SMASHING THE AVO
THE horticulture industry is so sick of avocados being bruised by well-meaning supermarket squeezers it is resorting to acoustic tools, laser technology and ultrasounds to find a solution.
A poll of Australian avocado eaters found 97 per cent were squeezers and consumers generally tested three-times more fruit than they bought.
The study, conducted by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in collaboration with the University of Queensland and Avocados Australia, has gone to extraordinary lengths to knock the problem on the head.
“It has been found that shoppers typically apply compression forces ranging from three to 30 Newtons to firmripe avocado fruit when assessing ripeness,” QDAF lead researcher Daryl Joyce said.
“For context, a ‘slight’ thumb compression of 10 Newtons applied to a firm-ripe fruit causes bruising to appear within 48 hours at 20°C.”
Prof Joyce said previous research showed most consumers did not link their “bad avocado experience” with excessive handling.
“Only 42 per cent of shoppers surveyed agree with the statement that ‘bad avocados have been handled or touched too much’,” he said.
There may be a simple solution – posters at the point of purchase giving customers simple directions on how to pick the perfect toast-topper.
“A prototype decision-aid tool, based on a force-sensing resistor placed between the thumb and the fruit, was also recently developed and tested by scientists for in-store use,” Prof Joyce said.
“In-store surveys found the device was favourably received by shoppers but it is still some time away from commercialisation.”
Smithfield Local Fruit and Veg co-owner Bob Connery said watching people get rough with avos was a pet peeve.
“When there’s a lull, we make guacamole ourselves and sell it. Once they become too soft and start to go black on the outside we sell them cheaply for guacamole,” he said.
Mr Connery said his current batch of shepard avocados were grown locally and not gassed, meaning they took three to four days longer to ripen than those on most supermarket shelves.