Avocado industry almost reaches $200m record

Jen Scoular is the chief executive of Avocado Industry Council and is super chuffed about a record season. Photo/supplied

The New Zealand avocado industry has experienced a record season with sales reaching $198 million.

The sales are an increase of $64m on last season and are $62m higher than the previous record of $136 million in 2013-14.

Volume was a record 7.7m trays in the 2016-17 season -- an 84 per cent increase on last season.

The season saw increases in demand across all markets, with Australia remaining the industry's largest market. More than 70 per cent of New Zealand avocados are exported with the remaining avocados sold in New Zealand.

Jen Scoular, chief executive of NZ Avocado, said the industry's primary growth partnership programme NZ Avocados Go Global has been a major boost to the sector.

"We are part of an industry that has gone from $70m in value in 2013 to an impressive $200 million in 2017. The Go Global programme gave us the platform as an industry to develop a strategy with audacious goals of quadrupling sales and trebling productivity in ten years.

"That strategy, and Crown investment has been implemented and resulted in fantastic growth in value right across the supply chain" Ms Scoular said.

"The independent review of the NZ Avocados Go Global programme said the five-year programme had made a major contribution to the New Zealand avocado industry.

"The review noted that we've achieved a step change in the way the industry operates and it's now a much more trusting, collaborative, cohesive, communicative and co-ordinated industry, with a correspondingly greater public profile."

Chairman of the Avocado Exporter Council Alistair Petrie said: "We saw a superb increase in demand that was matched by excellent planning and supply from harvest through to delivery to customers in market.

"Versatility, health benefits and the amazing taste of avocados are the key drivers for that demand."

Chairman of NZ Avocado Ashby Whitehead said the industry was in the best state it had been for many years.

"With the huge increase in value from avocados and much higher visibility of the global opportunities, we are seeing strong growth throughout the industry.

"Demand for new trees has resulted in a near trebling of production at nurseries, large commercial investors in Northland are converting dairy farms to avocado orchards and smaller orchards are maximising the productivity of their orchards.

"Growers will be very happy with their returns and are looking at further investment. It's a very exciting time to be in the New Zealand avocado industry."

About New Zealand Avocado

- The New Zealand avocado industry has a vision and strategy to quadruple sales to $280m and triple productivity by 2023.

- New Zealand currently produces two per cent of the global supply but is the ninth-largest international avocado exporter. There are more than 4,000 hectares of avocado trees planted in New Zealand, primarily in the Bay of Plenty and Northland.