It’s the fruit that, anecdotally, kept young Aussies from realising their housing dream.
But now demand for avocados is so low – and production so high – that thousands are simply being dumped.
As food prices continue to soar amid an inflation rate not seen in Australia in more than 20 years, scenes from our east coast will have plenty in tears.
SEE MORE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Tens of thousands of the fruit – some have estimated between 50 and 100 tonnes, worth about $200,000 – have been dumped in North Queensland, with video taken at a Tablelands waste station showing mountains of green.
Growers say they’ve been left with little option amid a price slump sparked by oversupply and low customer demand.
Atherton local Jan De Lai revealed her shock at seeing the enormous stock of perfect fruit left to rot.
“Two trucks came in and just dumped big mounds of avocados. And I’d noticed that there’d also been a lot dumped there previously,” she told 7NEWS.
“It just seemed like there were tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of avocados going to waste.
“The mounds were huge – a lot higher than myself.”
Local grower Jim Kochi revealed demand had plummeted because restaurants were closed during COVID lockdowns, adding that floods in Queensland and New South Wales had also hurt.
A third reason, he said, was because farmers had been planting more avocado trees to meet demand.
“Those trees are now coming into production and coming into production in a big way,” he said.
But now, Mr Kochi says it is actually cheaper for farmers to cut their losses than package the fruit and sell it at market.
“The cost of putting that stuff in a package, including the labour and the cost of packaging and the cost of transport is just not worthwhile,” he said.
“So the option is just to dump it.
“It’s not only cheaper (to throw it away), you just can’t afford to put the labour into packing.
“It doesn’t pay to put the money into packing the fruit or to pay someone the freight costs to send it down to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.”
If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your .
To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.
Rabobank analyst Michael Harvey told 7NEWS the outlook for the avocado industry was positive.
“If you look longer term, the industry still has some sound fundamentals there, in the sense that you’ve got strong consumption there domestically, but also in export markets,” he said.
“Some of those cost pressures will recede in time, but that’s the challenge at the moment.
“There are positives on the horizon in that costs of production should normalise in a period of time, the oversupply situation should correct itself and there’s still growing demand.”
Meanwhile Australia’s retail spending grew 1.2 per cent in the March quarter after overcoming the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant at the start of the year.
It followed a 7.9 per cent jump in spending during the December quarter as coronavirus restrictions eased after the earlier Delta variant lockdowns, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
Retail sales volumes were at a record high of $93.2 billion for the March quarter to be 4.9 per cent higher than a year earlier.
“Most discretionary spending industries experienced rises in volumes, despite price increases,” ABS director of quarter economy-wide statistics Ben James said.
“However, food retailing fell 1.5 per cent with strong price increases for fresh food and grocery items combining with more consumers choosing to dine at hospitality venues.”
With AAP
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Lifestyle News Click Here
