Aussies stunned as avocado prices plunge to just 9 cents
Making your own smashed avo has never been more affordable.
In good news for millennials in Brisbane, avocados have plummeted to just nine cents each as the country faces a growing surge in production.
A photo of the Hass avocado stand at Blunder Road Fruit Market in Oxley reveals the shockingly low price. "I saw someone posted about this a few months back," a shopper posted on Reddit. "I went back today and the deal was back!"
He went on to add that the fruit and vegetable shop was also selling kilogram bags for 99 cents apiece.
But while Aussies rejoiced, with one saying "heck yes, I now might be able to afford a house" amid the cost-of-living crisis, the price plunge reveals a greater issue.
Australia has too many avocados
Avocados Australia explained to Yahoo News that while the price of the fruit can be impacted by many factors, for example quality, pack type, size, supply and demand, the underlying issue is that we have an exceptionally strong supply of avocados.
In the 2021 to 2022 financial year, the country produced over 122,197 tonnes of avocados, which was 56 per cent more than the previous year. Queensland was the highest producer, accounting for 48 per cent of production, and Western Australia came in second with 39 per cent.
Looking to the future, avocados are set to smash production records with the country on track to produce an average of around 170,000 tonnes per year by 2026, that's a 118 per cent increase on the above figure.
Last year a photo of massive piles of lower-grade avocados dumped at a tip in Far North Queensland went viral, with farmers at the time saying increasing costs of labour and shipping made it financially unviable to transporting them to major cities.
How we ended up here
Love it or hate it, the smashed avo is to blame. Thanks to a rise in the popular brunch staple, farmers planted more trees over the past decade to keep up with demand. But then Covid happened, and restaurants and cafes were forced to close their doors, leaving farmers with an excess of the fruit.
"Favourable growing conditions and recently-planted avocado trees have increased the volume of avocados being harvested in Australia in recent years," a Woolworths spokesperson previously told Yahoo.
What is Australia doing about it?
"There is currently a strong supply of avocados and Avocados Australia is working across the industry to increase domestic consumption and to increase consumption of Australian avocados in our key export markets," a spokesperson for Avocados Australia told Yahoo News.
The organisation is also working with the federal government to open new export markets as well as supporting growers to increase their capacity and capability to export.
But what can you do? "Support Australian avocado growers by buying Australian avocados in retail stores," the spokesperson said. "Be it Shepard or Hass, avocados are incredibly healthy and versatile, they add something special to a wide range of meals."
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