The Avocado Research Programme (ARP) in FABI hosted its annual Student Presentation Day on 15 October. Presentations by the research group leader Prof. Noëlani van den Berg, postdoctoral Fellows and postgraduate students detailed the research activities of the group over the past year to the Hans Merensky Foundation Trustees, headed by Dr Khotso Mokhele, who attended the virtual presentation on the Zoom platform. The ARP has, since its establishment in 2008, grown to become the biggest avocado research group in the world with numerous international collaborators. Based on this successful industry-academic partnership the Hans Merensky Chair in Avocado Research was established at the University of Pretoria with an official signing ceremony hosted at the Future Africa campus on 19 February 2020.