Abundant production will saturate the national market

This year the avocado harvest in Australia is expected to reach a record volume of 120,000 tonnes. Prices are falling in the domestic market and producers are looking for opportunities to export.

 

In Australia over the past decade avocado production has exploded from 39,600 tonnes in 2010 to 120,000 tonnes forecast for this year.

 

The large volume expected this year comes from good crop conditions in the state of Western Australia where the harvest will exceed all expectations. Along with this abundance of avocados comes lower prices for Australian consumers who were able to purchase avocados at AUS 1 ($ 0.73) each.

 

With the expansion planned for the coming years, growers should try to focus more on the quality of avocados than the quantity produced, according to advice from Jim Kochi, president of Avocados Australia. To be able to offer fruits that are better suited to consumer demands and thus increase exports.

 

Australia has so far exported few avocados. In 2020/21 only around 4% of Australian avocados were exported, with the bulk going to Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. But this year, with the drop in prices observed on the domestic market, producers are looking more for export opportunities.

 

Japan has opened its market only to avocados from Western Australia, but other Australian states could also benefit from this agreement. Negotiations are underway for the opening of the Indian market. The Chinese market is so far only a distant prospect.

 

source : abc.net.au