to preserve them and ripen them, our documentary on their water usage, our podcast episode about their environmental impact, our article about tropical crops in Europe

Written by Emilia Aguirre

Emilia Aguirre

Emilia Aguirre is our Awareness & Advocacy specialist — which means she spends her days asking the uncomfortable questions about how our food is grown, priced, labeled, and sold. She hosts What The Field?!, a podcast packed with stories from the ground, hard-hitting research, and conversations with the people shaping the future of food (whether they like it or not).

Share this content:

Or copy the link:

Keep digging ...

Society

7 min

Tap water, or a glass of glyphosate?

Humans have an unusual relationship with food. We spray crops with chemical pesticides to make sure no other species eats them, and then we eat those pesticides intended to kill other living beings. It is a curious arrangement, and one that extends well beyond the farm, considering a good portion of those chemicals does not stay where they are sprayed. Pesticides, the heavy artillery of industrial

Read

Society

2 min

Mercosur: Europe’s food model at a crossroads

With the Mercosur agreement opening up the European market to agricultural imports from South America, the debate is about more than just trade. It’s our food sovereignty that’s at stake : Europe must choose between a globalized system with disparate standards and the development of other models, such as short distribution channels, which are conducive to healthier, more transparent an

Read

Society

min

The story of Europe’s almonds

Almonds (Prunus dulcis) have been part of Mediterranean agriculture for centuries. They likely arrived in Europe through trade routes from the Middle East and Persia more than 2,000 years ago, flourishing in dry, sunny regions.Today, Spain is by far the largest European producer, responsible for about 70–80% of the EU’s almond output. They are followed by Italy, Portugal, Greece, and France. The main Spanish regions are Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha, where the combination of mild winters and hot, dry summers suits the almond tree perfectly.Most almonds are grown on dry, rocky soils, often on hillsides. These conditions are ideal for rain fed cultivation (the traditional Mediterranean method) which relies almost entirely on natural rainfall.The life cycle of an almond treeAn almond tree starts bearing fruit around its third or fourth year, but only reaches full production after seven to eight years. Once mature, it can produce for up to 40 or 50 years.The cycle begins with blooming in late winter, when pink or white flowers appear before the leaves. Pollination is crucial and typically depends on bees. By spring, the fruit (the almond hull) forms around the shell.Harvest usually takes place between August and October, depending on the region and the variety. When the hull dries and splits open, farmers shake the trees, either manually or with mechanical shakers, to make the almonds fall. They are then dried, hulled, and sometimes shelled before storage or sale.After the harvest, the trees are left to rest. They will soon begin to lose their leaves and enter their winter dormancy, which is an ideal moment for pruning.Water and almonds: not always a thirsty cropAlmonds have gained a reputation for being water-intensive, largely because of crops coming from California, which produces around 80% of the world’s almonds and depends heavily on irrigation.But in Europe, the picture is different. Many farmers in Spain, Italy, and Portugal grow almonds under rain fed (dryland) conditions, using the rainfall typical of the Mediterranean climate. This means the trees adapt to water scarcity, producing smaller but more flavourful nuts.In irrigated systems, farmers use drip irrigation or regulated deficit irrigation, providing water only at critical stages like flowering or kernel development. These methods help balance yield stability with water conservation.The almond market: a global storyGlobally, almond production is dominated by California, followed by Australia and the Mediterranean basin. Europe imports the majority of its almonds, mainly from the United States, which accounts for around 60–70% of the almonds consumed in the EU.Spain exports part of its production, especially high-quality local varieties like Marcona and Largueta, which are prized by pastry chefs and confectioners. However, Europe as a whole remains a net importer as demand for almonds continues to outpace local production.While California focuses on high-volume, standardised kernels, European almonds often highlight flavour diversity, traditional varieties, and origin, catering to premium and traceable markets.How to store and enjoy almondsAlmonds keep best when stored in cool, dry, airtight conditions, away from light and humidity. Whole, unpeeled almonds keep their nutrients longer thanks to their natural skin, which contains antioxidants and fibre.Different formats include: With shell: longest shelf life, natural protection. Shelled with skin: rich in fibre and polyphenols, great for snacking. Blanched (skin removed): smoother texture, ideal for baking. Sliced, ground, or roasted: convenient but shorter shelf life,  best consumed within a few months. For longer storage, almonds can be kept in the refrigerator or freezer, which helps preserve their oils and prevent rancidity. Conclusion: a timeless crop with many tastesAlmonds are part of Europe’s agricultural and culinary heritage. Their story is one of adaptation, to climate, to landscape, and to taste.Next, discover four traditional almond recipes from across Europe, from Spanish “Tarta de Santiago” to German Gebrannte Mandeln, French Tarte Amandine and Italian Pizzicotti.  

Read