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Avocado crash: Good news for fans of Australia's most controversial breakfast

The possibility of buying a house and enjoying your avocado too may not be as unattainable as once thought, with prices around the country set to be smashed.

Gone are the days of paying $6 or $7 apiece that avocado lovers experienced earlier this year when the fruit hit record prices.

With growers in Queensland seeing one of their biggest crops in recent years, single avocados are selling for as low as 99 cents each, while the average supermarket retail price is a modest $1.80 – but even that price could soon be slashed.

It is good news for smashed avocado lovers. Source: Getty
It is good news for smashed avocado lovers. Source: Getty

Experts predict Australia’s avocado production will be doubled by 2025 after masses of plantings were done around Australia.

“There are a lot of new plantings all around the country that are starting to come into production,” Avocados Australia chief executive John Tyas told the ABC.

“We expect production to be over 110,000 tonnes by 2025.”

But the seemingly simple solution of planting more trees will not be without its challenges, according to North Queensland director and Avocados Australia chairman Jim Kochi.

Source: Avocados Australia
Source: Avocados Australia

He believes finding reliable water supply for irrigation will be an issue.

“The price of power is getting through the roof and avocados are taking a lot of water — all our pumps are electrical, so the price of power is more and more becoming a problem for us,” he said.

Production in Central Queensland shows continued signs of recovery from the flooding events of 2011 and 2013, producing 24 per cent of the nation’s avocados in 2016/2017.

Australia’s love affair with the fruit has been growing steadily each year since the floods, with consumption in 2016/2017 reaching more than 3.5kg per person.