Bumper avocado crop pushes prices down

A bumper avocado crop has driven prices down. Photo / 123RF

By Stephanie Ockhuysen of RNZ

It’s a great time for avocado lovers, but not so much for growers of the fruit, as prices reach as low as 19 cents in parts of the country.

A Woolworths spokesperson said avocados were the best value they had seen in years and expected large volumes for the next two months.

“We have been selling pre-ripened avocados for between $1 and $1.20 each for the last month and have seen record demand.

“We expect the great value to continue as we move into spring and summer.”

Grower Hugh Moore in Katikati said there was so much fruit coming from orchards that it was pushing the prices right down.

He said prices were basically a “giveaway” at the moment.

“A lot of the Bay of Plenty aren’t harvesting for it with winds and that, there’s certainly a lot more rejects.

“But even class one fruit on the New Zealand market has been getting ridiculous low prices.

“Some of those very large blocks want to harvest early, they’re young trees and they just take a price. So from an avocado grower point of view, yeah, it’s not going to be a stellar season.”

Moore said outside of the New Zealand market, low demand for exports was also hurting growers this season.

“Export has started a little bit slower than the industry first thought, that’s mainly because of tariffs in America in supply from Peru.

“Peru has got its largest crop ever, it’s about nearly 19 million, I think. It’s a huge amount.

“They’re in most markets and dropping the price. So America is out for New Zealand really.”

Meanwhile, Brad Siebert chief executive of industry group New Zealand Avocado said while there was great value in the fruit this season, there were many challenges too.

Woolworths has sold ripe avocados at $1 each amid record customer demand. Photo / 123RF

“The quality of the season is pretty exceptional. We’ve had some pretty good weather conditions.

“We’re currently getting into a full swing of our export and harvest season and I guess this is a natural high-volume period on the local market.

“Strong international competition is putting real pressure on the entire sector, especially growers.

“It’s a real challenge with the international dynamics around trade, around other nations, putting a lot of fruit into our key markets.”

Siebert said overall annual estimates were one million trays less than last year.

He said local market volumes of fruit are looking very similar to previous seasons, so it’s not a volume issue but questions on where the retail price sits.

-RNZ